Old Men in Sweats! ™
By: Tommy T. & Barry D.
Volume 29
IT’S TIME FOR THE FANS & BENCH PLAYERS TO SHINE!
WE THE NORTH vs. WE THE BAY!
“WE THE BAY”, that’s the shirt being worn by the Golden State faithful this week. It’s in response to the “WE THE NORTH” shirts worn by Toronto players and fans throughout the playoffs. WE THE NORTH is cute. It’s screams loyalty and pride for your homeland (Ohhh Canada!). And of course Toronto is North of the border… and Canada is just very north. Toronto is nice… the North not so nice. We are Old Men in Sweats and we are from the North also. Only a 4-hour drive from our hometown in Upstate NY to the amazing city of Toronto. So WE THE NORTH too!
Now we appreciate the hometown Toronto’s passion and enthusiasm for their Raptors. The Scotia Bank Arena is a great basketball arena, albeit with a horrible sponsorship name. Ugh, all these arenas named after banks and airlines are just nauseating. Where have you gone Candlestick, Arrowhead, RFK, The Forum (Showtime), The Spectrum (Dr. J and Chocolate Thunder) and The Palace at Auburn Hills (The Bad Boys)? Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you.
But now the Finals are back in its usual setting. Oakland CA or better known as “Oaktown”, to the NoCal’ers. So the great NoCal fans copped the Raptors’ t-shirt slogan and are sporting WE THE BAY. Not original at all. Not like the Golden State fans to adopt a slogan rather than create their own.
You have to remember that the Golden State fans were some of the best in the NBA for decades. With the Warriors being terrible most of the last 3 decades. They won the championship in 1975 with Rick Barry and Al Attles, and they had a couple nice playoff runs with the TMC team in the early 90’s with Hardaway, Richmond and Mullins and the team led by Baron Davis when they upset the number 1 seed Mavericks in 2007 (sorry Mark Cuban). But until Steph, Klay, and Draymond showed up in THE BAY the Warriors were often a joke team with an incredible fan base.
Now we have WE THE NORTH vs. WE THE BAY. It’s about the fan bases as much as it is the teams. The Warriors are going to need their fans tonight more than ever. They may have to bring back Barry, Hardaway, and Baron tonight. There’s nobody left. KD is still out. Iggy is still gimpy. Now Klay is down, and Looney is out. In the immortal words of Lombardi, “What the hell is going on around here?!” The Warriors have never needed their fans more than tonight. This is going to be the ultimate gut check game and WE THE BAY fans can actually play a role in tonight’s game.
The greatest NBA coach of all time. The winningest coach of all professional sports in the modern era is Phil Jackson. Jackson always said the bench players, role players, perform markedly better at home. Especially in the playoffs! Look at Jackson’s bench rotations over the years with the Bulls and Lakers. He always went deeper into his bench at home. Because Jackson knows how the hometown faithful can lift up their role players. Tonight’s game 3 may be all about the role players for Golden State. All we have left is Steph, Draymond and a gimpy Iggy. There will be large doses of Quinn Cook, Jonas Jerebko, and even Damian Jones...not really household names. We can’t believe the series will come down to an open Jerebko jump shot but look out WE THE BAY because those guys will be on the floor in the 4th quarter tonight.
We love sports for the history. We believe every true sports fan is basically an historian. Following the NBA for 50 years is no different than being a Civil War historian, Watergate historian or a Cuban Missile Crisis expert. A sports fan remembers names, dates, places, and events just like a history buff. That’s why we know Steve Kerr will go to the 13th man on his bench in the most dramatic moments of tonight’s pivotal game 3. Kerr played for Jackson in Chicago and Popovich in San Antonio. Kerr is smart, logical, humble and looks like an Accountant. He’s not going to forget how those two coaches won 16 NBA championships combined.
Kerr knows this series, because of all the injuries, is coming down to the fans and the bench players. This series, more than any NBA Finals in recent memory, is depended on the hometown crowds. We just witnessed two great games North of the border where the Raptor fans did everything they could to get a victory. Even, Raptors Super Fan Drake was all in, talkin’ smack like a street baller at Rucker Park.
Now let’s see what you got NoCal! This series is simply…
“WE THE NORTH vs. WE THE BAY.”
-OMIS
“PREACHIN’ SPORTS KNOWLEDGE FOR A LIFETIME!”