And this is why I can't get into watching the NBA

Mar. 19, 2008

4:00 a.m.

Last night I was offered free tickets to the Bucks/Heat game and my instinct said not to waste my time. Parking was free, too and I had to drop my mom off downtown at around the same time as the game, so we decided to suck it up and go watch 2 really bad teams play each other.

Let me just tell you that collecting the pictures below as the best point of the game. Both teams looked like they couldn't hit the broad side of a barn for most of the game. The Bucks were fairly comfortably in the lead for most of the game. But as always happens with the Bucks, they completely unraveled in the fourth quarter. The Heat went on a 19-3 run in which those 3 points were scored on free throws. The Heat's backcourt duo of Jason Williams and Chris Quinn just plain rained 3's on us and the Bucks could do nothing about it. Michael Redd has 26 points and Michael Ruffin had 14 points and a very impressive 16 rebounds.

If my knowledge of the NBA is mediocre at best, the boyfriend knows even less than that. On the walk into the game he asked me if we were in the part of the season where we're trying to lose in order to get a higher draft pick. I pointed out 3 things:

1. The answer is yes, if by "trying to lose" you mean giving up huge 4th quarter leads and generally sucking.

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2. If by "the part of the season" you mean November through April, then yes.

3. We've gotten numerous high draft picks in recent years - Glenn Robinson, Andrew Bogut, Yi - and we still suck, so tanking for a pick seems like a waste of energy.

Also, Brian Winters' number was "rededicated" last night. I'm not sure what that means, but I do know they had a frame with the front of a white jersey and the back of a green jersey and they were the jersey's the team is currently wearing. Meaning Winters never wore it. But there it was, with his name and number. Silly.

Plus, the whole halftime "rededication" thing reached highly amusing levels when Herb Kohl was introduced and the (sparse) crowd booed.

The boyfriend said I shouldn't boo because Kohl has done good things politically and built the Kohl Center in Madison. I said that he was introduced as Buck Owner Herb Kohl, not philanthropist or Sentor Herb Kohl. And since he sucks as an owner, booing is fully acceptable.

One last thought. A few guys in my office are inexplicably still Bucks fans and so Bucks shop talk comes up quite often. I know I have nothing to add, so I usually just listen. But I finally brought up this point the other day and so far no one's been able to come up with a satisfying answer. I'm not sure if I'm talking crazy or not..

Here's what I don't understand. We've been bad for quite awhile. We've gotten good players and high draft picks. There are numerous players that are former Bucks out there flourishing with other teams in the league. We've had numerous different coaches - some better than others. They too have gone on to do well with other teams.

It seems to me that there has been one constant through this whole awful process and that's Herb Kohl. How could the blame fall elsewhere? Does he have that much power/pull in day-to-day running of the club? Am I missing something?

Pictures from last night: