Originally Posted by
Bricklayer
Oh, do not worry about soft selling the inquiry. I am rather proudly an outsider. A fairly well known one too in other parts of the interwebs.
And yes, I obviously showed up here because of Boogie, although it goes deeper than that. You know what really annoys me? That many chunks of this fanbase are so busy staring at their navels and wallowing in invented misery that they don't see the potential, not just of a random Pelicans team. Because frankly the world doesn't care about a random Pelicans team. But THIS Pelicans team. This first Twin Towers team in 20 years, to be freaking IMPORTANT. This team could lead the charge that changes the whole arc of the NBA.
And yes yes, proudly an outsider. And an outsider with a perspective that makes me shake my head at woe is me stuff. You know where I was before this? The Sacramento Kings. You know who the other teams I have followed that I have been getting reaquainted with are? The Knicks and the Sixers. Do you know how much collective misery there has been in the last 15 years for those franchises? So for people here to constantly be kvetching about how awful it is, how horrible it has always been, how it's all hopeless etc. etc. etc. leaves me utterly unimpressed. I've seen horrible and hopeless. I've been with a fanbase that literally thought they would not have a team by noon the next day. And yet they showed more hope and fight than...well, I do not want to get too insulting here. But you guys need to seriously buck up and listen to your more positive angels. Things are NOT that bad.
And the bizarre thing is this -- you go hang out with Knicks fans, and their team is 15-13 and they are damn excited about it. Porzingod! The Unicorn! Never mind they are still owned by Dolan who could screw it all up at any moment, still coached by the same retread they had last year, still burdened by Joakim Noah's contract. They are up, enthused, and appreciating the rebirth.
And you go hang with Sixers fans, and their team is 14-14 and they are damn excited about it. The Process baby! Never mind the half a dozen years of abject misery, massive injuries, controversy, and blatant tanking it took to get here. Never mind it's the same coach. Never mind they are GM'd by Bryan Colangelo(!). No, it's woot! Bring on the future! When is Embiid winning the MVP?
Then you show up here, the team is 15-15, you've got two superstars, and yet things turn ridiculous every team the team dares to lose, even against a quality opponent. Because obviously they will never win again, it's all hopeless, everything needs to be turned over, they are all losers who don't want to win etc. etc. The takes are startlingly irrational.