2015-2016 NBA

[Jay]

Don't take the friendly ribbing to heart Arlos. That's sports fandom life lol. I don't know a single person who doesn't get shit on in some way for liking a team or multiple teams. You represent a new kind of basketball fan. You're basically about to win the Finals. Don't duck out because people are giving you a little heat. That's like...I dunno, abandoning a team once they start losing. Both equally lame. End of the day we're just a bunch of old dudes fawning over larger, younger and more talented dudes who do stuff we wanna do but way better than we ever could.

Do what you want though.

[Zanchief]

And also we're jealous your team is going to win.

[Arlos]

Did you like the Sharks when they were bad?

Did I LIKE them when they were bad? No, they annoyed the crap out of me. Was I still a fan and watched them the bulk of the time they were on TV, and went to games? Yes. I just bitched about them a lot. Probably a lot like Leafs fans for the last 40 years.

I followed the 49ers through thick and thin too, until just recently. The idiocies of current ownership finally broke me. I started following the 49ers when I saw "The Catch" from Montana to Clark live. Was a fan all through their glory years, and then in all the years afterward that weren't as good. I even followed them religiously (and went to games) during the Dark Times of Nolan or Singletary as our head coaches, though ownership was bothering me more and more.

See, in 1998, the only owner the team had had since I started following them, Eddie DeBartolo, got mixed up with a corrupt ex-Louisiana governor in an attempt to get a license to run a riverboat gambling casino. He got hit with "failing to report a felony" relating to a bribe request, but it caused a stink with the NFL because the word gambling was involved. So, he ended up basically having to sell the team to his sister, Denise York. Eddie D (as he is forever known around here) is literally in the NFL hall of fame as an owner, and is universally beloved by local fans and the players from back when he owned the team. He ran a world-class operation. His sister, her husband (John York), and their crotchspawn (Jed York) are terrible owners at the Don Sterling/Chris Cohan level.

John literally used to go on rampages in the HQ over the cost of supplying players with bottled water. Denise is the best of the bunch, because she's totally uninvolved with the team, besides being the official owner of record. But the Yorks as a whole have no idea what they are doing when it comes to running a football team, have HUGE egos, a pathological need to be the ones to get the credit, a penchant for playing political games and doing lots of behind the scenes backstabbing. Oh, and they have a few tame media that they constantly "leak" stuff to, and they constantly lie, usually in incredibly stupid ways where it is trivial to prove they are lying. They couldn't even avoid fucking up good PR during the Super Bowl, when the team cancelled the reservation of the Girl Scouts because they got offered more money to hold a concert that night, and it made national media.

That's how Harbaugh got run out of town. Jeddy Boy and his Igor (our awful GM Baalke) got their panties in a twist that Harbaugh was getting the credit for the team's success, and not them. (because they're convinced they're geniuses, while a cardboard cutout of Bill Walsh is brighter than the lot of them combined) So, they instigated a year long leak/whisper/smear campaign through the local and national media in order to undermine Harbaugh among fans, and convinced themselves that no one would catch on. About 75% of the fans caught on. They fired him, then claimed it was a "mutual parting of ways", when everyone knew (and Harbaugh outright stated) that they fired him.

After that, they hired someone as our head coach who had never before been even a offensive or defensive coordinator in the NFL or college football before. The sum total of his head coaching experience was 1 year coaching a NFL Europe team. As best we fans can tell, the entirety of his qualifications were that he was a world class suck-up and yes man. So, they hired this guy and then engaged in a self-congratulatory round of back slapping about how brilliant they were, and how good the team would do now that the giant meanie Harbaugh was gone. In that same offseason, Kaepernick signed a VERY team-friendly deal, after being promised that the team would use the money saved to retain the team's free agents, and bring in new ones to improve the team. This never happened. They simply pocketed the money. Then, when the season started and the team predictably shit the bed in embarrassing fashion, they needed a scapegoat to blame everything on. After all, Jeddy Boy and Baalke are Geniuses! It couldn't be their fault, nor could it be their hand picked replacement, because geniuses would never pick a terrible coach! So, they fired up the leak/smear/spin machine again and pointed it at Kaepernick. Then, when he was out for the season hurt, they started doing petty idiocies, like forbidding him from joinin the team on the sidelines during games.

Somewhere in the middle of all that, I realized that all the caring had been beat out of me. That I just didn't have it in me any more to care about a team where the ownership treats its players, employees, and fans with such utter contempt and disdain. Worse than being angry at them, which is how I used to be, I just stopped caring. They broke 35 years of rabid fandom in me. At this point, I won't give them a dime of my money or a minute of my TV time until such time as the ownership group and GM are gone. MAYBE I'd come back if they realize they're being idiots, hire a football guy to run everything, then just fade into the background and do nothing more than write checks. But fuck the 49ers right now. I would hope they went 0-16, but I don't want Baalke to have the privilege of getting to pick first overall. They've so turned me off, that I haven't even been paying attention to the NFL in general much at all, and I've watched NFL games for like 41-42 years. I didn't watch the draft, didn't follow FA signings, other than laugh at yet another lie, where in the offseason, Baalke and Jeddy Boy had repeatedly gloated over and over about how they had such vast amount of cap room, and would be using it to improve the team. IIRC, the entirety of their signings was a 4th string QB, and we didn't even retain our own FAs.

