I'm glad I was not downtown last night in the traffic snarl created by the celebrating Spurs fans. Instead, I weathered the game in the relative comfort of my home as the Spurs plodded along through three and a half quarters before finally exploding in the final six minutes to claim their first lead and the National Championship.
The Spurs seem to get only grudging respect from the other big media markets where they treat San Antonio like some kind of backwater hole in the wall rather than one of the Top 10 most populous cities in the nation. In the NY Times today, sports writer William Rhoden admitted that although Tim Duncan may be one of the most consistent and technically flawless players in the game today, he is still not a big fan because Duncan (and the Spurs) lack the "presence and charisma" of Shaquille O'Neal; the "spark" of Kobe Bryant; the "sense of theater" of Kevin Garnett and the "penchant for playing on the edge" of Allen Iverson.
Of course, there is one other descriptive term that matches all of those players -- LOSERS!!! HaHaHa!
Go Spurs!