Why am a Spurs fan? It isn't just because of him!

 

I am 6"4", or I was at one time. He's (Victor Wembanyama) still growing at 7'4", but he's not why I am a loyal San Antonio Spurs fan. It isn't because Hall of Famer of Tim Duncan whose #21 jersey I am wearing. It is the Spurs organization that has made me a loyal follower for what they have done for the past 50 years.

I grew up a loyal Chicago Cubs fan and a pretty loyal Chicago Bears fan. I even rooted for the White Sox In the 50 years of the Spurs existence they have won 5 championships while the Cubs, Sox and Bears teams have each only won one. In the past 20 years the Spurs have had one coach. In that same time the Cubs have had 28 managers and fired the last winner. The Sox have had 19 managers and fired their last winner, and I think the Bears are on #12. Sure the Bulls have six championships but nothing since Michael retired and Phil moved to LA.

Still winning  isn't the only reason for being a Spurs fan. You could say it is mostly because of him or her and because of how they have treated us. 

I was at a game with Granddaughter Rachel because she had perfect attendance at school.  When she was 6 and 7 the Spurs or the Silver Stars(WNBA) gave her a free ticket to a game. Those tickets were up where the oxygen is rare, but I upgraded one so we could get a photo of the floor in the background.  Rachel held the Flat Stanley her cousin Tommy sent her as we tried to get it all in the photo. (Note Flat Stanley is also wearing #21). As we were on the mezzanine an usher asked if we wanted to take the photo from the floor! Yes the Spurs ushers are the kindest people. And that is not all.

At another game we again had nosebleed seats. As we entered the area, the ticket taker asked if we were alone. She said to go with the man wearing a  blazer and he took us down to the lower bowl for upgraded seats. That is how I became a Spurs fan for life!

So the Spurs have a winning tradition which has led to 5 NBA Championships under Coach Gregg Popovich. They haven't made it to the playoffs since 2019 and haven't won it all since 2014.  Yet Pop remains the coach.

The Spurs build teams over time and develop players. Yes, they have drafted three tremendous first round centers (Robinson, Duncan, Wembanyama), but they also developed very low draft picks into Hall of Fame players (Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker) and more undrafted players than I can count.

A Spurs player joins a family. From the first year the Spurs were in San Antonio, the players were taken to local gyms, food banks, libraries, and schools, and learned they were part of the community. The Spurs Give Back is the most appropriately named charity. They continue to do this whenever the team is in town. Coach Pop leads young men and lets them know they are more than athletes. That is why whenever a former player on another team comes to San Antonio the player makes a point to come and see and usually hug Pop. The Spurs honor the former players with a tribute video of their highlights before the first game back. All of the Hall of Fame players and many others still make San Antonio their home.

Scott recognized how much I love the Spurs. In 2022, in the middle of the pandemic, Scott bought me courtside tickets behind the Spurs bench.

Scott and I started attending many games last season. This year I bought season tickets for half of the home games. When he can't go I take Emily or Rachel or one of the fans from our Silver Sneakers class, where nearly everyone wears a  Spurs shirts to exercise.

Go Spurs Go! is the team slogan. Hurry back Coach Pop we miss your wisdom and humor, but thank you for making professional basketball into something to be admired for more than great athletes and winning records. You have taught your coaches well and we may be on our way to the playoffs again! 

 Hey Chicago, maybe someone will forward this to Ricketts, Reinsdorf, and McCaskey!

The three stooges were amateurs at screw-ups

 The three stooges were amateurs at screw-ups when compared to us.

Don and Paul and I have been fishing together for years. There have been very rare occasions when nothing bad happened, but that has not been the usual. Yesterday was another regular trip for us, the first  of the year.

Connie asked why we going when rain was forecast. I said we were only fishing in the morning and rain wasn't forecast until afternoon. I didn't take a raincoat and neither did Paul. When we stopped at Don's he had on a raincoat, probably because his wife, Pat, advised him on that. Paul borrowed a raincoat and I dug my emergency raincoat out of my boat tackle bag.

We have always tied the boat to the dock when launching. This is to hold the boat while we get in. Lately instead of just tying up, I have asked Paul to back the boat off the trailer before tying to the dock. Don and Paul always handle the boat tie-up while I return the trailer to the parking lot. Yesterday they decided to do something different.

Since it was the first trip of the year, the fuel lines were not connected to the motors. This proved to be a disaster as Paul and Don's new thing was to drive the boat to the dock and then attach the the ropes to the dock...except Paul couldn't figure how to attach the fuel line to the motor. Granted the 9.9 hp motor has a different connector than the 25Hp motor, and it certainly confused him. I didn't realize what was happening, but as I walked down the ramp toward the dock I saw this.

With a steady west wind Paul was a long way out with no fuel line attached. I tried to yell across the lake to tell him how to connect it, but he could barely hear me. As he drifted away Don told me they had decided not to tie up like they usually did. I kept yelling "it's the silver connection above the tiller"

Finally Paul figured out the connection and got the motor started and came in to pick up Don and me. This was, of course, my fault for not connecting the fuel line before going out. Somehow in the confusion the connection to the fuel tank was also reversed so we were also leaking gasoline. We got that fixed and finally started to fish.

The lake was really full of algae and we didn't have much luck. Eventually we headed for a cove and Paul caught a crappie. A while later I caught a bass, and Don caught a really nice saugeye.  

Don wears a nice Gilley hat which is an expensive fishing hat like the one Paul wears. We moved out of the cove into the wind and Don swore and said "My hat blew off". He also said "it should float", so I turned the boat around to try and fish it out. It was soaked. Note that Don is wearing my ugly emergency hat as a replacement.

Then it started to rain. It was only 10:00 am but obviously the forecast was wrong, again. We headed to the dock. I gave Don my keys so he could back the trailer in. As Paul and I waited we heard the usual car alarm and we both said "Don found the truck" because Don always pushes the wrong button.

As we waited for the trailer, I connected the 25 HP motor and eventually got it started. We had plenty of time as Don usually makes gets the trailer sideways a couple of time. I did snap a photo as he finally lined up the trailer. I shot a video of his attempts but it's too long for this feed.

So do you think we are the latest version of the three stooges? Nyuck, nyuck, nyuck!