Wizards or Generals, It’s All About Lovable Washington Mediocrity
We know and fully accept the level of failure by the 2008-09 Washington Wizards. We fully understand that injuries, youth, and coaching changes have all contributed to a level of mediocrity on par with some of the worst teams in NBA history.
So it won’t be long before the Wizards slip into the sweet night as a pro sports afterthought. And if you tried to compare them with another local team completely disengaged from the culture of winning, you wouldn’t have to look beyond the hardwood for a decent example. In the Washington Generals.
Think about it. The Generals are expected to be a prop for the Harlem Globetrotters offensive magic, the Wizards usually make other teams look offensively powerful. The Generals are befuddled on defense, the Wizards are befuddled on defense.
The Generals can’t score in the fourth quarter, the Wizards can’t score in the fourth quarter. And the most critical parallel is that people cheer for them out of pity, and not a healthy expectation of winning.
The only noticeable difference between the Generals and the Wizards is that NBA opponents haven’t used half-court trick shots and crowd interaction to defeat the Wizards. Yet.
But we root for them both. For Generals, we incline our hearts towards a competitive performance from their players, knowing full well that the outcome has been predetermined by generational expectations of showmanship. Some days, we firmly believe that the Wizards will actually come out and defend the three-point line, or develop an interest in posting up instead of long-range jumpers every time down.
For both clubs, we are fully aware of the cost associated with out allegiance to the underdog. Pain, embarrassment, and a growing lethargy towards their cause. But they are out there, and if they can appear in spite of their best intentions falling prey to inevitability, then championing their effort should be a worthwhile task on our part.
No matter how painful or how many buckets of confetti it takes.
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