We were the champions

If you've visited my blog for any length of time at all, you know I'm a HUGE fan of the Lakers, a basketball team in the Western Conference in the U.S.  If you are new to my blog, the fact they were once the champions, but now are in the bottom of the barrel, makes no difference to me.  I will still love them forever.

This story is fairly self explanatory.  It is intended to be one shared with Erika, whose theme, "Every journal page tells a story," is for Art Journal Journey.  And since there is nothing square on the page, I'm also joining Try it on Tuesday.  I still have no way to scan photos, but tried to find some light, which today is on my dining room table.

I began by sewing some laces I dyed specifically for this spread. 

These are the colors of my beloved Lakers' uniforms.

I'm not quite sure which year this was taken, but I was either working in or visiting Los Angeles for several years in the mid to late 1980s when

the Lakers were at the top of their game.  As you can see, this was taken in LA at the Forum, their old home.

My photo was from so far away, and I didn't bring any extra lenses to the game, or I would have used my telephoto with my old SLR.  The only person I can truly make out in the photo is Kurt Rambis, who was also known as Superman because he looked a lot like Clark Kent. 

Although I know Jamaal Wilkes, James Worthy, Byron Scott, Michael Cooper, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, and A. C. Green were all on the floor, Rambis is the only one I can clearly make out. 

The word "basketball" was a plastic sticker, but I broke it as I was adding it to the lace and fabric.

Yes, indeed.  They were champions back then.

In their heyday, the Lakers were known as "Showtime," because their owner, Jerry Buss thought his newly purchased Lakers should put on a show.  He wanted to create a Hollywood atmosphere that would be similar to that culture even if it was hated by the rest of the country.  I always called them "Poetry in Motion," mainly because of their fast breaks up and down the court that were followed by gentle layups or slam dunks.

During this period, they were coached by Pat Riley who helped them win four titles in the 1980s.  I've often said that even though the Showtime Lakers were known for their offense, they won championships with their defense.

Although they will never be Showtime players again, they are still my champions.

For this spread, I began by spritzing some of my handmade shimmering mists onto a used file folder.  While the file folder was drying, I dyed two bits of lace purple and yellow.  I sewed those to a piece of my left over sun dyed fabric.  I glued the lace to the file folder, then added the real photograph I found as I was cleaning out the basement.  To that, I added the words and the three plastic embellishments.

The Lakers will always be my champions, and I have a great deal of memorabilia and many of their autographs to prove it, too.  I even have a purple and gold striped authentic NBA Lakers jacket that got moldy when the basement flooded.

Thanks for sharing these memories with me today, as I join Art Journal Journey and my anything but square Try it on Tuesday entry with my journal story about a bunch of true champions.