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exactly. so wake the up you dumb ass fans...
Link
David Flores: Spurs' run is S.A. sports' Golden Age
Web Posted: 05/23/2007 01:32 AM CDT
San Antonio Express-News
When San Antonio "borrowed" Dallas' American Basketball Association franchise in 1973, few gave the team any chance of surviving in the Alamo City.
Yours truly, then an 18-year-old preparing for his freshman year in college, was among the skeptics.
After all, the thinking went, San Antonio was an oversized high school town. And what fool — or in this case, fools — thought a pro basketball team could flourish in South Texas?
If the Chaparrals, who had played in the ABA since its first season in 1967, couldn't generate fan interest in Dallas, why would anybody in their right mind think they could make it in San Antonio?
The answer to the second question was simple: A team in San Antonio wouldn't have to compete with an 800-pound gorilla in its own city. That would be the Cowboys, who already had won a Super Bowl and played in another by 1973.
Still, bringing pro basketball to San Antonio was seen as a risk.
But a group of 30 investors led by local businessmen Angelo Drossos and Red McCombs boldly pressed on, paying $200,000 to lease the Chaparrals for the 1973-74 season.
Even though the Chaps played in a fledgling league, Drossos, McCombs and their partners told anybody who would listen that they believed the team would be a good fit for the city and vice versa.
Looking back now, they couldn't have been more correct. And the skeptics, including yours truly, couldn't have been more wrong.
The Chaparrals were renamed the Spurs when they moved south in the summer of 1973, and it didn't take long for the city to fall in love with its pro basketball team.
Drossos & Co. were so encouraged by the Spurs' first season, when the silver and black took defending ABA champion Indiana to seven games in the first round, that they scraped together another $600,000 to buy the team from the franchise's original investors.
For those who always have resented Dallas' condescending at ude toward other Texas cities, it's always good to remember that sleepy San Antone succeeded where the folks up north failed.
Who would have thought 34 years ago that the Spurs would someday be in contention to win their fourth NBA championship in nine seasons?
Or that they would have one player in the Basketball Hall of Fame and two others who are locks.
"There are a lot of franchises that never have had one player of that stature in the history of their team, and here the Spurs have three Hall-of-Fame players," former Spurs coach and executive Bob Bass said Tuesday. "Spurs fans have been very fortunate."
No doubt, the Spurs' les collectively represent the Golden Age of sports in San Antonio.
Let's face it, folks: You never say never, but it seems highly unlikely that San Antonio ever will be home to an NFL or Major League Baseball franchise.
Maybe a team could relocate here — if the stars and planets align just right, that is.
So what you've got, San Antonio, is, well, what you see now. A basketball franchise that ranks among the best not only in the NBA, but in all of professional sports.
That's not a bad return for an $800,000 investment.
Given the city's sports landscape and what the Spurs will look like when Tim Duncan retires, chances are it's never going to get better than this for San Antonio sports fans.
Yet, the Spurs' success during the Duncan era apparently has bred some complacency among some Spurs fans. How else do you explain not selling out Game 1 of the Western Conference finals at the AT&T Center?
Some advice to fans who may be a little spoiled: Savor the good times while you can, because when the Spurs' run ends, San Antonio may never reach such glorious heights again.
"Back when I first came aboard, things like this right here seemed unlikely," said Bass, 78, who began his 20-year association with the Spurs in 1974. "There was so much to do and we had so far to go."
Fans who remember the hard times know whereof he speaks.
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exactly. so wake the up you dumb ass fans...
"Some advice to fans who may be a little spoiled: Savor the good times while you can, because when the Spurs' run ends, San Antonio may never reach such glorious heights again."
One can hope its very, VERY soon. Back to normalacy down here.
Go write one of your "normal" 58 page books, Pooh.
Great Atricle
There's always hope for Dwight Howard to learn under the tutelage of Duncan and keep carrying that torch forward.
Dwight Howard? WTF? GRED ODEN IS THE FUTURE TIM DUNCAN.
