Promoted FanPost as part of the #NBAFanVoice movement. I am posting this for Thirstyboots18...she was having a bit of a hard time getting this posted! anything to help TB!
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I have been a fan of basketball and the Boston Celtics for more than 50 years...and depending on where I was in my life, either followed them closely, or at least periodically when I had little access to news of them.
I have always (naively, I guess) thought of the NBA like a three way partnership: the owners (who provide the bookkeeping, pay the salaries, provide the venue, advertising, maintenance, services, etc.); the players (who actually provide the entertainment); the fans (who buy tickets, products, and tv services, to support the
first two).
I want to say that I feel like I have been punched in the stomach. I feel like I imagine one would feel if served with (surprise) divorce papers. I have been through denial and disbelief. I have been through anger. Now I am just sad, and waiting for a last ditch mediation attempt to save the marriage (partnership). If the players and owners can not or will not act to save this product, I will not be one of the fans who moves on to support a new player run league. It is not the players that I ultimately feel loyalty to, it is a team, The Boston Celtics. I will find another outlet for my need for "fandom". I will move to the next emotion...I will grieve for the loss of a large part of my life.
Basketball is not the only sport, nor the Celtics the only team that I have followed, but it is definitely the closest to my heart. For the past few years I have been lucky enough to be a chat moderator on this blog. I have spent a lot of time in the blog, had a lot of fun, learned a lot and become friends with some terrific people who had a similar love for the Celtics and who even let me spout my opinions about politics and other things! We didn't always agree, but people were almost always respectful of each other's opinions. I know that if the Celtics cease to exist, so will the basis for many new friendships, and I will grieve for the loss of that, too. The Blog itself could either morph into something completely different, or will cease to exist. I am not ready for that, and will stay, while maybe not as optimistic as usual, at least hopeful.