Traveling with the Lakers

OK, so maybe I'm exaggerating a bit. We didn't actually travel with the Lakers. But the team did play an exhibition game in Las Vegas last week and Tim’s station did broadcast its pre-game shows from there, so he had to go, too, to run the radio equipment. Plus there was the promise of attending a party with the team, so I tagged along.

Even though I’m not a big fan of today’s Las Vegas (we prefer the glory days when Frank and Dino ruled The Strip), we did manage to have fun. We stayed at the Luxor (you know, the giant glass pyramid that shoots a blue beam of light from its pointy top every night), because that’s where the shows were being broadcast. The hotel is now 15 years old and well past its prime, by Vegas standards. Still, our room (a huge 18th-floor suite the size of our house!) was comp’d because Tim was on the job, so who’s complaining.

We don’t gamble, but did wander around the casino in awe, ogling all the wacky new slot machine games: I Dream of Jeanie, That Girl, and even my beloved Star Trek, which I would have played except it was too damn complicated. I also schlepped next door to the Excalibur in hopes of finding some Arthurian artifact to admire, but the entire place was horrible—cliched, schlocky and stinking of cigarettes, like all the other casinos in Vegas. If there was a real King Arthur, I'm sure he’d be spinning in his grave at the thought.

The highlight of the trip was visiting the Atomic Testing Museum, a fascinating little place chockfull of exhibits about the nuclear bomb tests that took place in the Nevada desert in the 1950s/60s. My fave was the display of cereal boxes, comicbooks, etc., celebrating the “atomic age” of the period. I also loved the Ground Zero Theater, which looks like the inside of a bomb shelter. I won’t say more, in case you ever go, but be prepared to be “blown away!” Tim was working, so I went to the museum with my cousin Linda (yes, she of the famous Awkward Family Vacation photo), who now lives in the Vegas area. It was great catching up with her again.

Meanwhile, back at the Luxor, Tim and I hurriedly got ready for the big Laker party at the Mirage. The invitation said to dress “business casual,” so I wore my longish black “Lucy dress” with white polka dots. The party was very crowded with mostly male radio sponsors and women wearing short, slinky cocktail dresses. (We apparently were the only ones who got the memo about “business casual” attire!) We saved our appetites for what we thought would be a big spread, but instead were greeted by pasta, chicken wings and tiny wrapped hot dogs. Luckily it was impossible to hear my stomach growling for all the loud, pounding rap music being blasted at our heads. Yikes, I felt old!

After mingling a bit, we decided to stand over to the side so we could watch the crowd. Occasionally we’d see a tall head emerge from the rest and Tim would tell me which Laker it belonged to.

We were just about ready to leave, when suddenly there was a hubbub to our right. “The Laker coach is standing right behind me!” Tim whispered.

Sure enough, not only was Phil Jackson joining the party, but so were several Lakers, including Ron Artest, one of the most popular players on the team. At first, no one noticed them, but soon we were surrounded as people started madly taking pictures. No doubt we’re probably on lots of people’s Facebook pages this week!

Starving, we left in search of food as soon as the flurry died down. Our great Laker adventure was now officially over.

We drove back to L.A. the next day.


Cute dress, but not cocktail attire!

Lakers Parade

In case you don’t follow basketball: the Lakers won the championship Thursday night in a nail-biting (even by my non-fan standards) come-from-behind game. Life has now returned to normal; but first, Tim had to help set-up a remote broadcast from the victory parade through downtown L.A. yesterday morning. He got up at 4:30AM to be there by 5:30AM. I quickly fell back to sleep after he kissed me good-bye. The phone rang two hours later. No surprise: it was Tim.

“Quick! Put on the TV, channel 692. I think I’m on camera!” he whispered excitedly.

I ran to the living room and turned on the satellite. Sure enough, there was my husband walking behind the announcers, who were still deconstructing the game four days later. I burst out laughing and called his cell.

“You’re sticking out like a sore thumb in your white t-shirt!” I exclaimed. “What are you doing?”

