The Cost of Doing Business

The Lakers won the NBA championship. Or so I read. I didn't watch it. I don't think I've watched an NBA game since Reggie Miller played. But I think the news source was fairly reliable... my MSN homepage. They usually know what they're talking about.

I also heard another incidental piece of news on the same topic today. It's not like I go searching this stuff out. Really, I'm not a big NBA fan. This time the source was Fox News. I was in the break room at work, waiting patiently while the microwave was baking my potato for lunch. And the television was blaring a news story about all the riots going on after the victory.

Okay, first of all, what's the point of the riots? Is it just too much alcohol? I can't believe they have a truly violent fan base. But I simply do not understand the need for celebrating to lead to rioting. Get a life, people. Find something 'real' to get that passionate about. But that's not my point with this post.

You may have read in other newsworthy articles that California is struggling to maintain some semblance of a budget. They can't really afford to do 'business as usual'. There's NO WAY they can afford to clean up after the riotous parties that occurred over the weekend. What's more, they have no idea how they're going to pay for a victory parade.

So, the Lakers are going to foot the bill themselves. California can't afford it, but the Los Angeles Lakers organization has more than enough money to host their own parade. If you think you deserve a parade and no one else is going to throw one for you, just do it yourself. So, that's what's going to happen.

I wonder if Governor Schwarzenegger intends to hold the Lakers financially responsible for cleaning up after their fans and paying for the security necessary to get things back under control. Not too much to ask, if you ask me.

But nobody asked me.