I missed the NBA Playoffs and didn’t even know it

As the shine from the 2004 and 2005 Detroit Pistons started to fade away and the team started to break apart, I’ll admit that I stopped caring.

I loved those teams so much, so to see them disintegrate before our eyes was tough. I realize that sports are cyclical and that players get old and teams have to turn rosters over, but the Pistons fall from masterfully put together collection of misfits to masterfully mismanaged shell of their former selves was tougher to watch than most.

So as I went from 2009 through 2015 without a team to root for the NBA Playoffs, I didn’t really think much of it. We had the Heat to hate for a while in there, which was fun, and the Warriors were fun last year, so there was enough to pay attention to if I wanted.

Plus the Red Wings were always in the playoffs, so it wasn’t like I was lacking a team to root for in the spring (side note: Great win last night, of course, but that power play … my god. Also, Athanasiou played less than a minute in the third period, which should be punishable by death. He’s the Wings’ biggest offensive threat currently, and his ice time should somewhat reflect that. I suppose it’s good to come out of a 2-0 playoff win feeling that way, but I still don’t feel great about this team’s chances).

Sunday made me realize how much I missed it, though. When ranking enjoyable fan experiences, postseason basketball is tough to beat. Each possession feels important, even if it isn’t, and coaches are making tactical changes they probably wouldn’t bother to make if it were just a regular-season game.

That’s what we got in Game 1 of the Pistons’ series against Cleveland, one of the few non-blowouts of the first two days of the NBA Playoffs. The Pistons are young, not afraid and out to prove something. But the Cavs have LeBron James, and can trot out a lineup where he and Kevin Love are the bigs, and the Pistons can’t do much about it, because it makes their best defensive player, Andre Drummond, a perimeter defender. He’s not one of those.

Maybe Stan Van Gundy will figure out a way to combat that, but I’m not sure he has the personnel to do it. Either way, I forgot how much fun it is to simply be thinking about that between games.

I don’t think this Pistons team is going to turn into the mid-2000s Pistons teams, but I suppose nobody thought that team would turn into what it did, either. I’m just happy there’s a chance, I guess, and I get to stop having arguments on Twitter about how I think the team needs to tank to secure a better draft pick. This is a lot more fun.

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Just another reason to never go to an NFL stadium

Don’t worry, your Monday won’t be as bad as Saturday was for these folks. The Tennessee Titans held a movie night at their stadium, a nice gesture to a fanbase that puts up with a lot of mediocrity. Thing is, the stadium crew forgot to turn the sprinkler system off. So these people had their nice family night out ruined by high-powered water turrets, then had to presumably drive home soaking wet. Oh yeah, and they have to watch the Titans play every year.

We’ll just write the headline for this next story and we bet you’ll want to click it