"San Antonio is Everything a Franchise Should Be"

[mjnxn]

http://sportsline.com/nba/story/10218805

By Mike Freeman
CBS SportsLine.com National Columnist
Tell Mike your opinion!

SAN ANTONIO -- You are all full of crap.

The entire country, all sports fans. Full of it. Coming out of the ears.

Because you constantly scream about wanting to root for a true team, a selfless team, a team with players who do not chest bump or commit grand larceny.

You go into apoplectic shock crowing about how the media only focuses on the negative. You whine and lament the absence of good guys in sports.

Then come the San Antonio Spurs and you phonies yawn.

They are boring, you say. They dumb down the NBA, you chirp. You root for LeBron Jordan because he dunks. You change the channel to The Sopranos because the pick-and-roll Spurs bore you.

Phonies.

I don't want to hear a single complaint about bad-boy athletes from you message board posters and e-mail flamers when most of you are ignoring the Spurs and sleeping by halftime.

San Antonio is truly a model franchise for all of sports. They are on the verge of creating one of the more unique dynasties the NBA has seen in many years. They are the New England Patriots of basketball with Tim Duncan playing the role of Tom Brady (minus all of the pregnant models) yet you hypocrites don't care.

There is a palpable lack of interest in these Finals or at the very least the country seems to be rooting for LeBron Jordan and against the Spurs, the kind of team fans always say they want to succeed in professional sports. The media is even worse than you fans.

How many columnists and talking heads -- particularly after the brawls in Detroit and New York -- lamented the demise of the NBA? How many writers longed for the days when athletes respected the game?

Anyone with a laptop and half a brain, that's who.

Now comes the Spurs and they are being tagged by many in the media as a yawn-inducing, death knell to television ratings and a cancer to the eyeball. A normally highly sensible and talented Denver newspaper columnist wrote recently: "The men in black are back, sucking all the life and beauty from the NBA Finals. Grudgingly, we must admire the Spurs, whose unsightly 85-76 victory in the best-of-seven series put them one victory closer to their fourth league title since 1999. But that doesn't mean we have to like it. Please, somebody. Stop them. How the Spurs play basketball makes ultimate fighting look like ballet by comparison." So we in the media are a bunch of phonies, too.

The lack of interest in the Spurs is symbolic of where we are as a nation now. We are more fascinated with Paris Hilton's boobs, voting on American Idol and what stripper A-Rod is banging. In other words, the glossy superficial gooey stuff.

If whatever we are watching isn't violent, sex-filled or constantly stimulating us like a bunch of 12-year-olds, we're bored.

Seriously, on CNN on Friday there was a helicopter following Hilton as she made her way to various court appearances. That is just sad.

Hilton and LeBron Jordan are Xbox and the Spurs are a fine game of chess.

Killing the NBA?

The Spurs are rescuing it.

I watch the Spurs and I see a fine piece of machinery. They are not a detriment to basketball, they are a necessity. They are like the cool, steady pulse of electricity: you do not appreciate it until it is gone.

Do not cover your eyes or turn away when they methodically work their half-court offense or engage their strangling defense. What the Spurs are doing should be committed to memory because in this me-first culture of sports the San Antonio and its selfless, purring style might be the last of its kind as dunks and shirt popping take over the NBA.

But you phonies won't see it because they bore you and you'd rather see gorilla dunks from LeBron Jordan.

"Even though people are picking us, people aren't rooting for us," San Antonio's Robert Horry told reporters prior to the beginning of the series. "We've got San Antonio, maybe Argentina and maybe Paris. But the rest of the world, they're rooting for Cleveland. Everyone wants to see Cleveland win and the new MJ come to life."

I love seeing LeBron Jordan transform into a superstar right before our eyes as much as anyone but there is room for both Dr. Dunk and the San Antonio Bores.

Gregg Popovich could win his fourth title. If Popovich does he should be mentioned in the same breath as Riley and Jackson but because his quotes are about as exciting as the San Antonio phonebook he is the most ignored great coach I have seen in 20 years of sports reporting.

Nobody outside of San Antonio cares about Popovich or his team. Nobody. Many hear the name Popovich and ask: is that Paris Hilton's jailer?

"We are kind of (the) vanilla of the NBA," said guard Manu Ginobili.

What the hell is so wrong with vanilla?

