JonahWeiland.com

Growing up, I was never much of a sports fan. I loved going to games with my Father, but I never read the sports page or cared much for the sports report on the local news – well, except for Fred Roggin’s bloopers reel. I just never got into all the minutiae of being a sports fan, despite my family having UCLA Football and Basketball season tickets for years. And if the Cincinnati Reds were in town, my father always bought tickets for those games, him being a Cincinnati native and all. But outside of going to the games, I didn’t really care.

In 1991 I was working for KWNK Radio in West Hills, CA. It was a tiny, crappy little AM station that pretty much no one listened to. It was my first real job in radio, following a non-paying gig at a cable radio station where really no one listened. KWNK was, at the time, a Clippers affiliate and part of being a Clippers affiliate meant the station got free season tickets to the game. Now, here I was, 21, in love with the bosses daughter (I really was) when one day she came in and said, “Hey, do you want to go to the Clippers game with me Friday night?” Obviously I said yes.

It was the first time I ever saw an NBA game. I don’t remember who they played as I really went to be with the girl, but I very quickly became a fan of the game. I saw Jordan play in his early years. I saw Larry Bird play some fantastic games. Magic Johnson was always great to watch. I saw some great players, but it was the underdog Clippers who I always got behind.

Since no one at the station really cared all that much about the Clippers, I ended up with the tickets more often than not. And seeing as how I was pulling down a whopping $3.35 an hour, free tickets to Clippers games were a fantastic entertainment value!

In the middle of the 1991-1992 season, management made a big change and hired Larry Brown as head coach. Suddenly, the team was on fire. Under Larry Brown’s coaching, the team was suddenly playoff bound for the first time in their Los Angeles history. It was also the first time the Clippers finished the season with a better record than their cross-town rivals, the Lakers.

That year the Clippers went to the playoffs against the Karl Malone/John Stockton led Utah Jazz. It was a five game series and Utah won the first two games. The Clippers won the first game back at home. Then the Rodney King police-beating verdict was handed down and the LA riots broke out. The Clippers home stadium at the time – the shit hole known as the Los Angeles Sports Arena – was smack dab in the middle of the riots. In fact, the National Guard used the location as their staging area.

A decision was made – the game must go on, but not in LA. The unrest was still too high and the NBA wasn’t going to put their players or fans in danger. The decision was made for the Clippers to play in the Anaheim Arena. At this point, the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim didn’t exist yet, so the next best bet was a tiny 7,000+ seat stadium adjacent to the Anaheim Convention Center. It was a tiny crap hole, but for one playoff game it was our crap hole.

Somehow we ended up with second row seats at this tiny little gym of an arena. My boss Bill and I were in attendance. We always did a lot of yelling and screaming when we’d go to the games together, but this time the players could hear us – and it almost got our asses kicked! See, there was this one moment towards the end of the game where the Clippers were on the foul line taking two shots right in front of us. I believe it was Doc Rivers, to be accurate. So, while Doc was preparing to take his free throws, Karl Malone was standing on the lane with his back to us. Bill suddenly thought it would be a good idea to stand up and yell at full volume, “Karl, you’re a fag!” Now, Karl’s a big man who doesn’t suffer fools easily and he definitely heard Bill. I was certain we were dead. My section went quiet as Karl looked over his left shoulder, looked directly at Bill and simply stuck his tongue out at him. My section erupted with laughter! From that day forward I was a die-hard fan of “The Mailman.”

So, there you go. I’ve been a Clippers fan for 15 years and all because of a girl.. I’ve stuck by them through the bad years. I’ve stuck by them through the really bad years (9 wins anyone? 9 wins one season! Sure, it was an abbreviated season due to a srike, but 9 wins?). I’ve put up with a lot of ribbing from Lakers fans. But this year — it’s totally different. The Clippers are now tied 3 – 3 with the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference Semi Finals and the Lakers are no where to be seen. Game 7 is on Monday in Phoenix. It’s going to be a major league battle. I can’t wait.

