Fan support much different over the years

[DarrinS]

I was just thinking back to the 1999 season and how much things have changed since that time.

Tim Duncan was in his second season. (Kobe had already been in the league 2 years).

Even with a shortened season, it was still amazing how the Spurs completely DOMINATED the playoffs and finals.

Swept the Lakers
Swept the Blazers (still can't believe Elliot hit that shot)
Beat the Nicks 4-1 in the Finals


The Spurs had a pretty damn good team

Tim
Dave
Shawn
Avery
Mario Ellie
Jaren Jackson
Malik Rose
Antonio Daniels
Steve Kerr
Jerome Kersey
Will Purdue


Everywhere you went to watch a game, the place was PACKED. Nowadays, you go somewhere to watch a game, and there are only a handfull of fans. :wtf


I think the fan apathy comes from being completely SPOILED. We've had the most successful sports franchise of the last ten years and people really take it for granted. I see young, hungry teams like the Hornets and it really makes me yearn for those days before all the NBA titles (well, only a little), back when the Spurs were stilll looking to get their first.


Like Spurs' fans, the Spurs players sometimes look like they're a little disinterested. I guess its hard to get all "geeked up" for each of the 82 games when you've "been there, done that" so many times in the past.

Even if the Spurs don't make it to the Finals this season (and, its highly likely they won't), make sure you sit back, relax, and realize that you are witnessing one of the most competitive seasons in basketball in a VERY long time. The only travesty of this season is that a team like the Hawks could make the playoffs while a team like the Nuggets may not.


Here's a good SI cover from 1999. (Look how young Tim looks)

http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2007/writers/steve_aschburner/10/30/duncan.kareem/p1.td.jpg

[SenorSpur]

:toast

[xtremesteven33]

YES spurs fans are a little spoiled and it is kinda sad....i look at golden states fans are they go bazerk for every shot they make, and they have that underdog feeling to them. The spurs have lost that. they are always expected to go to the Finals and thats when we lose our spirit after we already have such high expectations for them...

thats why i tell spurs fans, enjoy these moments and times with Tim, Tony.Bruce and Manu...
its not gonna last very long

[boutons_]

"apathy comes from being completely SPOILED"

A huge problem is that a vast majority of the games are boring shitfests between non-hustling, disinterested teams of no consequence and without sufficient talent on the team or coaching staff.

There isn't enough talent world-wide to fill out the NBA's 30 teams/450 players.

Even the Spurs don't have enough talent beyond the Big3.

The Spurs fans have become blase after so many years of success and 4 trophies, but who wants to watch the crappy, painful games the Spurs are committing now?

[rAm]

Here's a good SI cover from 1999. (Look how young Tim looks)

http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2007/writers/steve_aschburner/10/30/duncan.kareem/p1.td.jpg


Look how big Kobe's shadow under his #8 was!

[T Park]

Or maybe now its there are more places to watch the game so people are more spread out, or more people are able to watch the games at home and prefer to stay home?

Nah, that would hold too much common sense.

[lonestr]

This may very well be true and all, but speak for yourself. Some of us oldies remember the days when San Antonio was a nothing team that couldn't get past the first round. As an ABA franchise newly arrived from Dallas, it was a side circus show with gunslinger style of play; more for entertainment than championship posturing. Watching a team for soo long makes you see what it really takes to be champions. Many on this board do not have the long standing as fans as we do, so trying to envision the struggles we endured year after year. I'm not trying to say you've endured less, but our experiences and our loyalty to the Spurs run deeper than most. I've been blessed to have watched Gervin, Kenon, Dietrich.etc. play in the Hemisphere arena. I've also met them and know them as regular people in this city. I've done the same with Robinson, Avery, and Tim Duncan. We are not just Spurs Fans, we are Basketball enthusiast. We had to because once the Spurs were disposed of, we continued to watch the playoffs to see who won the Finals. It's a sad truth, but it's because of the Spurs we appreciate not only San Antonio, but any other team that can rise above the fray and be the best.

There has been no other team to have accomplished what our Spurs have done. None! not even the Boston Celtics nor the storied L.A. Lakers. When San Antonio losses Tim Duncan and company we will go back to heartbreaking post seasons and you'll see what happens around here. However, we oldies will relish every game we see because that is our team, and no one is going to tell us different. Take the wisdom of this oldie... don't worry about the games we have lost at this point, we are trying to maintain our viability and save our energies and resourses because the games become SEVEN game series. Pop doesn't care about losing to the hornets if the Hornets are playing like maniacs to make some point. Pop's got Byron Scotts number, just as he did in the 2003 finals. Byrons got a hard-on for the Spurs after Pop took him to the cleaners that year. Yeah, he's worried. So is Jackson, Saunders, and Rivers. You tell me why!!!

[ancestron]

:stfu :idiot

:violin

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd281/korokaachimp/gtfo.gif

[endrity]

It's weird that SA couldn't sell out a WCF game against the Jazz last year. That was the moment you could tell that fans had become spoiled. As a Mav fan, I can't tell you how much I would love to see my boys win a championship, but I don't know how I would react if they had won 4 in the last decade.

[Manu's Bald Spot]

It's funny now, I watch spurs games and I get upset when we lose or barely win over teams that I feel like we should blow out. But every time I think that, I have to think about the days of DRob and while I loved those teams from the early-mid 90s, we could never ever get over the hump, which was heartbreaking. Looking back the last 10 years, we are really really spoiled. Best record over the last 10 years of ANY sport? Our team might be gettin old, but we're still there in the running. If we can't believe after a decade of excellence, then we need to stop being spurs fans. Excellence can only last so long, so let's enjoy this while we can.

[jag]

Or maybe now its there are more places to watch the game so people are more spread out, or more people are able to watch the games at home and prefer to stay home?

Nah, that would hold too much common sense.

Is this the reason playoff games aren't being sold out T Park?