win or lose

Being a Golden State Warriors fan, I've had it up to here with character-building. As in losing. Yet, there are fans of the team that seem to be rooting for them to lose so as to keep a high lottery pick for the next NBA draft. 

It's rather complicated and I don't understand it all that well, but roughly speaking, if the Warriors qualify for a top 7 pick in the 2012 draft, meaning one of the 7 worst win-loss records for the season, then they get to keep that pick; and if they qualify for the 8th pick in the lottery or worse, then they lose that pick due to a trade made previously... something like that. Then again, it can all depend on how the lottery balls fall come that time too.

It's one thing for the Warriors to miss the playoffs, but if they miss the playoffs but not badly enough, then they'll lose their 1st round pick. So they ostensibly need to either make the playoffs (the stated goal by the new ownership) or suck really, really bad. The worst case scenario is to fall somewhere in between. And there are people actually saying, on the radio no less, that the Warriors should therefore 'tank' the season and go for the really, really suck option. 

I can't imagine a professional athlete intentionally tanking the season. If anyone is capable of doing that, I really wouldn't want them on any team I root for. Can you picture a professional submitting to getting posterized (the poor sap in a poster that is getting dunked on?). Wouldn't tanking be on par with wagering on outcomes? Isn't it reminiscent of baseball's Black Sox scandal from a century ago? Losing... on purpose? My gosh, I can't fathom wanting my team to do something like that. Any athlete with pride and ethics can't do something like that.

I joked in a previous post about how wearing a Warriors tee shirt is almost like wearing a Washington Generals (the team that plays the foil of the Harlem Globetrotters) tee shirt, especially when I thought about the Warriors playing the Lakers - but I was just kidding. I want the Warriors to strive for victory each and every game and let the draft order fall as it may.