Oh please, just one more win

Note: this is part of a special NBA finals series. check back to 210 West after every finals game to get Dan Nied's column.

By Dan Nied [send email]

A few thoughts while wondering if tonight is the night the NBA Championship finally comes back to Detroit:

-------After watching the them win Game 4 with a fourth quarter offensive explosion, I don’t think anyone outside of Southern California will disagree that the Pistons have thoroughly outplayed the Lakers in these NBA Finals. But still, I can’t help but be worried that it will all come crashing down soon. Not one time this season, at least before the finals started, did I realistically think the Pistons had a chance to win the title. In my mind, it was all building up to next season, when the new glory days of Piston Basketball would hit a crescendo. But now here we are, up 3 games to 1, one win away from coronation and it just feels like its been a little too easy.

This Laker team was supposed to steamroll over the Pistons, giving Detroit some valued finals experience they can use next year. Never was a championship supposed to happen so quickly and so convincingly. Before this series started I figured that the Pistons could win the title by stealing one of the first games in LA and then winning two out of three at home, and somehow winning Game 6. But I never actually believed they would do it.

And how is it that the Lakers stormed through the Western Conference playoffs, blowing by San Antonio and Minnesota, yet they can’t figure out how to play a Pistons team whose only all star (Ben Wallace) didn’t even average 10 points per game this season?

Look, I’m not saying I don’t love every second of this. I really do. But I feel like I’m at a party and a blonde bombshell just walked up to me and asked me to meet her in the bathroom in five minutes. I’m not sure if I can believe this is happening. I’m looking around for a hidden camera or something.

-------The attitude around Detroit since Game 4 has been almost one of arrogance. It’s hard to tell right now if Piston fans are, when it comes to a Piston win in Game 5 tonight, assuming or sensing. If we are assuming that the Pistons can just show up for the trophy presentation, look for the Lakers to win big. If we are sensing that the Lakers have already thrown in the towel and just want to get this season over with, then we’ll be dancing (not rioting) in the streets tonight. This is more common with the Pistons than any other team I’ve ever seen. They seem to have the exact same mind set as their fans. It has been painfully evident in these playoffs.

When they went up 2-0 on New Jersey, every fan that called into sports talk radio was making plans for the next round. The Pistons then lost the next three games and had to rally to beat the Nets in seven. Against the Pacers, the Pistons took a 2-1 lead and the fans felt the same way. The Pistons promptly got blown out at home in Game 4 and again had to rally to win in six. So my question remains: Will that happen again tonight? You have to think that the Pistons understand the magnitude of this game. They may never again get a chance to win a championship at home. Plus their foot is cemented firmly on the Lakers’ throat and they cannot afford to give the LA any life in this series. Larry Brown and the Pistons are smart enough to know that if this series leaves Detroit, it’s a tossup weather they had a 3-1 lead or not. So expect Detroit to come strong tonight. But expect the Lakers to come strong too. May the better team win.

-------Now, on to Jimmy Kimmel. I’ve let this fester for the last week because I wanted to write with my head, not my heart. If you recall, at halftime of Game 2 of the Finals, Kimmel did a promo for his late night talk show on ABC. He took a pot shot at the city of Detroit by saying “I hope the Lakers win because if Detroit wins, they are gonna burn that city down.” The local reaction in Detroit was uproarious. The local ABC affiliate pulled Kimmel’s show the night after the remark and ABC followed suit nationally. Kimmel issued a half-assed apologized last Wednesday, the day after the remark, but then on his show that night he reportedly went on a 5-8 minute rant bashing the city, which led to ABC pulling the plug across the nation.

In some ways, that this caused such a ruckus in this city makes Detroiters look like an overly sensitive group with a low tolerance for humor. However, Kimmel made two errors here. First, the joke was not funny. It was an old bit that has been done countless times in the last 20 years. More importantly, though, it was factually erroneous. The last time Detroiters burned anything because of a championship was 1984, when some jackass decided to light up a taxi cab after the Tigers won the World Series. Unfortunately, a photographer was there with his camera and that photo became the national face of Detroit.

When the Pistons won NBA Titles in 1989 and 1990, Detroit celebrated peacefully. When the Red Wings won Stanley Cups in 1997, 1998 and 2002, the only semi objective scene was some women lifting up their shirts (And if that isn’t a great celebration, then I don’t know what is.) There were similar celebrations for the University of Michigan, which won the NCAA Basketball title in 1989 and a national title in football in 1997.

Personally, I was in downtown Detroit the night the Wings won The Cup in 1998. We walked from block to block until we got to the Spirit of Detroit (The statue in front of City Hall that is currently adorned in a Pistons Jersey. Back then, it wore a Red Wings Jersey.) There were no fights. I don’t even remember any swearing going on. It was just a city with pride bursting out its sides. We chanted, we partied and we all had a good time. Not once did I fear for my safety.

If Kimmel wanted to bring up riots and fires, he should have done some research. Detroit’s last riot was in 1967. Unfortunately, the City is just now starting to recover from its consequences. However Kimmel lives in LA, who had full blown race riots after the Rodney King verdict in 1992. To his credit, Kimmel alluded to this fact in his second apology, which came last Thursday. However, his research was two days too late and his carelessness had been revealed.

But yes, Detroiters may have gone a bit overboard in flooding Kimmel message boards with demands for an apology. However it must be understood that the people of this city are among the most loyal and prideful in the world. We know some parts of this city are an eyesore. We don’t like it any more than you do. But we also see the beauty of a blue collar town that is enriched with culture and color. We relish the diversity that brings us Whites, Blacks, Latinos and Arabs. And we are quick to take offense when people stupidly give in to the media’s perception of Detroit. This is our city and 4.7 million people are damn proud to live here.

It is because of the tired media perception that Detroiters are so sensitive about their surroundings. And when a man who has never been here takes a shot at us on one of sports’ biggest stages, in an event in which our team is a featured act, it gets the blood rising a little bit and the masses tighten together in a common theme: to defend our city.

And that was Kimmel’s mistake.

But let’s make one thing clear. It was not the people of Detroit that got Kimmel pulled off the air last week. It was a decision made by ABC. In my mind it was the wrong way to handle the situation. While Kimmel did anger people around these parts, and was in danger of starting an all out war of words, there is never an excuse to censor an entertainer, especially when his questionable remarks can be interpreted as simply light trash talking. Kimmel’s rant against Detroit should have been aired on ABC in its normal time slot last Wednesday. And it is a shame that ABC and its Detroit affiliate, WXYZ, could not see that.

So Kimmel made a mistake. Much of Detroit is already willing to forgive him. It is water under the bridge. And while it hurts when people have a negative perception of your city, sometimes the only thing you can do is exercise your right to free speech the way your aggressor exercised his.

And with that. GO PISTONS!