"It's irrelevant how people hold us up or don't hold us up," Popovich said, "talk about us or don't talk about us."

"Character is a big part of it," said Popovich, speaking of one key to San Antonio's success. "Character is a direct reflection of an ability to handle criticism, to be happy for teammate success. People have gotten over themselves and understand we're a group."

A group, a team. A true team.

Do you remember what that is?

You phony.

[LilMissSPURfect]

whiners, phonies, same same....

[DudleyDawson]

Derek Fisher said something similar on The Chris Meyers show today. "The Spurs are the model franchise in all of sports."

[samikeyp]

:tu

[duncan228]

I don't get tired of hearing this. Maybe it's because I don't live in SA and any Spurs news to me is good. Even if they're singing the same song.

[TampaDude]

Love 'em, hate 'em, or ignore 'em...it doesn't matter...they'll win just the same... :toast

[bull62400]

this article is the best i have ever read ina long time about the spurs. thank you for posting this!!!

[davidpuddy1]

I have never thought of the Spurs as boring. I have lived in Texas for the last five years though and San Antonio for the last two.

All this negative attention for the Spurs is rediculous. With Parker and Ginobili all over the court they are certainly not boring at all.

That "almost" alley-oop from Parker to Duncan would have been awesome if it played out.

Anyway, it's just the media trying to make a positive into a negative.

They are also misrepresenting LeBron. He really isn't a whole lot like Jordan other than his ability to power to the basket and dunk. He is always looking for assists... he is a pass-minded player. That game 5 performance vs. the Pistons was great, but definitely not the kind of performance we should expect from him. That was a fluke. For someone to single handedly do what he did was unheard of. I certainly do not look for him to do that against the Spurs. Anyone who thinks he can is :smokin

[SpurOutofTownFan]

AMEN to this post. Been saying it for a long time. Intelligent basketball consumer praises the basketball they play. The US will no longer be a force to reckon with outside its borders basketball-wise. In the 50-60s.. the US college teams would blow you out for 40 pts. The jumpshot was the main weapon. The big bigs were just coming out of age. It is sad the basketball as we used to know it is disappearing.

Go ahead and praise the dunk king kongs... when you turn around and look over your shoulder, you won't have anybody else following you anymore.

[Kona]

almost everything i want to say, only better.

[texbound]

We are more fascinated with Paris Hilton's boobs, voting on American Idol and what stripper A-Rod is banging. In other words, the glossy superficial gooey stuff.

Great article. I especially like the bolded text part (even if it was interpreted by the the original poster)

[FromWayDowntown]

By the way -- for those who've been here since Round 1, it shouldn't be too hard to figure out which "normally highly sensible and talented Denver newspaper columnist" Mike Freeman is referring to:

http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site36/2006/0919/20060919_120727_Mark_Kiszla_Mug_New_DPO_prev.jpg

to wit:

Finals fading to black with Stern's help
By Mark Kiszla
Denver Post Staff Columnist
Article Last Updated: 06/08/2007 12:32:05 AM MDT


San Antonio

David Stern, the hanging judge, came to Texas to see what his harsh brand of basketball justice has done to the game we all once loved.

Cover your eyes. It's ugly.

The San Antonio Spurs were at it again Thursday night, boring LeBron James and Cleveland into submission, turning America off on hoops, one television at a time.

Hope commissioner Stern is happy now.

The men in black are back, sucking all the life and beauty from the NBA Finals.

Grudgingly, we must admire the Spurs, whose unsightly 85-76 victory in the best-of-seven series put them one victory closer to their fourth league title since 1999.

But that doesn't mean we have to like it.

Please, somebody. Stop them. How the Spurs play basketball makes ultimate fighting look like ballet by comparison.

"Even though people are picking us, people aren't rooting for us," San Antonio veteran Robert Horry said on the eve of the NBA Finals. "We've got San Antonio, maybe Argentina and maybe Paris. But the rest of the world, they're rooting for Cleveland. Everyone wants to see Cleveland win and the new MJ come to life."

The new Michael Jordan? The Spurs made the man who would be king appear as if the young emperor had no clothes or clue.

Frustrated by San Antonio's clutch-and-grab defense, James clanked eight shots before he made one and finished with a buzz-killing 14 points.

