Editorial: Spurs fans should judge Pop on hardwood only
On Monday, when I wrote a small post about NBA players, front office staff and owners supporting Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, I never quite expected what was coming next.
San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich pledging toward President Barack Obama's campaign for re-election was a choice several others made, including former Spur Doc Rivers.
While I will not state my political stance and views, I'll suffice it to say I got a quick reminder in the form of comments, emails and tweets reminding me that Texas is indeed a blue state.
So sure, some people don't like his choice, but should his choice of who he supports make any difference about the main he is or about his qualifications as a head coach?
Apparently to some, that is the case. Here's a sampling of the responses I got, with the names of senders not included.
"The sa spurs had my support until popovich decided to support obama. Notice my lack respect by not capitolizing the names (sic)."
But that wasn't the only person who has lost respect of Popovich. The trend continued.
"What a stupid decision. Does he not understand what Obama has done and more importantly what he hasn’t done. I would have thought better of Pop but now I have lost respect in Pop because he doesn’t recognize a bad “coach” when he sees one."
The outrage continued in the comments section of the post, which became an all-out political debate at times, with 15 commenters chiming in.
"If so, coach Pop and the Spurs mgnt have different colors. Hope its not affecting their chemistry."
There are many other issues that affect NBA teams, and being in several teams' locker rooms, including the Spurs, I have yet to see a problem with chemistry due to politics. One of the Spurs' strongest attributes is their chemistry. That's not changing, and if anyone in the franchise disagrees with those choices, Pop has earned his respect for what he has done on the sidelines. That's not to say I agree or disagree with him, but on the hardwood, nothing else matters.
Among other things, the word un-American came out, but there were a few people that realized that politics should have no bearing on Popovich as a coach.
"Grow up people! If that's what Pop (or any coach or owner) believes in, so be it! His opinion is no less important than yours!"
With that reaction in mind, I took to Twitter on Tuesday to get the views of fellow bloggers and Spurs fans.
Most of the reactions there were about Popovich exercising his democratic rights, which should not be a big deal. Silvan John of Mundo Albiceleste probably said it best.
"Bet they might even have a problem with what the Spurs have for breakfast I guess."
My point here is not to join either side of the debate, but to observe and point out how politics and a choice all Americans have can change perspectives very quickly. When I go into the ballot box, I hope that wouldn't change your opinion of what I do on Project Spurs and I doubt my opinion would change of anyone voting opposite of me.
But for someone with a high-profile job in the spotlight, a thing like respect seems to fly out the window in the blink of an eye when it took a career to build.
For those of you that still exist inside the bubble,the money of the Koke brother has enlighten you with the wisdom of the dark ages!
Still haven't let FO of this topic 66...thought you were better than that? And would you do to get yourself expelled from mysa.com ala inside, hemlock, peestrain whatever he calls himself.
@16xworldchampionl8keshow Still haven't let FO of this topic? huh? You are making less and less sense by the day. I would reply to that if it made ANY sense. And would yo do? huh? U drunk or what? As for mysa, some butthurt must have blamed me for reporting them..who knows. Won't stop me from spittin truth
Frankly, I'm surprised you are surprised Mike. Politics and religion always tend to be polarizing and even draw out the nutbirds.
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I wouldn't care if pop was a communist, I'd stil trust his coaching and especially his winning over anybody else in the league and you can take that to the bank!
What did you expect from the people that voted for the man who bankrupted the state of Texas and then bankrupted the whole nation and then voted to give him a second term. The man drove this country to near depression and they still listen to him. We all can't be winners like Pop.
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My 2 scents......yes scents as opposed to cents as opinions are like assholes everyone has one and they all stink! Pop is entitled, I don't agree with anyone supporting the idiot in chief we have, and SA/Austin is a very left leaning part of the state so I'm really not surprised. I'm the end it changed not my opinion nor my love if the team or it's leaders. (I will bet anyone here that half the team supports obummer. ) The sport is why we love the spurs and the staff/players not their opinions. When tony decided it was a good idea to go party with some idiots and almost cost himself his career I was called the idiot because I didn't agree with his choice of friends, is this any different?
@JohnAbney the second that any of those rich ass people give a damn what you think your head would explode. Grow up and get used to life, it sucks but it is better than death,
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Popovich isn't campaigning for anybody. He simply made contributions, without trying to shove his politics down anyone's throat. Good for him. It's a free country, and folks need to really lighten up a bit. If I stopped "respecting" everybody with whom I disagreed about politics, I'd run out of friends damn quick.
