They tell me that there is still NBA action this weekend. They tell me that the best of the best will be showcasing their immense skills in a number of different basketball related competitions. They tell me all of this and yet I still don't believe them.
I don't think that watching four guys that are generally irrelevant to their teams, stuff the ball through a hoop while doing mild acrobatics in mid-air is really all that pleasing to the senses. Not after watching a hectic and fast paced first half of action. The skills competition, the Man/Lady/Child/Random Fan playing around the world game, the young stars, the all-stars, the new starts, the old stars. All kinds of stars come out for this glorified Hedonism weekend of debauchery. This is the next best thing to Mardi Gras and closing quick.
The point being that I'm a little lost this weekend when the only professional sport I can watch is hockey. Don't get me wrong, I love me some Sharks, but it's hard for me to sit and watch a 4-1 game between Buffalo and Carolina. I'm not fully involved in college basketball for another couple of weeks, and they haven't yet started playing spring training games.
Maybe I should get out and do something now that the weather seems to be cooperating to the fullest? I could go hit the links since I haven't played a round in quite a while. Take the wife and dog out to the beach and enjoy the salty waves. I mean sure, that all sounds nice and rosy, but I'm not your average sports fan. I'm a junkie. My name is Dan The Pundit and I am a sportaholic.
I'm sure I'll find a way to muddle through the next few days while the Not Ballin Atalliation takes a union mandated vacation. Oh yeah, they're checking out Monday too. Great, now that means that I have no reason not to tell the wife I'm not watching The Bachelor.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
I've often heard, especially in movies, that when a person has been abused mentally and emotionally so much that in order to survive they "go away" to a special place in their mind. This helps them to block out reality and also to forget about what deep down they know to be the absolute truth. Welcome to the life of a Golden State Warrior fan.
If you've been following this team for any number of years like I have (I predate Run TMC) it can be hard not to "go away" from year to year because this team lays the emotional pain and betrayal on you like no other. I my over 25 years of fandom for the team from Oakland, there has not ever been a season in which I thought to myself, "Hmm, I think this could be the year." This brings me to my point.
The Warriors as currently constructed are never going to win anything of value. Individuals may win an award here or there, and they are always fully featured at the dais at the annual Lottery. If this team is ever going to make an attempt to be good, now is the time to strike. New owner Joe Lacob is almost salivating at the prospect of luring a big time player to come to the bay area. He's made comments for months now that the team was going to make some "big moves". Lacob also is said to have his heart set on Dwight Howard and is willing to move quite a bit of the current roster to do so, with or without any type of guarantee that Howard would stay long term.
Monta Ellis is the best player on the team, but it seems like David Lee has been the better player consistently this season. I'm at the point where just about anyone on this roster can be had for a price. The only guy I'm absolutely intrigued with is Jerry West's handpicked boy Klay Thompson. To me he should be untouchable. Even for Superman. The fans that support the Warriors are the best fans in basketball in my opinion. Why shouldn't they get to see a team that can be constructed the right way? A team that is smart with the money but not cheap.
The hiring of Jerry West is already paying dividends as he was the chief supporter of selecting Thompson with the 11th pick in last year’s draft. If they can keep making good draft picks and start to get even a trickle of free agent interest then these Warriors might give their fans what they've so long been deserving of. A team that has a chance to win.
If you've been following this team for any number of years like I have (I predate Run TMC) it can be hard not to "go away" from year to year because this team lays the emotional pain and betrayal on you like no other. I my over 25 years of fandom for the team from Oakland, there has not ever been a season in which I thought to myself, "Hmm, I think this could be the year." This brings me to my point.
The Warriors as currently constructed are never going to win anything of value. Individuals may win an award here or there, and they are always fully featured at the dais at the annual Lottery. If this team is ever going to make an attempt to be good, now is the time to strike. New owner Joe Lacob is almost salivating at the prospect of luring a big time player to come to the bay area. He's made comments for months now that the team was going to make some "big moves". Lacob also is said to have his heart set on Dwight Howard and is willing to move quite a bit of the current roster to do so, with or without any type of guarantee that Howard would stay long term.
Monta Ellis is the best player on the team, but it seems like David Lee has been the better player consistently this season. I'm at the point where just about anyone on this roster can be had for a price. The only guy I'm absolutely intrigued with is Jerry West's handpicked boy Klay Thompson. To me he should be untouchable. Even for Superman. The fans that support the Warriors are the best fans in basketball in my opinion. Why shouldn't they get to see a team that can be constructed the right way? A team that is smart with the money but not cheap.
