Gladiators and Fans

Is it really all about celebrity?

Of course it is.

I know that in Los Angeles, the culture of the Lakers is all around the celebrities who go to the game. I don't know when it started, if it's anything new or if it's something that came about in this post-Jordan era celeb culture in the NBA when it's more about the flashy name on the court than about the teamwork it takes to win a game.

(Too bad that the Lakers have figured out that it takes teamwork to win games. Who the hell is Shannon Brown anyway?)

Quite frankly, I don't give two shits who goes to a Laker game. Last night at the Staples Center, the whole arena apparently cheered ... Jack Nicholson ... who had a birthday. So. What. Really, I mean, come on people. It's bad enough that since the dawn of time (well, dawn of the Roman Era) athletes have been nothing but servants to our will, but to take away from their glory moments by focusing on celebrity? Seriously, people. Seriously.

Humans have always had a culture of celebrity. It's who we are. We look to the charismatic people who are comfortable in the limelight because so many of us are terrified of it. We want to see faces we recognize in a scary and uncomfortable crowd. We fall in love with the image of these people we see in the media because it gives us peace at night. It goes hand in hand with how we treat our gladiator athletes. And just like when the crowd cheered the Emperor at the Gladiator matches do we now crane our necks to catch a glimpse of Justin and Jessica and Dustin and of course ... Jack. And just like we treated the athletes then, the Gladiators of today are just as susceptible to take the fall. After all, look at Carlos Boozer. The great rebounder and scorer is apparently to blame for all the Jazz ills. Translation: the Jazz and the fans don't have an answer for the struggles of the season so it has to be someone's fault. Let's throw our hero to the lions and raise a new one up on our shoulders. All Hail Deron ... until he has a bad game, or misses a key basket.

I really wish I could say that the culture of celebrity and the harsh truth about how we treat our athletes was a symptom of the problems in American culture and one of the reasons we need to shape up. But, it's always been this way. And, if you think we've got it bad, head across the pond or down south. To us, it's a basketball game or a football game. To them ... it's a part of their genetic makeup. The States haven't been around long enough for us to have sport as a true part of our heritage. I wish I could say that our need to see Jack Nicholson at a Lakers game was just a passing fad. And I wish, I could say that I really cared about seeing Jack at a game. But I don't. I care about the perfection in a shot, the way the point guard runs down the court, and how the power forward takes the charge while driving to the basket. I care about the way the net sounds when the ball swishes through. I care about the spark not only in the player's eyes when they do something right but the spark I feel as well. I care about the rush of the play, and a hard-fought game, even if it comes up as a loss.

But we can't escape that culture of celebrity. Here I am, talking about it. But I can't help but wonder if that culture isn't what drives players now. Is it still about making that perfect shot and making your team better or is it about who gets to be on TV and in the right market?

But then I think about Lebron James and Chris Paul and Deron Williams and Dwight Howard and yes, even Kobe Bryant. And I remember that they aren't the ones making the call about the celebrity culture. It's the agents and the owners and the guys running the TV stations who dread another year of a team like Utah in the finals. The people coming to watch want celebrity and wins. They want the roar of the crowd. And even if they want more, they are shown that it's celebrity that matters. The players want to win, want to make their teams better, and care about the perfect shot and the way the ball swishes through the net. It's their Caesar overlords who care about the right way to throw someone to the lions.

I wonder though, what that does to us as sports fans. Or if it even matters.