"They're selling out on LeBron," Cleveland coach Mike Brown said of the defensive strategy of the Spurs, whose aggressive double-teams so effectively forced James to dribble toward the sideline that one of the few times he could attack the rim, Cleveland's flustered superstar clumsily bounced the ball off his own foot. "They're saying: 'Hey, somebody else beat us."'

Hey, it's not a bad strategy. San Antonio's Gregg Popovich is not the smartest coach in the NBA for nothing.

But has any national act based in Cleveland so relied on the talents of a single man since "The Drew Carey Show"?

The Cavs might be the worst team to appear in the Finals since a young Shaquille O'Neal was in over his head with Orlando in 1995.

The Spurs showed open disdain for the teammates of James.

It was almost funny.

In fact, when James and teammate Drew Gooden appeared together in the interview room following the defeat, there were snickers that grew into belly laughs with each passing question.

Seven consecutive queries were directed at James, as if Gooden were invisible. When his presence was finally acknowledged after several minutes, Gooden said thanks for noticing.

"For us to win, me being the leader of this team, I have to play better in order for us to have a chance down the stretch," said James, who misfired on 12-of-16 shots from the field.

The suffering of James was a group effort. The Spurs do work as a team, in much the same way ants swarm a summer picnic.

What San Antonio does best is ruin everyone's fun.

Should the Spurs go on to win the title, as expected, the trophy deserves to be painted with a big, black asterisk.

Because we all know the championship was probably decided weeks ago in NBA offices rather than on the court, when Stern not only applied the letter of the law, but threw the book at the Phoenix Suns and knocked them out by suspending Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw for stepping a little out of line in response to a cheap shot on Steve Nash by Horry.

Asked if that ruling would taint the legitimacy of San Antonio's championship run, Stern insisted he did not want to make light of the feeling Phoenix was robbed, then did precisely that, suggesting that the only people angered were irrational Suns fanatics.

Furthermore, Stern added, there has been no proposal to change the draconian rule that cost the Suns so dearly.

So the Spurs are back in the NBA Finals, looking to win the championship for the fourth time, and if King James isn't brave enough to stop them, who is?

Somehow, you get the feeling we've already seen this movie. Call it "Men in Black IV," starring Will Smith as Cheap-Shot Rob and Tommy Lee Jones as Popovich.

The franchise might soon qualify as a dynasty.

But it's also nearly unwatchable.

Staff writer Mark Kiszla can be reached at 303-954-1053 or [email protected].

[Budkin]

Kiszla is so worthless that this article doesn't even deserve a response.

[cornbread]

Kiszla is complete fucking loser. I thought it was hilarious that he refused to do an interview with the guys at 760 during the Denver series. Coward.

[SpursFanFirst]

I enjoyed the first article...Good read. I think someone hit a nerve! :lol

And Kiszla, what the heck? Seriously, I think it's time to move on.

[Phenomanul]

By the way -- for those who've been here since Round 1, it shouldn't be too hard to figure out which "normally highly sensible and talented Denver newspaper columnist" Mike Freeman is referring to:

http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site36/2006/0919/20060919_120727_Mark_Kiszla_Mug_New_DPO_prev.jpg

to wit:

Finals fading to black with Stern's help
By Mark Kiszla
Denver Post Staff Columnist
Article Last Updated: 06/08/2007 12:32:05 AM MDT





SOUR GRAPES from Rd. 1

:lmao :lmao :lmao

[DDS4]

Kiszla can't be helped.

He'll write damn near anything to diss the Spurs.

He's embarrassing himself.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

It's funny to watch from afar. Today, the idiot press trash the Spurs and complain they're so boring. 20 years from now, writers will be talking about Tim Duncan's team as one of the great dynasties of all team and 'how the game used to be played.'

Fuck all the A.D.D. sportswriters and their lame ass takes.

[Dingle Barry]

Kiszla sounds like someone who has never won a god damn thing in his life.

[cherylsteele]

They are also misrepresenting LeBron. He really isn't a whole lot like Jordan other than his ability to power to the basket and dunk.
Maybe so...now...but he has the tools to possibly get to Jordan's level in the future. If he progresses at the rate he is, his game will probably compared to MJ's even more. I personally don't like saying anyone is the next anything, I would love to see a player make his own name a mark on the league.

[davidpuddy1]

Maybe so...now...but he has the tools to possibly get to Jordan's level in the future. If he progresses at the rate he is, his game will probably compared to MJ's even more. I personally don't like saying anyone is the next anything, I would love to see a player make his own name a mark on the league.

