Prof, you seem to have summed up the latest thinking thats gone on here in a few other threads.

My thing is, if the only time you get enjoyment out of the Pistons is when they win the clinching game of the NBA Finals, then you'll be a pretty unhappy fan most of the time. It just doesn't happen that often.

I just keep getting the feeling that some of us as fans are pretty spoilt when it comes to the Pistons success. We experienced success rather early in the phase/window (if you can call it that) and I think that definitely increased our expectations quite highly from then on. I'm not calling it luck or anything like that, but I felt that we were perhaps 1 or 2 years away before we won it in 04 (even after we got Sheed).

After we did win it all, everyone kind of expected that with the same team and the experience of winning it, there should be no reason we shouldn't win it again. However, we were playing at an extremely high level at the right time of the year in 04. Our bench was strong, we were hungry and we had a great coach.

Then after we did win it and we didn't win it again in those subsequent 1 or 2 years, it was a very disappointing feeling. But still, there are a tonne of fans from some regularly bad teams who would kill to reach the Conf finals right now. And every time I get upset at this team, I need only remind myself of that fact. For some people though, that isn't enough.

So all I'm saying is, I get enjoyment from following the team for the whole year, not just 1 game of the year. The ups, the downs, the wins and the losses. For me its about the journey as well, not just the feeling of winning it all. This isn't just a means to an end. If it was, I would have given up watching a long time ago. If you can't find any other reasons to follow this team other than winning a championship, then maybe sport isn't for you.

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