2012 Nuggets Mid-Season Report

In the spring of 2008 I dropped out of college. I worked in a warehouse, and wrote about the Nuggets at night, because I wanted to keep my brain sharp. I stumbled upon my Nuggets blogs last night, it made me think about how much I’ve devolved; both as a Nuggets fan and as a blogger.

Its 2012. I’ve been out of college for 2 years. I work as a writer (in a very broad sense,) and 21 year old me is essentially living the dream. I’m parked behind a desk from 8-4. Thanks to my squash league, and a great group of friends that humor my requests for pick-up basketball games, my muscles haven’t atrophied. If you’ll allow me to gloat, I have HBO.

Hindsight is 20-20, but as far as my Nuggets writing is concerned, I was better off in the warehouse. I mean my back hurt sometimes, but my blog was well informed, and pretty clever. I had a great online presence, people texted me nuggets news and asked me to weigh-in. 24 year old me will be lucky to catch 40 Nug’s games this year. I don’t even have a fucking fantasy team.

I’m a bad fan, and I’m sorry. I love the Nuggets, but it’s not the all consuming love I had before the Mello trade. Honestly, I feel like I’m watching season 4 of The OC. Remember how bad the show was without Marissa?

Earlier tonight I walked away from a game with 41 seconds left in the 4th quarter. The Nuggets were up five points, and a hostess, in fashion glasses, at a trendy wine-bar, had just informed me that my table was ready. I ambled back through the bar with confidence; it’s difficult to lose on the + side of a two-possession game with the clock ticking 40 39 38…

Of course, it’s also difficult to beat the Oklahoma Thunder, and impossible to beat them at home. My Nuggies lost in overtime. I uttered my condolences and went to bed at a reasonable hour. 21 year-old me would never have missed the end of that game.

Who am I kidding?

21 year-old me would have destroyed my neighbors patio set. 21 year old me would have been hung-over, exhausted and distraught the next day. I’d like to think that I’ve grown up, not soft. Change is inevitable; I just never meant to outgrow my favorite basketball team.

Two nights later The Nuggets lost to the LA Clippers when they collapsed at the end of a tight game. Tonight they got blown out by the Spurs at home.

 I was discussing The Nugget’s troubled times with my roommate Mike, who’s a real jerk. He chalked the string of losses up to the Nuggets being no good. Per usual, Mike is wrong. The deepest team in the NBA has been sorely tested this year. Before the all star break we were playing without our starting center, our backup center, our starting point guard, our top scorer, and our best pure scorer. The Nuggets also played the first half of this season without a loyal fan base.

Initially I meant the fan base thing as a barb; I was just trying to shut up my asshole roommate. Now I can’t ignore the barb's implications; our fans suck. The Carmellotastraphy followed by a lock out and Nene playing hard to get was a worst case scenario for our boys in blue, but that’s finished, we need to get over it.

So here’s my mid season report. 14-4 start, nuggets played hard smart and fast. 4-14 finish, let’s blame it on an exactly equal mixture of injuries, and fan apathy.

So I’ll take credit for nine of the games in the loss column, the other nine loses fall squarely on the tan shoulders of Steve Hess. I promise to be a better nuggets fan. PULL IT TOGETHER STEVE HESS!

Prediction for the rest of the season: Nuggets go 27-9 advance to Western Conference Semi's, where they lose to the eventual NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder.