2009 L.A. Lakers: Healing the Seven-Year Itch

I ran up and down the block, waving a purple knit scarf some humble people from my church gave me. I screamed, "We did it! We did it! Oh my [expletive]ing God, we did it!"

I even did my Larry Bird impersonation of his celebration in the 1986 NBA Finals. After seeing the 2008 Celtics come from behind in Game 4 of the NBA Finals the previous season, this made up for it.

My feet pounded the concrete as I laughed like a maniac, ready to chop someone up with a blood-stained billhook. I was huffing and puffing, but I got a good workout from it.

Final score: Los Angeles Lakers 99, Orlando Magic 86. Lakers take the 2009 NBA Finals, four games to one.

And when I think of how long it has been, I think of a certain Marilyn Monroe film, "The Seven-Year Itch." Lakers fans around the world had to go through a seven-year itch.

It's a seven-year itch that could not be healed with hydrocortisone, but by a lit fire or two and mosh pits by Staples Center and redemption art Amway Arena.

It's a sever-year itch that has been scratched and clawed at by fans who have bled purple and gold for a good deal of their lives.

It's a seven-year itch that Shaquille O'Neal precipitated with his rap, proclaiming that without him, the three-year dynasty prior to 2009 would not have been possible.

It's a seven-year itch that has seen Boston and Detroit get the better of the Lake Show, where postseason failure has been the norm.

It's a seven-year itch that has been healed with Phil Jackson earning his 10th title as a head coach, and the 10th for the franchise in Los Angeles. For their heroics, I dub this team "The X-Men."

And it's a seven-year itch who's healing culminates with a parade from Staples Center to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

I'm not going to be at that parade, or the celebration. I have my own seven-year itch to take care of. It's called "earning an MBA." And it dates back to when I began my college education in years gone by.

Then again, I don't need to be in the middle of all the festivities on Figueroa, or the rally in Troy. 

Knowing that my Los Angeles Lakers are National Basketball Association World Champions once again is enough for me.