By Tagg Friday, Laker Fan

In their first appearance with newly acquired center Dwight Howard, my Los Angeles Lakers suffered a disappointing defeat at the hands of the Sacramento Kings.. Since I’m a Laker fan, the loss dealt me a crushing blow. I mean, come on, they’re my team! Ugh!

I was so miffed by the final score that I slammed a door. And when my friend J.J. posted a Facebook status saying, “Kings rule!” I almost commented on it, saying “NOT.” Let’s get one thing straight, though. Am I upset about the game? Of course. But is it going to keep me from proudly wearing purple and gold on campus? Not even close!

If I didn’t wear my authentic Steve Nash jersey to school the day after a game, I’d be what the sports world calls a “fair-weather fan.”

Fair-weather fans don’t support a team when it’s losing, but as soon as it starts winning games, they hop right on the bandwagon. Of course I’m not a fair-weather fan or a bandwagon fan or, as my wily cousin Jeff says, “completely devoid of integrity,” (whatever that means, right?) because I started rooting for the Lakers during the off-season, right around the week of August 8^th. Imagine my excitement later that same week when they acquired Dwight Howard from the Orlando Magic! No one had asked me about my support for the team before the trade, but if they had, I would’ve told them. Besides, Jeff’s a Clippers fan, and he’s probably just jealous that my Lakers get to play at the best stadium in LA, the Staples Center.

I don’t know where the Clippers play their games, but just based on the difference in price between Lakers tickets and Clippers tickets, there’s no way their stadium is as classy as Staples. When I attended the pre-season home opener there earlier this month, I stood up to cheer so many times that I wrinkled my suit jacket! It was quite a night. I’m pretty sure my Lakers won. Did you know that UCSB alumnus Greg Somogyi played for the Lakers briefly this preseason? I definitely did, and it definitely played a bigger part in me becoming a Lakers fan than any other new players on the team.

Lakers fans like me have plenty of reason to look forward to the 2012-2013 NBA season. My Lakers played the Dallas Mavericks last night, and I couldn’t catch the game because NCIS was on, but I hope they won. If they didn’t, I’ll be upset! And you know what? Jeff was probably drunk when he said that, about the integrity or whatever. He probably didn’t mean it.