(My 1st post) I recently realized that I (and a lot of other Rockets fans) have hit all 5 stages of grieving since Houston management made the infamous “trade” on draft day. While most now welcome Battier with open arms, many went through quite the transition period... at least I did. So I present to all of you, My five stages… 1. Denial- A lot of Rockets fans did not want to believe it when it was first reported. “It’s just a rumor!”, “nothing is official!!”, “What if Swift doesn’t go, the trade can be rescinded, right…RIGHT?”. The consensus here was that what had happened on this fateful day could not be true. I mean, we hear about teams getting shafted everyday, but you never think it can happen to you. Especially, after last year when people where screaming CD is the greatest GM ever. 2. Anger- Once ESPN, the Chronicle, and other assorted media made it official, and the tragedy set in, the masses shifted to anger. The “Who is to blame?” and “Photoshop the pain” threads began. People were calling for every single person in Rox’s management’s head, and were ready to write petitions to Morey, CD, JVG, etc. demanding that they do not follow through. I myself told my roommate (A Lakers fan) that I was not going to go in on league pass with him because our season was over, and I hoped that Kobe, and I quote, “Chokes on something and dies”. 3. Bargaining- In this stage, we were all trying to calculate exactly how much money we had with our exceptions, seeing who else was available in free agency, coming up with a potential trade a day that could save the season, and taking every little rumor we heard as gospel. Hoping against hope that a Bob Sura would return, JLIII could replicate his summer league performance, or V-Span finally coming over and being the next big Euro sensation could salvage the team. 4. Depression- After awhile, depression hit. This is when the board was slow. Free agents started signing elsewhere, and it sunk in that this is our team. We are stuck with two health-risks for superstars, one nba-level role player, and a slew of young question marks, undersized players, and some over the hill vets looking towards retirement. Our championship illusions became shattered. 5. Acceptance- Finally, we got a taste of some basketball with the world championships, and saw some of our players playing well. We began to get excited for the season again, and were simply happy that Rockets basketball was around the corner. We had to re-evaluate our squad with lower standards, we had to lower our championship expectations and accept that while this team may not win it all, they will still be fun to watch, and who knows, like any good fan we believe that our team just might pull it out. So there you have it, my cycle of grieving, and though many may not admit it, they probably went through the same things. PS. Though he hasn’t played in a Rox uniform yet, the player that I despised the most when this whole thing started (Battier) has become one of my favorite guys on the squad. Anybody else go through the 5 stages?
I had a similar cycle, as I'm sure many others on the forums did. Especially the last part about Battier.
good post now we are in the "I can't stand anyone who thinks VSpan is going to contribute right away!" stage
Pretty good opening post. I skipped most of stages 3 & 4. At first, trading Rudy Gay led me to depression and anger about the Rockets. Once that anger was over, my opinion about the team has been steady. If healthy, we will be a "tough out" in the playoffs but not a championship contender unless two or three players greatly exceed expectations. We have a championship level frontcourt so our guard play will determine how far we go. If they still can't shoot or play defense we will lose in the 1st or 2nd round of the playoffs. If they do both we are a serious contender.
Wow!! Damn good first post Streets '01. And like you said, maybe not everyone will admit it, but I think many of us have experienced several, if not all, of your five stages.
what are you talking about, its still just a rumor, I won't believe it until I see battier in a rockets jersey playing in an actual game, No one has been able to show that yet.
This five stages of grief thing is overrated.. I'll stay in depression until the Rockets win their next championship. Battier traded for LeBron? Who cares
Great first post Streets 01, all rookies should read this thread to see what is a good thread to start with. I Agree, i think i went through the same stages.
The reaction to the Battier trade reminded me of cognitive disonance -- briefly, the idea that people can't tolerate having two conflicting beliefs, so they rationalize a way to make the two fit. The first problem was making the perceived value of Gay + Swift match with the perceived value of Battier. The opinion of Battier's value has gone way up (with the contribution-to-winning stats and the like) since the trade, and the likely impact of Gay has been belittled. I think even Rockets management has done it by using Safalosha as the alternative instead of Gay. Battier playing in the Worlds has helped us with this. The second problem was to reconcile our desire to be a better team to the feeling that we gave up more talent than we received. So, we rationalize that Van Gundy will be able to use Battier better than he would have used Gay or Swift. We say that our fate is determined by the health of McGrady and Yao. We put our hopes in KillBill and company to be better than expected. I was quite surprised to see the second poll on the trade in which something like 2/3rds of posters were now happy with the trade, after 90% or something thought it was a disaster initially. I think this is a rationalization. Liking Battier is cool, he's a good player. Being hopeful for the season is good. But, I don't see why we should like that trade any better. Hopefully, Gay will be a bust and then we can be justified.
It's really really simple. If people in Houston can rationalize the entire Reggie Bush saga and brush that to the side. The Rudy Gay thing looks minor in comparison. I happened to like the trade from the start. The WC did nothing for me because I know the WC has no effect on the NBA.