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@quincyscott ^Well said. I agree. The information about his donation was discovered. He didn't campaign for Obama. People making a big deal over something he didn't do.
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The wild-eyed vitriol some spit at our current president and those who support him is shocking and nauseating. We are all Americans.
Glad that many of the mouth-breathing hate-mongers will be supporting another basketball team now.
Go Spurs. Go Obama. Go USA!
And Texas will be a blue state is just one generation. Book it.
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@newvaco We are also still gripping with the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. Unfortunately, President Obama has done little to improve the situation. Maybe the vitrol stems from the fact that almost all Americans know someone or are themselves unemployed. People are not going back to work, the economy is stalling, and people are still afraid to spend any money. Four years of Obama has resulted in us being in nearly the exact same economic situation as when he took office (unemployment wise we are actually worse off).
That may explain why you see so many people upset with Obama and his administration. He painted himself as a figure who was going to be above the fray and mud-slinging that for so long defined American politics. We then see political ads of Obama accusing Romney of directly killing a man's wife through his re-structuring of that man's company. It is clear now that Obama is just another politician determined to re-elected at any cost. His lofty rhetoric was nothing but empty dreams and promises that he sold directly to the American people in 2008. We trusted the highest office in this land to one of the most inexperienced Presidential candidates in U.S. History. Our trust in him was betrayed. Four years later, people want to take their country back and they are voicing their boisterous disapproval.
We are nauseated, we are wild-eyed with anger, and we are not going to take it anymore.
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@CraigThomas @newvaco craig thomas this is a basketball website, not an ad for romney. shame on you for trying to make it otherwise, keep the commercials for romney off of this site.
@CraigThomas I was being sarcastic I guess you're actually that egotistical to think I was complementing you. It amazes how you easily shrug off the fact that Bush put us in this predicament by waging those idiotic wars. Then you say Obama has done nothing.
Allow me to take a page out of Conservative Republicans's book and educate what you should be standing for. It's called "free enterprise", Republicans pride themselves in believing our founding fathers came to this country not to get a J.O.B. Meaning unemployment rate is a direct result of individual's ability or lack thereof to CREATE jobs. so basically your own party claims government has nothing to do with jobs lol
But hey, let's use whatever we can to win this election because I don't know I was born in south and I'm Republican by default. oh and Obama care that people condemn so much was meant to help people in need, but we can't have that in our country because somehow helping someone in need is Socialism and that's taboo by default again.
If you stop watching your Fox News and actually can think for yourself, you can realize government can't and should not make a living for you. If you have enough skills and education you should be able to take care of yourself (ironically that's what republicans should say) so stop blaming the president, use your own talents and create jobs. Last time I checked you can still create LLCs and make money in this country.
@JohnAbney @CraigThomas @newvaco i do noy read the crap comments, nice of you to try to control what other people do,lol also nice of you to try to label me a liberal, i am neither. i am a human who happens to think romney is a bad idea , but so is obama, the choice is the lesser of two evils. And for the record i could give a shit of what your opinion of me is, screw you.
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@Spursforever69 Lol I didn't use thesaurus. Sorry for being smarts dur-dur. That's pretty funny you thought I was actually uses Ze Thesaurus. Is this level of vocab acceptable?
To your more important point, sure, you can point back to the Republicans who only held the White House since 2006 with the Democrats in control of both Houses of Congress. But Bush wasn't able to pass his agenda with the Democrats stonewalling him in Congress!! See how easy that is. It is frankly and incredibly weak excuse. Bush was President when the 2008 economic collapse happened, however, our current President has been in office for nearly four years and nothing has really changed.
Unemployment is at 8.3% (a misleading stat when you consider those who have taken drastic pay-cuts in order to have some income). Obama promised it would be under 7% at the end of his first term. Those are his words not mine. Also, Obama promised to half the deficit by the end of his 2nd term (ahahahahahahaha). Looks like he did the exact opposite there.
