Luv those Knicks wrote:Demagoog wrote:Funcrusher wrote:Embiid really wont stop until the entire Knicks starting 5 is fouled out or helped out of the arena on crutches
This man has the entire basketball world rooting for the Knicks. I repeat, the Knicks. Do you know how insane that is?
Many people here might not remember. It was a couple years before the "Miracle on Ice" when team USA had that win over Russia in the Olympics in 1980. Before that, Russia (Northern Europe in general) were the kings of hockey. Maybe Canada too. But Russia was #1.
In the national interest of good sportsmanship, the Russian national team came to the US for some pre-season hockey and they were kicking everyone's butt, including the Montreal Canadians who were the best team in the NHL. I think the Canadians tied them once, lost the other game.
When they played the flyers, the flyers didn't play the puck, they played the players, and that's how they won. When a flyers player injured a Russian player, the Russians left the ice and wouldn't finish the game. I was a kid and I watched that game, and you couldn't watch that game without rooting for the Russians.
Russia was the bad guy. That's the world I was raised in, and there I was, rooting for the Russians against the Flyers because I hated the Flyers style of play. I didn't come in rooting for the Russians, but 10 or 15 minutes into the game, they were the obvious team to root for.
I'm sure, if WW3 had happened, Russia would have sent an extra bomb to Philadelphia in retaliation for the flyers. And, I love Philly. I've been there several times. Fun city to walk around in. Good bars, good stores, but . . . I have no love for any of their sports teams.
Your post made me think of that moment from my childhood.
I saw something similar just a few years later. I think it was 1985.
There was an exhibition boxing match between a former US champion and this towering, menacing spiky-haired dude from the Soviet Union. The fight took place in the Soviet Union. It was a huge spectacle, with a huge military presence at the fight. Heck, even members of the Politburo were in attendance.
Nobody thought the undersized US boxer would win. Nobody in the arena wanted him to win. But sure enough, after a few rounds, the plucky American started to change opinions. Meanwhile, the towering CCCP boxer grew more and more surly, even yelling at the fans originally there to cheer him.
By the end of the 15th round, the crowd had swung all the way to the American. It was crazy, they arrived hating America and everything that country stood for!
During that fight, I saw a lot of changing, in the way they feel about that US boxer, and in the way he felt about them. In the ring, there were two guys killing each other, but I guess that's better than twenty million. I guess what I'm trying to say, is that if those people can change, and you can change, everybody can change!