The hiring of Jerry West is already paying dividends as he was the chief supporter of selecting Thompson with the 11th pick in last year’s draft. If they can keep making good draft picks and start to get even a trickle of free agent interest then these Warriors might give their fans what they've so long been deserving of. A team that has a chance to win.
Friday, February 10, 2012
It was the summer of 1992 I was 20 years old living at home
with my parents, unemployed, and hanging out with the soon to be father in law
to my best friend who was at least 60 at the time. My friend was unemployed and
his father in law was on disability so we were all hanging out in his garage
shooting darts at 8:30 in the morning.
We decided to go to breakfast and while we were eating I was
reading the sports page and it said "Tickets still available for today's
A's playoff game against the Toronto Blue Jays." I read this aloud and we
all looked at each other and nodded at the same time. We were going to the game.
We each had $60 in our pockets as we headed out the door and
we would be able to get there just before game time. No more than a minute
after we got out after parking the car this guy walks up to us and says
"Do you guys need tickets?"
We end up getting three tickets for face value of $40 each,
but we were sitting just a few rows up from the field in a huge playoff
game. The best thing about it was our
favorite player at the time was pitching that day, Dave Stewart.
Immediately we head to the concession area for some frosty
beverages. Today they happened to be
serving them in 16oz. plastic souvenir cups.
They had four different scenes on the cups, we were hooked and we would
as the ads say "collect them all".
It was mid-October mind you, but this was California and it
had to be at least 80 plus degrees that day.
We take our seats and we're right above the A's dugout about 15 rows
up. These seats were sweet. By the second inning we were starting on our
final souvenir cup and feeling pretty good.
The next thing you know our shirts are off and tied around
our heads like a couple of pirates looking for some long lost booty. Stewart gets the last out of the third inning
and as he walks off the field I shout as loud as I can
"STEEEEEEWWWWWW!" My friend
quickly caught on and before he entered the dugout he had a two man serenade of
"STEEEWWWW".
In between innings my friend tells me he needs to make an
important phone call so we head over to the pay phone. (No we didn't have cell phones back then in
the Stone Age, we had pagers OK) He
calls his 7 months pregnant wife to be to tell her that no he's not looking for
a job, he's actually with her father and his best friend getting drunk at the
A's game and he won't be home until late and come somebody pick her up from
work.
Needless to say the cost to this day for him would be far
greater than financial. So that is when
we decided to go at this with all the gusto we could muster. Since he was going to die when he got home
anyway, he might as well go out with a bang. Somehow, some way, we were going
to lead this crowd in the "STEW" chant.
The beers continued flowing and at this point they were
going down like water. We were short on
money but remember this was '92 and beer didn't cost an arm and a leg, just an
arm. The fourth inning comes and the
cups keep stacking. Last out is recorded
and here it comes again "STEEEEWWWWW" and then to our surprise we
hear the chant coming from a few section over near left field. So we did it even louder. We weren't sure why at the time other people
would follow the lead of a couple of drunken kids with their shirts tied around
their head and beer cups stacked six high, but they did.
By the seventh inning we had gotten as far as seven souvenir
cups and our money ran out. When the
last out was recorded you could tell that this phenomenon was growing as you
could hear more and more people joining the chant. It was exhilarating. Maybe it was because we were drunker than
frat boys on a Saturday night, or maybe it was because 50,000 people give or
take, were doing something that we had started.
They were following our lead.
The eighth inning it was getting louder still and you could
see Stewart as he was walking into the dugout.
Normally he would keep his head down and have complete concentration,
but on this day he was so taken that he was looking up into the crowd. He seemed to be awed or inspired or both at
the fact that all of these people were cheering his name.
The A's won the game and Stewart finished it off with a
complete game. When the team was
celebrating the win in the middle of the diamond that chant was almost
deafening "STEEEEEEEWWWWWWWW"
"STEEEEEEWWWWWWWW".
Unless the A's were on offense there was very little actual cheering
that day, it was all a low buzz.
STEEEEEWWW.
Stewart finally walked off the field and acknowledged the
crowd thanking them for propelling him to greatness on that afternoon. He was a competitor in all senses of the word
and he always gave the other team problems.
This day he tipped his cap to the 50,000 people that day that gave him
something extra. They chanted his name,
"STEEEEEWWWWWW!" and all of it was because of a couple of drunk kids
had the times of their life that day.