Go Clippers!

Oh, by the way, things never worked out with the girl, really. We were very close, but nothing much more than that. Her parents liked me way too much for her to be comfortable with the idea and she was stuck on an ex-boyfriend the parents hated. All a big rebellious thing. That’s OK, though. I got something out of it … Clippers tickets, you sick bastards!

Today I got a flood of comment and trackback spam on this here ol’ blog. What’s different this time is almost every bit of spam came from a different IP address. In the past, they’ve almost always been from the same IP address or the same class C (a set of 256 IP addresses). So, while I’ve banned all the IPs that posted spam today, I doubt that it’s really going to help all that much. Clealry spammers are either getting better at spoofing their addresses, or they really do have multiple open servers to work from.

If there’s anyone reading this who uses WordPress, do you have any suggestions on how to curb this a bit? Is there a plug-in that helps with this kind of stuff? This is annoying.

Not much needs to be said about this episode, beyond that it was an example of as near pefection as you can get with a series finale. So many previous storylines and themes touched upon. It really is a shame it doesn’t get to continue, but at least it’s going out on a very high note. Loved the cameo by Sorkin, too. That was fun.

I swear to God, if they ever made a novel series out of “The West Wing,” I’d buy them. Not that I necessarily think that’s a good idea, but I’m just saying.

Really looking forward to “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.” That preview they showed during “The West Wing” was the first I’ve seen anything from it. What a great cast.

For those of you who’ve fretted over not getting the chance to see “Spaced” when last it was shown on the Trio network — which 99% of the country didn’t get at the time — you’ll have another chance beginning June 23rd, according to this article. BBC America has picked up the Channel 4 UK TV show to air in America and a good choice it is.

If you’ve not seen it, you should. If you’re between the ages of 15 - 40, like geek culture, read comic books, play video games and are generally cool, then you should watch “Spaced.” It’ll make you more better than you already are.

Me. On the NYC Subway. February 26th, 2006. I rather like this pic. Photo taken by Emiliano Limon.

Oh, and fuck was it cold.

… it’s not flick someone off. You flip someone off. You know, flipping the bird? You get flipped off, not flicked off.

Some of you aren’t aware of this fact, so I figured I’d set you straight.

There’s an absolutely fascinating article at the LA Times about what a match-up between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Los Angeles Lakers, AKA the “Hallway Series,” could mean for the city of Los Angeles, especially the in transformation downtown area.

I’d agree with everything Times Staff Writer Greg Johnson (could your name be any more generic?), except this point:

As for which franchise would reap the most benefit from a Hallway Series, sports marketers agree that the Clippers, a perennial doormat, would have everything to win in a Hallway Series while the storied Laker franchise would have everything to lose.

I disagree. Let’s talk winning and loosing. If the Clippers should win, obviously it would be a huge win both historically and for the psyche of the team. But a Clippers loss – let’s not even talk about the possibility of a Lakers sweep – could demoralize the team and simply place the Clippers back to where they’ve been for so many years, a second class citizen in the shadow of the first class lady. Plus, the spotlight split wouldn’t be fair. The spotlight would fall 65-70% on the Lakers, while the Clippers would be there to play as an interesting little side story – the one about this team with the worst record in US sports history, this little baby team in the largest city in the United States. Plus, there’s the rejection a loss would bring to the growing number of Clippers fans.

Oh, the rejection would be fierce.

So, there’ you go. While I think the Clippers can play either the Lakers or the Phoenix Suns well, it’s probably true the Clippers could do better against the Lakers. For sheer amount of talent, the Clippers are loaded up with more, except of course there’s the Kobe factor. But I’m still pulling for a Phoenix win Saturday night. I want the NBA spotlight in Los Angeles on one team alone – and I want that spotlight shining brightly on the Los Angeles Clippers.