A Husker For A Day

I hate the Lakers.

Ohio State and St. Louis Cardinals. Those are about the only two teams on earth I enjoy watching lose more than the Lake Show.

I’ve never been a fan, but since I’ve lived in LA, I’ve come to despise them (and usually their fair-weather fans) even more.

But enough back story. Here’s a new tale…

So my buddy MJ and I were invited to the Lakers/Twolves game on Friday night by Access Hollywood host Tony Potts.

Tony took MJ and I to the game, along with Wally, one of the Access cameramen. Primo seats. You know, the ones that come with your own waiter. Sick.

Yes, the Twolves are quite possibly the worst team in the NBA, but it was still a blast. They actually gave the Lakers a run for their money, which I was silently enjoying. (Hey, you can’t piss off the guy who paid for the tickets by rooting against his team, right?)

But the Lakers prevailed, even earning all in attendance two free tacos from Jack In The Box. Mmmmm, greasy fake meat tacos.

Looking forward to redeeming that one.

But if you’ve come this far, unless you live in LA, you’re still wondering who the hell is in that photo with me … (I’m assuming you’ve guessed the other kid is MJ) but who’s the dude in the suit?

Well, that would be Stu Lantz.

Who?

Wait, you’ve never heard of Stu Lantz?

Drafted with the first pick in the third round of the 1968 NBA draft by the-then San Diego Rockets. Spent a couple years with the Pistons, New Orleans Jazz and eventually the Lakers in the 70s.

He’s been the Lakers color man since 1987 (yes, that’s a 20-year span) and was the man who had the honor of sitting next to the late, great Chick Hearn for nearly two decades.

No? Still nothin’? Well, it doesn’t matter. Because the other thing you probably didn’t know about good ol’ Stu until now was he also played hoops at the University of Nebraska.

Of course, I didn’t know this either until several minutes after last night’s game.

As MJ and I are standing in an essentially empty Staples Center, with security guards shooing everyone out (Tony and Wally left at the final buzzer), Stu is about 10 feet in front of us taping his post-game wrap up for the local TV channel.

“We should ask Stu to take a picture with us,” MJ suggests. “How do we get his attention? I wish I knew what school he went to.”

Enter Eric and his Blackberry.

Within seconds, I’ve Googled Stu to see where he went to school and just as the camera is shutting off, the search results come up and reveal he’s a Husker.

That’s it. There’s our in.

“Go Huskers!” we shout from above. (At this point, we’re separated from Stu by only the barrier separating the sections).

Stu looks up and smiles. I mean, hey it’s not everyday you run into what he didn’t know at the time were two kids pretending to be fellow Nebraska alumni.

“Go Huskers,” he replies.

“Stu, can we get a picture?” MJ (who if you know MJ ain’t shy about this kind of thing) asks.

“Absolutely, come on down,” says Stu.

We both start to hop the railing when the security guard says no way. Go out and around and come down to the lower section, he says.

At this point, we are set into a booze-fueled semi-sprint back out into the concourse, past several very official security guards whose jobs are to keep fans just like us out of their sections.

But it was nothing a few “Stu invited us down” lines couldn’t cure. When you drop Stu’s name at Staples, it’s like saying, “We’re here to see Hef” at The Mansion.

We finally find our way to the lower section and run over to Stu. The dude was super cool.

“Go Big Red!” I tell him, with a handshake.

“Whatchu know about Big Red?” he grins.

“I know if we don’t start winning a few games, Callahan is going to be out on his ass,” I say, obviously referring to the awful slump Bill Callahan has led the Huskers football team into lately, which finally brings my vast knowledge of up-until-then-useless sports info into an advantageous situation

MJ hands his camera to one of Stu’s guy who snaps a photo. I hand my blackberry over to the guy and he snaps another.

We shake Stu’s hand again. I wish him a great rest of the season. And we’re on our way like two kids who just got to meet Santa for the first time.

Yes I know, it’s Stu Lantz (who you now know way more about than you likely ever wanted to). But we had left sobriety behind hours before and replaced him with a dose of tipsiness, which makes any situation a bit more interesting.

So yes, we were psyched. I woke up this morning and guess what – I was still psyched.

It was cool and frankly, I’ll probably never forget it, if for nothing more than the odd circumstances that unfolded for it to happen.

And Stu, if you’re reading this, let me just apologize for leading you astray. I actually can’t stand Bill Callahan and I enjoy watching the Huskers football team get their collective tush handed to them on a regular basis.

But one thing is for sure – you made this University of Arizona Wildcat alum-turned-temporary-Husker one happy camper.

Go Spurs… Go Wildcats and let’s hear it for the Blackberry!

Oh, and the Lakers still suck. But Stu, you’re OK by me.