In case you were interested, my friend is now married to
that woman, they have two children and that son of his that she was carrying
back then just recently turned 19.
Here's hoping he can make his way to the Coliseum for a mid-week playoff
game sometime.
with my parents, unemployed, and hanging out with the soon to be father in law
to my best friend who was at least 60 at the time. My friend was unemployed and
his father in law was on disability so we were all hanging out in his garage
shooting darts at 8:30 in the morning.
We decided to go to breakfast and while we were eating I was
reading the sports page and it said "Tickets still available for today's
A's playoff game against the Toronto Blue Jays." I read this aloud and we
all looked at each other and nodded at the same time. We were going to the game.
We each had $60 in our pockets as we headed out the door and
we would be able to get there just before game time. No more than a minute
after we got out after parking the car this guy walks up to us and says
"Do you guys need tickets?"
We end up getting three tickets for face value of $40 each,
but we were sitting just a few rows up from the field in a huge playoff
game. The best thing about it was our
favorite player at the time was pitching that day, Dave Stewart.
Immediately we head to the concession area for some frosty
beverages. Today they happened to be
serving them in 16oz. plastic souvenir cups.
They had four different scenes on the cups, we were hooked and we would
as the ads say "collect them all".
It was mid-October mind you, but this was California and it
had to be at least 80 plus degrees that day.
We take our seats and we're right above the A's dugout about 15 rows
up. These seats were sweet. By the second inning we were starting on our
final souvenir cup and feeling pretty good.
The next thing you know our shirts are off and tied around
our heads like a couple of pirates looking for some long lost booty. Stewart gets the last out of the third inning
and as he walks off the field I shout as loud as I can
"STEEEEEEWWWWWW!" My friend
quickly caught on and before he entered the dugout he had a two man serenade of
"STEEEWWWW".
In between innings my friend tells me he needs to make an
important phone call so we head over to the pay phone. (No we didn't have cell phones back then in
the Stone Age, we had pagers OK) He
calls his 7 months pregnant wife to be to tell her that no he's not looking for
a job, he's actually with her father and his best friend getting drunk at the
A's game and he won't be home until late and come somebody pick her up from
work.
Needless to say the cost to this day for him would be far
greater than financial. So that is when
we decided to go at this with all the gusto we could muster. Since he was going to die when he got home
anyway, he might as well go out with a bang. Somehow, some way, we were going
to lead this crowd in the "STEW" chant.
The beers continued flowing and at this point they were
going down like water. We were short on
money but remember this was '92 and beer didn't cost an arm and a leg, just an
arm. The fourth inning comes and the
cups keep stacking. Last out is recorded
and here it comes again "STEEEEWWWWW" and then to our surprise we
hear the chant coming from a few section over near left field. So we did it even louder. We weren't sure why at the time other people
would follow the lead of a couple of drunken kids with their shirts tied around
their head and beer cups stacked six high, but they did.
By the seventh inning we had gotten as far as seven souvenir
cups and our money ran out. When the
last out was recorded you could tell that this phenomenon was growing as you
could hear more and more people joining the chant. It was exhilarating. Maybe it was because we were drunker than
frat boys on a Saturday night, or maybe it was because 50,000 people give or
take, were doing something that we had started.
They were following our lead.
The eighth inning it was getting louder still and you could
see Stewart as he was walking into the dugout.
Normally he would keep his head down and have complete concentration,
but on this day he was so taken that he was looking up into the crowd. He seemed to be awed or inspired or both at
the fact that all of these people were cheering his name.
The A's won the game and Stewart finished it off with a
complete game. When the team was
celebrating the win in the middle of the diamond that chant was almost
deafening "STEEEEEEEWWWWWWWW"
"STEEEEEEWWWWWWWW".
Unless the A's were on offense there was very little actual cheering
that day, it was all a low buzz.
STEEEEEWWW.
Stewart finally walked off the field and acknowledged the
crowd thanking them for propelling him to greatness on that afternoon. He was a competitor in all senses of the word
and he always gave the other team problems.
This day he tipped his cap to the 50,000 people that day that gave him
something extra. They chanted his name,
"STEEEEEWWWWWW!" and all of it was because of a couple of drunk kids
had the times of their life that day.
In case you were interested, my friend is now married to
that woman, they have two children and that son of his that she was carrying
back then just recently turned 19.
Here's hoping he can make his way to the Coliseum for a mid-week playoff
game sometime.
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