…and the Lakers, and I can’t say that I blame you.  My interest in them borders on the obsessive at times (i.e. most of the time).  However, I have explained in previous posts that Jeremy is my alter ego, and since one of my favorite subjects is me, it only makes sense that I would find him to be the subject of much rumination.

Also, I find that Jeremy is often on the surface of my thoughts, much like the thin coating of the first snow of winter on my windshield, and that it often takes clearing off the snow to get to the feelings that lie beneath. (Poetic, huh?)  So lately I’ve decided to move the deeper stuff to the top of the post to draw in you non-NBA types.  Let’s see if that works…

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Jeremy & the Lakers break free!

After a miserable 0-5 start to their season, the Lakers finally got their first win, beating a solid (3-3) Charlotte Hornets team by fifteen points after falling behind by nine in the first half.  The game started with more of Kobe’s “me-me-me” antics, which was discouraging, but somehow he and the team were able to dig out of the pit and start to play team basketball.  The play that exemplified their revamped approach to me was when Kobe was tied up in double coverage, fighting to keep possession, and then fired a two-handed soccer style throw-in crosscourt to an open Jeremy Lin, who proceeded to drain a three pointer!  Several causes for happiness wrapped up (with a ribbon) in one great play!

Lin and Kobe scored 21 points each, Jeremy with 7 assists and Kobe with 4. Both contributed healthy numbers of rebounds as well.  Paul Greenberg, if the Lakers can beat a team armed with Kemba Walker, Big Al Jefferson, and Lance Stephenson so handily, what other teams might they be able to handle?

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Non-NBA insights for the day…

…are not forthcoming at this time. (Bait and switch, you say?)  Perhaps they will surface later this evening.  In the meantime, I am going to watch my recording of the second half of yesterday’s game.

By the way, Jonny is coming up tonight from NYC, and tomorrow we are going with him and Katie to see Stevie Wonder at the “Gaahhden”(Boston Garden).   It’s called the Songs in the Key of Life tour.  At first I thought that the concert would consist only of songs from that particular album, which didn’t make much sense to me, but I’ve gradually begun to realize that all of Stevie’s songs are in the key of life.  The love of Stevie is something that I have shared with Jonny and David for over two decades.  Decades in the key of life?  Hmmm.  (Bree Belford, I didn’t put an ellipse after that last word because it would have been redundant with the repeated “m’s”. Lougical?)

I just realized the connection between Jeremy and Stevie.  Both are underdogs (of course).  I have waxed poetic about Jeremy in this respect.  Stevie transcended blindness to express his genius through his music, in the same way that Jill Kinmont transcended quadriplegia to become a gifted teacher.  Although I am not sure how much Stevie’s identity as an underdog has contributed to my appreciation of him.  I think that I would have loved his music no matter who had written and performed it, and I would guess that the same is true of my sons.

One New Year’s Eve Carol and I were attending a party at the Charles Hotel in the Squaeuhh (Harvard Square), when the three-man cover band began to play a familiar Stevie song.  With a glass of champagne in my system, I couldn’t retrieve the name of the song!  What did I do?  I called my resident Stevie expert: my song Jonny, and held up my phone to the blaring music.  “This is killing me, what is the name of this song?”  Jonny replied without hesitation “It sounds like ‘I wish’.  Of course he was right.  And wouldn’t you know, “I wish” is one of the original songs in the key of life!  So underneath the layer of snow is…my family.

Thanks for reading, friends.