Republicans only controlled Congress since 2010. Also, they don't control all of Congress, just the House. The Dems still control the Senate. So you're saying that Obama's panacea would have been given to us if only the Republicans hadn't controlled the House for 1 and a half years? That is unbelievable. The fact remains that Obama decided to pass his omnipotent Obamacare bill instead of tending to our ailing economy. That was his undoing because it did nothing to fix our economy, it raids medicare to pay for itself, and it taxes people 4 years before they even enjoy the great benefits that our benevolent dictator is allowed to bestow on us.
Sorry for making you use the interwebs to look up mah words. I'll try lolcatz speak on you next times for more easily understanding my sentences. Tanks for the compliments though XD.
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@CraigThomasIf I recall correctly Republicans put us in this mess to begin with, I'm not sure a Republican who could not even beat McCain in the primaries can somehow do a miracle and bring unemployment rate back up.
It's funny how you mention unemployment and blame on Obama when his proposal to build roads and give jobs to thousands of Americans was denied by the same party you're protecting so much.
M\aybe it's the Republican Congress to blame since they seem to reject every single thing Obama wants to do? oh also using more exorbitant words doesn't make you look smarter, just another ignorant individual who uses thesaurus.
@DavidSalazar @newvaco Unfortunately for you, THIS IS NOT A PRO-OBAMA WEBSITE. As hard as you may wish it to be. There will be comments that refute any nonsensical leftist propaganda espoused on this or any website. If you knew how to read correctly, you could see that I was merely responding to a political comment with a political comment of my own
I will repeat, I already wrote a post asking Michael why he would post Pop's donation in the first place. I would rather not discuss Pop's politics. But for you to be angered at me, for writing an intelligent post about why so many people are angered with Obama is stupid. You are stupid. Because you don't understand what I am writing. I am not bashing Obama; instead, I am merely explaining why there are such polarized opinions about Obama. If you don't want to read about politics and sports, don't click on articles which clearly talk about them.
And by the way ad hominems only serve to diminish your argument and make you look like a "fool." Go google that and educate yourself.
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@DavidSalazar @CraigThomas @newvaco i have to tell you, i find your comments to be rather funny and odd at the same time. while yes this IS a basketball site, this very thread was started along with the other thread about pops donations not out of basketball so much as about politics AND sports. the fact that you are ONLY complaining and lashing out at those of us who are commenting in opposition to obama and his support is rather sad and i thought so much higher of you before. i think its sad that your so angry that someone would support a republican but you show your hypocrisy in your posts. why is it ok for newvaco to post PRO OBAMA or pro democrat postings on this BASKETBALL SITE but its not ok for craigthomas to retort? i say youre a blind hypocrite and i feel bad for you. then again you are obviously liberal and that is the liberal mindset, preach about being equal and fair and tolerant, and respectful to everyone, EXCEPT conservatives or anyone who doesnt agree with your point of view. all that said, if you dont want to read craigs "books of comments" then DONT COME AND READ THEM (holy shit how hard was that?)
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@CraigThomas @newvaco listen fool, this IS A SITE FOR BASKETBALL! stop your whole books of comments . this is not a politcal website. We REALLY do not want to keep reading the quite large comments about the state of our country. If the people who visit this site wanted to discuss politics i am sure they could find a much more diverse audience for their crap
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@DavidSalazar @newvaco I don't want it to be a politics website; ergo my earlier post wondering exactly why Michael posted Pop's donation record?
I would rather have the two separated, but if someone is going to put some left-winged non-sense and expect it to go unopposed on this or any website, you can be assured that someone like me will be there with a factual retort.
Also, I find it comical that you bring my comments up for being "an ad for Romney." Did you bother reading what I was responding to? It's obvious which side of the aisle you align yourself with, just don't let it become so noticeable when trying to seem neutral on a topic.
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First of all. Texas is not a blue state. By any means. I don't know where you got that from. It is as right wing as any state in the bible belt.
Secondly. people are dumb. He's a coach of an NBA team. Nothing more. Nothing less. He's not someone that the nation looks to for political guidance. And he's a pretty classy guy who never looks for the glory like some other coaches...ahem, Phillip Jackson.
And lastly, what were you expecting, Michael? This country is incredibly divided. According to polls, there aren't very many undecided voters. AT ALL. The DNC and the RNC haven't even happened yet. Not to mention the actual debates. And everyone (generally speaking) has already made up their mind. THAT'S how polarizing this issue is.
So, for you to post a story about a horribly dividing topic and not the expect that you'd illicit the reaction it did....is incredibly naive of you.
