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Haterade
Posted by: Jeff Hofmann on November 20th, 2010
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.Yoda was wrong. Hate does not lead to suffering, it is caused by suffering.
Last night’s FSN broadcast included a fan poll on which team Jazz fans hate most. The choices were the Lakers, Spurs, Nuggets and Heat (Bryan Swenson must have noticed this too, and has an interesting poston the subject). Matt Harpring said that for most fans it was probably an easy question.
I agree. Except Harpring was implying most fans would choose the Lakers, but the Spurs are by far the team I hate most.
Don’t get me wrong, I have no love for the Lakers. My Jazzbot application went into detail about my feelings for the defending champs. I just hate the Spurs even more.
San Antonio has been the biggest rival/thorn-in-the-side for the Jazz over the years I’ve followed them. Until very recently, there was a decade or so where it would be hard to even call it a rivalry, as the matchup was pretty one-sided in San Antonio’s favor. (Grrr!) To make matters worse, the team is run by Gregg Popovich, one of the grumpiest and most boring coaches/executives I’ve ever seen, and he’s filled his squad over the years with some of basketball’s most detestable players.
They’ve had more than their fair share of floppers: Manu Ginobili is perhaps the worst flopper of all time, but don’t forget about Fabricio Oberto and Beno Udrih, who once flopped into Andrei Kirilenko’s knee, effectively ruining Utah’s season (it’s been six years, and I still get riled up any time I see Udrih or think about that play).
There’s Bruce Bowen, a marginally talented thug, and Mario Elie and Robert Horry, two guys who also seemed to possess limited skills, but always ended up hitting clutch 3-pointers and winning championships. Don’t forget Avery Johnson’s annoying voice or the one-dimensional games of Sean Elliott and Tony Parker.
Last but not least is superduperstar Tim Duncan, a guy I’m sure I’d love if he played for my team, but since he’s a Spur I always feel like punching his weird face with its weird beard, especially when he’s whistled for a foul and he adopts this incredulous look, as if he’s saying, “I’m Tim Duncan. You couldn’t possibly be calling a foul on me.” He does that EVERY SINGLE TIME.
Thinking about the Spurs so much is bumming me out. If any of you know where to find video of the time Karl Malone knocked out David Robinson, it would really cheer me up.
Replies: 7
Views: 627
7 Responses
@Jeff…I don’t know where to find the video but I was at that game (during the 94-95 season; assuming we’re talking about the same one). Robinson was one of the biggest paper tigers the game has ever seen. Dude looked totally sculpted, had all the skills, plus he was smart and a great guy. And when push came to shove in meaningful games? Well let’s just say that Robinson rode Tim Duncan’s coat tails to two titles because he could never take a team there on his own back. Those were the glory days when the Jazz used to knock San Antonio from the playoffs regularly and Jim Rome called Robinson The Mermaid. Good memories.
It’s impossible for me to hate Tim Duncan. The guy is first class all the way.
Sorry gonna have to veer far left of this one and say the Spurs are my second fave behind the Jazz.
The fundamentals, the consistency, the hard work and the same coach for eons!
That is an organization that we should model ours after.
Top quality organization.
Top quality ethic.
Top quality coach.
I’d say Denver is my most hated by FAR!!!!
Have to agree with Colby and Randall on this one. Part of what makes me dislike NBA players is their behavior off the court (Kobe, Ron Artest, Gilbert Arenas, JR Smith ect) and David Robinson and Tim Duncan are both great players and great people. I think jealousy is a huge motivation in JAzz fan’s hatred of the Spurs. While I loved that the Jazz swept the Spurs last year (one of my favorite parts of the season), I do respect them which is more than I can say for The Lakers, Denver, Miami, Dallas etc.
Though I have tried ever so hard, I am unable to hate Tim Duncan no matter how he dismantles us. I wish I could say differently, but it’s true.
I wish fez would been put in earlier to foul the crap out of Tim!! Also put. Manu and Parker on there ass every time they entered the paint.. I agree hate San an
@James Robinson’s softness aside, anyone would have gone down to that elbow. I was watching live on TV, and when the elbow connected it was like the bones in the Admiral’s legs disappeared and he just collapsed. I doubt Karl meant to hurt him, but he definitely swung his elbow intentionally.
Some of you are being WAY too rational about this. Hate is not rational. If you refuse to hate the Spurs because they are a well-run, quality organization, the Clippers should be the most-hated team.
And don’t forget, the Spurs have employed the likes of Dennis Rodman, Stephen Jackson and Tony Parker over the years. No franchise is completely free of sketchy character guys, so I try to ignore that stuff. There’s plenty of on-court reasons to dislike them.