I am not alone in this. Last season, people actually hired sky banners (those message banners towed behind biplanes) to fly over home games to insult and troll Jed as the season was going further and further into the septic tank. There is actually serious talk about a significant fraction of people who bought PSL's just walking away from them, cancelling the payments, and turning the PSLs back over again. This would cost the 49ers MILLIONS, which is exactly why there's this much talk of such a fan revolt, because most of the fan base here wouldn't piss on the Yorks if they were on fire.

[Kaemon]

I can't believe I read all that....


Anyone else get anything from that besides Arlos likes to bandwagon? I would think you'd be a Chargers fan considering they're known for they're fairweather.

Go Cleveland!!

[brinstar]

re: liking teams through thick and thin

i have a very different issue - i've been a cubs fan since i could pick up a baseball, and they've been terrible almost as long. the 2000s were obv a mild break from decades of irrelevance, with the NLCS in 03 and the NLDS in 07/08

then........ the ricketts family bought the club from the tribune. tom's boy pete, as you may or may not know, is the piece of shit governor currently doing his level best to turn nebraska into north kansas

we were very bad much of the first half of the 2010s, but once we got joe maddon in the driver's seat we turned red-hot in 2015, turned the pirates into roadkill in the wildcard game, steamrolled the cards in the NLDS, before finally getting annihilated by the white-hot mets. now we're 2 months into the 2016 season and have the best record in baseball, a healthy club, a dynamite pitching staff, and some serious swat at the plate. everyone is predicting we ride this all the way and break the 108-year drought.........

............but goddamnit, the fucking ricketts family. it enrages me that my team's success enriches such opportunistic jackballs. so what do i do?



i try not to think about it, that's what i do

[Jay]

re: liking teams through thick and thin

i have a very different issue - i've been a cubs fan since i could pick up a baseball, and they've been terrible almost as long. the 2000s were obv a mild break from decades of irrelevance, with the NLCS in 03 and the NLDS in 07/08

then........ the ricketts family bought the club from the tribune. tom's boy pete, as you may or may not know, is the piece of shit governor currently doing his level best to turn nebraska into north kansas

we were very bad much of the first half of the 2010s, but once we got joe maddon in the driver's seat we turned red-hot in 2015, turned the pirates into roadkill in the wildcard game, steamrolled the cards in the NLDS, before finally getting annihilated by the white-hot mets. now we're 2 months into the 2016 season and have the best record in baseball, a healthy club, a dynamite pitching staff, and some serious swat at the plate. everyone is predicting we ride this all the way and break the 108-year drought.........

............but goddamnit, the fucking ricketts family. it enrages me that my team's success enriches such opportunistic jackballs. so what do i do?



i try not to think about it, that's what i do

Pretty much this. I made the mistake of tying my fandom to the team's ownership back in the day when I was a Blackhawks fan. The Wertz family shit all over that franchise, took them off TV and radio to sell more tickets and traded my 2 favorite players (Chelios and Roenick). I stopped being a fan altogether but had I stayed the course, I'd be celebrating 3 Stanley cups in the past 5 years.

My fandom with the Chicago Bears is a lot more pure. They've had the worst GMs and owners since forever and they keep shitting on their pro bowlers (Briggs, Forte). They tried to sell Rex Grossman like their godlike special teams wasn't producing miracles during their Super Bowl season. No playoff berths since 2010 lol. Don't get me started on Cutler. Still I'm a faithful and I suspend reality to be their fan. Every year is "their year".

[Arlos]

re: liking teams through thick and thin

i have a very different issue - i've been a cubs fan since i could pick up a baseball, and they've been terrible almost as long. the 2000s were obv a mild break from decades of irrelevance, with the NLCS in 03 and the NLDS in 07/08

then........ the ricketts family bought the club from the tribune. tom's boy pete, as you may or may not know, is the piece of shit governor currently doing his level best to turn nebraska into north kansas

we were very bad much of the first half of the 2010s, but once we got joe maddon in the driver's seat we turned red-hot in 2015, turned the pirates into roadkill in the wildcard game, steamrolled the cards in the NLDS, before finally getting annihilated by the white-hot mets. now we're 2 months into the 2016 season and have the best record in baseball, a healthy club, a dynamite pitching staff, and some serious swat at the plate. everyone is predicting we ride this all the way and break the 108-year drought.........

