Look, I won't lie. I'm not exactly throwing in the towel, but the Pistons haven't done much to convince me that they can go on the road tonight against an opponent in their head and come out with a scheduled game on Monday. At this point, I'd consider "dignity intact" a lofty goal.
Yeah, I know. Not exactly Matt's aforementioned "was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor" speech. Not the "once more unto the breach, dear friends" that Jazz fans or Warriors fans probably summoned in the face of their team's dispatching. It is just much more fun being a fan of a team on the ascent, rather than one trying to muster one last ounce of fight. But for those of you who still need the glimmer, I'll put it to you like this.
I love that speech.
Anyways, as I mentioned, I'm not in a ra-ra mood. But there is one thought that drives my fandom tonight. It isn't the years that this team has had together and the potential breakup that could result from an embarrassing loss to a mediocre Cavs squad. It isn't the potential discord between certain key (and, more importantly, untradeable) members and free-agent-could-be Chauncey Billups. It isn't the fact that Flip Saunders will once again be proven a failure as a postseason coach. (It's an effing trap off the pick and roll... how could you lose two games because of that?)
The thought that drives me, I'll pretend you asked? Well, just think of the consequences of a loss tonight. Think about who stands to benefit from a loss tonight. Friends, I'm worried that Detroit is slipping below Cleveland on the sports loser scale. Seriously... think about it. The Tigs have proven themselves incapable of standing for the D (0-5 thus far against the Indians this season). Our beloved Wolverines... I don't even want to talk about it. The Lions? How hard is it to be better than the Browns? Seriously...
But the Pistons. We've always been able to hang our hat on the Pistons. The balance of power is shifting dear friends. There is an angry, title-starved people on the banks of the Erie sludge pond, and they are rising up against us. They want what we have... mainly our consistently-slightly-better-than-mediocrity, and they won't rest until our Pistons are on the slag heap.
Well, I say no. I say "Edgar Rentaria" on you. I say "Earnest Byner" on you. I say "Marcus Ray", "Craig Ehlo", and "John Cooper" upon you.
I say, "this is what happens when you ___ a stranger in the ___!" [WARNING: NSFW]
So it isn't the perfect speech. Hell, I don't even know if it's applicable. But I'm in a weird place right now, and you should be too. Let's get this b*tch over with, one way or the other. Game on.
[As always, leave your comments here.]
Any Given Sunday [YouTube.com]
Big Lebowski [YouTube.com]