I'm Losing It

[Brickowski]

Not my sanity, I lost that long ago.

I'm losing my love for the NBA.  Maybe Monday night's game was the last straw, but I find the European and college games much more entertaining, and I just don't care that much any more about the David Stern Basketball Association.

Contributing factors are the horrible, inconsistent (and occasionally crooked) officiating, the stupid rules (a 48 minute game using the International rules would be much better), the overmarketing and overhyping of players (I mean you, Chris Bosh) who are above average but certainly not superstars, the over reliance on pick and roll offense (every play is the same), the idiotic 4 foot circle, the protection that "stars" get from the officials (PLEASE don't let Dwayne Wade travel anymore), the overexpansion and the number of truly bad teams, and having to endure that ballwasher Rick Kamla every time I turn on NBA TV.

I used to have season tickets.  Now I doubt if I will ever go to another game.  Even if someone gave me free tickets, the parking would have to be free too.

[housecall]

Brick you are not alone in this...all the things you mention are some of my problems with the NBA to,especially the officiating,and the one i thought i was alone on is Rick Kamla on NBA.TV,the guy is a piece of work.Im trying to hold on through this season and make up my mind after the playoffs. 

[arctic 3.0]

feel the same way, yet i can't stop obsessing about the C's

[vinnie]

Interesting post and I am getting there. I love the Celtics and have had half-season tickets for 10 years but am losing my interest in going to the games. Maybe it is because I am getting old, but the game presentation with all of the noise, promotions, etc. etc. etc. drives me crazy. Even when you are at the game, it is like watching it on TV because there is some sort of commercial at every break. And then the cost of the tickets and concession prices are ludicrous.

Then there are all the other points Brick made that I agree with 100 percent. I have always been a fan of college hoops and find myself turning more and more to that game this year.

[Roy Hobbs]

I find myself not really caring much about games outside of the Celts anymore; I rarely watch a game we're not involved in.  I also agree that I don't find the game as exciting as I used to, although I think it's better now than it was during the height of the Knicks/Heat rivalry.  I miss the 80s.

[dark_lord]

i have watched, maybe 5 games (no lie) of non-celtic games in the last 5 yrs or so.  i watch highlights instead just to see scores, stats, and nice plays.

[angryguy77]

Same here. I have a hard time getting into games other than the celts. There are too many bad teams(thanks stern for the expansions) that it's hard to watch. The star treatment is the biggest for me. It really takes a lot out of the game even when it's one of our own that gets the benefit call. The season imo is too long because of all the garbage teams. If there were more parity it would be just right.

[moiso]

I still like the nba.  I don't watch any ncaa unless there is a prospect that is headed to the nba.  I even like watching a lot of the bad teams because they usually have a prospect or two I like to watch the progress of.  Right now I can't wait for Blake Griffin to come back so I'll be watching all the Clippers games that I can.  I don't watch many hilights but I'm a stat junkie.
The one thing that I do even with the C's is dvr the games so I can skip the commercials, halftime, and even the free throws if the game gets boring.

[guava_wrench]

Not my sanity, I lost that long ago.

I'm losing my love for the NBA.  Maybe Monday night's game was the last straw, but I find the European and college games much more entertaining, and I just don't care that much any more about the David Stern Basketball Association.

Contributing factors are the horrible, inconsistent (and occasionally crooked) officiating, the stupid rules (a 48 minute game using the International rules would be much better), the overmarketing and overhyping of players (I mean you, Chris Bosh) who are above average but certainly not superstars, the over reliance on pick and roll offense (every play is the same), the idiotic 4 foot circle, the protection that "stars" get from the officials (PLEASE don't let Dwayne Wade travel anymore), the overexpansion and the number of truly bad teams, and having to endure that ballwasher Rick Kamla every time I turn on NBA TV.

I used to have season tickets.  Now I doubt if I will ever go to another game.  Even if someone gave me free tickets, the parking would have to be free too.

Kamla is great! Very entertaining.

And college basketball really bores me. Any league that has 1 and 1 is painful to watch. Add it the low talent level and the ridiculous 35 second shot clock, and it's sleep time.

What is the deal with that shot clock? Why not 30 sec like NCAA women? Makes no sense. Perhaps it is due to the history of painfully boring offenses that passed the ball around for 40 seconds every possession. Painful.

I'm not sure what basis people have to claim that college reffing is any better than pro. At best, we can say it is much easier to ref college due to the slow paces and the low level of savvy among players, so we should expect less missed calls if ref ability is held constant.

Perhaps we need more out of touch homers like Heinson announcing college games so help tarnish the reputation of college refs by whining even about good calls.

[BringToughnessBack]

Brick definitely brings up some valid points. For me, there can never be a decade like the 80's were for me with regards to the Celtics. Knowing that year in and year out, we would most likely be in the finals facing our arch nemesis with a plethora of drama along the way. It is almost like we all got so spoiled with that team that any team after will always have a tough time in matching up.

