Putting the P.O.S. In "Retrospective" -- 10 Cool Sports Things In The 00s (Part 1)

This series will always be special to me because it got me back into the NBA, which I now regard as the second best sport behind the NFL.

After 1998, my NBA fandom faded like the bottom of a bad dream. I feel like I watched less than ten games in that six years. Though one game was this one. In person. It was awful. Even worse? I had a good time.

My knowledge of the league from 1998-2004 was like a black hole for quite a while. Through the years, I've pieced some of it together. Did you know Amar'e won Rookie of the Year in 2002? Oh, you did.

Anyway, this series was cool because I really hated those Shaq-Kobe teams (in retrospect, I should have loved those teams), and they failed epically. It actually could have been a sweep if Kobe didn't 'Kobe out' in Game 2 with a huge three late in the fourth.

Overall, the Pistons just dominated this series. They played so well together, too. It's easy to look back with 20/20 hindsight and say the Lakers lost because some of their key players were old, Shaq and Kobe were beefing, and the team potentially lost their focus, but this team was a juggernaut. Yet, the Pistons shackled them. They were world-beaters.

Wikipedia sez:

Detroit was so dominant in the series that it came to be known as a "five-game sweep."

Ohhhh, nasty.

Things that make this series seem worse in retrospect: America fell in love with Ben Wallace. But then he came to the Bulls. And sucked. And stole the team's money. And we hated him.

Things that make this series seem annoying in retrospect: A lot of Bulls fans hated this Pistons team because the 'Bad Boy' Pistons were the Bulls' rival in the early-90s. But seriously, Tayshaun Prince? Rip Hamilton? Likable dudes. The only case you have is 'Sheed... and he's funny*.

(* - Though arguably hatable on this year's Celtics team.)

Things that make this series seem funnier in retrospect: Karl Malone and Gary Payton both played for the Lakers team -- I'm starting to remember why I hated them so much -- and both failed to get rings. It should be mentioned that Payton got a cheap ring with the 2006 Miami Heat. Though Karl never did.


Warrants mentioning: Malone got hurt in this series, and though I always rooted against him, I did feel bad about that.

Things that make this series seem strange in retrospect: The loss in the series blew up the Lakers with extreme prejudice. Shaq got traded. Phil retired. Malone and Payton peaced. It was pretty much just Kobe.

Kobe, Rudy T., and the 2004-05 Lakers went 34-48 the next season... good for 12th place in the conference.

Things that make this game seem annoying in retrospect: Raiders fans were pissed. Like, pissed. Top-to-bottom -- owner (maybe?), fans, coaches, players. The bitching rivaled only the Seahawks fans in the "we lost by double digits to fat Big Ben" Steelers Super Bowl. Yeah, they were the worst. But Raiders fans were close.

Yesterday, I watched former Raiders OT Lincoln Kennedy bitch about the game during an ESPN special where he said something like, "Once the Patriots got the ball back on that call, it just sucked the life out me. It just wasn't the same game any more. "

The only problem? You play offense. Your defense blew it.

Simmons defends the call with this:

Every time the Tuck Rule Game gets mentioned, three other things should also be mentioned: First, Gruden had second-and-3 to close out the game, ran the ball twice up the middle, didn't get the three yards, then punted on fourth-and-inches. If they had gotten those three yards, Brady never gets the ball back. Everyone seems to forget this. And second, on the famous play, WOODSON CHOPPED BRADY IN THE HEAD TO CAUSE THE FUMBLE!!! Not only is that illegal, it's one of the few guaranteed "we're calling that every time" whistles in football. Everyone forgets this, too. And third, not only was the rule interpreted correctly, but they voted on keeping it at the next Rules Committee Meeting.

To recap: Raiders fans have spent the last four years complaining about a play in which (A) their player should have been penalized, (B) the rule was interpreted correctly, and (C) it never should have happened in the first place because their coach choked away a second-and-3 situation and lacked the testicular fortitude to go for it on fourth down. Those are the facts. If you want to keep complaining, so be it.

I've seen the replay of this play roughly 50 times, and I wouldn't say Woodson "CHOPPED BRADY IN THE HEAD" ... still, I think the biggest blow to the Raider complaining is: 1) The call did not decide the game; the Pats had to drive more, score a regulation field goal, then drive more again to score the game-winning field goal in OT, and 2) The NFL decided to keep the rule in the off-season. Checkmate.

Also, the Raiders went to the Super Bowl the next year, sucked, blew it, and contributed to one of the worst Super Bowls this side of Ravens-Giants. It's really hard to feel bad for them or their fans at all.

Rich Gannon threw five picks -- three pick-sixes! -- and the Raiders lost, 48-21. The game's MVP was Dexter Jackson, who is currently playing for the Florida Tuskers.

Things that make this game seem funny in retrospect: Brady either implied or directly told Gannon that he totally fumbled the ball when the two played in the Pro Bowl together later that season.

Also, years later, my buddy Chris, in an attempt to talk shit, sent me an MS paint photoshopped picture of Brady which said "TUCK RULE = SUPER BOWL". Only I ended up turning the insult into a rallying cry every time I watch the Pats games a la what Americans did with Yankee Doodle -- possibly the first diss song ever written?

I even bust it out any time there's a review of a QB's arm going forward in a fumble/pass situation. "TUCK RULE EQUALS SUPER BOWL"

It makes little sense.

Things that make this game seem awesome in retrospect: If you ever have a chance to re-watch highlights of this game, look at the quantity of snow. It's absolutely staggering. To this day and for the rest of my life, I will never understand how Brady got his footing in the pocket, how the wide receivers ran their routes, or how Vin was able to plant his feet on the field goal kicks*. To channel the my NFL studio analyst within: those guys were football players.

At some point during the game, I started making promises to myself regarding a lifetime pledge of no-matter-what affection for Jermaine Wiggins. The Eagles pasted the Bears earlier in the day, and I was pretty strung out.


(* - Vinatieri did have offensive linemen and two timeouts at his disposal to help clear the snow for one of his kicks. But still.)


BobbyStompy is the assistant editor of Tremendous Upside Potential. He can be reached at stompaberdeen [at] aol.com. Follow him on Twitter @bobbystompy.