Only a little more than three more hours until the pregame! That means it's Laker time!! And because of that occasion, I hope you don't expect me to run down the matchups for tonight's game or talk about the historical significance of this series, you can turn to ESPN to catch all of that and more. Instead, I want to tell you a Laker story. So go put on your reading glasses, turn out the lights, sit back, and read away. And, I will try my hardest to make it sound as narratively as I can.

It was a sunny Tuesday afternoon in Santa Monica, two days before Game 1 of the 2008 NBA Finals. It was about one-thirty post meridian and I had just finished my final test in Astronomy, I was on top of the world. The instant I entered my car, I looked down at the cluster and noticed my gas needle was creeping much too close to 'E' for me to feel comfortable. I pulled out of the parking garage and attempted to ignore the needle, and the blinding orange light that had just started to emit from above the needle, when I stopped at a red light. I looked to my right, at the gas station. $4.13 for unleaded gas, it read. I was in shock. I filled my car up just last week and I paid a scrawny $3.89. How did the gas raise so quickly? We cannot survive like this, I thought. Then I thought to myself, it was probably the area, Santa Monica gas must be far more expensive than Valley gas. So I decided I would fill it up at my favorite gas station in the Valley off of the 405 freeway and Victory, at an ARCO gas station. I assured myself that my car would make it that far without any complications.

After about thirty minutes, I pulled into my favorite ARCO station. The line was tremendously long; I thought to myself it must be due to how cheap the gas is at this location, then I looked up at the sign. $4.11, not much cheaper. I was stunned yet again. When I looked down at my car's cluster, I found that not only had my needle hit 'E', but it had eclipsed it entirely. But it did not bother me, not even the slightest, because I was in line for gas. The only thing that could stop me now, I thought, would be if my gas ran out while standing in line. When my turn finally came, I filled the tank up as quickly as I could, I wanted to be more courteous than the other people at the station. As my wallet thinned by the second, I looked over to the passenger side of my car where my Laker flag was blowing in the cool breeze. The gold color looked so pristine in contrast to my car's vibrant red shine. It was quite a sight. I then looked down to the back window on the driver's side, where I had stuck a Laker logo sticker for all to see. I designed my car in such a way that any passer-by would figure out I was a Laker fan from either direction they passed me: if they passed on the right, they would see the flag, if they passed on the left, they would see the sticker. Such creativity Laker fans possess! Unity as well. Every time I pass a fellow Laker fan with a flag blowing proudly, I would do a quick double honk and smile. Such a great feeling it was.

I ended up having to pay more than $45 for my small little Civic, a car that averages almost 30mpg! Tragic. While I pulled away from the gas station, I saw a huge blue Ford truck pulling in, I immediately felt sorrow for its driver, I asked myself: how much would he have to fork down to these oil bastards? Too much, I replied to myself. I hardly got passed two blocks before I hit another red light. This time, the wait lasted much longer. After I stopped behind the car in front of me, the person in the car to my right rolled her window down and motioned me to do the same. She was somewhat attractive so I abided – I usually open my window without hesitation for anyone and I offer directions or whatever they ask, but ever since my power window motor died, I haven't been so generous. I had to lean all the way over to the other side of the car and crank my window down. After I did so, I sat back up straight and looked at the pretty girl waiting for her to say something. She said nothing. Instead she pointed to the ground. I thought right away about my car. She wasn't asking for directions, she was trying to tell me something about my car. Was she pointing at my tire? Did I get a flat? Then she muttered something. "Your flag". "My flag?" I thought. What on earth is she talking about? This attractive girl has to be all kinds of crazy. Then, in a heartbeat, I understood her. My Laker flag must have fallen off my window when I rolled it down for her. I then quickly looked at the light, it was red. For a split second, I thought about jumping out of the car, running around it to the other side, grabbing the flag, and running back to the car so I could drive away, but in the time it took me to think about all of that, the light turned green. I looked over to the attractive girl hoping she would be nice enough and offer to pick the flag up for me, but no such words exited her mouth. Heartless wench. Instead, I looked at her and mumbled, let me pass you. And before she could reply, I passed her. I made a right turn from the left lane to the side street and parked in a corner parking lot. She drove off like nothing had even occurred.

I sat there, staring at my lonely Laker flag on the ground, just waiting to be run over by a car, or that huge blue Ford truck with the full tank of gas. I imagined jumping out of my car and running into the middle of the street before any car could run it over – it wasn't that busy of a street – but then I realized the Laker flag wasn't worth me losing my legs. So I decided to sit tight for a red light, hoping that no car would destroy the flag before then. So I sat, and I sat. The light seemed it would never change its hue. After a few moments, a car to my left started backing out of its spot. I quickly realized I was in its way and I backed up a bit to let it out. It was about that time when the light finally turned back to red. It wasn't the only thing to turn red, my face changed colors too. The car I moved for was taking longer to back up than it took me to fill up my car. My patience was draining from my body by the second. I quickly decided to ignore the backing-up car because if I focused on it any longer, the light would turn green again and my chances to pick up a non-runned over flag would be much less. So I jumped out of my car and ran to the side walk. I stopped myself from running into the middle of the street until the approaching car saw me and knew to stop earlier. She did, and I proceeded to the street. I bent over, picked up the flag, and turned around to walk back to my car. I quickly inspected the flag, it looked unharmed. My happiness was fully restored, until of course I looked up from the flag.

As soon as I looked up, the only thing I saw in front of me was my big red Civic, slowly creeping down the decline of the parking lot and into the street. I was in shock. I thought to myself, what the hell is going on?! How is this car moving on its own?! I thought, should I stand in front of it and stop it? Will I be able to over-power a moving car, a moving car that now has a full tank of gas? Or will my feet get caught underneath the car and would it then drive right over me? But while I was thinking all of these thoughts, I decided I've thought enough thoughts for today and decided I should stop thinking. I decided this final thought of mine was correct and so I acted without thinking: I ran forward, quickly pulled the door open, and jumped into the seat landing on the brake. My car was half way down the parking lot's exit when I did so, blocking the sidewalk when I stopped it. If I had locked my car like I normally did when I left my car, I probably would have been up to my neck in insurance papers right about now. But because I was in such a hurry, my genius mind forgot to lock the door, for the same reason it forgot to pull up the parking brake, because I wanted that Laker flag. But all's well that ends well, I guess, and my day ended relatively well. I completed my Astronomy class, I had a full tank of gas, I tried to help a pretty lady, and I rescued my Laker flag from a horrible, gruesome death. My day ended well.

So what's the moral of the story? Is it, no matter how much pressure you are under, you should always keep a level head and think about your action's consequences? Or, don't risk your life on small matters like a replaceable flag? Or perhaps, always be aware of your surroundings so you don't forget that you have a flag clipped to your window? Nope, the moral of the story is, if you see a pretty lady, run like hell in the other direction because they only equate to trouble. It's my mantra! So I hope this story has fueled the Laker fire inside of you, or if that's a Celtic fire inside you, I hope it comes outside of you and you burn up and die. If this story did not get you amped for tonight's game, turn on the TV dammit, everyone's talking about the Lakers! Tonight's gonna be the start of one of the greatest two week stretches of the year! Get ready!! Lakers in 5!! GO LAKERS!!!