When a path has no heart, leave it.
~Carlos Castaneda

A brief history of my love/hate relationship with basketball:

I was born and raised a New England fan, especially when it came to the Red Sox and the Patriots. I stood by my grandfather and cheered like most of Red Sox Nation through the bad years. He waited 80 years to see the Red Sox win a title and died the year before they did it. I like to think he pulled some strings up there for the Sox.

My family however, wasn't that into basketball for whatever reason and so I didn't really start watching the game until I moved to Minnesota in high school. I spent many years watching Garnett struggle to carry his entire Timberwolves team.

Then one day, I ate some mushrooms and went to a high school basketball game. All I could hear were the stop and go squeaks from the sneakers and it traumatized me from the game for quite some time. For years I just couldn't bring myself to watch basketball; the only thing I could focus on was that dreadful sound.

In 1999 I moved to Los Angeles and got over the basketball flashback syndrome. Because this was where I started watching the game again, and L.A. was my new home, I became a dreaded Lakers fan. And because I consider myself to be a devoted fan once I have chosen a team, even when I moved back East for 6 six years, (and despite protests from friends and family and the fact that I was cheering for the Sox and the Pats), I still maintained my Laker loyalty.

When Boston got Garnett at the beginning of the season, I called that they would win the championship. And although it was a tough decision for me because something just didn't feel right, I still stood by the Lakers.

Until last night.

When I was getting ready to go over to my friend's house to watch the game (he and his whole family are born and raised Los Angelans and obviously die-hard Lakers fans) I kept putting on my Red Sox hat and then taking it off.

What was going on with me? Deep inside my heart I felt like a traitor for even rooting for the Lakers and knew that my actions were showing me who I truly wanted to win.

But I left my Red Sox hat behind and stayed determined to cheer for who I thought was my team, ignoring the cries of my heart. By the second quarter of the game, after a couple of beers and shot of Patron, my true colors started to show. And they were green.

"This is why I hate the Lakers and their fans! This is why you don't deserve to win. It's not even the 3rd quarter and you and your team have already collectively thrown in the towel! You might as well be cheering for the Celtics right now!" I found myself yelling at the people around me. Like their primadonna team, they had already given up.

I wasn't angry at them though, I was angry at myself.

"And this is why I love New England!" I yelled. "Because they never give up! Never give up! Never ever, ever, ever, ever give up! Even when the odds are against you. Even when you don't have the advantage. Especially when you are losing."

The Lakers however, looked defeated in the 2 quarter. And that's exactly why they were. Because losing is a mentality. And the Lakers are sore losers. Crybaby, whiny, bad sportsman. They start losing the game and just throw in the towel--so here comes the inevitable blowout. The Celtics fought hard until the last play and they were winning by 30. Because unlike the Lakers, who are all ego and all talk, the Celtics have heart.

When a path has no heart, leave it. Immediately. Don't hesitate and don't look back. So right there and then, I abandoned ship and returned to my roots.

I could no longer help but cheer them on. As they continued to roll over the Lakers, my heart was screaming and despite the fact that I was surrounded by bored, sleeping Lakers fans--the hoots, hollers and claps came bursting forth. It felt good. Most importantly, it felt right.

It's hard when you move all the time. You become like a ship with no anchor in a sea of options. And although I am ashamed for ever even thinking I could root for any team other than a New England team, I learned a valuable lesson: home is truly where the heart is. And although I might be based out in LaLa Land, my heart will always be in New England.