Mulling the Mojo

You will note that this photo of Kobe is not from last night's game. There are certain rules of mojo that may apply. Or they may not apply. It may be bad mojo to post a photo from last night, from a series that is still going on. Or it may be good mojo. That's what makes rooting for a team so difficult. You never know what you're supposed to do.

In the first place, Plotnik didn't realize the Lakers were playing at 6PM, so when he tuned in, an hour later, the game was already tied at 33-33. So it was Plotnik's fault that the Lakers had been outplayed by San Antonio. At halftime the Spurs were 10 points ahead and Plotnik hurried upstairs to bbq some fish for dinner (some fish come from lakes. Lakers. Get it?).

He and Duck ate in a hurry and Plottie ran downstairs: the Lakers were now down by 20. (20. OK, stop watching for 20 minutes.)

So he ran upstairs, told Duck the Lakers were getting smeared, and stopped to wash the dishes and clean up the kitchen.

You never know what will break the spell. Omens are hard to read. What did it this time was cleaning up the kitchen, but that might not help next time. It may have had something to do with the number 20. Or not. Just writing this entry today may be a jinx. Or it may be a boon. How the Hell can you ever be sure?

What is clear, however, is that by the time Plotnik got back downstairs to the TV the San Antonio lead was down to 12, and not too long after that it was only 5, and then the Lakers tied it up, and then they went ahead and then the game was over and it was Victory for the Good Guys.

Right around the same time the Lakers took the lead, the Plotzers, whose game Plottie was monitoring on the computer, scored four unearned runs and went on to defeat the Reds. It is obvious that something happened in the Universe to spark both a Laker and Plotzer victory. The problem is that something is unreadable, unknowable, unfathomable. It can never be counted on.

And yet, you can't win without it. So how do you determine which spell is active and which is inactive? Thinking a little more, Plotnik may have figured it out. It could have been the dryer.

He felt it at the time. When the dryer buzzer went off and Ducknik called out "Honey can you get that, please?" Plotnik knew enough to shout "No!" He knew if he had gotten up from his chair, to turn off the dryer, the Lakers' run would be over (and possibly the same for the Plotzers; this is less clear).

So he stayed put. Games over. Clothes dry. He got lucky.

Plotnik knows he could screw it up completely next time. Damn, this is hard work.