I'll keep watching for those rare nights where things actually go our way. I don't know about the rest of you, but I enjoyed the Chicago game as much as I have enjoyed any all season.
I think it depends on how you look at supporting your team. I will always support the Portland Trail Blazers, I will always want the players to succeed (no matter how bad the players are, if they are donning the Red and Black I will want them to do well) I grew up loving the Blazers in the mediocre mid 90's (I only vaguely remember the early 90's unfortunately) I rode the emotional rollercoaster of the WCF's and then the Jail Blazers, I spent a considerable amount of Money, Time, and Gas driving from the Gorge to watch starting lineups that consisted of Sebastian Telfair, Juan Dixon, Viktor Khryapa, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, and Ha Seung Jin. And I never once second guessed that. The Blazers got an average of 25 games a year out of me during the crap rebuilding years. The attendance dipped to lowest in the league, but there still was always a core fan group that showed up and loved our team. Then times got better. I was working at a hotel and remember stopping to watch some Rookie named Brandon lead the team to a hard fought win in Seattle. There was a love fest on KGW after the last game of the season (I wanna say that was against PHX and Jack gor into it with Brian Skinner), even though we missed the playoffs there was hope to look towards. Then came the Lottery. I had just moved into a new place and had no TV. So I listened on the internet. When it came up that we were in the top 2, I remember screaming my head off, and somehow I ended up in the front yard still yelling, and to this day I dont remember how I got outside (I didnt realize we had #1 pick till I came back inside) There was something so rewarding to the feeling of "Hey I stuck through this, and am soooo glad I did" I am a firm believer that to get to your peaks in life, you have to go through valleys. Naturally, with all of this came renewed interest in the more casual fans. And with that came the opportunity to cash in for Paul Allen. Comcast came along (I understand that its a Business, and Paul Allen is in it for himself) But I began feeling more like a bottom line Dollar Sign than a loyal fan at that point. Screw me and the others who live outside of the service area of Comcast, As long as Paul Allen got his payday no matter who he ran over, it was ok. Game by game prices were changed at a whim based on what became a sexy matchup beforehand. (again I realize that they have the right to do that) Tickets for Nosebleed seats would be raised to laughable near $50 a piece plus Ticketmaster fees (Almost comparable to a ticket at Autzen Stadium at the time) But it was ok cause I had 95.5 the game to listen to the games while sitting out in my car! Oh wait.. that was taken from me too. It sure seemed like Paul Allen was doing his best to cash in no matter what, and it also felt personally that they were testing me to see how far I would go to be able to support my team (green font) I'm not even going to go into the Al Davis behavior and the constant meddling from Vulcans etc. I think it was Nik during the KP saga who had stated "Its Paul Allen's toy and he can break it if he wants" and I agree with that. But the class or lack thereof that I perceived disgusted me. This Novel wasnt for really a "waaaaaaaaaah look at me" post, but more to explain how even the very loyal can be saddened and driven away to almost not care by this current Regime.
That's the truth. A lot of posters did want to tear it all down, even when the team got off to a nice start. Now that it's here, I fully expect those same posters to be extremely positive and accepting of the current state of the team. The coach they hated is gone, the players are soon to be gone, and if LMA is traded, we as fans will be right back to where we were 6 years ago. The positive of that, for me, is that the black corporate seats can be found for free, if you look/network hard enough for them.
I'm just hoping it's better than the last time the Blazers were in the lottery. Smith and Babbit weren't lottery picks, but this guy was...
I don't get it. I've been a Cubs fan all my life, and my team hasn't won in over 100 years. "Wait 'till next year!" is the team slogan...
You've got other sports to fall back on. My other team is Leeds United. I hate American Football. Baseball is like watching paint dry. (I guess with the Cubs, it never gets dry.)
I live in California, yet root for the Bulls, Bears,Cubs, and Blackhawks. I like to see the Sox do good. And I have been loyal to all those teams, even through tough times.
I cry for all you soft young punks, but chin up. When the game gets tough, do what we did in World War 2, turn the channel to Oprah.
