The Denver Nuggets National Media Persecution Complex
by Fly Agaric on Mar 12, 2010 11:21 AM MST
15 comments
.... that a lot of you have is funny.
We all know the Nuggets are an elite team capable of beating Cleveland, Orlando, Dallas, LA, etc. Good for the Nuggets. I even agree that the Nuggets are a better team than most give them credit for. I just disagree that the Nuggets are somehow entitled to "more respect".
Until Denver becomes more than an average team on the road and starts taking care of sub .500 teams, it is foolish for Denver fans to act like the national media is disrespecting the Nuggets.
The national media aren't the ones making the Nuggets lose at home to the T-Wolves and 76ers. The national media aren't the ones taking nights off in Washington and Sacramento following big wins against the Cavaliers.
Nuggets fans have no one to blame the the Nuggets themselves for the lack of respect in the national media. With the talent on this team and their record against league elites, the Nuggets should be a 60+ win team this season. But because of poor focus and uninspired play on the road Denver is looking at a solid but hardly dominating 55 or so win season.
Stop blaming the media. It just makes you all look like irrational fans of the home team. And there is nothing wrong with that: I love the Nuggets just like the rest of you. But you got to be able to see the league objectively.
PS: I agree that there is a pro-LA and Cleveland spin to a lot of the coverage. But a lot of that has to do with the fact that both teams have the top records, star power and, in the Lakers' case, championships. Do you understand that? Championships and winning games is what gets you respect. Not "talent" and "potential".
And that's exactly how it should be. Let Melo complain about being disrespected all he wants. That chip on the shoulder, however unwarranted, can only serve to help Denver in the playoffs. If Denver wants that respect, they need to win a championship. That simple.
Write respectfully of your SB Nation community and yourself.
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The Nuggets are not the Lakers or the Celtics…or the LeBrons…thankfully. Get over it. To me, it’s a sign of an insecure fan base. If you are good and you know it, you don’t need the media to give you praise….you just beat the crap out of the other teams.
I can't get on board with this being insecurity.
It’s similar to the disrespect the Rockies get. Its better for the fans, because more money is made from more sales of stuff etc = more money to keep signing great players.
Troy Tulowitzki - Best SS in the MLB - 2010 MVP
"With a guy like Melo, it’s tough to stop him with one person. You can’t. I don’t know one guy who can stop Melo on a consistent basis."-CP3
Brad Hawpe - Will prove the doubters wrong
PS Let's win the NL West in 2010, shall we?
I will say this...
The Rockies actually are victims of being overlooked and disrespected by the national media.
The Nuggets…. well… they aren’t. They get a decent amount of coverage from the national media. But sports pundits and talking heads — correctly, if you ask me — have reservations about a team with a losing road record and focus issues against poor teams.
Member: 10-man rotation for deep playoff push advocacy group
huh?
You can make the same argument against the Rox that you just did about the Nuggets. Praiseworthy teams don’t get swept in the World Series. Praiseworthy teams don’t fall flat on their face the next year. Praiseworthy teams…and it goes on…
Because Montana has no professional sports, I gotta support the land of my birth.
Socrates was once executed for 'trolling'.
^Needs explaining: don't call someone asking uncomfortable, slightly antagonistic questions trolls. In all odds they probably just want to learn. It's real easy to differentiate a 'Socratic' post from a trolling one (unless you're a resident of WCG).
^Needs further explaining: I have yet to post anything on WCG, don't worry, I'm not trying to rationalize anything I've done. I've just lurked over there and man, they are the model of post-peloponnesian war Athens.
Well...
Let me admit that I don’t follow baseball all that close. I’m not around much at all during the summer and I can tell you this: while the Rockies were hardly talked about an pretty much ignored on ESPN last summer and fall, they were playing solid ball and had a good wrap on that wildcard seed.
I think the Rockies were just flat out ignored, something unwarranted. The problem Denver fans seem to be complaining about isn’t the Nuggets being ignored but the coverage skewing toward the negative. My point is that a lot this negative coverage has a basis in reality because of Denver’s inconsistent play at against bad teams and below average play on the road.
With baseball I think national media prejudices are especially bad with New York Yankess / Boston teams, two successful franchises in large markets with tons of money to spend to remain competitive. Even successful was coast franchises like the Giants, Angels and Padres get scant coverage. But this is more evident about an east coast bias in all of sports. And that is hardly a product of conspiracy so much as it is about geography. Just as in basketball, west coast games are played when a lot of major sports pundits are in bed.
Member: 10-man rotation for deep playoff push advocacy group
Many people are rightfully picking the Rox to be the NL West champs
Since the Dodgers are as much of a mess right now as Allen Iverson’s marriage.
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I agree with you somewhat....
No argument here on the fact that the Nuggs have to earn the respect they want, and being more consistent on the road and vs. sub-500 teams would do some of that. What frustrates me about the national media is how the Nuggs always seem to play the bad guys. EVERY national telecast features some sort of mention about how JR is stupid and immature, negative references to all of the tattoos by the team, things like that just kinda bother me when I’m watching my favorite team. And also, i kno guys like LeBron and Kobe have earned respect, but dont talk about them so much during a Nuggets/Warriors game for example.
MELO!!!
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by abaca15 on Mar 12, 2010 11:47 AM MST reply actions 1 recs
Listen....wether it's real or "whipped up"
you have to embrace it. The whole point I’ve been making is the we here and DS tend to skew so negative that we lose perspective on the fact that the Nuggets are a good if not great team. All I ever hear is bitch bitch bitch about one thing or another.