Oh sure, he can potentially be there. The kid is only 22. Jordan wasn't "Jordan" until he was 26. But like you said he doesn't need to be the "next" anything. He should just be Lebron James :p:

Once he starts hitting jump shots at a high percentage then he will become an unstoppable force.

[Supreme_Being]

Love 'em, hate 'em, or ignore 'em...it doesn't matter...they'll win just the same... :toast


+1

[SpurOutofTownFan]

http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site36/2006/0919/20060919_120727_Mark_Kiszla_Mug_New_DPO_prev.jpg
.

Did you look at his face. He looks like a real idiot.

[judaspriestess]

If whatever we are watching isn't violent, sex-filled or constantly stimulating us like a bunch of 12-year-olds, we're bored.

or shooting at people in titty bars, starving animals, drug addicts, murderers, rapist. you know the cool stuff that this country is hung up on :rolleyes

[Budkin]

Kiszla makes it sound like LeBron is a little kid that just had his candy stolen by us, therefore depriving his parents of seeing him do a happy dance. :lol

[Strike]

99% of all these cock sucking self-whoring media hacks can sniff my hairy beanbag after a 12 hour shift. They all bitch about the state of pro sports with the criminals and playboys and money and blah blah blah. Then, in the next breath they insult the very teams that are giving them what they "claim" they want.

A bunch of cock gobbling hypocrites, the lot of them. :ihit

[stéphane]

That's a sad article... but yet sounds just right on target...
The sentence about SA, argies and french as the only behind the spurs is not that accurate though. I mean in europe basketball is more seen as team oriented than in US.
You never see a euro team going for isos on every possession like you sometime see in the nba.
I dont know any ballers who is past 25years old who is not at least impressed by how Duncan plays. Yes sure, as we're french we're proud of what parker is doing and how he fits in this great team but french's ballers love Manu and Tim too because the spurs are what basketball is all about...

[Saguaro]

Kiszla's article was a mixed bag. He is right that the trophy deserves a big, black asterisk. He is right that Stern decided the championship. He is right that the Spurs are unwatchable and are destroying the game. All true.

But then he says the Spurs deserve respect and might be considered a dynasty, which is crap. They deserve no respect. They won "championships" in a shortened season, a season when the two best teams suffered injuries to their best players, and now, when the title was stolen from Phoenix. They have one legitimate title. They are really a one-hit wonder, not a dynasty.

[foodie2]

Kiszla's article was a mixed bag. He is right that the trophy deserves a big, black asterisk. He is right that Stern decided the championship. He is right that the Spurs are unwatchable and are destroying the game. All true.

But then he says the Spurs deserve respect and might be considered a dynasty, which is crap. They deserve no respect. They won "championships" in a shortened season, a season when the two best teams suffered injuries to their best players, and now, when the title was stolen from Phoenix. They have one legitimate title. They are really a one-hit wonder, not a dynasty.

Wow. STILL bitter. If my team had been knocked out of contention two rounds ago, I would hope I'd have better things to do than troll on another team's board. But that's just me.

[ambchang]

Kiszla's article was a mixed bag. He is right that the trophy deserves a big, black asterisk. He is right that Stern decided the championship. He is right that the Spurs are unwatchable and are destroying the game. All true.

But then he says the Spurs deserve respect and might be considered a dynasty, which is crap. They deserve no respect. They won "championships" in a shortened season, a season when the two best teams suffered injuries to their best players, and now, when the title was stolen from Phoenix. They have one legitimate title. They are really a one-hit wonder, not a dynasty.

Of course, the reason people say the stirke shortened season deserves an asterisk is because the shortened season did not test a team's durability and it's depth in avoiding injuries. The the same people turned around and claimed that an asterisk should be put on the Spurs because the other team is not able to avoid injuries in the series. Contradiction?

Why don't people just put an asterisk beside an * next to every single championship, be honest, and say * - My favourite team wasn't good enough to win it.

[Hook Dem]

Wow!!!! Mark better take off that black shirt before someone confuses him with a Spurs fan!

[FromWayDowntown]

Kiszla's article was a mixed bag. He is right that the trophy deserves a big, black asterisk. He is right that Stern decided the championship. He is right that the Spurs are unwatchable and are destroying the game. All true.

