Ya know, Ive noticed that some of you have tried to make your 1000th post something special. I think that is great. I wanted to do the same with mine and wanted to do it before the game on the 2nd. Unfortunately for me, my self-imposed 2 week vacation is coming to an end Monday and with my first child on the way, I am afraid that I wouldn’t see my 1000th post until well after the season started. I know not everyone on here enjoys what I have to say all the time, but I hope everyone can at least appreciate where I am about to come from. There are a lot of reasons to be excited about November 2nd, 2002. Season home opener. First home game for Yao Ming. First chance for some us to watch the Rocket’s new offense up close and personal. For me, by far, it’s the chance to see, for perhaps the last time, Hakeem Olajuwon, live and in person. Once Hakeem makes it official, I for one, see him fading away into obscurity if only because, that is the type of person he is. One has to admit, that off the court, Hakeem is somewhat of an enigma. If any of you have actually had the chance to shake the man’s hand, you will know what I’m talking about. I met Hakeem twice in the late 80’s. I felt like I was touching gold. I was young, impressionable and a HUGE Houston Rockets supporter. I had always felt, that after all the drugs, the injuries, and the in-fighting on the team, that Hakeem’s only opportunity to win a title may have already passed. It was 1986. I hated Larry Bird. I hated Kevin McHale. I hated Danny Ainge. I hated Robert Parrish. Why? Because that Boston Celtics team took away, what we all felt, Hakeem and the city of Houston deserved more. I never realized what a truly great player was, until Bird left this league. Despite my contempt for him, I felt a void inside of me. There was a void in the whole N.B.A., like there almost always is when a Hall of Famer decides to call it quits. No doubt, there will be a void in all of our hearts and the N.B.A., when we see Hakeem for one of the last times on the 2nd. In the late 80s and for a small portion of the early 90s, the Rockets were stuck in mediocrity. What do we have to do to get Hakeem and the Rockets back to the finals I thought, as well as many of you. The winds of change came, but most importantly, Hakeem changed. Seattle broke our hearts the season before our first title, but we all had that feeling inside, that Hakeem and the Rockets were poised to make their run towards greatness. The Rockets did get that monkey off their back, but most importantly, Hakeem did. In the 1995 playoffs against the Spurs, for me anyway, it was not about Hakeem v. Robinson and which one of them was better. I think we all knew in hour hearts, who was better. It was about who was THE BEST in the N.B.A., period. Hakeem took a back seat to no one those two years, whether M.J. would have been there or not. This all brings me back to one Mr. Yao Ming. Due to players like Elvin Hayes, Moses Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon, and to a much, much lesser extent, players like Ralph Sampson, Otis Thorpe, and Charles Barkley it has become a natural tendency to expect nothing less than greatness from our big men if not unspectacular solidness. Those before Yao Ming have spoiled us. We are use to dominating in the post. Watching the Rockets the last season or two just hasn’t been the same for me. We are not used to another center outscoring ours, 35-6 and out-rebounding him 14-5. We want Yao to one day prove, that beyond a shadow of a doubt, no one is better than the big men that play in Houston, Texas. I hope one day to be present, when Yao and the Rockets are playing Shaq and the Lakers in the playoffs. I can see the future now: Shaq has just been named M.V.P. Yao has put together another all-star season for the Rockets and is on the cusp of greatness. From the stands, our fans chant “M.V.P.! M.V.P.! M.V.P.!” after Yao burns Shaq with a turn around “J” on one end then stuffs his shot when the Lakers are back on the “O”. From the sidewalks in the streets of downtown, maybe we can watch Yao riding on a firetruck, cigar in his mouth, trophy in hand, with the symbolic skyscrapers of Houston in the background. Our hearts will no doubt, swell with pride, not unlike they did when Hakeem owned this town in the mid 90s. All the great big men in Houston have been able to move out from behind the shadows, that the great big men before them left in their wake and cast an even bigger shadow themselves. Elvin, Moses, Hakeem and now Yao. I am sure rooting for Yao to do the same, and knowing Hakeem, I’m sure he is too. For myself and those of you who will be attending the game on the 2nd of November, I think it will end up being a night we’ll never forget. I hope Yao gets a huge, long standing ovation. He deserves it. I hope Hakeem’s is loud and longer though. Because more importantly than deserving it, he has earned it.
codell, I almost choked up reading your post. Tell you what, pull this post up when you do get to your 1000 and then print it out and frame it. It is cheating a bit, but that'll work! It finally dawned on me why we all loath Cato (and Collier to a lesser extent). Yes, we expect great things from our big man. When they don't deliver, or worse don't care, we are MAD. Doesn't matter how good our guards are. We want our big man to be great (not just OK). We are all holding our breath for Ming. Let's not give him too much pressure. But deep down in our heart, we know how high our expectations are.
Very nice post Codell. Easy, I think you are so right about what Houston basketball fans expect from the Rockets - total inside domination . Of course after Hakeem we now expect artistry too. No wonder Les can't sell tickets. I have to keep forcing myself to remember to watch Steve and Cat but my eyes keep going to the post. It is going to be so weird for Hakeem to be there Nov. 2 and look at Yao, and of course up to the rafters. Well, we will throw Hakeem a party of his own when we retire his jersey, and I say we put it between our championship banners.
great post and it saddens me that Hakeem is finally going to retire but I really don't think Yao will be as good a player as Hakeem. some people really did get spoiled by his greatness and got used to it
Ya know, I can go further in depth here: Women make me cry when they dont let me watch sports and drink beer while doing it.
Codell you must like to hear yourself talk. You should stop wasting valuable thread space with your long boring posts. No one wants to hear it. I think we can safely say that most of us do not agree with you. Yao is not the next Hakeem Olajuwon and as far I am concerned Oaljuwon should not let the door hit him in the ass on the way out. He walked out on our team last year and that can not be forgiven. The way he dissed the Rox should negate what he's done in his career. Hakeem screwed himself. NA NA NA NA ...NA NA NA NA ...HEY HEY HEY ....GOODBYE! Go Yao Ming and go Rox!
Excellent post, Codell. I still remember right after the Rockets swept the Magic in 1995 to win the second title, the closing remarks Bob Costas gave about Hakeem being the best player on the planet (little did anyone know Jordan had three more rings in store). Thoughout that title run, I told myself that I was going to concentrate on watching Hakeem, because I had the feeling that we were watching Hakeem at his peak.
Good post. Wish I had know about this 1000 post trend before. I never got see Hakeem in his prime much. Mainly just clips. Not much of the other inside presences either. But I do wish we had that dominant presence inside. As for the Nov 2 game, I MADE my dad get tickets for that game. No way I'd miss that. I had to miss last year's because it was on a weekday, and I can only go on weekends because of school. But I'll be there.
I bet you will have a 800 pound chip on your shoulder the day you die... It must be tiring carrying that around all the time. "...He walked out on our team last year and that can not be forgiven."
who is this we you speak of? I dont remember casting a ballot to make "Allstarmobley" my spokesman.. codell, I like it..good job..feel free to make good posts at any number ya feel like.
Codell, there seems to be alot of us that like to hear you talk!!Dont forget us when you have to go back to work in the real world,,,
