I didn't see this posted... but I had to share it... both pessimism and optimism in the same article is hard to come by. http://www.hardwoodparoxysm.com/2010/10/08/well-never-feel-bad-anymore-2/
Great read, thanks for posting. I should check out Hardwood Paroxysm more frequently than I do. Here's another Rockets-related article from October 11th that I missed before: http://www.hardwoodparoxysm.com/2010/10/11/the-thin-line-between-love-and-wait/
I didn't actually quote the optimism... that was in the beginning of the article.. this is the end. thanks for the link durvasa.. I missed that one too.
Que sera sera. With Yao, the Rockets either make it big or lose it big. The Rockets will have to play the cards that are dealt to them this season. But as cards are played, they either hit the jackpot or they draw bust. All I can say is that, personally, if it were up to me, I would bet my money on Yao this year. There is no other big bet option on the table. Go Yao! Go Rockets! What will be will be.
It makes me wonder why some fans can say there's double standard between our treatment of Yao and T-Mac. Do they have anything in common besides being often-injury star players?
Stuff like this is why I will often skip the GARM when I visit Clutchfans. Every NBA player has the possibility of suffering a season ending or career ending injury everytime they step on the court. Yao's history certainly suggest that he has a higher probability than most but it is a probability for all players. Instead of worrying about it why don't we just enjoy cheering for our team instead of deciding that Yao's career and the Rockets' 2010-2011 season is over before it as even started.
So we shouldn't worry about Yao going down any more than the lakers should worry about Kobe going down? You really think the 2 situations are equal? FWIW, I'm DAMN excited about the season. I will watch every single game (or at least the games not on FSN, since I'm a Dish subscriber....) just like I've done for the last 33 years. The reason I sometimes come off as so pessimistic WRT this season is because I'm setting myself up emotionally for when/if Yao goes down and the season is lost. I love the guy, but I think his best years are behind him, not in front of him. That said, I think Yao at 60% is still better than all but maybe 3 or 4 big men in the league right now. And for that, I'm happy.
I hear ya, but sometimes it's easy to slip into that mindset...as fans we've been blindsided in the past, and sometimes admitting that it's possible that it could happen again is the only way to soften the blow if it does happen. pessimism and cynicism are awful, but I can't help but feel that way when thinking about Yao holding up. I just hope all of his restrictions and careful planning by the coaches will keep him on his feet until the end of the playoffs.
I did this two years ago. I started off cautious thinking Yao may be an injury waiting to happen, then became optimistic when Yao seemed to have fully recovered, was optimistic during the stretch run given his overall lessened workload, was certain by the playoffs that his health troubles would be over for at least that year... And we all know what happened. Sometimes it's just impossible to just ignore these things.
You can't help but feel helpless. Every year Yao looks GREAT! We do well and then all of a sudden BAM!! It feels like this: <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/l017_Rox0XE?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/l017_Rox0XE?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
Isn't this the most important part of that statement. Being a "nice guy" doesn't win any titles you have to have talent and be healthy enough to use that talent when your team needs it. More often than not, when his team needed him in the playoffs Yao has been broken and unavailable...just like Tracy. Hopefully, this season will change that though
it happens virtually every year with Yao, judoka. for the last 5 seasons, he's been injured about as often as he's been healthy. it's colored everything with this franchise over that period of time. that does not mean i won't enjoy cheering for the rockets because i recognize that.
Honestly? NO. You and I can't do a damn thing about whether Yao goes down or has an MVP season. Until it actually happens that Yao does other than playing Debbie Downer to fill up bandwidth all it does is bring us down. If Yao goes down again yes I will be upset but that is out of my control and I am not going to wring my hands about it now. And that's fine for you but I would rather just take things as they go. I don't like irrational optimism either but I think we fans often go too much the other direction which is irrational in itself when the season hasn't even started. Totally agree.
because good writing disgusts you when it's about fear? Come on... This is written by someone on the "outside" who is telling it like he sees it. It's not about fans who don't cheer for our team regardless of Yao's benefit. did you watch every game last season? I did. I can assure you that this writer did not, but he recognizes that Yao is as important to our franchise as Kobe is to the Lakers. He recognizes that Yao should be seen as an icon for global progress. This wasn't about people in Houston dreading a poor season should Yao fall again... this was about an nba blog writer wanting to see someone like Yao succeed and fear that he won't.