But then he says the Spurs deserve respect and might be considered a dynasty, which is crap. They deserve no respect. They won "championships" in a shortened season, a season when the two best teams suffered injuries to their best players, and now, when the title was stolen from Phoenix. They have one legitimate title. They are really a one-hit wonder, not a dynasty.

:cry

The revisionist history is beyond laughable -- particularly the notion that the "two best teams" were deterred from a title in 2003 (I guess) by injury (who? Sacramento and Dallas? -- I guess because each of those teams was capable of putting down the 3-time champion Lakers at Staples Center in decisive fashion); or that the 2007 championship was somehow presumptively the Suns' and that David Stern acted in some unprecedented way to deprive them of that coronation. Give me a break.

Want to win championships? Stay near the bench during altercations. And win more than 1 game at home in the Conference Semifinals. US Airways Center might as well be the AT&T Center West, since the Spurs are 7-2 in playoff games in that building since 2003. But I'm sure that all would have changed if the Commissioner had just afforded Stoudemire and Diaw the sort of special treatment that guys of their stature deserve.

I guess the league office should review its policies regarding conduct during altercations: Can't keep your poise in a tough spot? It's okay, man -- we feel you, dog -- you're an all-star. Who could really be expected to be cool in that moment (other than, of course, the entire Utah Jazz bench, or the entire Cleveland Cavaliers bench, or the entire New Jersey Nets bench -- but really, who are they?) The league should really bail those guys out for being complete jackasses.

Wait, Sarver already tried to do that and the league's owners said no. Again, if Amare and Diaw do exactly the same thing during the 2008 playoffs, they'll be suspended again -- just like every other player who has ever broken the rule. You think it's a bad rule, but the league's owners apparently disagree with you. Tough, man. Really, really tough.

[FromWayDowntown]

Why don't people just put an asterisk beside an * next to every single championship, be honest, and say * - My favourite team wasn't good enough to win it.

I think they should even put asterisks next to playoff series wins.

2000 Western Conference First Round -- Phoenix 3, San Antonio 1*

Hmmm, with the asterisk discounting that result, the Suns haven't beaten the Spurs in a playoff series since 1993 and in that time are 7-18 against San Antonio in playoff games.

[NBA Junkie]

2000 Western Conference First Round -- Phoenix 3, San Antonio 1*

:lol Countdown to Sun fan arguing the legitimacy of that series victory.

[samikeyp]

Oh sure, he can potentially be there. The kid is only 22. Jordan wasn't "Jordan" until he was 26. But like you said he doesn't need to be the "next" anything. He should just be Lebron James

Well said. :toast


Kiszla's article was a mixed bag. He is right that the trophy deserves a big, black asterisk. He is right that Stern decided the championship. He is right that the Spurs are unwatchable and are destroying the game. All true.

But then he says the Spurs deserve respect and might be considered a dynasty, which is crap. They deserve no respect. They won "championships" in a shortened season, a season when the two best teams suffered injuries to their best players, and now, when the title was stolen from Phoenix. They have one legitimate title. They are really a one-hit wonder, not a dynasty.

Better than a no-hit wonder.

[Creation88]

awesome article! thanks. everything i wanted to say summed up.

[MrChug]

this article is the best i have ever read ina long time about the spurs. thank you for posting this!!!

I concur.

[BlackFlagg]

Love 'em, hate 'em, or ignore 'em...it doesn't matter...they'll win just the same... :toast

:clap :clap :clap :clap

[SA210]

Huge props to Mike Freeman to bluntly call people phony, hypocrites and that they are full of crap.

:tu :tu :tu :tu

I have alot of respect for him. Hopefully this article really gets around and gets some great attention.

[FromWayDowntown]

I do think someone should send the article to Kizla, just to see if he responds in kind to having been publicly called a hypocrite.

[ClingingMars]

Great article, spoke what I've been thinking.

-Mars

[ClingingMars]

Date: Sat, 9 Jun 2007 08:46:35 -0700 (PDT)
From:
Subject: Might wanna read this.
To: [email protected].

http://sportsline.com/nba/story/10218805

Read the WHOLE article.

Also, in case you didn't remember:

http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_6089056

It's ok, the Suns will win a championship once they get a defensive minded coach, there's no need
to whine.

__________________________________________________ __________________________________
Get the Yahoo! toolbar and be alerted to new email wherever you're surfing.
http://new.toolbar.yahoo.com/toolbar/features/mail/index.php

Giggle.

