JVG is here to WIN..PERIOD. Not make friends, not make enemies, not make the social calendar and all the parties..(including the Super Bowl)..he's here to coach this team into playoff position. That's it. I'm with Jeff--I ain't been to the playoffs since Steve got here and I'm tired of it. We knew LAST YEAR that the inmates were ruling the asylum..and unlike Rudy..JVG refuses to be the team's be-yotch! Kudos for him because everybody knows that Rudy would have bent over and took it. I can't believe all these grown people defending Steve..we are fighting for our lives--and holding on to the eighth spot by the skins of our teeth--and you want to PARTY?? Opportunity of a lifetime--?? How bout making over 80 million dollars to run up a court with a ball for 48 minutes only 82 times a year??? THAT'S AN OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME, YOU DIPSHYT!! If anyone who's stupid enough to pay me a FRACTION of that--I'm there 24-7, 365 and twice on Sundays!!
Are you for real ? 1) The exact rules here include the darn rules imposed by the Chinese National team that Yao and the Rockets signed up to. I don't like them either but all parties have to abide by them. 2) Comparing Stevie missing flight to go to the Super bowl with Yao missing pre-season games because he was honoring his obligations is pathetic ... even by your standard.
I'm not defending Francis, but spare us the "the guards are freezing out Yao because they don't want to be outshined" argument. It's total BS. You say you've been a fan since the San Diego days, but it's pretty apparent you are either posturing because you're pissed about Steve's Super Bowl stunt or you haven't watched a single game all season. Neither Steve or Cuttino are going anywhere this season, so good riddens to ya! JuanValdez, that is the biggest load of crap I have ever read on this board! Yes, they expect him to travel with the team. Actually that is what it is about. A good coach always wants his guys fully rested and focused for every game. Or maybe he just wanted them to be focused on their job on Sunday, rather than having to worry about catching planes, tracking baggage, checking into hotels, eating, being well rested and fully prepared for their job. Francis is the one that decided the Super Bowl was more important than being a part of the team. No matter how you try to manipulate the situation, this is all on Francis, not JVG. First off, your paper hat comparison isn't even on the same playing field as the flight incident. Your example is an outright attempt to embarass and humiliate. It is not part of your job. Getting on that flight with the ENTIRE team was a part of Francis' job. He failed to do so and was rightly punished. Secondly, you are making a huge assuption with all of your posts in this thread. Maybe he would have liked to go to the Super Bowl too, but the travel had already been planned and being the dedicated coach that he is, did the right thing and made the trip so he could be 100% prepared and rested to do his job. Every other player in the NBA seems to have traveled with their team, so why not Francis? Simple.....selfishness. Most all teams travel together, with the possible exception of an emergency. Attending the Super Bowl is not an emergency under any circumstances. In your example, let's assume your company made the travel arrangements prior to the Super Bowl(likely the same situation with the Rockets). Let's also assume you had a team of colleagues that were also going on that trip with your boss. I'm sure they would have a problem with you showing up the next day, likely being tired from the travel and definitely unprepared. Plus, I doubt your boss would have "lumped it" because they really wouldn't have any other choice. I'm pretty sure you would have had to suck it up and do your job. JVG is here to coach the Rockets and put them in the best position to win, not accomodate his player's personal lives. Yeah, he should be considerate of certain situations, but this is not one of them. I'm sure quite a few, if not all of the Rockets, possibly even JVG himself, would have liked to stayed in Houston for the game, but they all got on the plane. It's bad enough for teams that have to travel for back to backs, so why make a back to back situation where one doesn't exist? Bottom line, Francis should have been on the plane with the entire team even if JVG did make the travel arrangements. Now, all of you stating that attending the Super Bowl is a once in a lifetime chance, well I have news for you all......it's not a once in a lifetime thing for people in Francis' position, meaning rich as hell and in a business where they likely will have time off to do so sometime in their life. OK, you can argue that it might not be back in Houston for a long time, well Steve is not even from Houston, but the team he is a part of is. He placed his personal life over his dream. He better hope this decision doesn't cost the Rockets the playoffs or he will have himself to blame.
Question to the people who're defending Steve: Do you have jobs? 1) If yes, please go try pulling the same thing with your boss, then come back and you can lecture to us about the evil JVG. 2) If you don't, go to the nearest Mc Donald, get a job. Go back to step 1.
Again, comparing your job to a professional athletes is stupid. Let me ask you this, would your boss prevent you from going to the super bowl just to travel with your own co-workers. It goes both ways. There is no comparison to real world jobs.
He would if traveling with your co-workers was part of your job, specified in your contract, and something for which you were compensated.
It depends. If I had a big-time presentation for a major account the next day? Oh yea, I better be damn sure I travel when my boss tells me to travel. If I don't, I'm looking for a new job. Again, it really depends on the job you're doing. If you're a grocery store bagboy... yea, no one really cares when you do your travelling. If you're a senior vice-president at a Fortune 500 company (not that I am.. but I wish!)... whaddya think? Think your boss and your board is going to forgive you for missing the flight they asked you to be on? Francis screwed up. He forgot that Van Gundy was his boss, or even worse, he doesn't know what it means to be a boss. He needed to learn this lesson.
