Over the course of my childhood, I attended quite a few Milwaukee Bucks games. I don't remember them ever being a top contender in the NBA, but even if the Bucks were a traditional juggernaut, I would still probably start thumb wars with myself rather than watch the game.
My parents would spend a lot of money just to go to the games. Our seats were never that great, either. I could never read the numbers on the players' jerseys. I realized that I needed glasses when I got to college, but nonetheless, the top-story balcony view in sports arenas is not as exciting as the top-story balcony view in downtown Chicago.
It was during my teenage years that I realized the importance of teamwork, hustle and pure love for the game. Most professional basketball teams lack at least one of these three traits. It seems like most of the players are most concerned about getting paid a lot of money, scoring shoe endorsements with top brands and being the most selfish role models in society today.
Believe it or not, there was once a time when professional basketball was not so ridiculous and boring to watch. I, like most other sports fans my age or older, have had the opportunity to watch Michael Jordan lead the Chicago Bulls past the John Stockton and Karl Malone on the Utah Jazz in the late 1990s.
Those are three basketball players who appeared to have pure love of the game. You could see their palms sweating. You could see their hearts were racing when you looked into their eyes.
And this was before High Definition Television. I look into the eyes of the players representing NBA basketball today, and all I see are dollar signs.
What ever happened to the Jordan's, Stockton's and Malone's of the basketball world? Or how about men like Larry Bird and Earvin Magic"" Johnson? I can only name a handful of ball players who appear to care more about winning than the number of points they put up on the scoreboard. The 2004-'05 Detroit Pistons were the only team I have seen in years that believed in teamwork, and what do they have to show for it? A Larry O'Brien championship trophy from the NBA Finals.
College basketball, fortunately, still appears to be truly competitive. These young men have not been teased with seven digit pay checks yet, so maybe that is the reason why I can sit through a whole Badger game without wanting to run onto the court and show the players how to pass the ball when they are triple teamed.
Another perk to college basketball is the student section. NBA teams lack this kind of spirit. The student section and band lead their own cheers rather than the jumbotron and loud speakers telling the fans when to yell ""Charge!"" It drives me crazy to hear circus instruments try to play music while the NBA games are in action.
Although each circus-sounding melody only lasts as long as the 24 seconds on the shot clock, the music rarely improves during the next possession. And since we are on the topic of shot clocks, no wonder NBA games seem rushed. The players barely have enough time to work the ball around for a nice shot.
Instead, most of the players will only get to touch the ball once per possession, if that. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why these so-called professionals feel like gunning up a shot every time they lay their fingers on the ball.
NBA basketball does not have to be this annoying to watch, however. I am a firm believer that great trends tend to repeat themselves. Let's just hope the classiness of the past makes a return in the near future. And let's hope the short shorts that some of those classy basketball players wore stay in the past.
If you are going to an NBA game any time soon and would like to brush up on your thumb war skills, e-mail Crystal at crowns@wisc.edu.
