this really irritates me to see steve doing this... mainly because this had to have been premeditated.. it's not like something just happeneed and he was late and missed flight or something.. no telling how long he had been planning to skip the flight and go to the game...
Time Out -- Jordan was seen gambling in Atlantic City during Finals, missed team meetings, MAY have been 'suspended' when he chose to play baseball. Hakeem did things to try and get traded, Magic helped run out two coaches, and Bird? probably something, but he 'flew' under the radar. Stevie SOUNDS LIKE Charles Barkley and Barry Bonds and others who would miss media day at their ASG and pay their fine. My guess is that Stevie expected something along the same line. Let's not blow this into Jayson Williams or Eddie Griffin. This is a good guy with a bad decision. He's still a good guy.
Steve was part of the plot to expose Janet's breast as a way to divert attention away from her brother.... Worked for me....
Its funny to watch the "fans" on clutchfans.com react to this. It seems to be the same fans who think Steve missing a flight is the end of the world that think the Rockets will be better with Rasheed Wallace. Cause we all know that Rasheed would never pull a stunt like this. Im not excusing Steve's action on this. However, lets not overreact, compared to the rest of the league, Steve carries himself very well.
Missing a flight is just an excuse. There is fracture between JVG and Francis company. SF is sticking out protesting. His personality is best displayed on court, the stubboness, the boneheadness, whatever it is.
Really, this is the only thing about it that really bothers me as well. I'm guessing that JVG laid the law down pretty early about the going to the game, and Steve probably knew he had no chance of getting permission to miss the flight and just decided to blow the game off.
Give me a freaking break. This is a football game that we are talking about, that has nothing to do with the Rockets. Let's say you had a business trip in Phoenix, would it have been cool with your boss if you told him that because of the Super Bowl you cannot make it. Does that mean he should alleviate any anger towards you? Would you defend Mobley if he missed the flight because he just had to see the new "All-Star Survivior" that was on after the Super Bowl? I have been saying for years that Francis is one of the last guys in the NBA who I would want to build a franchise around. Slowly but surely, it looks like some of you are starting to come around. Get used to crap like this with Francis.
I don't care very much, except that I think Van Gundy is a bit of jerk to schedule the flight during the Super Bowl. Rudy wouldn't have done that. But, it's his team; what do I care? Hope they win.
Yep, what a jerk. He wants his struggling team to be prepared for their game against Phoenix, all while missing out on the Super Bowl. If the Super Bowl really had that much priority, why doesn't the NBA just go ahead and give the entire league a week off, so that they can all watch the game?
This is the thing that upsets me most about criticism of Steve on this board. A lot of these guys act like he's one of these athlete who either constantly stays in trouble with either his team or the law. He basically earned this reputation unfairly because he was drafted by the one team he didn't want to play for. The ironic thing about is, as much as we call him stupid, he was dead on right about Vanocuver. He didn't want to play in an NBA waste land, and the league finally admitted it was a wasteland by moving the team to Memphis. But everyone wants to knock him for having enough vision to see what the NBA eventually saw.
Well i really dont think thats the case, i mean if they can play a game on christmas day & miss out on being w/ thier family and friends just missing a football game that has nothing to do with bball shouldnt be a factor
1. Francis refuses to play in Canada 2. Francis says "I know we dont need a point guard"...um ok how many of us belive that now? Better yet his teammates... 3. Francis has not earned his way into this years all-star game... 4. Misses a flight which everybody on the team but the "franchise" got on. And does not have a good reason. I think if this guy played for any team but Our team, than we would all hate this guys guts.
You guys are funny. Oh, why couldn't big, bad, Jeff Van Gundy let those poor, little, baskeball players watch the SuperBowl. What a monster. I feel so sorry for Steve. He's paid like a superstar leader, and has never lived up to that role. Yes, let's all feel sorry for Steve and the other players. Big, bad, Van Gundy is the one with an error of judgement. What a monster. Give me a break. My highschool football coach was tougher on me than that. You've got to be kidding me. I'm a liberal, and even my heart doesn't bleed that much.
Calling them a wasteland is kind of unfair, theres a maybe a handful of cities that would have supported that team. Houston is not one of them. They never got a fair shot.
Two totally separate situations. You see, Houston is in America, and the Oilers were in Houston for almost 40 years. They had an established rep, established fan base, and a chance to win. How long was the NBA in Vancouver? Expanding there was a mistake that David Stern I'm sure will admit to. And lastly, the NFL made it a point to get back here. I don't think there will be anymore expansion teams in Vancouver.