If there is one thing that we can rally around is disrespect. Lets face it. During the WCF last year when the Nugz were giving LA all they could handle….did you get the feeling that ESPN was doing it’s best not to point it out? What about having Magic Johnson do your pre post and halftime game? How about that ridiculous Kobe “Doin’ Work” crap that aired during the playoffs?
Melo said it himself. The Nuggets are disrespected, Why not rally around it rather than accept it all Eeyore like and walk away saying “you’re right….we aint done nothin yet, Im gonna go back to Denver Stiffs and complain about rotation again”
"Groovy" Ash from Evil Dead 2
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This felt very condescending to be honest
Which I’m sure you didn’t intend.
I have to question this statement though.
Stop blaming the media. It just makes you all look like irrational fans of the home team.
No one is blaming the media for the Nuggets’ poor road record, or poor record against teams below .500. Everyone here understands that the Nuggets could be so much better if they applied themselves every single game. We know that. We realize that it is the team’s own fault for not being better.
But when you imply that we are blaming the media and ignoring the internal reasons, that is just incorrect. The reason for “embracing the hate” and whatever is that the media portrays the Nuggets unfairly. The Nuggets definitely are not in the same league as the Lakers or Cavs right now. But they are a good team, they are just as good as the Magic and the Hawks and the Mavs (well maybe not the Mavs) and the Jazz, and none of those teams take the same criticism that the Nuggets constantly take from media sources.
Then again, I do agree with the chip on the shoulder thing. Last year it worked out great for the Nuggets, they breezed through the first rounds of the playoffs…hopefully it can motivate them this year as well.
Thank you...
I appreciate that you know that I was NOT intending to be condescending with that comment. But I understand that it could be read that way. And I apologize for the tone of that statement.
That said, I disagree with the statement that the media portrays Denver unfairly. ESPN and Yahoo! Sports both recently had articles about how Denver had risen to the challenge of the LA Lakers’ dominance. And aside from Charles Barkley, I am hard pressed to think of anyone who thinks Dallas is a more legit contender then Denver.
As critical as I am about Denver, I don’t think for a second that Dallas is better. Or even the Magic. And definitely not Atlanta. I don’t know Dallas, but both Atlanta and Orlando receive their fair share of lumps. Even the Lakers, following that three-game losing skid, are getting some bad press.
Thank you for the feedback. Go Nuggets!
Member: 10-man rotation for deep playoff push advocacy group
the way you get respect is winning... PERIOD
The Nuggs need to make sure at the VERY least we don’t get knocked out of the first round. If that were to happen all our success last year can be seen as a fluke instead of, imo, the seachange that is was. This year we’re be cruising into the plaayoffs without our D-QB, and I hope it galvinizes the team to the point where when he comes back, hopefully healthy and 100%, we’ll be fucking unstoppable! However until that happens we’re like Chris Paul’s soon to be surgically repaired knee, used to be pretty good but now unproven.
by InboundingLobPass on Mar 13, 2010 1:24 AM MST via mobile reply actions
the national media are clueless...
the nuggs do get disrespected by the national media… just the other day Tim (Mr. NBA) Legler thought the Nuggets were a “7 or 8 seed” based on their road record. They are 7-2 against other division leaders and have road wins against the Lakers, Cavs, Utah, San Antonio and Portland… the fact is, Dallas has won 13 straight games and only have a half game lead in the standings. yes, they(Denver) have a few bad losses that would have them atop of the west had they took care of business, but no one wants to see these guys in a playoff series if they are healthy. But all you hear about is Dallas, Dallas, Dallas. They have feasted on patsies during this streak, and the national media has practically given them the west since the trade.
by The Iverson Manuever on Mar 13, 2010 1:24 AM MST reply actions
I hope that the media continues to "disrespect" the Nuggets.
The Nuggets don’t yet have the mental fortitude to handle being the media darlings. What happened this summer? Melo was tired of the national media saying “lebron this and Wade that” and worked his ass off to be ready for the season. He started off playing complete team ball and smoking the competition. Then the fans started chanting MVP! whenever he started shooting free throws, LeBron and Kobe neared his scoring average and Melo started to attempt to take over games. It didn’t work. Now that he’s out of the MVP conversation, he’s starting to play good ball again.
Why don’t the Nuggets have a better record against sub .500 teams? Because they think that the other team will just lay down and let them score because the Nuggets are the favorites. As we’ve seen too many times, the team with the most talent does not always win.
Realize that I love these Nuggets and I want them to succeed. But having that extra motivation to prove someone wrong is always more powerful than the motivation to prove someone right.
I don't think it's direct disrespect so much...
as lack of attention. This is the plight of all Denver sports—they tend to be pretty good teams with glaring obvious things (like the above road record example) that a lazy national sportswriter can do some shallow analysis on, get his stuff in by deadline and get paid. Not to mention helping to fight the coastal-bias stereotype. They think that volume all being equal makes it alright, for some reason.
Because Montana has no professional sports, I gotta support the land of my birth.
Socrates was once executed for 'trolling'.
^Needs explaining: don't call someone asking uncomfortable, slightly antagonistic questions trolls. In all odds they probably just want to learn. It's real easy to differentiate a 'Socratic' post from a trolling one (unless you're a resident of WCG).
^Needs further explaining: I have yet to post anything on WCG, don't worry, I'm not trying to rationalize anything I've done. I've just lurked over there and man, they are the model of post-peloponnesian war Athens.
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