“Trying to get out of the way,” he explained. “The producer is madly waving me out of here.”

But there he was again, five minutes later, pretending to lay down some extension cords. Tim never met a TV camera he didn’t like. This went on for several minutes until the phone rang once more.

“Start the tivo so I can see myself when I get home!” he said. And so I hit the record button and headed toward the shower.

Here are a couple of photos I took off the TV. Can you spot the interloper pretending to work behind the announcers?







Oh yeah, the parade was a big success and the broadcast went off without a hitch. Altogether a banner day for my husband.

Lakers Press Pass

One of the best reasons to live in Los Angeles is the plethora of renowned sports teams within the city limits: professional, college and (I’m guessing) amateur as well. This is especially important to Tim. But even I—who has no time to follow one team let alone several—would hate to live in a town that doesn’t offer year-round sports. Right now, the focus is on the Lakers as they play Boston for the national basketball championship. Tim’s radio station broadcasts the Lakers, so not only has he been able to see some games in-person, he’s also seen many of the celebrity fans who sit courtside during those games. I asked him to write a blog entry about his most recent Laker adventures. Here’s what he had to say:

I work at the local station that carries the Lakers. All season I've had a press pass that would allow me to go to any of the games. I only started using it once the playoffs began. Since I don’t have a specific function for the broadcast, there is no assigned seat in the arena for me. So, like all the other orphans (radio stringers, foreign journos, hangers-on) I head up, way up, to what's called the “hockey press box.” It's higher up than the cheapest seats in the last row of the arena. At least we get to sit between the baskets. There’s plenty of room to stretch out and read the newspaper, plus there’s a counter to lean on if I’m inclined to watch the game. The best part is an uncrowded restroom with no lines.

My first game was amazing. During halftime one of our broadcasters told me to go with him downstairs. We first went to the Chick Hearn Media Room, where I saw TJ Simers & Bill Plashke from the L.A. Times and many of the TV sports guys from the local L.A. stations. He then took me out on the floor of the arena. The press pass was like a golden key; you waved it and people said, “Come on in!” We walked by Jack Nicholson, Dyan Cannon and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

“There’s Andy Garcia,” I said to myself. “And Teri Hatcher!” I also saw Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg. My head was spinning, but I, of course, played it cool like the SoCal native I am.

I called Cindy from the floor and told her everybody I'd seen. She only cared about Andy Garcia.

Back to the media room for one last run through, then up to the hockey press box for the second half. I stopped to get a beer on the way back. Unfortunately, the press pass gets you nothing at the concession stand but a blank stare and a cashier saying, “One beer, $12.”

To our radio station's delight, the Lakers made it to the NBA finals. Suddenly my all-access pass was worthless.

“Only the NBA can issue credentials for the finals,” I was told. “Sorry!”

This was particularly distressing because the Lakers are playing their longtime rivals, the Boston Celtics. There had to be something I could do . . .

My boss came to the rescue. He requested passes in case there was some glitch with the broadcast that we needed to fix. The team has played 41 home games this season, plus the first 3 rounds of the playoffs, and not once have we needed to rush over and save the day with technical daring-do. But it does allow me to roam up above the 300 level and find a place to sit. I passed on the first game and set my sights on Game 2 today.

During the playoffs the station does a remote broadcast before each home game. Our broadcast booth, which I usually set-up, is in front of the Staples Center, near Magic Johnson’s statue. All the swells have to pass by our location to get to their VIP entrance. I’m always surprised to see the many obviously wealthy men, middle-aged and older, bring their very beautiful daughters and, in some cases, granddaughters to enjoy the game (wink wink, nudge nudge).

The Lakers easily won Game 1 on Thursday. I'm hoping they continue their good play today. You can find me in my favorite seat at the top of the arena. I’ll be the one watching the game through binoculars.

POSTSCRIPT:

Tim just got home. The Lakers lost, but he got some good photos, including one of former Laker Rick Fox (handsome!), and a short movie of the action (click on it to make it go).