Winning vs. Tanking

[Editor's note - I moved this to the front page because it is a great example of a diary. I tend to agree. Tanking is a bad idea. I have visions of missing out on the blue chip guys (Oden and Durant), wooing a hot shot college coach (Billy Donovan) and 10 more terrible years. Sound familiar? Finally, it's odd to waste so much time and energy on something that will be decided by ping pong balls and does not involve beer.]

First off, I definitely want to welcome Green Bandwagon to SB Nation.  I've been writing Niners Nation here for 3 months now and it's been a blast building a community.  The Celtics fan base is passionate, in spite of the struggles lately, and this will be an awesome vehicle for bringing that fan base together.

Personally, I grew up in Las Vegas, but because my dad was born and raised in Massachusetts, I've been a Celtics fan my whole life.  As I mentioned to Jim, I still have my Sweet 16 champs tshirt from 1986.  Larry Bird is the greatest player to walk the earth and I still have two different biographies of Bird that I read on occasion.  And one of the greatest moments since Bird retired was when he canned Isiah Thomas.  There is a god and he is just.

I wanted to use this diary to throw out my own thoughts on the most prominent topic for Celtics fans: Winning ballgames versus tanking the season for Oden or Durant.  I do actually somewhat believe in karma and while there have been some iffy games, I think the Celtics have played things relatively straight up for the most part, which I think could go a long way towards that #1 or #2 pick.  If they don't get the pick so be it, but if they do it'll be that much more exciting.  I think this team has mixed in some good times such as defeating San Antonio FINALLY, while developing the youth at an incredible rate.

Needless to say I'm excited for the future.  I'd HIGHLY prefer it include Kevin Durant or Greg Oden, but if it doesn't, this draft is deep enough that we could add a solid talent to solidify the existing squad.  A full year of Pierce, big Al making the leap for a full year, Gerald Green taking another step forward and miracle of miracles, Rajon Rondo bettering that jump shot (not likely considering it's been the same since he was a freshman at Kentucky).  All of these things point towards a bright future in the Titanic division!