# Tim Duncan's Political Swag



## Lope31 (Jun 11, 2002)

This is an article I had originally written after game one, but even after game two last night, I can't help but feel the same way. A few of the comments go both ways, but I was interested in throwing it out here to see what more Spurs fans think.



> An often misattributed saying goes “If you’re a republican in your 20’s, you have no heart, but if you’re a democrat in your 30’s, you have no brain.” It’s been adapted over the years from comments allegedly made by Winston Churchill in the 1950s, but think about it long enough and it might just apply to the Tim Duncan-era San Antonio Spurs.
> 
> After struggling with an unfamiliar feeling Saturday, it hit me. I’m a Spurs fan now - at least in part - after years of swearing against it. When did this happen? Have I mellowed with age? Have I abandoned my penchant for flash and flair over the course of the past half decade?
> 
> ...


Tim Duncan's Political Swag


----------



## FreeMason Jr. (Jul 12, 2004)

I don't see how anyone can still call them boring after game 1. I really don't know what you expect from showing Spurs fans this. The article was well written, and I'm glad the Spurs (sorta) won you over; but all you're actually saying in this article is that you enjoy a boring, dirty team. Your just calling the team things the Spurs fans are pretty much sick of hearing, but putting a different spin on it. I don't think most Spurs fans can agree with your article at all. We enjoy them because we actually find them entertaining and we enjoy their tough defense. Again though, it's a well written article though, and you should probably post it in the main forum where some people might actually share your point of view or be persuaded by it, but I just don't get what you expect from showing it to Spurs fans.


----------



## hi im new (Jul 4, 2005)

did you call a three pointer a 'yard' in the article? i didnt understand that part. maybe im just really sleepy


----------



## Lope31 (Jun 11, 2002)

ezealen said:


> I don't see how anyone can still call them boring after game 1. I really don't know what you expect from showing Spurs fans this. The article was well written, and I'm glad the Spurs (sorta) won you over; but all you're actually saying in this article is that you enjoy a boring, dirty team. Your just calling the team things the Spurs fans are pretty much sick of hearing, but putting a different spin on it. I don't think most Spurs fans can agree with your article at all. We enjoy them because we actually find them entertaining and we enjoy their tough defense. Again though, it's a well written article though, and you should probably post it in the main forum where some people might actually share your point of view or be persuaded by it, but I just don't get what you expect from showing it to Spurs fans.


Well ez, I think you have a really good point here and I agree with you. This isn't so much an article to win over Spurs fans though, as I do feel the strong San Antonio fan base has every reason to love this team for reasons completely unrelated to their perceieved dirtyness. 

I do think it's good to point out that once casual NBA fans actually sit down and get past their reputation as boring, and they learn to appreciate all the talent and strategizing that has gone into their run, that's when you're going to find a lot of fans doing a complete about-face when it comes to how they think of the franchise. I'll never be Bruce Bowen fan but feel that I'm an exagerrated example of what most people will go through as long as the Spurs keep doing what they're doing. This isn't an attempt to justify San Antonio's dirtyness, but rather an attempt to redefine it all together. If this is what's _bad_ about basketball, then basketball's in a pretty good state.

Oh, and hi im new, yes. Hahah, yes I did. Going yard is a phrase traditionally reserved for hitting a home run in baseball, but I figured with a little creativity it can apply to both.


----------



## FreeMason Jr. (Jul 12, 2004)

I'm just glad you didn't take it the wrong way. It is a good article, but I think it'd be accepted better in the NBA general forum than here.


----------



## sasaint (Jun 28, 2005)

Speaking as a fan of the sport of basketball for close to a half century, I don't much like the NBA other than the Spurs because the razzle-dazzle, me-first, one-on-one stuff has come to dominate the game to the exclusion of smart, strategic basketball. That is what has come of the "heart" overruling the "brain."

Tim Duncan is one of the best big men to ever play the game. He is also the very embodiment of the greatest principle in sports - the team comes first. That he and the Spurs are so little appreciated is a direct reflection of the devaluation of that principle in our sports culture and our society.

The NBA now is more about entertainment than sport, more about gamesmanship than sportsmanship. College basketball is following that same decline. Even women's basketball is moving rapidly in that direction.

(BTW, I haven't changed what I think or like about basketball since I was playing the game as a kid.)


----------

