Good post Rick, no fan should ever be satisfied with just making the playoffs year in and year out, I'm sure 19 years of playoff appearances and 2 Finals let downs do little to asuage Jazz fans and the lack of at least 1 championship banner, especially since, IMO, they were completely robbed in game 6 in '97-'98 by the infamaous Jordan pushoff that prevented a for sure game 7, and I think the Jazz were good enough to beat the Bulls that year.
I know it has to be frustrating to be so close, remember the Lakers have lost only one less Finals than they have won, and were the Celtics redheaded step child for a decade, so we know guys, what it feels like to be close but not close enough.
But from our perspective (Laker fans), the piling on when the team is down, or when they make a stupid move is rabid beyond belief, the rubbing it in is a real trip, I recall congratulating every team that finds success, and condolances when they come up short. I did so with the Spurs, I did so even with the Pistons who are not even represented here, as have many other Laker fans on this board, but I daresay the reverse is not true, and in fact, the glee coming from the opposing camps reaches new heights when the Lakers blow it. You simply don't hear the chants of "BEAT (insert team name here), BEAT (insert team name here)," anywhere like you hear "BEAT LA, BEAT LA". That mindset from opposing fans comes from sheer frustration at the ridiculously high percentage of times teams that are oh so close can't beat LA, the New York Yankee's feel that same heat. That is all cool with me personally, because it is part of the game. But let's not think for a minute that the expectations aren't higher here, they simply are, someone made a point that Cleveland knows no such success so their expectations, because they are unfulfilled, are naturally lower, Kings, Spurs, and Jazz fans, living in the shadow of the most consistantly successful team in NBA history IMO became not just friendly rivals but bitter enemies of the Lakers and revelled in their failures almost more than their respective teams success, particularly Kings fans because of the Cali rivalry and LA arrogance. Well, the Spurs finally broke through (even though the team they built was initially built to beat the Jazz, not the Lakers) and so that bitterness should be gone, the milk money series notwithstanding, but still, no one gets piled on like we do, and when the team is down like it is now, the only thing we can do is remind everyone of our long history of success and smugly assure everyone we will be back.
And no Rick, I for one am NOT looking forward to the next couple (or few) years for the Lakers, it will be painful indeed, but like a true fan, no matter how bad it gets, I will be here, rooting for their turnaround and cursing their failures, like I always have. That is where Reality has an edge on all of us, we know he'll jump ship and back the next winner coming down the pike.