-Mars

[Saguaro]

Date: Sat, 9 Jun 2007 08:46:35 -0700 (PDT)
From:
Subject: Might wanna read this.
To: [email protected].

http://sportsline.com/nba/story/10218805

Read the WHOLE article.

Also, in case you didn't remember:

http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_6089056

It's ok, the Suns will win a championship once they get a defensive minded coach, there's no need
to whine.

__________________________________________________ __________________________________
Get the Yahoo! toolbar and be alerted to new email wherever you're surfing.
http://new.toolbar.yahoo.com/toolbar/features/mail/index.php

Giggle.

-Mars
:lol at Spurs fan still needing to validate the legitimacy of these * playoffs.

How funny is it that with all these "titles" America still laughs at you and your drainage-ditch colonia?

[mardigan]

:lol at Spurs fan still needing to validate the legitimacy of these * playoffs.

How funny is it that with all these "titles" America still laughs at you and your drainage-ditch colonia?
:lol at Sun fan still bitter cause their team is full of pussys

[bdictjames]

Big Shot Rob forgot to mention the Netherlands, Slovenia, and of course the Virgin Islands.

[SA210]

Date: Sat, 9 Jun 2007 08:46:35 -0700 (PDT)
From:
Subject: Might wanna read this.
To: [email protected].

http://sportsline.com/nba/story/10218805

Read the WHOLE article.

Also, in case you didn't remember:

http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_6089056

It's ok, the Suns will win a championship once they get a defensive minded coach, there's no need
to whine.

__________________________________________________ __________________________________
Get the Yahoo! toolbar and be alerted to new email wherever you're surfing.
http://new.toolbar.yahoo.com/toolbar/features/mail/index.php

Giggle.

-Mars
:tu

[samikeyp]

:lol @ Suns fans still trying to make excuses for losing.

:lmao :lmao @ Suns fans thinking what they say is the truth and that it should matter.

[DDS4]

Kiszla's article was a mixed bag. He is right that the trophy deserves a big, black asterisk. He is right that Stern decided the championship. He is right that the Spurs are unwatchable and are destroying the game. All true.

But then he says the Spurs deserve respect and might be considered a dynasty, which is crap. They deserve no respect. They won "championships" in a shortened season, a season when the two best teams suffered injuries to their best players, and now, when the title was stolen from Phoenix. They have one legitimate title. They are really a one-hit wonder, not a dynasty.


Jealous and bitter. And still here. I love it.

[cornbread]

:lol @ Suns fans still trying to make excuses for losing.

:lmao :lmao @ Suns fans thinking what they say is the truth and that it should matter.
:lol @ Suns fan who bought into the hype.

[spursfan09]

Suns fans just bitter because everytime they make a run for a championship there is someone who is better. Denied by MJ, and now by TD!

[Garquint]

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x2/Garquint/sasteam.gif

[samikeyp]

Suns fans just bitter because everytime they make a run for a championship there is someone who is better. Denied by MJ, and now by TD!

:tu

That is cool, Garquint....but ya gotta take out the fiesta colors logo!! :)

[Garquint]

:tu

That is cool, Garquint....but ya gotta take out the fiesta colors logo!! :)

I'll see what i can do later.

[baseline bum]

I can't wait to see how much they complain when it's small market Portland vs small market Cleveland every year in the Finals from about 2010-2011 on.

[SRJ]

Hey look, George Harrison's weighing in:


Here comes Suns fan
Here comes Suns fan
and I say
Goddammit

Little asshead
How did you lose
games one and five?

Little losers
been fourteen years
since you've been here

Here comes Suns fan
Here comes Suns fan
and I say
Goddammit

Little bitches
you cannot cry
you left the bench

Rim jobbers
for many years
you'll be denied

Here comes Suns fan
Here comes Suns fan
and I say
Goddammit

Suns, Suns, Suns
lost again
Suns, Suns, Suns
oh-and-two
Suns, Suns, Suns
Havlicek
Suns, Suns, Suns
Grant to Pax

[Garquint]

:tu

That is cool, Garquint....but ya gotta take out the fiesta colors logo!! :)

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x2/Garquint/sasteam_version2.gif

[howbouthemspurs]

mike freeman is the best writer in the world!

[Strike]

:lol at Spurs fan still needing to validate the legitimacy of these * playoffs.