Tim Duncan has always been Greg Oden's idol as he always wanted to grow up and be like TD.
TD and Oden are EXTREMELY similar. Only difference is Oden is more athletic and more talented while TD has better offensive skills. Personnality-wise, they're a total match.
If someone's coming to SA to learn from Duncan, I hope it's Oden cuz he's a pure winner.
In 20 yrs my son will ask me why I follow such and inept and horrible team as passionate as I do..I'll tell him about this time and how awesome it was....
Then I'll hope we win the lottery again in 2014!
Us not selling out in the WCF is simply unexcuseable.
Flores has been around the local sports scene a long, long time.
He's right...this past decade and the 4-5 yrs left in the TD era are something to savor.
But at times, especially during regular seasons, I've become complacent and taken it for granted.
This right after the man says "never say never".........Duh.....who knows what's in store for the Spurs or any other franchise that may come here?Given the city's sports landscape and what the Spurs will look like when Tim Duncan retires, chances are it's never going to get better than this for San Antonio sports fans.
I understand the Pistons didn't sell out game 1 either.Us not selling out in the WCF is simply unexcuseable.
Wonder how many teams have failed to completely sell out game 1 in the past?
It's just one more thing the media picked up on to slam the Spurs.
Wonder why they didn't make a big deal out of the Pistons not selling out for game 1?
why dwell on what mIGHT or MIGHT not be.......we are champs now and hopefully will be again in a few weeks. Some might say (POOH) to enjoy it while it lasts hahaha well we are and we will. Don't hate on us cause we have a championship team that will be in the running for many more years to come. Who knows who we will draft and who will be a stud.
outstanding article! I can't even add to it.
In my opinion, people are making a huge deal out of not selling out Game 1.
Greg Oden and Dwight Howard are more similar to David Robinson than they are to Tim Duncan.
Robinson was an idol to both Oden and Howard. In fact Howard was once interviewed out of his High School Academy boarding room, and you could see two Robinson posters on his wall. Oden was likewise interviewed and he suggested that he patterned his game after Robinson's and that the reason he wears number '50' was because of the Admiral (same can be said for Emeka Okafor).
Either one will work for SA because both are upstanding individuals as well as great defensive players. The difference is that Howard's contract ends in 2008 (next year) whereas Oden's will probably end after Duncan's current contract expires.
In other words, I'd rather see Duncan and Howard playing together while Duncan still has his legs and a couple of years of contention left in him. That would be better than having to wait until Oden's rookie contract expired and landing him at a point where Duncan wouldn't be able to contribute any more than Olajuwon did for Toronto...
Certainly the times are good now for the Spurs but it is less than insightful to think that it will be all over when Duncan retires. San Antonio is growing rapidly and there is no end in sight. Large corporations are increasingly establishing themselves here. Large corporations bring money. Money brings top talent. Top talent along with highly skilled leadership, which the Spurs have in spades, will bring continued success. Of course happens sometimes but aside from that the Spurs future is just as bright as any other team's.
Because the Pistons did in fact sell out Game 1.
But Oden wore #20 at Ohio State.
Plus we havent even seen what Oden can do in the NBA......HOWARD is a beast and will only get better.
#50 in high school
Oden joined the Church of Manu.
The point was that there shouldn't have been a "wtf" reaction from what I initially posted. It was stated with a basis.
It's more probable that neither Oden or Howard end up in San Antonio.
But far more probable for Howard to join Duncan's Spurs... than for Oden to leave Portland and join... Parker's Spurs?
A Golden Age that includes no NFL, no MLB, no Division I-A college sports, not even a NHL team. But don't forget the Rodeo and Livestock Show. Maybe we can claim the Luling Watermelon Thump.
A Golden Age that includes no NFL, no MLB, no Division I-A college sports, not even a NHL team. But don't forget the Rodeo and Livestock Show. Maybe we can claim the Luling Watermelon Thump.
Pretty amazing actually when you consider that there are a lot of other cities that have, football, baseball, and basketball and still have not had a golden age of sports.
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