USA Does Not Negotiate With Terrorists; and Other Thoughts On The Lakers

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA DOES NOT NEGOTIATE WITH TERRORISTS

It's possibly the most over-used line in action genre films. We all know it's coming. The official policy of the United States government. The terrorists may as well save themselves a quarter, don't bother calling, we ain't negotiating.

I used to wonder why such a hard line stance. I asked my girlfriend. Her explanation said more about her than it did about anything else. "Because they can". It's probably the same reason why she never negotiates with me. So I asked one of my best friends. Knowledgable chap, I grew up with him and he always seemed to know things. Aside from the fact that year after year he predicts a Rockets championship. In fact, this year is the only year in the 15 years that I've known him that he hasn't already started planning the parade in Houston. He is, however, declaring that the Rockets should be pencilled in as the winners of the John Wall sweepstakes, for what it's worth.

Anyway, he explained that the main reason why the government has such a policy, outside of being able to say "we do not negotiate with terrorists" and sound bad-ass, is that it sets the posture, in the hopes of discouraging terrorists from attempting to hold the government hostage and making demands. Reasoning: If the terrorists already know that the USA does not negotiate, then maybe they will think twice about making an attempt to get into a bargaining position.

This is why I don't mind the Jerry Buss' stance. He's refusing to be held hostage to the demands of Odom and his agent. Buss is offering what he feels is market value, if not generous, and won't be held hostage by threats of leaving for Miami. It may cost the Lakers their sixth man, but it means the Lakers can retain their long-held stance of not being held hostage.

Shaq couldn't do it. Ariza couldn't do it. And Odom can't do it.

If there's one thing that Lakers fans can rest assured with, is that the Lakers ALWAYS find a way to get back to the top. The turnaround from missing the playoffs to making back to back finals was astounding.

Not a single soul could honestly have predicted that the Lakers would somehow turn Kwame Brown into Pau Gasol. That the Shannon Brown throw-in would turn into a playoff contributor. That a lanky awkward Trevor Ariza would turn into a clutch shooting perimeter defense wizard. That Derek Fisher, after missing something like 538 consecutive shots would hit the two biggest clutch threes of the season (Sorry LeBron, your buzzer beating 3 was clutch too, but you got dumped out of the playoffs, so ultimately it meant nothing).

No one would have predicted any of those things. But here's one thing that Lakers fans SHOULD have predicted: That the Lakers would eventually be back at the top. Losing Odom isn't going to change that fact. The Lakers will bounce back faster than ANY OTHER TEAM in professional sports.

Do you know how long it took Boston to bounce back to win a championship after the breakup of the Bird era? 22 years!! How long did it take the Lakers to bounce back after the Shaq era? 7 years. Yes, they still had Kobe, but even if you look at the breakup of the Showtime era, it was only 12 years before they won another title. The Celtics took almost twice as long!

Odom leaving is nothing to be worried about, just yet. Decades of history shows that the Lakers will stay on top, and if they do fall, they will bounce back quicker than any other team.