How funny is it that with all these "titles" America still laughs at you and your drainage-ditch colonia?

Win something. Anything.

No, seriously, win anything.

And by the way, you know nothing. Now shut the fuck up.

[samikeyp]

Awesome Garquint!

[WalterBenitez]

Not sure if being the most boring is comparable with the decadence of role model, that's what we are ... good citizens, sportpeople to follow... even Tony who is marrying an actress looks so cool (well not so much when he didn't pass the ball to Manu).

[texbound]

:lol at Spurs fan still needing to validate the legitimacy of these * playoffs.

How funny is it that with all these "titles" America still laughs at you and your drainage-ditch colonia?


:lol at Suns fans that received their education in Arizona :idiot


http://content.answers.com/main/content/img/webpics/Judge_Smails.jpg
"well, the world needs ditch diggers too"

[ForeignFan]

as Horry said, Paris (France, not Hilton) is behind the Spurs !

:elephant

[Marcus Bryant]

It's funny how Stern conspired to put an 'unmarketable' team in the Finals. It doesn't take much to be a columnist these days, apparently.

[charmie21]

"Even though people are picking us, people aren't rooting for us," San Antonio's Robert Horry told reporters prior to the beginning of the series. "We've got San Antonio, maybe Argentina and maybe Paris. But the rest of the world, they're rooting for Cleveland. Everyone wants to see Cleveland win and the new MJ come to life."
I don't. I love the Spurs, and i can't see myself supporting any other ball club except them. I'm with the Spurs all the way. Go! Go! Go!

[FromWayDowntown]

The guy on FOX Sports Radio right now has picked up on Freeman's column and is asking the same question of his callers. I think the reactions are actually quite curious -- though I only listened to about 15 minutes of discussion.

One caller remarked that the Spurs aren't watchable because, in essence, they're too foreign and he can't stand Parker and Ginobili. My thought is that it must be because Parker and/or Ginobili have owned his team in the past -- it's difficult to find a backcourt tandem that is as good right now and both play the sort of slashing game that so many fans claim they want to see.

Another said that nobody is watching or talking about the Spurs because fans are tired of seeing the Spurs win. That would be a valid point if anyone had been watching the Spurs when this winning act was new.

I think it's great that Freeman's column has made this discussion one that is getting air time nationally. It's the question that I pose to friends who aren't Spurs fans but who also lament all the bad in sports. I always say, "If you want to see good things, watch the Spurs." I invariably hear "Well, the Spurs are boring." But even that seems to be a cannard anymore -- if you think about it, some of the league's most exciting playoff series in the last few years have involved the Spurs: the 2006 WCSF with Dallas was just transcendant basketball with exciting, down to the wire games between great teams; the 2007 WCSF against Phoenix was, to this point I think, the best playoff series in this postseason; the 2005 Finals started with 4 straight blowouts, but included a truly remarkable Game 5 and an electric Game 7; the 2004 WCSF against LA involved some of the greatest players to ever lace up shoes and check into NBA games and had its share of drama; the 2003 WCSF against LA was very much the same, with drama and great performances by great players. I'm not sure that any other franchise has given the league and its fans that many great series over that span of time. And I'm not sure how a club that is so frequently involved in such great games can be castigated as boring.

[Marcus Bryant]

The guy on FOX Sports Radio right now has picked up on Freeman's column and is asking the same question of his callers. I think the reactions are actually quite curious -- though I only listened to about 15 minutes of discussion.

One caller remarked that the Spurs aren't watchable because, in essence, they're too foreign and he can't stand Parker and Ginobili. My thought is that it must be because Parker and/or Ginobili have owned his team in the past -- it's difficult to find a backcourt tandem that is as good right now and both play the sort of slashing game that so many fans claim they want to see.

Another said that nobody is watching or talking about the Spurs because fans are tired of seeing the Spurs win. That would be a valid point if anyone had been watching the Spurs when this winning act was new.

