Letters to the Editor
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King asks
"Why do we need Jerry West to get jacked about Kobe Bryant?"
Well in that case it makes sense since he's the one who drafted him, and is understandably proud of how he's matured this season.
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Interesting stuff
As someone who grew up in the 80s, in a neutral city (Montreal) where fans were free to choose their favorite team based on factors other than geography, there most definitely was a lot of Lakers vs. Celtics razzing going on. To me that's a big part of it: Sharing that rivalry with old friends, renewing the trash talking, all that.
I agree that the series is great already without the Bird-Magic obsession, or even Wilt-Russell obsession for older fans. But for those of us who grew up in an environment of mixed allegiances, there's that extra kick that makes it even more fun.
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One other thing
I think the nostalgia fueled broadcast makes sense, and as a long time Laker fine I had no problem with it, even though my team lost most of those finals. It was game one of a series that has been hyped in every major broadcast media. So trotting out Bill Russell, Magic Johnson, old clips and other memories of those great series was fun to watch and understandable from a network and NBA perspective. Why not play up a marquee match up as much as possible before the series possibly deteriorates into either a laugher or a snoozer.
Now, if they keep running clips of the past series throughout the rest of the series, I would think I along with most fans will tire of it. We'll see how ABC plays it, but for game one, wouldn't there be disappointment if there was virtually no acknowledgement of the history between these two teams.
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Correction
long time Laker fan
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Crickets chirping at AT&T
King: no home crowd at a California sporting event ever has that near-unanimous feel of crowds in Eastern or Midwestern cities...
I watched the Giants play the Rockies last year mid-season, before the magic run. (I am a Rockies fan.) When Todd Helton drove a hard line drive for his first base hit, I stood up and cheered and I could hear crickets. The whole night I was scanning the crows for purple jerseys, and saw two. And it was a big crowd.
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Near-Unanimous: Raiders at the Net
Go to a Raiders game. Sure, there's a string of blackouts dating back to the move, which are decreasing steadily. But starting in the parking lot and moving into that stadium, you get that near-unanimous feeling.
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All this fan stuff is soooooo Pre-Post Modern!
I have lived in four great American League cities (Indians, Yanks, BoSox, Tigers), and I have lived in the boondocks, without any direct connection to any team. My fan-ness wanes and waxes depending on where I live, and on how well the teams do, and how my life goes, and the levels of the Great Lakes, and how hard the butterflies flap their wings in the Indonesian jungle.
Being a fan used to be more self-directed. For example, twenty-five years ago, a mere fan could not even buy the visiting version of the Detroit baseball cap (Orange D versus White D). One guy I knew back then got ahold of a Tigers warm-up jacket in the orange visiting configuration, and that proved he was some sort of super-fan, perhaps a demi-god.
Now, we all can buy all this stuff at great expense, and anybody can have it. The logos of the teams are as ubiquitous and as boring as auotomobile and cigarette logos.
The only cachet now is to be some sort of a meta-fan. I want a jersey that says, "St. Louis Kaufmans." I will have somebody make me a cap with a question mark on the front. And I will just wear this gear, no explanations, no apologies, no traditions.
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The Cheese Was Thick, My Friends.
ABC really smeared the Velveeta last night. Boy, it stank right through my TV. Oh, the orchestrated music resembling Howard Shore's longing notes of Hollywood cinema came a close second to the NBA's orchestration of this fabricated Finals.
But that's another discussion, for another day.
Trying to paste past year's importance on to today's game is a slap on Bill Russel's somber face. Why do we need it? Does it make Kobe's pre-season antics all the more historic? Does it make Paul Pierce's painkiller induced return more dramatic? Or Biblical, since he plays for Boston?
You're trying too hard NBA. It's the quickest way to lose your fans.
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why not
This article fills in a lot of blanks. Thanks for that. I always had you as a lifelong San Fran guy. Assumptions...
This should be a fun series. Spectacular plays are inevitable. Let's see if Kobe can take it to the next level.
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Never trust a Cowboys fan who hasn't a tie to Texas.
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Great writing King. That was fun.
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ouch
I guess you had to be there. In the Gaaaaden.
Seriously, though, those guys were legends. Or am I just old?
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NBA Finals
No fans apart from Lakers and Celtics give a crap about this series. They are almost 100% excitement and charisma-free.
Dull as dishwater.
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Humbug
I guess I'd be a bit more interested (and I'm an NBA die-hard) about all this if it didn't feel so damn scripted. Truth be told, every sports conversation I got into before the playoffs started was how jacked the NBA was gonna be about a Celtics-Lakers final, and what they would do to get one, and lo and behold, here we are. It's not like there haven't been some questionable calls along the way (I don't know I've ever seen someone jump on someone carrying the ball, like Fisher did Brent Barry, and not get called, especially at the end of the game). I'd rather see something authentic, and I just don't know that's what we've got here.
Although I prefer basketball to hockey, I don't think I've ever heard anybody seriously saying that the playoffs were rigged, or one team had a huge advantage from the league office and the refs, and that's been the story in the NBA for the last 5 or 6 years. Longer maybe.
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Can the conspiracy talk
If you don't think that watching Kobe Bryant play basketball is exciting, then you're not a fan of the game. I tire of the conspiracy theorists. The fact is, these are the two best teams in the league and they are here on merit, not through some directive by the league office. If there were a conspiracy in the league, the Spurs would never have won a title, and the Celtics would not have had a 21 year drought from the Finals.