............but goddamnit, the fucking ricketts family. it enrages me that my team's success enriches such opportunistic jackballs. so what do i do?



i try not to think about it, that's what i do

Pretty much this. I made the mistake of tying my fandom to the team's ownership back in the day when I was a Blackhawks fan. The Wertz family shit all over that franchise, took them off TV and radio to sell more tickets and traded my 2 favorite players (Chelios and Roenick). I stopped being a fan altogether but had I stayed the course, I'd be celebrating 3 Stanley cups in the past 5 years.

My fandom with the Chicago Bears is a lot more pure. They've had the worst GMs and owners since forever and they keep shitting on their pro bowlers (Briggs, Forte). They tried to sell Rex Grossman like their godlike special teams wasn't producing miracles during their Super Bowl season. No playoff berths since 2010 lol. Don't get me started on Cutler. Still I'm a faithful and I suspend reality to be their fan. Every year is "their year".

I was like that with the 49ers. Like I said, I've been a fan for more than 35 years. But I reached my breaking point like you did with the Blackhawks. Terrible ownership is really the one thing that can kill fandom. When you see ownership spend years actively shitting on their fans and treating them with contempt, followed by driving away your favorite people from the team (most of the famous ex-49ers want nothing whatsoever to do with the current ownership).... Well, there's only so much of that you can take, because there's just no hope for the future until they're not the owners any more. If the Yorks sold the team to anyone more stable and reliable than, say, Kim Jong Un, I'd go right back to being a fan. But I can't support ownership that treats its fans and players like these guys do. They don't deserve one dollar of my money or one minute of my time.


PS. I find it telling that the Yorks waited until RIGHT when they got that new stadium built to kick out Harbaugh and start the purge. Harbaugh's success is what gave them enough local good will to get the stadium measures passed by the voters and city council. Then, as soon as it's built, they started going FULL retard.

[Jay]

Currently the front runner for Finals MVP is Shaun Livingston lol. That bench did some work!

[Arlos]

Yeah, nice work by the bench. I couldn't watch the game because I was in class, but saw the highlights when I got home. Here's an article from a local sports columnist I like a lot: http://blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami/2 ... ivingston/

That same sportswriter just did a 30 minute interview podcast with Barkley today. I haven't listened to it yet, but should be good listening, I would expect, given, well, Barkley. heh.


As for the Sharks, I am attempting to resist going full chicken little at this point. If we can hold serve here at home, then it becomes a best of 3. We came achingly close to winning the last game, hopefully home ice will make the extra difference. Though we're fucked if Hertl is injured and can't play.

[Jay]

Yeah, nice work by the bench. I couldn't watch the game because I was in class, but saw the highlights when I got home. Here's an article from a local sports columnist I like a lot: http://blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami/2 ... ivingston/

That same sportswriter just did a 30 minute interview podcast with Barkley today. I haven't listened to it yet, but should be good listening, I would expect, given, well, Barkley. heh.


As for the Sharks, I am attempting to resist going full chicken little at this point. If we can hold serve here at home, then it becomes a best of 3. We came achingly close to winning the last game, hopefully home ice will make the extra difference. Though we're fucked if Hertl is injured and can't play.

The Sharks better win or they lose Arlos =P

[Arlos]

Naw. The only thing that can kill fandom is terrible ownership, and the Sharks have good ownership. I really hope they win, but I'll still be a fan regardless.

[Lyion]

Not true always, Arlos. 've been a lifelong Chargers fan despite the Spanos family.

I'm hoping Cleveland's bench shows up in game two. More open threes and less Kyriee dribbling, please. That game was open to be stolen.

[Arlos]

I only got to watch the 2nd half of this game due to life issues. Now, I am sure that better basketball minds than I can diagnose the causes, but that was a complete woodshedding. So, basketball guys, what happened?

And hey! The Sharks won a game! Wooo!

[Zanchief]

Turnovers and Rebounds. That's what usually leads to a rout like that.

[Jay]

12 less rebounds, and Lebron with 7 turnovers just by himself. 2 because some upstart official finally decided to call that bullshit extra step he always takes in the paint.

Bench players aren't getting open. Dellavadova and Shumpert ass at offense. They are supposed to be great defenders but they are getting wrecked by Draymond and the bench. JR Smith can't get open to receive a pass and shoot a 3. K Love elbow to the head was rough, but he wasn't doing great in the 2 quarters he was in. Richard Jefferson was the only bench member making plays. Also, Draymond Green is torching the Cavs. TO cover Steph and Klay, they have to leave him open, and when they do, ouch. Bogut adapted to Cavs style and is murdering them on the post and paint. Also, GSW unleashed their hit and run secret weapon. The Brazilian Blur. The game will probably be different in Cleveland but there needs to be a major adjustment if they are gonna win against GSW. They are pressuring Klay and Steph hoping that the bench will cave. Maybe that will work in Cleveland?

