Some Perspective
by Cedarpark on Feb 9, 2010 11:38 AM CST
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PrintIn the 4th grade city championships in Amarillo Texas, circa 1989, we were getting our butts handed to us. A kid by the name of Matt Webb, the best player on our team, looked us over during a stop in play and said something I would never forget. It was cheesy, but to a 4th grader's ears it made a lot of sense.
What he said was this: This is like a Walt Disney movie guys, everything will work out in the end. That was it. Simple, yet profound.
When I look at the Spurs this season, it has been one of the most inconsistent, emotionally draining seasons in memory. In the past, it was a given that the Spurs could tangle with the heavies, and now, each game it seems unlikely that the Spurs will come through against premiere teams.
Usually, you could count on two out of the big three having great games--with rotating contributions from the role players, but now that is not so. Most games, we're getting one great game from the big three and either an overflow of stellar play by the rest or absolutely nothing. No consistency.
Tim Duncan has been mildly consistent yet not dominant. My favorite player of all time, number 21, is at the age in his career that David Robinson was when he got his Tim Duncan. Timmy D can still do a lot, but he can't do it all.
But I didn't want to beat up on Spurs fans here; I just wanted to offer up a simple statement: This is like a Walt Disney Movie--it'll all work out in the end. You never know when a team may peak, especially this Frankenstein version of the Spurs, and to be honest we've seen the Spurs peak in Feb. before, only to come up limping come late April.
The playoffs are an entirely different season, really. They are the only season: you play good enough to get in, and then you take your shots in the spring.
And that's my message here: This is a Walt Disney Movie; the Spurs are simply sucking for dramatic effect.
And yes, my idealism doesn't blind me totally: there's always Old Yellar, but I think in the scheme of things, the Spurs are going to take their shot, and who knows what will happen next.
We ended up winning that city championship after that line: that's why it always stuck with me I guess. The next year, our school was bumped up another level and we were dismantled every game we played.
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And yes, my idealism doesn’t blind me totally: there’s always Old Yellar
This had me cracking up. Hide the shotguns!
And The Yearling!
I will never forgive Ora for shooting Flag, never never never!
::sob sob sob::
I have flying monkeys at my disposal, and I'm not afraid to use them.
Don’t forget Where the Red Fern Grows, which can still make me cry. Probably the Top 3 in the “Depressing Children’s Literature” category.
That one was tough, with the axe to the torso, the poor beagles. Were they beagles? Or houndogs. It’s been about 20 years.
Neither he nor Gob were prepared for the challenges of using cats to catch a seal.
Oh god. I remember finishing that book during lunch in the sixth grade and crying through class for the rest of the day. Who DOES that to children, anyway? Damn. I need to go home and get in bed now.
I have flying monkeys at my disposal, and I'm not afraid to use them.
I’m now wondering how many children have been scarred for life reading those books. I do believe I read those three in the same year. That might explain some things.
But WTRFG ends on a good note, guys. Remember? With the freaking RED FERN from the title?
Yes, as a child, that book makes you cry — and not just a little bit, but big slobbery, sobbing, gasping, boo-hooing that comes from deep places in your soul that you didn’t even know could hurt with pain. Yes, it’s monumentally sad in a way that goes beyond the normal bounds of Youth Fiction, but it doesn’t end in that place of grief. It ends with Billy recognizing that there’s a beauty born into the world that would never have been except for Dan and Ann’s death.
Come to think of it, there’s a message in that book for Spurs fans in these dark times.
The intanglibles are with us tonite…its just those dang tangibles lke making shots and playing defense - bones
What we need is a little fortuosity!
I did not return empty handed. I came back with two huge handfulls.
This is like a Walt Disney Movie—it’ll all work out in the end.
Well, if antisemitism, gross revisions of folk tales, overly racist characters, WWII propaganda and a view of woman in which they can only be rescued and happy through a man is what it takes for the Spurs to win the chip, so be it.
To serve man.
Gustatus similis pullus.
That’s the Hipuks we know and love. I’ve always wondered why Disney animated movies never have mother characters? Anyone?
Well they have them, they just kill them.
I have flying monkeys at my disposal, and I'm not afraid to use them.
Anyone else traumatized by the donkey boy island in Pinocchio?
Superman wears Manu Ginobili pajamas to bed. - CMoney
because in disney movies they only portray women as princesses or witches. there is no in between.
by jakob_taylor on Feb 10, 2010 2:25 PM CST up reply actions
what about the fairy fsmothers?
GTFOML!
by the little o on Feb 11, 2010 12:08 AM CST up reply actions
Oh hell yeah. Pinocchio in general really confused me. I was all, “Why does he want to DIE?”
I have flying monkeys at my disposal, and I'm not afraid to use them.
You mean by becoming “real?” I think this is because the audience—“real” people—seeks validation of their state. Magical things MUST want to be like us, because it’s the “right” and “real” thing to be, etc. It’s audience jealously, projected on the story. I think anyway.
Hilariously maladjusted. But for all the right reasons.
To be fair, nobody would want to be made of wood. The woody and “good morning, wood” jokes would never stop.
Have you seen the movie A.I.?
To serve man.
Gustatus similis pullus.
Yes, and here’s the text of the story the movie is based on.
I have flying monkeys at my disposal, and I'm not afraid to use them.
I wasn’t intending to pimp Disney. They’re doing fine without me.
But as a kid, you knew that there would be some drama, but things will end well.
On second thought, I would pimp Up from Pixar. I don’t care if they paid me or not, that was the best movie I saw all year.
Neither he nor Gob were prepared for the challenges of using cats to catch a seal.
Exactly. This season is a Walt Disney movie. I totally see us kicking Lakers out in the first round. Remember those Warriors? They played no defense, barely made the playoffs and were against the best team in the league, featuring a defensive-minded coach and the MVP of the league. Still they prevailed, against all the odds and Charles Barkley’s predictions. Just like in a Walt Disney movie. We can do it too, we just need to stack more odds against us.
And kill off the mother character.
I have flying monkeys at my disposal, and I'm not afraid to use them.
RJ?
He is princess peanut, after all.
The intanglibles are with us tonite…its just those dang tangibles lke making shots and playing defense - bones
ha
"He was just a young skinny guy who looked like a winner. We didn’t know he was going to be as good as he is."
—Popovich on Manu Ginobli
No, princesses don’t die, jolly. But they do get married. So we have a problem there.
(Now I feel bad for saying that.)
Hilariously maladjusted. But for all the right reasons.
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