"San Antonio is Everything a Franchise Should Be"

[Garquint]

[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!

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

[Garquint]

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 es
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]

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

[howbouthemspurs]

mike freeman is the best writer in the world!

[Strike]

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

How funny is it that with all these " les" 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 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]

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

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

at Suns fans that received their education in Arizona



"well, the world needs ditch diggers too"

[ForeignFan]

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

[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 ups 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]

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

How funny is it that with all these " les" 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!

[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...