[Arlos]

OK, I am once again looking at this series from my position of not a lot of basketball knowledge, so I freely admit I could very well be totally wrong in my opinion. But, it looks like the Warriors are coming more than a little unraveled. Green getting suspended, Curry getting ejected, Curry's wife calling out the refs on twitter... On top of getting crushed 2 games in a row.

So, what in hell is going on?



PS. While I am incredibly sad about how the Sharks' season ended, this is the first time it doesn't feel like a punch in the nuts when they lost. I can take this loss without wanting to kick a puppy. Previous years, not so much.

[Zanchief]

LeBron James is the answer. If there was any doubt now that he's the best player in the league it's gone now. Curry is great. He has a talent that no one has ever had like him. In that way is is unique. LeBron is better. I've been saying it all year.

Will the Cavs win game 7? They'll be underdogs, but in the NBA the best player usually wins. Go Cavs! (god I hate myself).

[Jay]

OK, I am once again looking at this series from my position of not a lot of basketball knowledge, so I freely admit I could very well be totally wrong in my opinion. But, it looks like the Warriors are coming more than a little unraveled. Green getting suspended, Curry getting ejected, Curry's wife calling out the refs on twitter... On top of getting crushed 2 games in a row.

So, what in hell is going on?



PS. While I am incredibly sad about how the Sharks' season ended, this is the first time it doesn't feel like a punch in the nuts when they lost. I can take this loss without wanting to kick a puppy. Previous years, not so much.

Lol please stop with the "I might be wrong" disclaimer. You're only talking to less than a handful of people here.

That being said, the reffing was pretty fucking bad BUT that's not why they lost. 20 points can be insurmountable throughout the course of the game not to mention it's mentally destructive. HB has been cold as ice. Klay and Curry have been good but not great. Draymond played ok. In the beginning the defense was pretty good but they aren't transitioning as well as usual (points scored from running back after a defensive stop). Also, Kyrie Irving and Lebron James are monsters right now. I would even give Lebron finals MVP if Golden State won lol. Not having Bogut hurts due to the lack of blocks, rebounds and effective screens.

Curry is an incredible player but I think he doesn't have the ability to explode in the playoffs. He'll torch any all star in the regular season but even comparing his numbers to last playoffs they stay around the same. A lot of all stars have a surge in skill during the playoffs and go well beyond their averages. 3 games in a row with 40+ points? You're seeing the real Lebron and yeah he's the best. Look at Irvings stats in the regular season vs the playoffs. Look at Dame Lillard, Westbrook, or any big time all star's numbers then look at them in the playoffs. Huge difference. For Curry, not so much. COuld be injury, could be nerves, could be that he just plays his best all the time.

[Zanchief]

I don't buy the bad reffing. GWS got so many calls in the 2nd when they made their run. Curry's fouls were all pretty egregious aside from two of them. The last one I don't get why people are whining. The Refs looked off so many fouls before they gave it to him. He was playing like they would never call a foul on him. He grabbed LeBron's arm and only the second foul on the play when he goes under him do they call it. What are the refs supposed to do?

I hate it when the pampered teams whine about refs. Try and watch a Bobcats Celtics game one day and see what its really like.

[Jay]

The pick on Irving was all ball. The O foul from the 3 pt shot is obvious. The foul on Lebron during the scramble is questionable at best. The first 2 I mentioned were for sure absolute bullshit but like I said, they didn't lose the game because of it. They lost the game when they went down 20 in the first.

[Zanchief]

The steal gets called every time. He had his hand on Irwing's back and racked across his body for the steal. I don't know why people are saying he hit the ball first so it's not a foul. It was a foul. From the angle the refs had that gets called 100% of the time on anyone. Curry was just making stupid mistakes.

How about Loves 3rd foul where he moved out of Green's way and got called for a foul that stuck him on the bench. If Curry didn't want to foul out, maybe he shouldn't have gambled so much.

[Lyion]

The calls were fairly balanced, Lebron just went Gonzo again.

Really disappointed with how bad Love has been in this series. I thought he was a much better player.

[Zanchief]

Really want to see a bound back game from him. He's better than he's shown.

[Lyion]

Really want to see a bound back game from him. He's better than he's shown.

He's a liability, and Kerr & GSW currently have a great plan to shift and directly attack him and his slow feet when he's on the floor. Cleveland coaching is not helping him out, either.

I really hope Cleveland comes out and attacks the basket like they did in the last game. Also, let's not do a replay of the third quarter Lebron dribble show again.

[Zanchief]

Problem is Cleveland likes to play with only one big on the floor and Love is getting killed on the glass and Thompson is having his way. Some of it is on Love. He used to be a great rebounder. His game has changed too much.