I think it's great that Freeman's column has made this discussion one that is getting air time nationally. It's the question that I pose to friends who aren't Spurs fans but who also lament all the bad in sports. I always say, "If you want to see good things, watch the Spurs." I invariably hear "Well, the Spurs are boring." But even that seems to be a cannard anymore -- if you think about it, some of the league's most exciting playoff series in the last few years have involved the Spurs: the 2006 WCSF with Dallas was just transcendant basketball with exciting, down to the wire games between great teams; the 2007 WCSF against Phoenix was, to this point I think, the best playoff series in this postseason; the 2005 Finals started with 4 straight blowouts, but included a truly remarkable Game 5 and an electric Game 7; the 2004 WCSF against LA involved some of the greatest players to ever lace up shoes and check into NBA games and had its share of drama; the 2003 WCSF against LA was very much the same, with drama and great performances by great players. I'm not sure that any other franchise has given the league and its fans that many great series over that span of time. And I'm not sure how a club that is so frequently involved in such great games can be castigated as boring.

This nation lives for celebrity, controversy, and bad seeds. Hence the reason when you're in a grocery store you see about 20 different magazines at the checkstand devoted to the fuckups of the 'rich and famous'. While most of those are in the movie and music industries, a fair number come from the world of sport. Men are no more immune than women when it comes to what sells. The dysfunctional team with the feuding star players and coach who is banging the owner's nude posing daughter in the City of Angels is far more interesting than a cohesive team committed to winning and led by an unselfish superstar who is based in one of the smaller media markets of any professional sports league. A comment I've heard often is that sports are soap operas for men. Based on what I've seen, I'd say that's rather true. Hence the reason Kobe Bryant whining about having to share the court with one of the greatest bigmen of all time and then later whining about his team having insufficient talent both warrant high-profile media coverage.

As for Parker and Ginobili being "too foreign", well, the Spurs aren't to blame for the xenophobia of white-bred America.

[Ya Vez]

Can we attach a asterisk to your entire organization?

Phoenix Suns

League Championships None

Conference Championships 2 - 1976 (Western), 1993 (Western)

Division Championships 5 - 1981 (Pacific), 1993 (Pacific), 1995 (Pacific), 2005 (Pacific), 2006 (Pacific)

Playoff Appearances 25 - 1970, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007

[ambchang]

:lol at Spurs fan still needing to validate the legitimacy of these * playoffs.

How funny is it that with all these "titles" America still laughs at you and your drainage-ditch colonia?
Was the * about the Spurs being boring? I always thought the * was about the league sticking to their rules despite affecting popular players. My bad.

[ClingingMars]

http://sportsline.com/columns/writers/freeman

Left column is the place for feedback. Tell him to keep up the good work!

-Mars

[bigfundamental21]

I concur.


me too.

But who cares what everyone else thinks. The Spurs and Spurs fans are all that matter. Even if the whole world is against us, the bottom line is that we win and winning is all that matters. GO SPURS GO! GO FOR FOUR!

:flag:

[michaelwcho]

The Spurs just have some demographic image "problems". It's obvious to me that TP and Manu suffer because of their foreignness--they don't look, act, or talk like Americans. They aren't ghetto enough. They are humble and team-first, in a country where bravado and individualism is glorified. Timmy either doesn't have charisma or chooses not to exhibit any personality. And of course, he's a "foreigner" too.

Another aspect is that the NBA decided to sell flash, bravado, and acrobatic dunks as its main selling point for the last 20 years. The face of the NBA is someone who sticks out his tongue and dunks, or dunks and breaks backboards. As great as our big three are, they are as likely to lay it up off the glass as to dunk. There goes that angle.

TV has a lot to do with it. Teamwork, which is exhilirating to the true fan, is dull to a casual fan. For example, don't you just get pumped and shake your head in awe when a team plays great D and forces a 24 sec violation? But it's not photogenic. A dunk or a three pointer is photogenic. One of the reasons the NFL is king is that football looks really good on TV.

And finally, there is the fact that sensationalism sells papers. Artest, Kobe, Paris Hilton--these are the people who grab people's attention. Do people know more about C-Web's game or the fact that he screwed up against Duke, or whined his coach out of town? Do people remember Sprewell's game or do they remember his "extracurricular" activities. The Spurs don't give you that angle. Discipline and execution and consistency are not sexy. They just ain't crazy enough!

Whoah, Marcus Bryant, I think I just repeated what you said more or less. My bad!

[romain.star]

the spurs aren't boring.......the market is small, and so far away, its boring to watch because there is a lack of national interest for san antonio(the city itself), not the spurs.

I wish people would stop confusing this fact.


that's right... i was wondering how people would look at the spurs if it was the NEW YORK Spurs or the LOS ANGELES Spurs...