Dec
26
The following...
By occassia Posted in: Blazers
...contains broad generalizations which may be objectionable to some readers. ;-)
At one end of the fan continuum are those for whom winning is everything. At the other end are those who identify with the individual players. Most of us are somewhere in the middle. After all, if you care about the athletes, you want them to win! And if you're focussed on victory, you need some familiarity with and understanding of the athletes who must achieve it.
When it comes to talk of trades and injuries, fans strongly reflect the nature of their bond with the team. Some of us hate to see any of our guys leave the franchise. We've gotten to know and love them, and appreciate what they've brought to the team.
For other fans, that's an attitude most charitably described as sentimental and impractical. You do what's necessary to make the playoffs, period. After all, these guys are pros, getting paid extremely well to do a job; getting hurt, traded, even dropped, are all part of the job.
True, and yet, these are young men, not readily-replaceable machine parts. There's something amazing and unpredictable that happens when they come together and form a team, something which makes the whole stronger than the "parts." Making a change in the mix won't necessarily be an improvement, and it can be a big mistake to try and fix what ain't broke, even if it isn't working as well as you'd hoped.
In the current circumstances fans have more trouble than usual understanding one another. We each value different aspects of the team we all support, and so propose radically different solutions to the challenges the team faces.
The bottom line for everyone (owner, staff, coaches, players, and fans) is that no one will be happy if the guys can't play their best. Let's try to unite and get them what they need --even if we can't always agree what that is.