Anticipation

I have a fair measure of anticipation for this afternoon's Lakers/Cavs game from Cleveland.  Watching Kobe and LeBron go head-to-head, guarding one another, battling shot for shot, is great NBA theatre.  Cleveland hasn't lost at home yet this year, and the Lakers are 5-0 on their road trip, which has included Kobe's 61 against the Knicks and the OT thriller in Boston.  The trip began with Bynum's knee injury, so for the Lakers to have come together and deliver solid performances has been encouraging.  The conventional wisdom would be for the Lakers to be low on gas, ready to pick up a loss in Cleveland and head home happy with a 5-1 trip.  Kobe will not look at it that way, though, and I think the Lakers want to make a statement by beating the two beasts of the East back-to-back on the road.  I'll say the key to the game is the secondary offense of the Cavs: if Mo Williams, Sczcerbiak and Daniel Gibson are hitting jumpers, the Lakers could be in for a long afternoon.  My heart tells me Lakers win by 4, but I wouldn't bet on it.  

I am also anticipating seeing several former co-workers this afternoon for a get-together at Trophy's.  It's kind of a weird situation...there's nothing to celebrate, and I'm not a fan of pity parties.  I do want to make sure, though, that I keep alive my connections to the building and my friends in the business.  There's little for us to say to each other, it seems.  Those who are still working, still employed, will have feelings of guilt as they are reminded of all the good people who lost their jobs capriciously.  Those who are on the outside share that same hunger behind their eyes, the hopeless feeling of being cut loose in a market which is shrinking tighter than the head of a snare drum.  The only real thing to do is marshal forces for a new venture, but this isn't the scene for strategy and serious talk.  So it's a different kind of anticipation for the Trophy's party, more like anticipating seeing your friends at a wake, and hoping the wake isn't your own.