BUMP
03-08-2012, 08:41 PM
"The Wave" and "The Dot Race" have had a love child using very strong fertility drugs, and its name is The AT&T Center of San Antonio, TX.
Is there a worse venue for a basketball fan to watch a live game? (Well, a fan over the age of 12 that is...)
From the mic'd rims to the plastic clappers given free with every seat, watching a Spurs game live is the equivalent of watching basketball on television while someone pokes your forehead with their finger repeatedly for 2 and a half hours. The Arena seems to be a laboratory for ADD. It's as though they set it up to distract as many people from the actual game as possible, which is curious since the Spurs are actually a good team and entertaining in their own right. You have movie clips (sponsored, of course, by Blockbuster) during the game, sound effects, and the most obnoxious PA announcer in the history of human competition (imagine a Texas A&M Yell Leader with a microphone). The only time he stops talking long enough to take a breath is when he announces a player on the opposing team... I'm convinced he is actually inhaling as he reads their name when they make a basket or substitution.
Fans can look out for one of the 800 carnies throwing frisbees, slinging T-shirts, tossing basketballs or hyping up the crowd. It's enough to make you wish they would just show the commercials from the TV broadcast during timeouts. The costumed stunt dunker (Coyote) seems like a welcome return to classic basketball normalsy by comparison. They have a drum line. They have dancing fat guys.
But maybe the fans deserve it.
Watching a game with Spurs fans is like sitting in a calculus lecture with 20,000 emotionally unstable (often schitzophrenic) people talking themselves through each problem, trying desperately to understand how it works. They booed a goaltending call that had clearly occurred after the ball hit the backboard. One fan behind me uttered the phrase, "Knock him down harder next time" seven times during the first three quarters (seriously, I counted). This same fan could be heard before the game bemoaning what a dirty player Jason Terry is. The same fans who were gone 2 1/2 quarters through the last game the Mavericks played in in San Antonio could be seen taunting Mavs fans as they left the arena with 6 minutes to go in the game.
And then there is the whining. It's normal for fans to boo calls against their teams, but I've been to many arenas and stadiums in my life and no fans (except for perhaps Sacramento fans, but I've never been to Arco) whine as loudly as Spurs fans. Peter Holt, for everything he has done for the Spurs team, has created a "Culture of Bitching" at Spurs games. Every semi-controversial call is replayed on the jumbotron. Every foul is either a flop or a mugging, depending on the recipient's team. A movie clip was shown from "A Christmas Story" where Scott Farcas badgers Ralphie with the taunt of "What, are you gonna CRY now? Come on, baby, CRYYYYYY..." and not five seconds later, fans were hysterical over an offensive foul call.
I believe a lot of this stems from the David Robinson era... perhaps this new team will provide some levity. For all the rampant homerdom present among Spurs fans, they are also irrationally critical of their own players. Tim Duncan deserves better. Hell, Matt Bonner deserves better.
Fortunately, about 40% of the fans at any given Mavs/Spurs game in San Antonio are Mavs fans, so the overwhelming fatuity is diluted somewhat.
Perhaps this rant stems from sour grapes... I can't lie, the fact that the Mavs lost by 70 points only enhanced the annoyance of the experience. Like having to listen to a ten year old take drumming lessons while you're already hungover. But next time I visit the AT&T Center for a game, I may prefer to stand outside by the concessions and watch it on the monitor... only to return to my seat when the Spurs are down by 20 and all of their fans have left the arena, and the PA announcer has quieted to a constant whisper. I'll still have to watch my head for T-shirts parachuting from the rafters, but I suppose I could live with that.
Is there a worse venue for a basketball fan to watch a live game? (Well, a fan over the age of 12 that is...)
From the mic'd rims to the plastic clappers given free with every seat, watching a Spurs game live is the equivalent of watching basketball on television while someone pokes your forehead with their finger repeatedly for 2 and a half hours. The Arena seems to be a laboratory for ADD. It's as though they set it up to distract as many people from the actual game as possible, which is curious since the Spurs are actually a good team and entertaining in their own right. You have movie clips (sponsored, of course, by Blockbuster) during the game, sound effects, and the most obnoxious PA announcer in the history of human competition (imagine a Texas A&M Yell Leader with a microphone). The only time he stops talking long enough to take a breath is when he announces a player on the opposing team... I'm convinced he is actually inhaling as he reads their name when they make a basket or substitution.
Fans can look out for one of the 800 carnies throwing frisbees, slinging T-shirts, tossing basketballs or hyping up the crowd. It's enough to make you wish they would just show the commercials from the TV broadcast during timeouts. The costumed stunt dunker (Coyote) seems like a welcome return to classic basketball normalsy by comparison. They have a drum line. They have dancing fat guys.
But maybe the fans deserve it.
Watching a game with Spurs fans is like sitting in a calculus lecture with 20,000 emotionally unstable (often schitzophrenic) people talking themselves through each problem, trying desperately to understand how it works. They booed a goaltending call that had clearly occurred after the ball hit the backboard. One fan behind me uttered the phrase, "Knock him down harder next time" seven times during the first three quarters (seriously, I counted). This same fan could be heard before the game bemoaning what a dirty player Jason Terry is. The same fans who were gone 2 1/2 quarters through the last game the Mavericks played in in San Antonio could be seen taunting Mavs fans as they left the arena with 6 minutes to go in the game.
And then there is the whining. It's normal for fans to boo calls against their teams, but I've been to many arenas and stadiums in my life and no fans (except for perhaps Sacramento fans, but I've never been to Arco) whine as loudly as Spurs fans. Peter Holt, for everything he has done for the Spurs team, has created a "Culture of Bitching" at Spurs games. Every semi-controversial call is replayed on the jumbotron. Every foul is either a flop or a mugging, depending on the recipient's team. A movie clip was shown from "A Christmas Story" where Scott Farcas badgers Ralphie with the taunt of "What, are you gonna CRY now? Come on, baby, CRYYYYYY..." and not five seconds later, fans were hysterical over an offensive foul call.
I believe a lot of this stems from the David Robinson era... perhaps this new team will provide some levity. For all the rampant homerdom present among Spurs fans, they are also irrationally critical of their own players. Tim Duncan deserves better. Hell, Matt Bonner deserves better.
Fortunately, about 40% of the fans at any given Mavs/Spurs game in San Antonio are Mavs fans, so the overwhelming fatuity is diluted somewhat.
Perhaps this rant stems from sour grapes... I can't lie, the fact that the Mavs lost by 70 points only enhanced the annoyance of the experience. Like having to listen to a ten year old take drumming lessons while you're already hungover. But next time I visit the AT&T Center for a game, I may prefer to stand outside by the concessions and watch it on the monitor... only to return to my seat when the Spurs are down by 20 and all of their fans have left the arena, and the PA announcer has quieted to a constant whisper. I'll still have to watch my head for T-shirts parachuting from the rafters, but I suppose I could live with that.