like everyone else i have those clipper moments, the mocking, snickering, pitying looks you get from others, but i want to write about that glorious night not so long ago when i attended the clippers playoff game in 2006 against the nuggets. there was a camraderie and good will among all the long suffering fans as we filed through the turnstiles.  i had on my clippers #7 lamar odom jersey just so i wouldn't be mistaken for someone who hadn't earned this night. the atmosphere was electric unlike any other clipper game i have ever attended. so this is what it's like to be a winner i thought. the game was great. the crowd was wild. the clippers were winning. i high fived and hugged my girlfriend as the last seconds ticked away. the clock read 00 and it was done. the first playoff victory in franchise history. the start of a new era. and then the fireworks went off in staples center. no not real fireworks. no not confetti falling from the ceiling. no not balloons or streamers.  FRICKING SCOREBOARD FIREWORKS.

apparently the donald didn't want to spend the cash on the paper streamers and clean up crews required of a true celebration. and i thought yes this is what it is to be a clippers fan. even when you are at the top, somehow it feels like the bottom.