In that 80's time period, I do not remember all the negative actions of players off and on the court, corruption/incompetence of refs, overhyping of players, horrible announcers(the one who says BINGO drives me nuts!). It was a time where grit and toughness and talent resulted in extremely exciting games. I think I have been spoiled by the best of what was and wishing that it would happen again but I fear, like the others here, that those days are long behind us and a new era of selfish, overhyped players have taken the spotlight.

Don't get me wrong, I still watch every Celtics game that is on and I still root as hard as ever for them, year in and year out. The championship they won recently was great, especially coming against the Lakers but it just does not feel the same to me as it once did. KG reminds of me of throwback player from days long past as well.

I guess I am spoiled to still want a game to be played like a game and not one where outside factors and distractions take away from its greatness.

[Brickowski]

They've tried to make the game less physical.  You can understand why the owners want this: to protect their investments.  But in the process it's ruining the product.  Go back to two officials.  The third official makes things worse, not better.  Bring back hand checking, and stop calling every little touch foul.  No harm, no foul.

If they want to make the game less physical, go to the wider painted area, as in the International rules.  Maybe they'll consider it after Shaq retires.  No, wait.  Dwight Howard would never score if they did that, and we all must have our little dunkfests.

Most of all, by having fewer little arcane rules and by not calling every little dinky foul, you have a game with more continuity, one in which the outcome is determined by the players and coaches, not by the referees.  I don't want to watch martinets like Bennett Salvatore take over games.  That's not what I paid to see.  I don't know if he takes over games for money or simply out of hatred, but either way the result is completely unentertaining.



 

[slamtheking]

Personally, I haven't enjoyed the NBA product since the thuggery of the Detroit Bad Boy days swept through the league.  

I haven't watched a non-Celtic game since the 80's.  I just don't care for the product nor any other teams.  The only thing that keeps me watching pro basketball is my devotion to the C's.

As for attending the games, I'm disliking the experience more and more even though I'm going to several games this year.  The seat prices are ridiculous as are concession prices.  The seats themselves are too small.  The in-game "entertainment" (i.e. "dancing girls" and etc...) is more annoying than enjoyable.

Parking around the Garden is too expensive (but that's the case any night in a metropolitan area) and if you take the train in, there's no coordination between the subway timing and the Amtrak lines to get people out of the game to the Amtrak station so that they're not stuck waiting for the last train of the night.  
The Amtrak situation happened to me at the last game I went to, missed the Amtrak connection by 5 minutes because there was no metro train at the station until well after the game ended.  (which figures since it was the first time I used the train and it actually arrived and departed the Amtrak station on time).

If nothing else, the league is pricing itself outside the affordability of the average fan.  

[RAcker]

i have watched, maybe 5 games (no lie) of non-celtic games in the last 5 yrs or so.  i watch highlights instead just to see scores, stats, and nice plays.

I don't blame you at all for falling into this pattern, DL.

I watch chunks of other games and it truly only feeds the perception that certain teams and/or markets are favored over others.  It's really sad. 

I just try to focus on the C's and pull for them, but it's hard not to just ignore all other games we're not involved in except as they pertain to the overall standings.

[moiso]

Brick definitely brings up some valid points. For me, there can never be a decade like the 80's were for me with regards to the Celtics. Knowing that year in and year out, we would most likely be in the finals facing our arch nemesis with a plethora of drama along the way. It is almost like we all got so spoiled with that team that any team after will always have a tough time in matching up.

In that 80's time period, I do not remember all the negative actions of players off and on the court, corruption/incompetence of refs, overhyping of players, horrible announcers(the one who says BINGO drives me nuts!). It was a time where grit and toughness and talent resulted in extremely exciting games. I think I have been spoiled by the best of what was and wishing that it would happen again but I fear, like the others here, that those days are long behind us and a new era of selfish, overhyped players have taken the spotlight.

Don't get me wrong, I still watch every Celtics game that is on and I still root as hard as ever for them, year in and year out. The championship they won recently was great, especially coming against the Lakers but it just does not feel the same to me as it once did. KG reminds of me of throwback player from days long past as well.

I guess I am spoiled to still want a game to be played like a game and not one where outside factors and distractions take away from its greatness.

Actually there were major drug problems in the 80's.  From Bernard King/Michael Ray Richardson/David Thompson to Roy Tarpley and others.  And Brent Musberger was one of the major announcers.  He had a great voice but he knew NOTHING about basketball.  I loved 80's basketball too but it wasn't perfect and their were just as many if not more jerks back then.  Some great careers died out due to drugs, and death from drugs(Len Bias).  Even Magic Johnson's teammates didn't like him for a couple years in the early 80's because they thought he was too attention seeking.  And how about the Rockets in the mid 80's?  As soon as they got good several of their key players got huge drug suspensions.

[Brickowski]

Bernard King was never known as a drug user.

But yes, the entire 1986 draft class was stoned, and the cocaine abuse was especially tragic for the Celtics.

But the product on the floor was much better in those days. If David Stern was running the NFL, they'd probably be playing touch football.