Thursday, February 19, 2004
DEFINE "SUFFERING"
Boston sports fans lament constantly about the Curse, blablabla.
Bill Simmons (ESPN Page 2 columnist and die-hard Boston sports fan) today reacts to the feedback he received for his post-Super Bowl column.
From the Super Bowl column...
It's different being the favorite -- you spend the whole time hoping things don't get screwed up. With something to protect ... you become a parent. You worry. You fret. You cringe on every big play. It's like having a child leave for a sleepover. You worry all night, then you're just happy to see them return safely in the morning.
You reach a point where failing feels 10 times worse than succeeding feels good, if that makes sense. And then when it's over, and you survive all the ups and downs, and things finally turn out OK in the end ... you're just a mess. A giddy, overwhelmed mess. It's like surviving a brush with death. Then, and only then, can you appreciate everything that happened.
[...]
You want to go back. Again and again. You want to keep winning. You want to make history. You want everyone to remember this team, this particular group of guys. You want to protect your turf. Every time someone tries to come along and take it, you want to fight back. You won't lose. You can't lose.
... Anyone can win one championship. Few teams can keep coming back for more. And that's what I want: for the Patriots to reach that point.
I want true greatness. I want immortality.
There's a reason he got a ton of feedback for that article. Think about that last excerpt. The feedback? Yankee fans were welcoming Bill to the club.
My message to Boston sports fans (sports...not just baseball) complaining and moaning about the Red Sox never getting a title and being starved: SHUT THE HELL UP. You've just seen the Patriots win two Super Bowls in three years. I've been alive for 22 1/3 years, and I haven't seen ONE title out of ANY of the three teams in Seattle. I don't even know what winning is like, nor have I been in the proximity of a pro sports team (that singles out the 1991 Husky football team) that has won a title. That's even counting Portland and Vancouver.
Let's list our regional pro teams of the four major sports (if the BC Lions won a CFL title, I'm not counting that) and their titles...
Portland TrailBlazers: 1977
Vancouver Canucks: no Stanley Cups since 1970 inception
Seattle Mariners: no World Series appearances (let alone titles) since 1977 inception
Seattle Seahawks: no Super Bowl appearances (let alone titles) since 1976 inception
Seattle Supersonics: 1979
So once again, no native northwesterner under the age of 25 was even alive for the only Sonics title and it's probably a safe bet that nobody under the age of 30 even remembers the only ticker-tape parade down 4th Avenue.
To all Red Sox/Celtics/Bruins/Patriots fans in Boston...you saw the Celtics win three titles in the '80s, and if you're my age, you might remember the last one (1986). You just saw the Patriots win two Super Bowls in three years...
You call THAT suffering??
(and to top it off, the Sonics have let the trade deadline pass without making a single move...let's all give a sigh of relief as we'll still have the privilege to witness the great play of Vlad Radmanovic sucking as a power forward when he's actually a small forward, and of the stellar ineptitude of Jerome James, and of the Sonics having those spells where they never take the ball to the hoop and start jacking up a bunch of threes. Yaaaaay!)
Bill Simmons (ESPN Page 2 columnist and die-hard Boston sports fan) today reacts to the feedback he received for his post-Super Bowl column.
From the Super Bowl column...
It's different being the favorite -- you spend the whole time hoping things don't get screwed up. With something to protect ... you become a parent. You worry. You fret. You cringe on every big play. It's like having a child leave for a sleepover. You worry all night, then you're just happy to see them return safely in the morning.
You reach a point where failing feels 10 times worse than succeeding feels good, if that makes sense. And then when it's over, and you survive all the ups and downs, and things finally turn out OK in the end ... you're just a mess. A giddy, overwhelmed mess. It's like surviving a brush with death. Then, and only then, can you appreciate everything that happened.
[...]
You want to go back. Again and again. You want to keep winning. You want to make history. You want everyone to remember this team, this particular group of guys. You want to protect your turf. Every time someone tries to come along and take it, you want to fight back. You won't lose. You can't lose.
... Anyone can win one championship. Few teams can keep coming back for more. And that's what I want: for the Patriots to reach that point.
I want true greatness. I want immortality.
There's a reason he got a ton of feedback for that article. Think about that last excerpt. The feedback? Yankee fans were welcoming Bill to the club.
My message to Boston sports fans (sports...not just baseball) complaining and moaning about the Red Sox never getting a title and being starved: SHUT THE HELL UP. You've just seen the Patriots win two Super Bowls in three years. I've been alive for 22 1/3 years, and I haven't seen ONE title out of ANY of the three teams in Seattle. I don't even know what winning is like, nor have I been in the proximity of a pro sports team (that singles out the 1991 Husky football team) that has won a title. That's even counting Portland and Vancouver.
Let's list our regional pro teams of the four major sports (if the BC Lions won a CFL title, I'm not counting that) and their titles...
Portland TrailBlazers: 1977
Vancouver Canucks: no Stanley Cups since 1970 inception
Seattle Mariners: no World Series appearances (let alone titles) since 1977 inception
Seattle Seahawks: no Super Bowl appearances (let alone titles) since 1976 inception
Seattle Supersonics: 1979
So once again, no native northwesterner under the age of 25 was even alive for the only Sonics title and it's probably a safe bet that nobody under the age of 30 even remembers the only ticker-tape parade down 4th Avenue.
To all Red Sox/Celtics/Bruins/Patriots fans in Boston...you saw the Celtics win three titles in the '80s, and if you're my age, you might remember the last one (1986). You just saw the Patriots win two Super Bowls in three years...
You call THAT suffering??
(and to top it off, the Sonics have let the trade deadline pass without making a single move...let's all give a sigh of relief as we'll still have the privilege to witness the great play of Vlad Radmanovic sucking as a power forward when he's actually a small forward, and of the stellar ineptitude of Jerome James, and of the Sonics having those spells where they never take the ball to the hoop and start jacking up a bunch of threes. Yaaaaay!)
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