Fans can be the best sixth man on a basketball court, a football field(but i guess that’s a “twelfth man” lol), or whatever sport a person loves: but fans can also be the #1 stressor for their team.
I’m going to use myself as the “case study” here…lol! I will start with the L.A. Lakers. I have been a fan since 1980…I love everything about the Lakers, and I mean everything. Every player that ever put on the uniform, including Mikan, even though I never seen him play. But all that matters to me is that “lakers” across the front. I have personally witnessed MY team win 9 championships! I take the losses just as hard as the team, probably worse! When you love a “team” though, you take the good with the bad: the losses, the wins, the championships, the “almost” finals…all of that. I eat and sleep the Lakers. And whoever is on the team, get’s nothing but love from me, but once you leave the team…you just gone. See for me, even if Kobe left the Lakers, I will still be a Lakers fan. I said that because people say, “if Kobe leave the Lakers, you will leave too” and that’s just not true! I’m Lakers4Life! So when we have a mediocre team like the one we had in 2004-2007, I still rooted hard for my boys. And the 1st round playoff losses hurt BAD! But now it’s 2009 and we are NBA Champions! As we should be. Now with the addition of Ron Artest, I’m looking forward to more championships before Kobe calls it quits.
Then it’s my L.A. Sparks, shaking my head, because this is just BAD! I have been a Sparks fan since the inception of the WNBA! I chose the Sparks as my team, simply because they were (at the time) owned by the Buss family, who also owns the Lakers. I figured I’m a Lakers fan, so I might as well be a Sparks fan too. Oh and the fact that Lisa Leslie was their franchise player didn’t hurt. I have seen Lisa play with some talented group of women, like the back to back championship teams back in ’01 & ’02, but now the Sparks has the most talented team in the entire league history. This team boasts four olympians and all-star guard Betty Lennox and right now we are sitting at 8-12…ridiculous! I lived though the 10-24 season, and God blessed us with the number one pick…CANDACE PARKER!And what did she do, have the most outstanding debut in WNBA history, shucks in NBA history she is only behind 3 other players. And the Sparks fall short of the finals on a miracle shot by Sophia Young. But now on “paper” my team is the ABSOLUTE best, but the chemistry seems to be missing. So what is the problem? Lisa, Tina, Delisha have been playing together for years during the Olympics. I know the Sparks owners was hoping that Michael Cooper could restore the Sparks to glory, but he (in my opinion)is coaching this team ALL WRONG! I have watched this man leave Betty Lennox on the bench after she has hit 3 straight buckets. He plays Tina to “death” and the substitions are not great matchups. I could go into all type of reasons as to why this is happening to the Sparks, but my main one is Coop is already at USC. So owners, let him go!I am having a fit right now, we had less talent than this last season, and making it to the playoffs was never an issue, and here we are now fighting to NOT be last in the league. I know we didn’t have Candace at the start of the season, and Lisa was out for 11 games, but we still should not be in this situation. Coop pick a rotation and STICK WITH IT. The players have to keep learning each other over and over. The Lakers won so now you guys must do the same.
So are my expectations fair for my teams? I would say yes! But you guys sound off and let me know what you think.lol
GOD'S PLAN-MY SUCCESS 