It’s getting to be that time of the year again. Somewhere, on some blog or some radio station, you’ll hear the discussion as to whether or not Pittsburgh could support an NBA team. In fact, we discussed this topic last year HERE. But that isn’t what this post is about. That’s old news.
Yesterday, on the Pittsburgh Sporting News Facebook page, I asked if the people of Pittsburgh cared that the NBA season was about to tip off.
Here were some of the more entertaining responses:
Jay Urso – “F*ck no. I’d rather watch cheese turn into mold.”
Mike McKinney – “A Pittsburgh page just asked this?”
Timmy Sziminski – “I would care more if it was the National Badminton Association”
And my favorite type of answers:
Mike Hayes – “Does the ‘Burgh have a team? Oh no! Well in that case nope!”
I can’t say I expected anything less, to be honest. But the question is why don’t sports fans in Pittsburgh like basketball? Yes, the easy answer is that the city doesn’t have a team. That’s fine. But should it make THAT much of a difference? Do you think that people in Virginia don’t like the NFL? What about those people in Utah. Do they only care about the Jazz? Oklahoma, Alabama, Mississippi, etc. don’t have sports teams, but I’m willing to guess they enjoy them.
Could it possibly be that’s how we were raised and taught? Sports fans start from somewhere, right? Your parents raised you to believe that the only colors that matter are black and gold, and if you aren’t a Pittsburgh fan, then you ain’t, well, you know. You were raised without the NBA. Heck, you weren’t around for the Pittsburgh Pipers of the ABA, whose attendance numbers would make the Pittsburgh Power look like a real professional football team.
To me, it’s that people don’t and won’t give it a chance. They’ll say that there is no defense in the NBA, but anyone who says that doesn’t actually watch the game. The NBA is filled with the best overall athletes in all of sports. Sure there will be an exception like Calvin Johnson, but all-in-all, the NBA reigns supreme.
Or could it be that Pittsburgh doesn’t actually hate the NBA? If you read Joe Starkey’s column on the subject HERE, you may feel that it’s a myth, too.
Look, it’s not our business to tell fans what to watch. I’m fully a believer of that. If you don’t want to watch the NBA or ESPN, don’t do it. Simple solution. I’m not here to convert people to NBA fans, I’m here to find an answer because I’m actually curious.
Giving an honest answer, what is it about the NBA that makes you not like it?
