mongo366
05-22-2012, 07:36 AM
The run this year's team has gone on has conjured up lots of memories from previous seasons, so much so that I have decided to crawl out of my lurking hole and begin to contribute to the conversation. The following is an introduction of myself and the effect the Spurs have had on me. Please enjoy. - Mongo
I have recently turned thirty and doing so has caused me to pause and look back on my life to this point. While I know I am still relatively young compared to many of our elder statesmen here on spurstalk, I think we can all agree that turning 30 does signal some sort of transition from young-adult to adult. No, I am not having a mid-life crisis but I have begun to understand just how lucky of a life I have led. I was born to a caring family, had wonderful older siblings and have had no health issues. I even met and married a beautiful girl, producing a daughter who fills each day with love and purpose. I am a lucky man. I am also spoiled.
Having been born in 1982, I was just coming into sports cognizance in 1989 for David Robinson’s rookie year. I don’t remember the spurs drafting him or the years of futility before his arrival, just that first magical year and the blooming of my Spurs love. I have vivid memories of buying packs of basketball cards with the hope that a David Robinson rookie card would appear (never did). Going to games at Hemisfair with my dad and watching the Baseline Bums wreak havoc. Driving home from a Spurs victory with Game Night React, staying in the car even after we arrived home to listen. And winning, I remember lots of winning. One win stands out to me because it taught me a life lesson: January 3rd, 1993 Phoenix Suns at San Antonio Spurs.
At this point I was a full-fledged Spurs junkie, living and dying with each possession let alone an entire game. I remember my dad scalped some tickets outside the arena and they ended up being the best seats ever, twenty rows up center court. Just high enough to have a good vantage point, but not too high to miss out on any of the details. Of course, this would be a game where Charles Barkley goes off and we are down by double-digits midway through the fourth. My dad had had enough so we started the long walk back to the car. By the time we switched on the radio for Game Night React, the Spurs had mounted a miraculous comeback, sending the game into overtime. We ended up listening to overtime on the way home. When we won I broke down in tears, not out of happiness but sadness that I had missed such an incredible moment. We never left another game early. And I never believe a game is over until it is over. There is a metaphor for life in there somewhere.
Anyways, I was trying to tell you how lucky I am. Not counting the 96-97 season, we have won over 69% of our regular-season games since I became old enough to follow sports. 69!!! No, I’m not excited because of the number 69 (I AM thirty now…Ok fine, I still chuckled inwardly). There is no other sports fan that has had the same sort of run that I have experienced. If you are older than me you had to endure a couple of terrible seasons. If you are younger, you missed out on the first amazing Robinson years. Even the terrible 96-97 season ended up being lucky for obvious reasons.
And then there were the championships. Just when I had been taught that I could have all the regular-season success I wanted but no playoff, along came four of the most magical runs I will ever remember. Probably the most special for me was 04-05. By this point my dad had secured two season tickets, meaning that the six members of my family took turns going to the games. The games played-out to where I went to the first game and potentially game 7. Most of you will remember that series for Horry’s three-pointer over Wallace in game 5; however, I have a more personal and secret memory that I have kept to myself. Going into game 6 I secretly wanted us to lose. In my own selfish/spoiled mind, I wanted the Spurs to lose game 6 so that I could go to game 7. I WAS WILLING TO RISK LOSING THE CHAMPIONSHIP. We lost game 6 and I got to go to my game 7. It will forever remain my most cherished sports memory. Funny things is, it’s not the game I remember. I remember never sitting. I remember the confetti. I remember smiling. And I remember my dad. We were never closer than that moment.
Sports are an amazing thing, able to capture our hearts, provoke memories and create connections that would otherwise not form. I have been lucky to have my life coincide with one of the most remarkable runs in sports history, which I am just now starting to grasp. For my birthday, my wife jokingly bought an “over the hill” banner despite that usually being reserved for forty. In the end I think it was fitting. Time in my life has been marked by Spurs achievements and I’m afraid it can’t get much better than now. If we win the championship, and I think we will, the inevitable decline will come. My birthday wish: one more year.