@dannyholloway Danny, I was just about to say the same thing about the blue state thing..Majority of times Texas is red.
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@Spursfan66 @dannyholloway What I expected was for people to judge someone based on their job performance, not on their political affiliations. Would you expect to be treated differently based on who you vote for. It's his right to pledge or vote for who he wants. The comments about losing respect for him are just ridiculous. BTW, I was being sarcastic about the blue-red thing, but not many got it.
@mdeleon @Spursfan66 @dannyholloway mdeleon, I actually got your meaning. you're all good.
@Spursfan66 @mdeleon @dannyholloway Reply was actually meant more for Danny. Sorry about that.
@mdeleon @dannyholloway I don't doubt that was what you expected Mike, but as I implied before, politics will always be a divisive subject among americans. And you are preaching to the choir re: pops right to back who he wants..notice I haven't posted anything opposing that.
Hard to read sarcasm in that regard considering Texas HAS actually voted dem before.
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If indeed "Spurs fans should judge Pop on hardwood only," then why post an article disclosing who he donated to? If it is that unimportant, why try to cash in on the ensuing maelstrom you must have known would ensue by writing such frivolous information? Maybe a lack of material and/or creative got the best of you. I'll try to assume the best, but to castigate the fans for reacting to information you posted is the definition of hypocrisy.
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@CraigThomas Media likes to make something out of nothing, and then get shocked by the outrage that ensues... classic. At the same time, people should be smarter than to let this bother them, considering aside from coaching one of their favorite sports teams, hes most likely a complete stranger to them. Everyone is entitled to it, thats part of the beauty of the democratic system, but these days people just buy into side vs side and don't care about anything else.
@mdeleon @chrismwueste @JimmyPriour @CraigThomas unfortunately that's still young to me :(
@Spursfan66 @chrismwueste @JimmyPriour @CraigThomas Haha. Not as young as I look. I'm 35 lol but appreciate what you said.
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@mdeleon @chrismwueste @JimmyPriour @CraigThomas I don't blame you for your reaction at all Mike. I know you are a young guy and probably just didn't realize that politics will virtually always elicit aggressive opinions, even on a sports site. And I agree that anyone claiming you only wrote this to get comments blazing is a bit ridiculous. Shake it off and chalk it up as a learning experience Mike.
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@chrismwueste @JimmyPriour @CraigThomas I honestly didn't expect the reaction at all. I don't write in hopes to fraud people into reading my website. I found it interesting how many of the players and coaches were supporting Obama and may of the higher ups were supporting Romney. I write for Spurs fans and I feel it is my job to inform fans about the franchise. I was very surprised to see comments from Spurs fans on a Spurs website so anti-Pop. I mean, there were very few people that stayed balanced and said "hey it's his choice and that's that." And I didn't make something out of nothing, I simply wrote something informing people of the information that was out there. I never made a single judgement in that first post, never said "way to go Pop" or anything. And, Craig, as much as your are trying hard to make me look bad for my editorial piece, don't sit there and question me trying to cash in on anything. If you knew me, the decisions I make and the way I run this site, that thought would never cross your mind. I haven't judged you, so don't judge me and try to take jabs at my character. It just makes you look bad in the end.
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Coach Pop is one of the greatest basketball minds ever in the league. He could support Papa Smurf for President for all I care as long as he is on the sideline for the Spurs. This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen.
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@chrismwueste I think, at this point in the process, I might feel more comfortable voting for Papa Smurf for President....he could Smurf the economy and get everyone Smurf again.
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ok first of all who cares that some people won't support pop? lol do you think he even gives a damn about what some of you morons think? lol If he did he wouldn't be in the position he is today. I used to live in Austin and I have come across irrational political discussions many many times, this one, is the funniest.
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@Spursforever69 i think that if Pop ever once cared what people think about him or the Spurs that the world would implode!
Hey Jeff,
One unimportant tiny question/thing: "While I will not state my political stance and views, I'll suffice it to say I got a quick reminder in the form of comments, emails and tweets reminding me that Texas is indeed a blue state." As the majority of Texas voters are primarily Republican, I think you mean red state, yeah? Although, there seems to be evidence that it is becoming slowly more violet and less red. On the other hand, if you are referring to our region of the state in SA, I could see why you would mention blue. Not that it matters or anything, but just curious.
In any-case, Matt Bonner must be traded. Also, thank you for the good article, as always!
