It's funny how his whinying ways isn't an issue to you when he played his heart out to win championships for houston, but does become an issue when he can no longer carry a team. I'd really like to see your comments jeff and others when he wanted to force a trade back in the day. I'm sure you weren't quick to send him to the clippers for manning and roberts. This statements just proves to me you and others are such a what have you done for me lately type of fan.
Don't insult people with stereotypes. We aren't here stereotyping you. We are talking about Hakeem's comments. Many of us have different views. I, for instance, am 100% behind both Hakeem and Les's handling of his twilight period, until Hakeem called Les and Rudy progagandists. Leaves me shaking my head at another celebrity hero. That's my only point. Dream made several statements to a journalist who always quotes him correctly. What do they mean to you? Don't hide your feelings behind critiquing others. That's lame.
Yes, Achebe. Rice was a gamble. Looks like we lost, so far. But at least he's not a malcontent as well. Hakeem was.
Crispee, Let me ask you something, what is your respect for hakeem based on? Is it on hakeem the player or hakeem the person or both? People aren't perfect, and I agree hakeem ain't, but to take shots at a player when he clearly has done so much for a city, is downright disrespectful. You should instead be quick to realise hakeem is hurt rather than take the opinion he is taking shots at your beloved organisation while they are down.
Sometimes Hakeem's pride gets in the way of good judgement. I think the Rockets did the RIGHT thing for now concerning Hakeem. As long as he was here, Steve was always going to defer to him, and now that he is gone, Steve can grow into the leader that Rudy needs to win consistantly. With Hakeem this year, we would not have won a championship, and it would have r****ded Steve' s maturation process. And for Dream. If you can't say something nice....... DD
kbm, You continue to critique with absolutely nothing about Dream's comments. Nothing. You seem to be the one doing the most disrespect of others. Where did I take a shot at Hakeem here? You are disrespecting me by stereotyping me and putting words into my mouth. You seem to have everyone figured out, and seem not to allow other's to have thoughts about Dream's comments at all, nor give your own. Maybe you meant others are disrespecting Hakeem, in general, and were not addressing me. If so, then I'll answer your question. Everyone has respect for Hakeem's game, the only thing in question as the years go buy is him as a person. I know some things about his relationship with the mother of his first child. I knew her. She went to Rice. My respect for him as a person was near zero at first, very close to being a deadbeat dad type of guy. He made a big, human mistake at a young age. He changed. He changed her mind, and he changed mine. He became a pillar of respect for me as a family man and running his personal life. He'll never lose that!!! So, he'll never lose my respect for him as an athlete or family man. As a business man, I don't know. My respect is slipping. Right now, I have more respect for Rudy and Les's handling of this situation, with regards to keeping it just business. Keeping Dream or not ,,, can be a mistake or not ,,, so, I am just talking about how it was handled. Forget the business mistakes, how did each human handle it. Right now, Dream is looking childish. He should apologize to Les. Now, what do y.o.u. think about the comments. Quit critiquing others until you critique Dream's comments. Are you going to apologize for him, back him, allow him mistakes, or what??
Dream is the one who feels the need to get in a pissing match with the Rockets. To begin with, neither the Rockets or Olajuwon should expect loyalty from the other side. In the NBA, loyalty basically goes out the window. I don't recall the Rockets saying too much, other than the fact that they will miss him. And this was in the summer. Why the hell is Olajuwon speaking out NOW? Is Tor that boring of a city, that he has nothing better to do than bringing up the past? Or is it that the only game he had, was in the past? Olajuwon is a jerk who is showing his TRUE COLORS right now. If he was the classy individual he has fooled a city into thinking he was, then he would be mum about the situation. Or he may even act thankful for playing in Houston. What a classless jerk. I hope you enjoy getting arseraped by the Canadian taxes.
One more thing, didn't Les go out of his way to give Olajuwon a pay raise a few years ago? The "high road" is something that has yet to enter Olajuwon's mind. Les owes you nothing. Houston owes you nothing. You owe yourself the right to move on.
What happened to all that crap about wanting to play for a championship!? What a punk move... just shut up and play old man.
I'd say your showing your TRUE COLORS now....You owe yourself the right to shut up and quit showing what a classless jerk YOU are.
I refuse to get on Olajuwon too much. He is responsible for two championships and getting us to the playoffs almost every year. Why did the Rockets say he was their top priority this offseason when he clearly wasn't? They could have payed him as much as they wanted. They didn't need to re-sign Shandon. We now have Glen Rice at 3yrs - $27 million. I know I would MUCH rather be playing Olajuwon that kind of money to be on our team. Olajuwon contributes defense, which no one else on our team can do. Glen Rice adds nothing.
Did I ever fool anyone into thinking I was such a classy individual??? NO. I'm not the one going around making people think I'm someone I am not. You could say that if I was the biggest Olajuwon fan around. I have never been and definitely never will. Olajuwon did, and he's the one showing his true colors. I'm not the chameleon that Olajuwon is. So why don't you do yourself a favor and shutup before you get slapped back down again.
Darn, there doesn't seem to be a smiley that represents being a crybaby. "A take-it-or-leave-it offer"? Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't he given at least 3 different offers, before he left? That definitely blows his credibility IMHO. I was pretty neutral in the Hakeem vs. The Rockets' management before, but now I am definitely thinking the management handled the situation better. Unfortunately, this big helping of sour grapes from Hakeem has made me lose a little respect for Hakeem the man (not the player) and has irredeemedly solidified my opinion that Fran Blinebury is the biggest joke of a hack reporter whose untalented and uninspired metaphors litter the crap-heap of of recycled toilet paper that some have actually mistakenly called a "news"paper.