I have recently turned thirty and doing so has caused me to pause and look back on my life to this point. While I know I am still relatively young compared to many of our elder statesmen here on spurstalk, I think we can all agree that turning 30 does signal some sort of transition from young-adult to adult. No, I am not having a mid-life crisis but I have begun to understand just how lucky of a life I have led. I was born to a caring family, had wonderful older siblings and have had no health issues. I even met and married a beautiful girl, producing a daughter who fills each day with love and purpose. I am a lucky man. I am also spoiled.
Having been born in 1982, I was just coming into sports cognizance in 1989 for David Robinson’s rookie year. I don’t remember the spurs drafting him or the years of futility before his arrival, just that first magical year and the blooming of my Spurs love. I have vivid memories of buying packs of basketball cards with the hope that a David Robinson rookie card would appear (never did). Going to games at Hemisfair with my dad and watching the Baseline Bums wreak havoc. Driving home from a Spurs victory with Game Night React, staying in the car even after we arrived home to listen. And winning, I remember lots of winning. One win stands out to me because it taught me a life lesson: January 3rd, 1993 Phoenix Suns at San Antonio Spurs.
At this point I was a full-fledged Spurs junkie, living and dying with each possession let alone an entire game. I remember my dad scalped some tickets outside the arena and they ended up being the best seats ever, twenty rows up center court. Just high enough to have a good vantage point, but not too high to miss out on any of the details. Of course, this would be a game where Charles Barkley goes off and we are down by double-digits midway through the fourth. My dad had had enough so we started the long walk back to the car. By the time we switched on the radio for Game Night React, the Spurs had mounted a miraculous comeback, sending the game into overtime. We ended up listening to overtime on the way home. When we won I broke down in tears, not out of happiness but sadness that I had missed such an incredible moment. We never left another game early. And I never believe a game is over until it is over. There is a metaphor for life in there somewhere.
Anyways, I was trying to tell you how lucky I am. Not counting the 96-97 season, we have won over 69% of our regular-season games since I became old enough to follow sports. 69!!! No, I’m not excited because of the number 69 (I AM thirty now…Ok fine, I still chuckled inwardly). There is no other sports fan that has had the same sort of run that I have experienced. If you are older than me you had to endure a couple of terrible seasons. If you are younger, you missed out on the first amazing Robinson years. Even the terrible 96-97 season ended up being lucky for obvious reasons.
And then there were the championships. Just when I had been taught that I could have all the regular-season success I wanted but no playoff, along came four of the most magical runs I will ever remember. Probably the most special for me was 04-05. By this point my dad had secured two season tickets, meaning that the six members of my family took turns going to the games. The games played-out to where I went to the first game and potentially game 7. Most of you will remember that series for Horry’s three-pointer over Wallace in game 5; however, I have a more personal and secret memory that I have kept to myself. Going into game 6 I secretly wanted us to lose. In my own selfish/spoiled mind, I wanted the Spurs to lose game 6 so that I could go to game 7. I WAS WILLING TO RISK LOSING THE CHAMPIONSHIP. We lost game 6 and I got to go to my game 7. It will forever remain my most cherished sports memory. Funny things is, it’s not the game I remember. I remember never sitting. I remember the confetti. I remember smiling. And I remember my dad. We were never closer than that moment.
Sports are an amazing thing, able to capture our hearts, provoke memories and create connections that would otherwise not form. I have been lucky to have my life coincide with one of the most remarkable runs in sports history, which I am just now starting to grasp. For my birthday, my wife jokingly bought an “over the hill” banner despite that usually being reserved for forty. In the end I think it was fitting. Time in my life has been marked by Spurs achievements and I’m afraid it can’t get much better than now. If we win the championship, and I think we will, the inevitable decline will come. My birthday wish: one more year.