Not again

Pistons 75-95 Sixers

In the time that I've been a host of this blog thing here, I have learned that if I post an entry in response to a game (a loss in particular) right after it happens, it comes out mostly as unreadable gibberish. Normally I remain conscious about this and refrain from spewing out nonsense, waiting until the next day or whenever so that it isn't so babble-y or negative. But I don't really care about that right now.

This is because I am past the point of trying to "get it". I'm past the point of trying to understand just how many fucking wake-up calls this team needs. On this blog, I have said that this has been my favorite Pistons team (because I was like 4 during the Bad Boys era teams...sorry if I've said that more than once but I fear that if I don't explain it every time that some nerdy dick will end up stumbling on this site and go "WHAT ABOUT THE BAD BOYS ARE YOU FUCKING GAY???") But the same old shit is happening this year that I had hoped -- more like assumed -- couldn't possibly happen again, and that's this seemingly ridiculous vibe of entitlement that this team keeps emitting. They feel as though it is already a given that they are in the Conference Finals. Like, they think they've already qualified for the 3rd round and these are like pre-postseason games or something. This complacent attitude bit them in the ass when it took 7 games to beat the Cavs in '06. Then it killed their will to win in conference finals against the Heat. And it definitely played a role in the shameful Cleveland series last year, a series that was so despicable on the level of quitting that I didn't so much as wear blue or red clothing let alone read anything about the team for the weeks that followed the season. I mean, how many fucking times can shitty games like this happen before you're just like "Alright, that crap can't happen again or at least for long enough so that nobody identifies it as a disturbing trend."

Win or lose, I often spend time perusing message boards and stuff regarding the team. Usually after a loss, it serves as some sort of e-support group, where people can get together and share depressing opinions of frustration and outrage. I make fun of people when they do this during meaningless regular season games, or opening day, but this is the playoffs. Griping is more than understandable. It's expected. Especially from fans who dedicate their time and interest for an 82 game season, and then the playoffs start and it feels like all the good you just watched is in the process of being erased. Anyway, I was doing my fair share of reading after the game, and I came across a comment on one of my favorite sites, detroitbadboys.com, and read this from commenter Other Matt:

"I’m gonna throw this out there: are the Pistons shaving points?"

After seeing this, it hit me. The Pistons are cheating. They are fucking shaving points, and since I just popped a Melatonin a half hour ago I'm too drowsy to convince myself of anything otherwise. I'm going to bed with the opinion that the Pistons are involved in a major gambling ring and that's why we've seen these weird playoff games the last couple years. It's the only explanation why a team full of supposedly prideful veterans would allow a team as mediocre as the Philadelphia 76ers to eat them alive in 2 out of the first 3 games of the playoffs. This is crazy...I can't believe I didn't think of it myself.

In any event, I may be joking or I very well might actually think this -- I can't tell right now. All I know is that, even if the Pistons win 3 straight, it's not going to make this start look any less absurd. Just like Cleveland in the semis a couple years ago, it would still feel like a half-loss (whatever the fuck that is) and the undeniable funk will surely linger on to the following rounds. Either way, I'm not feeling too good about this.