We Hate the Los Angeles Lakers: What's Wrong with That?

Maybe I am a hater. Maybe it is that simple.

I could point to game seven of the 2000 Western Conference Finals as the reason why I hate the Lakers.

Or maybe it is the umpteen other times they bounced Portland teams from the playoffs.

Or maybe it is because of Lamar Odom, that chronic underachiever that takes pride in walking through other team’s huddles. It’s a shame he goes through everyone else’s and yet seems so lost in his own.

Kobe Bryant.  55 points.  Need I say more?

I could blame Phillip Jackson. Every time a Blazers fan’s heart is ripped out, there is a trail of blood leading right back to him. He is personally responsible for the chalk outlines of so many failed Blazer seasons that it almost does not feel right when our end is not at his hands.

So it would be really nice to finally pay back some of the pain in the form of a victory Tuesday night.

Not only would it stop a late season slide that has all but eliminated the goal of a winning season for the first time since 2002 for the Blazers.

More importantly, it could drive a stake into the seed that the Lakers have a chance to get in the upcoming playoff tournament.  In a season where playoff seeding is everything, a Blazer dagger into the hopes for home court throughout would only be fitting.

See, that would make it easier to wake up the next day. To know that the Blazers could send some of the metaphoric rain that has haunted this city for so long down to Los Angeles would bring a smile to many of Blazer fan’s faces.

A Laker loss is always as good as a Blazer win.

Finally, the chalk outline of the Lakers’ hopes and dreams would lie on the doorsteps of the Rose Garden.