‘Clipper Darrell’ cheers on a winning team
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The poor dude finally picked a winner.
‘Clipper Darrell,’ as he’s fondly known throughout Clipper Nation, is here at Pauley Pavilion this afternoon rooting on Huntington Beach Ocean View High during its Southern California Division III boys’ basketball championship against North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake.
He’s impossible to miss. His real name is Darrell Bailey, and he’s the guy always lilting from one side to the other and shouting, ‘Let’s go Clippers!’ at Staples Center. Here, the chant has become, ‘Let’s go Seahawks!’
Bailey is friends with Ocean View sophomore guard Billy Keller’s parents, who are Clippers season ticketholders. Having watched Bailey in action at a handful of Clippers games, I had to ask: What’s it like to finally cheer for a winning team?
‘That hurts,’ said Bailey, smiling broadly. Ocean View is beating Harvard Westlake, 53-37, midway through the third quarter.
Bailey, 41, said the last Clippers game he attended was Tuesday, against Cleveland, his 340th consecutive home game. ‘I don’t miss any,’ he said.
How did he get his start? He said he was once shown dancing on the Jumbotron and the crowd loved it so much he decided to make it a regular routine. But isn’t it hard rooting for the Clippers?
‘Clipper Nation is a family, so we all have fun together,’ said Bailey, who predicted the Clippers could be back in playoff contention by next season.
Good luck with that.
-- Ben Bolch