Slate: The Most Ignored Dynasty in Sports

[FedEx227]

Awesome article on Slate about the Spurs dynasty and why it's so ignored.

There’s a reason that Bridezillas is a show and there’s nothing called Reasonably Well-Planned Wedding Enjoyed by All. Americans don’t want excellence, and we certainly don’t want long-term sustained excellence. We want our dynasties to come with a side order of drama, controversy, and bad behavior.

http://www.slate.com/articles/sport..._that_america_is_a_nation_of_hypocrites_.html

 

[Villain]

 

[ralaw]

Decent article............I don't know what is about the Spurs that causes people to overlook them, but they really are an example of what people claim they want their teams and athletes to be about.

 

[Senser81]

Your "dynasty" must be pretty awesome when in the last 5 years you've won the same amount of league titles as the Charlotte Bobcats.

I don't quite understand the premise of the article.

 

[FedEx227]

Depends on how you want to define dynasty.

21 of 22 years in playoffs.
3 titles in 10 years.
13 consecutive 50+ win seasons

 

[ralaw]

There has always been a debate of whether the Spurs were a dynasty, because during Duncan's tenure they have 4 (5?) championships, but never won any back-to-back and during that time most believed the Lakers were a dynasty, because they won 3 in a row and later repeated for 2 more. As Fed says it's how you define dynasty, but regadless this franchise has sustained a high level of basketball for 15 years.

 

[Senser81]

There has always been a debate of whether the Spurs were a dynasty, because during Duncan's tenure they have 4 (5?) championships, but never won any back-to-back and during that time most believed the Lakers were a dynasty, because they won 3 in a row and later repeated for 2 more. As Fed says it's how you define dynasty, but regadless this franchise has sustained a high level of basketball for 15 years.

I guess as an organization they are a dynasty, but I think Duncan is the only player who played on all the title teams. And I think that since its been so long since the Spurs were even in the Finals, to say they are the "most ignored dynasty in sports" is more like a statement of fact than a point of contention. They are ignored because they haven't been elite for the past 5 years.

 

[Loco]

I guess as an organization they are a dynasty, but I think Duncan is the only player who played on all the title teams. And I think that since its been so long since the Spurs were even in the Finals, to say they are the "most ignored dynasty in sports" is more like a statement of fact than a point of contention. They are ignored because they haven't been elite for the past 5 years.

True but the 98 title team was completely disconnected from their other title teams where as the other three title teams had Duncan, Parker, Bowen and Ginobili.

 

[ram29jackson]

basketball fans know they are a dynasty of recent years..the article is pointless because it doesnt matter what media says might be ignored or whether media thats ignoring it.. They are a dynasty in the early 2000s along with the Lakers

 

[Villain]

I guess it's hard to be considered a dynasty when there's another team with a longer championship history matching you title-for-title during the same time period.

 

[FedEx227]

You'd agree the Lakers team has changed quite a lot during those titles, no?

They are trying to say Duncan, Parker and Ginboli.

 

[Villain]

I'd absolutely agree, except for Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher, and Phil Jackson.

 

[FedEx227]

I should rename this thread to "Let's nitpick the definition of a dynasty in sports"

 

[MVPete]

Decent article............I don't know what is about the Spurs that causes people to overlook them, but they really are an example of what people claim they want their teams and athletes to be about.

Great point. It seems like they are always overlooked by casual fans and even the analysts till they get to the Conference Finals or after they have won it all to really sit back and realize how amazing a team they've been and for a long time. In a time where commercials are riddled with NBA players we really haven't seen any of these guys get any publicity. The last time I remember seeing a spur in a commercial was Duncan doing edge commercial YEARS ago.

 

[Villain]

I should rename this thread to "Let's nitpick the definition of a dynasty in sports"

Or how about the definition of dynasty?

From wikipedia: "A dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family."

Apply that to sports: "A dynasty is a sequence of [championships by members of the same team]"

While the Spurs have had a great 10+ years going on, they're doing it at the same time as the Lakers and they're doing it in a metropolitan a mere fraction of the size. You have to expect that the primary reason they aren't getting as much love can be attributed to that. Just look at facebook - the Lakers have more "likes" than any other sports franchise on the planet.

In the next 10 years, if you split up Championships 4 a peice between the Yankees and the Royals, the Yankees would get more love. It has nothing to do with drama.

This snippet from the article is trying to address my point with epic failure:

Nor is it credible to attribute the Spurs’ obscurity to San Antonio’s alleged “small market” status, a hoary cliché that fails to notice the extraordinary population growth in Texas since the ABA-NBA merger brought the Spurs into the league. It’s true that San Antonio remains considerably smaller than New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, or even Dallas and Houston. But it’s far from the NBA’s smallest market. The San Antonio metropolitan area’s 2.2 million inhabitants ranks it above Sacramento, Orlando, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Memphis, New Orleans, and not least of all Oklahoma City.

Small point to miss that LA is the 2nd largest metropolitan area in the nation with a population roughly 8x the size of San Antonio.

Wikipedia again:

The Census Bureau also defines a wider region based on commuting patterns, the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside Combined Statistical Area (CSA), more commonly known as the Greater Los Angeles Area, with an estimated population of 17,786,419.

 

[Senser81]

I should rename this thread to "Let's nitpick the definition of a dynasty in sports"

LOL. No Finals appearances in the last 5 years = nitpicking

Was this article written 5 years ago? If not, then STFU.

 

[Senser81]

C'mon FedEx. A groan? You're better than that.

 

[FedEx227]

You'd think.