aka Blog v4.0
My first exposure to Kevin Durant:
I said, “Okay, I’m gonna root for this guy.”
So I bought his McFarlane figure. Watched him lose in the 2012 Finals. Same year that Mark Jackson began coaching the Warriors.
It made sense for me to root for OKC, their colors are blue and orange, like the Mets and Broncos.
Then I started really following the local basketball team, a team with some guy named Steph Curry, and Draymond Green. Jackson said that we all should come down and watch the Warriors play, we’ll have some fun. I meant to take him up on that.
And then Steve Kerr became the head coach, and they won a Championship. The following year, they lost in the Finals.
And then my favorite non-Warriors player decided to play for the Warriors.
My only time I saw him in person:
He threw out the first pitch on Star Trek Night at AT&T Park, September 16, 2016.
Every time I saw him at the end of a Warriors victory this season, I *still* couldn’t believe that he was playing for them.
And then he won the Finals MVP.
I teared up when he and his mom embraced on the court.
If anything I’m more happy for Kevin Durant winning a championship and the MVP than anything else.
Congrats, KD.
Getting better at scheduling this out.
I picked up my nephew at a little after 10am. We got to the comic shop about 10-15 minutes before they opened. We had to park on the other side of the 24 Hour Fitness building and walk a bit to the comic shop.
There was a short line that went pretty quick after the shop opened at 11am. We each grabbed our allotted 3 comics, got rung up at a register, and left.
By the time we got to the mall/theatre, it was about time to grab some food and go to our seats. They ran out of medium sized ICEE cups and didn’t have pretzel bites, so I settled for a large ICEE and a hot dog. Joseph got an ICEE and popcorn.
There were no loud talkers, and only some seat confusion due to not being able to see the seat numbers once the lights go down.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 holds up on second viewing.
After the movie I checked my phone and saw a voicemail message from Gator Games, which I checked to confirm that my copy of the Shadow War Armageddon rule book was available for pickup.
After picking up some sundries from Target we quickly drove down to the game store and I got my rule book, while Joseph asked the workers there about Yu-Gi-Oh cards.
We made one last stop at the Brisbane library, who also participate in Free Comic Book Day, and they have no limits on the comics one can take. I don’t know why we just don’t go there initially…
I dropped off Joseph, then refueled my car and myself (gas and McDonalds, respectively) and went home, to find too many choices on TV (Captain America movies, Star Wars marathon, NBA playoffs).
As short a time as I’ve been calling myself a bandwagon Warriors fan, I laugh at the reaction of so-called ‘true’ fans after the recent run of Warriors games. Panic, the sky is falling, etc.
I saw the same thing happen to Giants ‘fans’ after they failed to make the playoffs in 2011/2013/2015, and especially when they lost in the 2016 postseason.
Teams go through slumps and other adversity. As a ‘true’ sports fan, I’ve known this for years. There is no pattern. There is no ‘even years for the Giants’ thing. That was a coincidence.
The Warriors may be imploding because of the loss of Kevin Durant. Or not. How about we wait until the playoffs start before writing them off, huh?
Bottom line is that fans who come to a team ONLY when they start winning don’t know how to deal with slumps and losing streaks. They only know the team when they are successful. And sadly their coping mechanism is trying to throw criticism wherever they can, whether it’s the coach or players or even management.
Long suffering Giants and Warriors (and 49ers) fans can cope better, having tasted success, and are happy that their team has won during that ‘long suffering’ phase. I for one was satisfied with the Giants 2010 World Series Championship. 2012 and 2014 were gravy and/or icing. A lot of my long time Warriors fan family and friends were happy with the 2015 Championship, though disappointed with the 2016 Finals result.
There’s nothing wrong with that disappointment, nor am I saying that the teams shouldn’t strive for the big prize. What I’m saying is that you should not expect championships and the accolades to be handed to a team on a plate, before the playoffs or the season even begins. Cheer your team on, through thick or thin. And cherish the moments when they do win big.
Edit: I forgot to hit ‘Publish’ on this one late last night (Wednesday).
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I have way too many sports games at this point.
Hell, I have way too many games, period, at this point.
Thing is, I want to play them all, even ones that I haven’t even read the rules for yet, because at some point they appealed enough to me that I actually shelled out monies for them.
Ack.
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Arrow was not annoying for the second week in a row. This may be due to the writers getting better, or the addition of Dinah Drake and Talia al Ghul, both of whom added some substance to the story through their observations on Ollie.
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Watching the Warriors game, and I STILL am in awe that KEVIN DURANT IS A WARRIOR.
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I checked out the first half of Legion on FX. I’ll watch the second half before I make some comment about it.
I’ve kept myself to checking social media once every hour or two, and when I do get on Facebook or Twitter, I log off if I see more than 2-3 political posts in my timeline.
This is for me, not for you. Don’t feel slighted if I or anyone else is checking in less often. We do what we need to do for our own well being.
Meanwhile, I have to get back into the novel Life Debt, as the next book in the Aftermath series comes out in about 2 and a half weeks! Yikes!
And, after watching just the first 10 minutes of the second episode of Riverdale, I’ve decided to stop. It’s just TOO teen angsty and 90’s WB/CW in it’s tone. I’ll stick to the recent Archie Comic by Mark Waid, thanks.
And I liked Powerless. It has potential.
Also, I hope they sell that ‘Sleeping Draymond’ blanket to the general public.
For MLKJr day, I went to go see Rogue One, for my 5th time.
I think I cried a bit more than I had before, because of the ending. It’s the first time I’ve seen the film after Carrie Fisher passed away.
After the movie I treated myself to some ice cream, and then picked up some Doctor Who blu-rays from Best Buy, and some groceries from Lucky’s.
In between those two shopping excursions, I met up with my sister Jen, who gave me a couple of gifts from Hawaii for myself and Dad.
Once I got home I settled in to watch the Warriors kick the Cav’s asses in a 126-91 game.
Right now I’m blogging while I endure a slight headache.
How was your day?
