Why you don't root against your team

[Admin]

THE GUILT OF TANKAPALOOZA 2007

The one thing a Seattle basketball fan never does is root for Portland.

Since the glory days of 1977-79, when the Northwest rivals owned the Western Conference, the line of demarcation was clearly drawn at the Columbia River. And it was not to be crossed under any circumstances.

But on April 14, 2007, I crossed that line ... and I'm convinced today that it's the difference between Seattle getting Greg Oden with the No. 1 pick or "settling" for Kevin Durant at No. 2.

It was the last Saturday night of the NBA season, the Sonics were in the midst of a dreadful closing stretch in which they would lose nine of their final 10 games. That night, Seattle had a "key game" in Portland -- a contest that would likely decide which team got the extra Ping-Pong balls in the May 22 lottery.

Like so many NBA fans caught up in Tankapalooza 2007, I circled the game as one that the Sonics really couldn't afford to win. They didn't. Portland won 108-102.

As any real fan will tell you, it's never easy to root against your team. It just feels unnatural ... even a little dirty.

I've found it's better to not watch the games closely -- that way you won't have to fight your body's natural fan impulses. Just check the score on the bottom line, surf the box score the next day and then peek at the standings a few times a week.

But in 2006-07, I felt rooting against my team was the right thing to do. It was for their own good. Oden and Durant were too good. Seattle was too far out, with too many injuries to even think of competing for a playoff spot.

Then, it hit me Tuesday night. As I watched Seattle native and current Blazers' Rookie of the Year Brandon Roy (another painful irony) hold up that celebratory Portland jersey with the No. 1 on it, I felt sick to my stomach for a moment.

It occurred to me that Portland "won" the top pick because it won the game April 14. That single loss made the difference in putting Seattle (31-51) in the No. 5 hole and Portland (32-50) in the No. 6 spot.

While I'm thrilled to have the No. 2 pick, eagerly anticipating Durant's arrival and now holding out hope that basketball can be saved in the Puget Sound, I can't help but feel the Guilt of Tankapalooza.

I can guarantee that folks in Memphis, Boston and Milwaukee are feeling it today ... in a much more far more painful way. Six months of pulling for your team to lose all can be erased in 27 minutes when the Ping-Pong balls are unkind.

I'll never root against my team again.

--Kevin Jackson

[DJ_Money]

Well said.

Memphis, Boston, and Milwaukee got served a cruel dish last night. I certainly feel no sympathy for them, though.

[Seano]

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Well said.

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Agree. Last night really showed all the 'good' that tanking can do. I look at it as karma doing its work- with the tanking teams getting exactly what they deserved.

I'm not naive enough to think that that'll discourage teams from tanking in the future, but maybe it will give them pause for second thought.

I've always been opposed to the notion of 'tanking' on principle. I think it's a bullsh*t practice and I think it's a shitty thing to do to your paying fans.

[ncthompson11]

Im so glad boston got screwed. I just hate the players they have on their team and the way they play now. Maybe its their new jerseys or something but they are obviously nowhere near the celtics of old.