For the record, when Olajuwon demanded his trade and then took that plane trip from Japan and all that, there was no internet to discuss the issues, but I, at the time, thought that Hakeem was being a pain in the ass. I thought his injury probably was not as real as some considered. To tell you the truth, I loved the championships but I was NEVER a huge fan of Hakeem as a person. I thought he was an amazing player, but I happened to know some of the people who worked behind the scenes in years both leading up to that and after and some of the things that Dream did were pretty weak. Whiny might be an understatement. As for your "what have you done for me lately" comment, you don't know me. I have been a fan of the Rockets since 1978! I followed them when they were in the finals in 80's and 90's. I watched them when they sucked in the early 80's and when they were great. I have always been a fan of the TEAM. The very fact that I have spent the better part of the past week defending the TEAM despite this wretched losing streak should be an indication that my love of the TEAM is there all the time. ****, if you recall, I spent a whole freakin' year of my life trying to keep the damn team in town despite the owner threatening to leave and the voters shooting down the first referendum. So, if you want to get on me for loving the Rockets. Fine. If you want to disagree, fine. But, calling into question my loyalty simply because I find Hakeem's comments to be weak (especially considering the TEAM never once did that to him) is not only ridiculous, it's just plain stupid.
This is how I look at the situation: Hakeem thinks the Rocktets made it look in public like they wanted to keep him. They made it look like signing him was the #1 priority. And he is right. The Rockets kept saying how they will hold up on on the other signings until they get dream. And there were articles on the chronicle about how either RT or CD were trying to negotiate with Fegan, but made it sound like Hakeem wanted too much money. And so when Hakeem left, everybody was convinced, including me, that maybe the Rockets did try their best, but Hakeem just wasnt willing to listen. But now Hakeem says, that behind the scenes the Rockets never really showed interest in signing him. And u know, he is not going to just flat out lie. He was involved in the situation, and if the Rockets werent showing enough interest in resigning him, then he might be telling the truth. And if this is the case, then all Hakeem is trying to do with these comments is trying to save his image with the people in Houston. Because many people, including me and many others on this BBS has had the assumption that the Rockets tried to do as much as possibe to get Dream, but he was just being a b**** and just dissed Houston. But now it sounds like this may not be the case. If the Rockets never wanted him to begin with, then Hakeem certainly has the right to let the public know, and defend himself. So u know what, unlike others in this BBS, I have the opposite feeling. Now I have gotten some of the respect for Hakeem back, and dont feel like he was being selfish when he left Houston. All he trying to do is defend his image which had been tarnished because the Rockets kept saying they really wanted him back when they didnt. But the cheap shots he took were wrong though. But if the Rockets organization did him wrong like he says, then he has a right to pissed. He is not a dishonorable man.
I guess you're also indirectly admitting that Olajuwon is too. It's sad that such a "good guy" as Olajuwon, is no better than a classless jerk, like myself. Thank you for playing.
Do you really think the Rockets wasted their chance for signing a big-name FA (Webber) so they can string Olajuwon and the city along? The worst thing possible was for Olajuwon to leave the Rockets, after waiting a few months. That is what happened. Surely, you don't think the Rockets purposely shot themselves in the foot? Good grief, I've heard better conspiracy theories than this.
I understand what Hakeem is saying...and agree to some extent, but I dont see why he feels the need to kick us while we are down. Thats downright mean! I dont think the Rox were serious about retaining him. I think the first offer they made was insulting, and even the final offer when compared to moochies contract or glens. Hakeem would have been a valuable part of the team...and quite frankly moochie and rice arent. Brown or Jones could have filled moochies shoes nicely (although their hair just doesnt measure up) Rice is obviously all washed up. So now instead of the hometown hero (who is also a whiny b****) we are saddled with overpaid scrubs. Chemistry? These guys may all get along great off the court...but it sure doesnt seem to be translating into wins. I dont know what his dealings with them were, but I certainly understand the feelings he has expressed. I think he maybe should have kept his mouth shut and let it be...but he is human afterall, and he is doing it to spite them. This whole thing doesnt change the way I felt about the whole situation. I have lost respect for both sides. I definitely agree that it was a mistake to let him go...and the organization has made a lot of other mistakes. Lets hope they learn from some of them.
excuse me for filling this thread with another long post, but I like to acknowledge good posts and gain understanding. HeyDude, That's a good read. You're right. Rudy did say that he wanted Dream. And they did say that Fegan wasn' t returning calls. It is pretty clear mgmt said they wanted him and said they were unable to negotiate...for whatever reason, presumably money or, more likely, length of contract. But then, when he left, there were a lot of no-hard-feelings accolades from both sides -- Rudy trying to sound like a typical fan with a "pit in my stomach," and Hakeem saying we shouldn't be sad, that he wants to move on, and how he viewed it as a youth-giving challenge. That's where I got my polyana vision of both sides being respectful and understanding of one another. my confusion is: How does that become a campaign to make Hakeem out to be disloyal. It is not like Rudy and Les can say, "no comment," when asked how negotiations are going, that would be just as bad, no? They never made an public ultimatum or any press release of negotiation progress that I recall, neither did Dream or Fegan. It seemed rather refreshing and business-like to me. Each side really seemed to want each other, but stubbornly on their own terms....right? No biggie. They never came out publicly and called him disloyal to the team or selfish. But now Fran has to get in the tabloid viewpoint. You know, I guess my whole viewpoint is I really, really did not want to know the tabloid inside scoop. I don't want to read claims of disloyalty or 2yrs of infighting. I yelled at Dream to play better and stop disagreeing with team philosophy back in Dec/Jan '01, but when he shut us all up with a stellar playoff push, I wanted him to get what he wanted. True or not, I don't want to know accusations of personal wrong-doing, starting tit-for-tat public arguments to save face. That's for tabloids.