I'm not defending Francis on this point. I understand why athletes travel together, anyone who has played sports does. But what other job would it be neccessary for you to travel with co-workers, I mean yeah if it was in your job duties you would have to. But unless you were going to a place that was hard to reach, like a gulf oil rig, why would you have to travel with co-workers. As a matter of fact, I think the opposite is true, people usually travel on their own, unless they want to travel together. And again, the main point I'm making, isn't about travel, its about camparing real world jobs to professional sports.
Hm.... what's worse, Steve Francis staying in Houston to attend the Super Bowl and planning on taking a late plane to Phoenix to join up the rest of his team mates.... OR Steve Francis flying to some other state to watch the Super Bowl during a road trip to the Pacific and it was being hosted somewhere all the way in the East? I think he saw it as a once in a lifetime opportunity in which he could attend the Super Bowl without it being extremely out of the way of his scheduling. Even still, if the rest of his team mates at the decency and discipline to give their tickets up, he could've sacrificed that much as well... *sigh*. I'm praying this whole situation will work out.
It doesn't look like the player's union is backing Steve Francis at all. Considering a 1 game suspension is some good money, they usually make a stink about it if it is warranted.
How so? What the heck does this mean? Do you even comprehend the simplest rule? ... It does not matter if the boss puts out a good rule or a bad one. What matter is that he lays down a rule and you knowingly break it. You tell him you are breaking it because you rather go to a party ... then you vehemently argue with his punishment ... Let me give you a parallel ... Some laws are pretty stupid. You don't agree with them. What do you think happen when you break them? Do you go in front of the judge and say ... those are stupid laws, I don't want to follow them?! You just threw this statement out there without anything to back it up and somehow think those words are golden !!? Are you saying the pro athlete can do whatever they want? If not, what the heck do you really say? If anything, these guys sign up for a whole lot more than a regular job. For most regular jobs, your time is your own. For a pro athlete, how most of his time is spent during the season is dictated by team rules. Even during off-season, how often do you not hear a pro get criticized for not staying in shape?
Ranging Fire, Latrell Sprewell choked his coach. In the real world, he would have gone to jail, in the sports world he had another job making millions in a half of a season. Please point out a parallel to the real world with that situation. In the sports world, another company picked up Eddie Griffin after he shot a gun at a woman in his home. Can you get away with that?? You can't compare our jobs to these guys'.
Yes I have a job. Yes, they would let me off work to goto a concert or something. Yes, they are way more flexible then JVG. No reason he shouldn't be allowed to catch a later flight at his own expense as long as he doesn't miss any team functions like the morning shoot around. The same should apply to any of the rockets.
The Rockets need steve much more than Steve needs the Rockets. Steve can start on any other team in the NBA except for NJ. The Rocekts should not panic and make a deal to trade away thier best player and get secon tier talent in return. Dawson already traded a superstar in Pippen and got back a bunch a garbage in return. The Rockets need to realize that Francis made a mistake and Van gundy already punished him for it and now its over. All you have to do is look at Monday night's game to see how much this team needs Francis. Getting blown out by the Suns should be embarrassing to the guys who were on the court escpecially YAO should everyone wants as the teams first option. Well he was and that got us blown out. The Rocket fans should now realize that Steve is the best player on this team and with him is the only hope the Rockets have of making the playoffs.
It really shows who was wrong when the only side responding to this is doing nothing but making incredible and insincere statements. JVG made a mistake in planning this faux pas and setting SF up for the fall. SF made a mistake in not going that he took a calculated risk in what corrective discipline would be metered out. JVG then made a horse's ass decision in what to do with SF, one I believe was designed to show he wasn't all that necessary, i.e. start MJ with no chance of SF playing (vs. a fine) and that was a total and complete flop that cost the team a win. I think the new statements from JVG, the support for SF, the I came here for him, are insincere and incredible and quite possibly because the owner and upper management reamed his ass. The lack of a statement from SF shows he is just looking at this as another assinine decision by JVG. I don't blame him.... He was wrong, and should have been disciplined. The whole thing never needed to be created by JVG though, and the choice of discipline was vindictive and intentionally designed to make SF look bad in public at the cost of the team and a W.......
JVG is hitting Francis where it hurts. Obviously Steve doesn't think team first, so JVG is calling him out. Letting people see what he truly is.....I think it is great. Good for him...let the public see what a selfish brat Steve is...makes the public less likely to be mad when he is traded. Brilliant. DD
Do you really think the GP is concerned about SF missing a flight to PHX so he could stay attend the super bowl. There were 80,000+ thousand at the game and 250,000 downtown that agreed with him for sure.....
Every hour that passes without a sincere apology from Francis for his skipping the flight intentionally and, even worse, the lies fabricated by his agent afterwards, makes him look worse.
