10) Awfully cheesy and tacky articles encouraging others to get excited for the upcoming season.
Well, I sure know a thing or two about this, I wrote one myself last year. So yeah…why don’t you read it through and see if my nerdy obsession spreads onto you. Doesn’t really work does it? Feels like its some cheap sponsored advertising doesn’t it? You feel like you just threw away 15 minutes of your life don’t you? Horrible writer whoever spewed out all that filth isn’t? WAIT WHAT..Going too far there!!
Bottom line is: there’s only one thing worse than trying to sell fake hype in the NBA, its selling fake hype in the preseason. Well this year I learned my lesson and decided to excersice my rebel’s advocate like qualities and do the exact opposite. Eat that suckers!
9) Media’s lack of creativity
A couple of hot stories will emerge every year around September/October and every single media outlet will focus in on this one story. This year it seems to be the Portland Trailblazers. Ok, Oden’s back and they got a cool young team with lots of potential…can we move on? How about covering other interesting areas like: how is the league’s most underrated big men and point guard going to come together in a new Clippers team to turn them once more into a playoff contender? No, sorry… that kind of journalism would require too much brainpower and time.
8 ) Injuries
Whenever you have NBA players not fully focused on a championship run, and instead have them doing PR work in exotic countries, killing time riding their mopeds, fooling around in practice, playing against scrubs fighting for a final roster spot, doing interview with any media outlet imaginable, and generally outside their normal regular-season routine – you’re asking for disaster, and we keep witnessing highly anticipated stars sidelined for much of the first half of the season as a result.
7) Preseason Games
Oh congrats Minnesota, you’re 5-1 in the preseason… probably more games than you will win the whole regular season.
6) Rankings and Predictions
LeBron MVP, Lakers and Celtics to meet in the finals…blablabla 8000 more words… too long I didn’t read the same load of crap I hear every year that just ends up being dead wrong.
5) Horrible NBA television programming
I had the great opportunity to watch the Hornets training camp and I must say that was some painfully dull television I had to endure. Sure, I like Scott challenging Paul to make 40 out of 50 threes for $500 as much as the next guy (which is totally against the NBA gambling policies by the way, not that anyone follows it or anything) but can the producers really not do anything to spice it up? Watching the team 3-man-weave for 1 hour just reminded me of high school practice, not exactly the most entertaining memory of my wonder years.
4) No one cares
I paid big bucks to see LeBron face the Magic last year in the preseason game in Shanghai. The game came down to the final possession and after sitting out the whole 4th quarter I was hoping to see LBJ back in to win it for the Cavs. Instead I got LeBron doing the same old nail-biting on the bench! I guess at least for once, he was doing it during a nailbiting time…
3) Fantasy Basketball Hell
Every true sports fans knows that the beginning of a season is synonymous for Fantasy games. Whether you’re really into it or passionately despise it, it’s impossible to escape it and the truckload of emails, conversations, invites you get year after year. Not only do you have to try and dodge several groups of friends/colleagues each inviting you to their so called ‘elite’ leagues , but you need to do some serious Nobel-worthy research, alter your life and schedule to attend the live drafts, and try to classily take the ‘healthy-trashtalking’ that nerd in accounting gives you after that ‘ass-whooping’ he gave you last year when you really know its because of those damn statistical data simulations he developed during his lunch breaks.
2) Rookies.
Sorry guys but for all the attention and focus you guys get at the beginning of the year, no one ever really cares or really thinks about you after the first 8 minutes of watching you play and realizing you’re just another draft pick being disrespectfully labeled the next “XYZ”***. I’m sure I’ll enjoy watching some of you in the payoffs in a couple of year, so don’t take it personally. However the fact is, neither Greg Oden, Michael Beasley, OJ Mayo, Derrick Rose, nor Kevin Love will have any impact whatsoever on the title race this year so must I really keep on having to see and hear about them?? Oh and before I forget, Rose and Beasley: you’re officially on my hatelist for announcing you’re going for the MVP award this year.
(***Rudy Fernandez excluded, he’s a future MVP)
1) Horrible Teams acting like they actually got a shot
Every preseason, the “you’d-bet-your-house-on-that-they-wont-make-the-playoffs” teams out there and their blind fanwagon start out the year with great hope and with claims of how this season everything will be so different. I was watching the Kings vs Lakers game last week, and there was a pregame interview with Spencer Hawes introducing him as ‘the best young Center in the League’. Then you had the local commentators weigh in their expert unbiased opinion that John Salmons was the best perimeter defender in the league. There was also talks of Kevin Martin and how under his leadership and mohawk along with the savvy of Udrih and the influx of young talent, this could really be the year they get back into playoff contention. Let’s get real Kings fans: that highlight of Beno Udrih making Kobe fall will be the one and only time anyone ever sees your despicable team this year.
Tags: 2008-2009, hate, nba preseason, top 10