"A person is smart, people are stupid."
Agent K couldn't have been more correct. In regard to "Fans" of the Pistons, let me paraphrase Agent K, and put it this way.
"A fan is smart, fans are stupid."
Why am I saying such a thing? Because the Chicago Bulls' Ben Wallace was booed in his return to the Palace on Sunday. It proves that fans, as a whole, are dumbasses. They definitely have very short memories.
Why did Ben Wallace leave? Because the Bulls overpaid. Also because the Pistons recognized that the NBA is changing to an offensive game, and Ben Wallace's offensive game is very offensive...to the senses. Both teams had a need. The Bulls needed defense, the Pistons offense. Thus, goodbye Ben Wallace, and thanks for the memories.
They should be ashamed, especially the guy wearing the TEAL uni. Was I happy about Wallace leaving? No. Has it worked out for the best, for both parties? Since the Pistons finally found a most capable replacement in Chris Webber, yes.
Fans need to remember all Ben Wallace did for the Pistons. 1 NBA championship, 2 Eastern Conference titles, 4 All-star games, 4 defensive player of the year awards, 2 rebounding titles, and that just naming a few accomplishments. The man was the face of the Pistons for his entire tenure. Ben Wallace WAS the Pistons.
To boo and jeer that kind of effort is to just show how silly fans as a whole can be. Without Wallace's efforts, the Pistons aren't the team they are today.
Please. As if you wouldn't have left for the additional Brinks truck of coin the Bulls offered."Fans" have a right to do whatever they want, within reason. They can boo and jeer Ben Wallace. They paid their money. But this "Fan" says doing so doesn't make them right, or smart, or especially clever. It just makes them small, petty, and clueless.
The Pistons rose out of the ashes of irrelevancy on the shoulders of Ben Wallace. Wallace deserved better from the "Fans" of Detroit.
As a sports fan, my feelings on this subject are this:
ReplyDelete1. If the player is traded or the team choses not to resign them, then they should be welcomed back with grace and dignity.
2. If the main/only reason they leave is to fatten their already fat bank account, then boo and hiss all you want. They obviously had no loyalty toward the team, and therfore the fans, so why should the fans show loyalty toward them?
The vast majority of paid athletes today are in it for the cash. Should they win a team trophy along the way, bonus. As in, "woo hoo for us" and cash. If they win an individual player award, bonus. As in, "woo hoo for me" and cash. Their loyalty to a team runs only as deep as the clubs pockets. When the money runs out, they move on. The term "franchise" player is a thing of the past, which is really sad.
So, I ask again, why should the fans show any love toward a money grubber who left them in the dust as they hightailed it out of town?
Well said, Al. It also still bugs me the way Sergei Federov is treated in Detroit. Obviously, every situation where a guy leaves town is different. (Were Juan Gonzalez to make a MLB roster and return to Detroit, I would boo him without a second thought, for example), but it's hard to hold on to too much hate for a guy in Wallace's situation. It should have been obvious to anyone with any sense that the Bulls are going to be (and the Pistons could have been) hamstrung by Wallace's contract in a couple of years.
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