© Soobum Im | 2018 Nov 18
Tell you what. Some sports writers might as well be comedy writers.
You read what this jabroni had to say within the last month? Check this out:
“Whatever it is, there is a distinctly fresh and thrilling vibe around the 2018-19 Golden State Warriors.
And it’s not even Halloween.
Their tricks are our treats.
Whereas last year’s Warrior season — the “shockingly low” 58 wins, the injuries forcing Curry to only play 51 games or the general feeling that the journey to repeat was more work than fun— was more of a relief when it was over, already this Warriors season feels like an ode to joy.”
Say what? Team Dysfunction? The team whose internal squabbles make your own family at Thanksgiving look like ‘The Waltons’ on sedatives?
(P.S. Note to self. When making a ‘Waltons’ reference in a Jock Blog about basketball, remember to delineate between Bill/Luke and the CBS family drama that aired from 1972-1981.)
Back to the topic. A “distinctly fresh and thrilling vibe” about these Warriors? The season “feels like an ode to joy”?
Who was this clueless scribe?
We’re waiting . . .
. . . oh, wait.
I wrote that?
On October 26? On KNBR.com?
I plead guilty — to being bamboozled, hoodwinked and hornswoggled by the fake front of domestic bliss the Warriors gave us en route to their 10-1 start.
That’s right. Bamboozled. Hoodwinked. And Hornswoggled.
That’s the new slogan for Warriors fans, replacing “Strength In Numbers”.
Weren’t you, too? The Warriors were playing incredible basketball heading into the Milwaukee Bucks visit to Oracle on Nov. 8. They rolled out a six game stretch from Oct. 22 to Oct. 31 in which they topped the 120 point mark every night. Their margin of victory was over 15 points per game in their 10-1 start. There was even talk — admittedly, only by yours truly — of going 41-0(racle) in their final season.
Then Steph tweaked his groin against the Bucks, and Draymond chose not to pass to Durant in the final seconds in L.A. and . . . well, the rest of the NBA is cackling in delight as the previous ‘Happiest Team on Earth’ has morphed into shot-missing zombies, led by the ice-cold Kevin Durant, who clearly has not gotten over Draymond Green’s choice and heated words after the Clippers loss.
And yes, in that Oct. 26 Jock Blog, I’d even addressed the Durant free agency question. I thought I had it taken care of. Yeah. Right. Check it out:
“And Durant’s very-public noncommittal to next year has the smart Warriors fan embracing the Zen attitude Steve Kerr espouses. Relish the now. Shed anxiety.
The Warriors look like an anxiety-free team right now. Might they throw caution to the wind and try to go undefeated at Oracle? Make it a 41-0(racle) season?”
Insert a Paulie Mac laugh track here.
Zen is out. Moody awkwardness is in.
The good news is, it’s not even Thanksgiving. The Warriors have 64 regular season games and five full months before the playoffs begin. Shoot, LeBron hasn’t even come to town yet! As the great Jimmy Cliff once noted, we all have many rivers to cross.
Only problem is, the full lyric from Cliff is: “Many rivers to cross / But I can’t seem to find my way over.”
Right now, my official stance is #LIPO.
No, I’m not advocating liposuction. LIPO = Let It Play Out. That may seem like a cop-out, and maybe it is. But Steph Curry will return. The team will improve dramatically when he does. And time will march on, with its well-earned reputation of wound-healing.
Maybe Durant is gone next year, and maybe Draymond is gone the year after that, too. But I can’t worry about that right now. I can only address the 2018-19 Warriors, who have blown to smithereens the idea that they are anything close to an ode to joy. They are human, and they are sensitive and they have things to work through. Durant has to decide how badly he wants a third championship. Green has to decide how much he can make it right with Durant.
And sportswriters have to be careful what they Jock Blog about.