Nope. Not this year. The lockout ended and the Lakers lost. On Christmas. Again.

The Lakers played a far more competitive game than I believed they would. Regardless of injuries, tabloid reports of infidelity, divorce hearings, trade debacles and a depleted front court, Kobe is always focused and ready to play. The entire team, in spite of some missed shots, played to the level of a team that is trying to compete with the NBA elite. I’m not saying I believe this team, with its current roster, will make it to the finals. I’m just saying I’ve been far more disappointed by Xmas Day Lakers games.

So like all Christmas past, the Lakers lost. I blogged about it. Next year in Hawaii Jewfish Basin.

For those keeping track: The Lakers are 3 – 9 in the past 12 Christmas Day games.

“Don’t even get me started about Smush”

I’m in a pretty bad mood (Mandalay Bay) so I decided to look at something that used to cheer me up. I must have seen this 10,000 times in the past 2 years.

Kobe will kick you in the face! IN DA FACE!

This video is timeless…and makes me feel all “warm and fuzzy.”

Every year I say “I am going to the xmas game!” And as the game gets closer and the prices go up, I say “forget it, I would rather wake up at 1:50pm smoke a blunt and watch the game on the couch. Then immediately after the game I angrily scribe a blog post releasing my anguish and disgust.

Well this year was different. I actually went to the game. For the first time since 1999 (when the tradition started) I went and sat on the floor (4 rows behind the basket). The lakers have an atrocious Christmas day record. They clearly don’t want to play this game anymore. They don’t care about it and wish they didn’t have to show up.

So they didn’t. With ticket prices in the $600s for 300 nose-bleed seats, you can imagine the cost of floor seats. Not to mention our first tickets were fake. This was an extremely expensive game. In fact, it’s the most expensive game in Lakers history. And how do the lakers repay their fans for paying so much?

Pau and Kobe went 0 – 17 in the first half. If Pau and Kobe stayed home, they would be 0 – 0, which is statistically the same as 0 – 17.

They let Chris Bosh bully them in the post. They let LeBron drop 27 and a triple-double. They let Wade drop 24. But worse of all, they couldn’t score. They couldn’t hit easy layups. And the most depressing, disappointing thing of the day, they missed 2nd and 3rd chance tip-ins.

Xmas Lakers games are a terrible tradition. For years I have been saying “no more! I’m not doing this again next year! I want to do something else!” Regardless of religion, Xmas is a national holiday. I want to have fun. I want to have good memories. As a die-hard Lakers fan, it’s tough to not watch a game. Especially one as marquee and hyped as Lakers Heat. I guess I can always DVR it and watch it the next day. Perhaps the league will listen and not even put the Lakes on the bill. They clearly don’t want to be there.

Next year in Hawaii…cause this record is pathetic.

“I see bogut’s feet moving in… & out of the lane,

and i’m like Fuck You!

Oo, oo, ooo”