This is the time of year when my hands get sweaty at the thought of the Houston Rockets and their playoff run. I get really sensitive to any assertion that this team is anything less than a championship contender. I fall in love with my least favorite commentators and hate personalities I would otherwise love all based on them doing the right thing, the only thing -- gassing the Houston Rockets. This time of year I notice red clothing more than I normally would, my beard is wildly stressed, I plan around Rocket games a week in advance and I forewarn friends/family to keep their shallow nonsensical predictions to themselves. I know the odds against my team, I just don't want to hear about them. The name Steph Curry puts me in a bad mood these days. He is the sword of Damocles that dangles over my bubble of MVP anticipation, he is the Benghazi to my championship campaign, my Jeremiah Wright, my Chappaquiddick and his commercial with Jamie Foxx makes me despise them, Ray Charles and Roy Orbison all at the same time. I don't know why, it just does. This time of year makes me more uncomfortable than Tim Donaghy tied going into overtime, Derrick Rose doing the hokey pokey or a LeBron selfie with Reggie Watts. I find myself absorbing good news like a sponge and repelling bad new like..well...a sponge. I talk to my TV like it's listening and invoke the ire of my discontent to anyone who questions my passion/rage. My wife walks lightly around me and my kids recently recommended a hobby -- any hobby. There is no mental preparation for the playoffs. I embrace the agony the best way I know how -- hatred towards anything that doesn't feed the beast that is Houston Rocket superiority. What do we really want as sports fans? A championship is the easiest answer but media attention, respect and an identity play into what I truly desire the most -- a chance. A freaking chance! We have that and yet I'm still not satisfied. I want Charles Barkley to admit he was wrong about this team just before he chokes on a buttery jack burger just long enough for Shaq to come up with a coherent thought and a punchline about it. I won't be satisfied until Daryl Morey drops the mic after a first round sweep of the Mavs and Cuban cries like a Native American in a 70's pollution commercial. I won't rest until Jeremy Lamb avgs more than 8.5ppg (Sam Presti gave me that one). It won't be good for me until Chris Bosh IG's a pic of himself sitting at home watching our championship parade and "Houston We Have A Problem" is forever removed from the Rockets national vernacular. Maybe this is the year when Austin declares "The Beard is Weird" day in conjunction with our ring ceremony... ..but if not, I'll be right back here next year, just as I have been since that hallowed day in June of 1995, watching, waiting, anticipating. If any of this appeals to you, know that... You are not alone.
Wow. Amazing post. This is exactly how I feel. I honestly didn't think anyone felt like this other than myself. I'm searching reading and just yearning for anything rockets related. Reading articles again and again in hopes of discovering if I missed anything of substance. Any inkling of a outlet to express how I feel about this team - whether it be bleacher report or reddit, I'm bleeding rocket red. So I thank you.
LOL, even when my wife tries to put things in sensible perspective about the Rockets, I want nothing to do with it, because the pain and anguish are mine to hold onto like a helpless baby.
I've been making plans for next weekend for about two weeks now. I was going to go out of town after a stressful busy season but I'll pass. It's playoff time.
Well done. This describes me to a tee! I'm already getting ready to bail on a baby shower thing that my wife's friends invited us to for the first Saturday of the playoffs. Nobody's baby is more important than the rockets!!!
Very well written. Couldn't have expressed it better myself. Especially the Curry part. I've always liked him as a player, but nowadays I can't stand seeing his stupid face or hearing his name.
We live in San Francisco. Up until now, my wife has always cheered for the Rockets with me. She grew up in DC, and since the Bullets/Wizards suck so much, her affiliation was always with the Bulls and Michael Jordan. But I got her over to the Rockets. Until now. She's has been a Warriors' fan for about 7 years now and it has been ok. The Bay Area has a passionate fan base which I respect, but the Warriors have always been more flash than fire. I kind of tolerate them. They were never threatening. For the past two months she can't stand me when she watches the Warriors' games. Apparently I curse a lot more and am prone to more tantrums. It's a side of me "she doesn't like". It's the "Texan" side. I can't stand the Warriors now. They turned from a fun team I'll watch into the inexplicable golden child of the NBA and the media. And in SF.. so many bandwagoners hopping on the bro train. I can't wait until we get to them in the conference finals and I get to wear my Rockets red at Oracle. I can't wait until the playoffs and I get to show all these dumbass Curry fans what Clutch City is all about... wife included.
Preach! Gotta love the playoff race, nerves are starting to build. Yesterday was a fun little warm up. Spurs back to back have so much meaning. Could be sending a message to the rest of the league with back to back wins. A split makes the 2 seed still possible. The negative outcome will set us all on pins and needles.
Amazing post. I'm surrounded by curry fans (first I have ever met...) and if I hear them say "James Harden doesn't play defense" one more time..... ugh it's frustrating. But those guys are no where as annoying as the guys who have no clue about basketball yet keep saying the rockets suck.
10 Reps for you Bro, if I could do that. Clutch City is our history and our destiny! That is what your good wife needs to learn. GO HOUSTON ROCKETS!
