Los Angeles Clippers: Hope, Potential and a Shot At Redemption for an 80's D.J.

I was a radio D.J. in college.

Back then, D.J.'s actually sat in front of two turntables spinning records. My job was to find the right record, place it on the turntable, line up the song I wanted as the other turntable was playing the song that was on the air, and get ready for my on-air time and amazing segue from song to song.

"That was Flock of Seagulls with I Ran. Love that hair boys, I'm sure that's the first of lots of great hits from that band! It's a quarter past the hour in beautiful Walnut, California and you are hanging with me, Rick Capri on 90.1 KSAK. This [dramatic pause] is Led Zepllin."

Good times.

The station manager thought Rick Capri sounded better on air than Jose Salviati. I went with it.

I was spinning the hits for a few months when I came across the perfect segue. A pairing of songs that were so perfect, yet had never been played together, that would catapult me to the upper echelons of the then 3.5 watts-strong, powerhouse radio station. I was going to transition from the song Freeze Frame by the J. Geils Band to Duran Duran's Girls on Film.

While Freeze Frame ends with the sound of camera's clicking, Girls on film starts with the sound of camera's clicking. Pure D.J. genius. A masterpiece!

I queued up Girls on Film as Freeze Frame played. I was ready, primed, excited; this was going to be perfect.

Freeze Frame was winding down, the camera clicks started, I flipped the switch on the second record player and Girls on Film came in. It was perfect, you couldn't tell where one song ended and the other began. I got goosebumps.

Right up until Simon LeBon of Duran Duran started singing. He sounded like a chipmunk. I had played a 45rpm earlier and left the setting on 45rpm while playing the 33rpm Duran Duran record.

Perfection denied!

If you have no idea what I'm talking about when I mention 45rpm and 33rpm settings and record players... well, that's just sad. Ask your parents. Or, maybe your grandparents. Sigh.

Anyway, why share this sad story from my past?

Seems to me the Clippers have a good thing going right now. All the pieces are in place. 

They have an All-Star center, a monster at power forward, a stud at shooting guard and a veteran running the point. This is a good team, on paper. They have a shot at that magical transition to greatness.

Sadly, they have been here before and always seem to butcher it by leaving the second record player at 45rpm.

Players leave, management doesn't pay, losses take their toll and the promise that was is denied. We have seen it time and time again in Clipperville. Lets hope this time its different.

Sure, this years Clippers are taking their lumps, but that's expected. Injuries are ravaging the team and even if they were healthy, this is still a young team that has to go through its growing pains.

The plan now has to be to stay on course. The potential is there: Let this group grow together, learn each other and develop a personality. It doesn't look like it's going to be this year, it may not even come next year, but in time, this group can be special.

Just like the perfect seque that never was. 

Let's hope Clipper ownership and management do a better job of finishing the job they started. Unlike that long haired DJ in Walnut that, when faced with a chance at DJ greatness, choked.

Pay these players, keep this team together and the wins will come. This team is really that good.

Potentially.