Oct 28 2009
The Donaghy Dilemma
You’ve probably heard about this already, but I’ll break it down really quickly. Tim Donaghy was an NBA ref. He got caught betting. He went to jail. He wrote a tell-all book. Deadspin covered the controversial parts of the book.
It connected to the Blazers. I’m guessing you already know how it’s connected to the Blazers without even clicking that link. Here’s the quote.
The 2002 series certainly wasn’t the first or last time Bavetta weighed in on an important game. He also worked Game 7 of the 2000 Western Conference Finals between the Lakers and the Trail Blazers. The Lakers were down by 13 at the start of the fourth quarter when Bavetta went to work. The Lakers outscored Portland 31–13 in the fourth quarter and went on to win the game and the series. It certainly didn’t hurt the Lakers that they got to shoot 37 free throws compared to a paltry 16 for the Trail Blazers.
FFFFFFUUUUUUU. So, basically, everything us Blazer fans have been saying for nearly a decade is true. The refs kept us from a title in 2000 (at least a chance at it). It’s like a guy claiming he got abducted by aliens driving up to the White House in a flying saucer.
So, what does this revelation mean relative to Blazer fandom? Surprisingly little. Here’s the real question: what would you have preferred happen in 2000? The logical response is a title. There would be Rasheed Wallace statues dotting Pioneer Courthouse Square, and pot would be legalized in Portland just to keep Damon Stoudamire around. “Mighty Mouse” would be the name of his specific brand. That video I was talking about from last night? It would feature that team exclusively. We would be asking where the hell Clyde Drexler was. Arvydas Sabonis’ number would be retired right now.
What else could have happened? We could have won that game against the Lakers, and then unceremoniously lost to the Pacers. Then what would we be? Also-rans. Better put, nothing. We’d be the 76ers, the Knicks.
Still, we got the hand we got. We lost in spectacular fashion that has since revealed to be less than legit. There’s something about it though: it was a crystallizing moment for the younger generation of fans (of which I count myself a proud member). It was there where you either jumped the bandwagon and followed the Lakers for championship after championship, or you stayed home with the Blazers, basking in the failure, experiencing Saving Private Ryan-styled flashbacks of towels flying at Sabas’ face. That failure was more permanent, more significant than any title the Lakers ever won this last decade.
Look at the presence of Blazer fans on the internet today. This blog is a great example. When I started this just over a year ago, there were (that I knew of then) at least four different outlets for Blazer fans to get news. Now, I know of nearly a dozen, and even more impressive, each of them are worthwhile. No fanbase can touch the rabidness and online presence of Rip City. Now, the real question: do you think that exists without that loss in 2000? Are you reading this today without that loss? Are you pacing through not just the top tier blogs for commentary, but even going down into my little corner of the internet just to get a little bit more, a different perspective? I think not. You’re satisfied if we win that game and the title. Rabid fandom is defined not by winning, but losing, and losing in impressive fashion. Everyone has their version of the story of the 2000 WCF. It’s the Blazer fan’s version of the Kennedy Assassination. It unites us. Everyone knows where they were when it happened.
When seeing this news, let’s not look at it through the lens of where we were then; let’s look through the lens of today. What has that horrible event made us? Tortured, sure, but also strong. Blazer fans had the balls to stand up to team management and say “no more” when they didn’t feel the team represented them. They care about the team not only as a group of guys with black and red uniforms, but as family members. There’s not one person in the city who wouldn’t give pumpkin pie to Martell Webster. What happens if we won? There would be the parade, and there would be the great summer afterward. Then it would be gone. The Lakers are the champions next year, and we’re just another team. A wisp.
Brando’s “I coulda been a contender” speech from On the Waterfront comes to mind. A fight he was in was fixed, and he got reduced to working the docks. Terry Malloy’s pain and regret when saying the line draws you into his state of mind. It was his anguish that made this hit so hard, that he failed, and he didn’t even fail on his own terms, but he’s still going, still trying to do something. That’s where it became art.
That leaves us to look at the game. It gets called right, we win it, and we may win the championship. It’s wrong, and instead we get something to rally around, we fans have a badge of honor from the loss, we get art. You know what? Nine years on, I’ll take that second option every time.
