(06.06.08) Recommends:

Winning the Title He Should Have Won at Kansas.

Growing up sports fans in the Midwest, there are several rules you Learn To Be True. One of them is this: there aren't any Real Sports Fans native to the West Coast of the country and especially not in Los Angeles -- no, no, in LA, you're told, they eat sushi at baseball games, or worse yet are vegetarians; the women are made of plastic and the men wear sunglasses at all times, probably to reduce the glare from the shiny black shirts they also wear at all times, along with gel in their hair, which you can never actually see because they're always wearing, like, fedoras.

The men and women of Los Angeles, you Learn To Be True, are many things, but Real Sports Fans are not among these things.

It was under this Belief that yesterday led us to say, nonchalantly and on several occasions, in response to chatter about the Lakers vs. Celtics series that yeah we're kinda hoping the Celtics can pull this one out. Well. Each time was met with a more dramatic double take and guttural huff, such that by the end of the day we pretended we were Uzbekistanian and No Speak English and therefore would respond to all Lakers vs. Celtics questions which a shrug of the shoulder. Perhaps, we briefly thought, there are Rules To Be Un-Learned.

But. Here's the thing. We actually do want the Celtics to pull this one out, as should you, probably. And it's not because we're one of those people who live in Los Angeles but spend all our time hating on the city. We actually love it here. Nor is it because we're just trying to be contrarian. Most people we know here weren't born here, so to them there's nothing contrarian about it. Nor is it because we are racist. [This, of course, comes from that wacky theory that says during the 80s era Lakers vs. Celtics match-ups, all white racists loved the Celtics, all black people loved the Lakers, and whites trying to be progressive rooted for the Lakers. We actually did root for those Lakers team, but it was mostly because we've always had many voices in our head, including a Tim Gunn voice, and our inner five year old Tim Gunn voice made it clear in no uncertain terms that Larry Bird Was Among the Five Ugliest Humans Ever, and thus we had to cheer for the Lakers.]

No, the reason we're pulling for Boston is simple. The Celtics have a connection. Paul Pierce plays for the Celtics. Paul Pierce played at Kansas. We went to Kansas. Bingo. Yeah, we're kinda hoping the Celtics can pull this one out.

It also happens that Paul Pierce didn't just play at Kansas. He was an All American and was on two teams that are arguably among the two best teams in the history of KU basketball (this one and this one). They will never properly be remembered as among the great college teams of all-time, however, as they are also the two primary reasons that gave Roy Williams the label of choker, for those two teams suffered two of the most miserable losses in the history of KU basketball (this one and this one).

Then Paul Pierce left as a junior. He got drafted way lower than he should have. Then he got stabbed, nearly to death.

So homeboy has had his fair share of rough patches. But now he's on the stage he should have been on all along. Certainly a stage he should have been on at least twice at KU. He's playing for all the marbles. And Good Christ, did you see how he responded last night? Took over the game.

We hope he can do it three more times.