Would a Pacers championship mean more to you than the Colts Super Bowl?

[TheDon]

It's not that you have to "like" the players. I loved that 61 win team because we played tough defense our guys weren't character guys then anymore than they are character guys now. Although then we proved that toughness and intimidation on the court not in some place called 8 second saloon or Club Rio type setting. Not to mention we won 61 games and that helps you look over a little bit of the crazy that Ron Artest brought along with him, now we're losing games and still having off-court issues, people aren't as willing to overlook the ignorance as they once were. You can bet if we had won 35+ games or so by now nobody would care about what happened with Jamaal Tinsley and Marquis Daniels and more concerned about who we were gonna beat up on next.

I think now that the Colts have won a championship the Pacers now have even more of a burden to shoulder the Colts got over their hump, the Pacers if anything in the general fanbase eyes are reeling. It's going to make the more casual fan of this team more impatient to win the championship now now now.

[croz24]

not with this group of players...

[Fireball Kid]

I wish the team of O'Neal-Foster-Artest-Miller-Tinsley won a championship. That was a good team.........until they ran into Detroit. And the squad that went to the Finals; Mark Jackson, Rose, Davis and Davis, Best, Chris Mullin, and of course Reggie Miller. I wish that squad won it too.

This team?

..................eh

[fwpacerfan]

No. The NFL is a much superior league right now. The American public loves the NFL. The notoriety the NFL brings to Indiana is much greater than what the NBA brings. I'm a huge Pacers and Colts fan, but I am a much bigger football fan.

[Naptown_Seth]

Originally Posted by Anthem

Absolutely.

QFT

And this despite the Colts breaking the seal on the NFL, NBA, MLB title in Indy. We all love the ABA but we also know those titles didn't carry the same national weight as one of the big 3.

Believe it or not, I think the city would feel the same way. Sure right now that sounds ridiculous, but keep in mind that by the time the team was actually in the Finals all those fans that aren't into the team would be back on board.

What happens then? Easy, all the memories of REGGIE MILLER getting so close would come flooding back, all the memories of riding the Pacers emotional waves for years and years when the Colts were zero threat would come to mind.

Where do the Pacers rank in the city's history? Just consider the list of loved classic Indy Colts vs loved classic Pacers. You've got about 3-4 guys from before this SB team on the Colts list.

The Pacers list has the entire 98 starting roster for 5 right there. Then Detlef, Chuck. Heck, Byron Scott has a place in many fans' hearts even. Kellogg I think is popular enough, and even the ABA guys/early NBA guys are still huge in the minds of current fans. Not just Brown or Daniels, but guys like Billy Keller/Knight too.


When (not if ) the Pacers win the title, all of those players and those memories come along for the ride too.

Originally Posted by maragin

If the Colts winning the superbowl was equivalent to 193 topless cheerleaders, then the Pacers winning the NBA title would be equivalent to 179 topless cheerleaders.

I like the scale, but disagree with the opinion. The 179 would also be missing pants.

[IMissReggie]

With these players no, because other than a handful I don't like them. They are turning into the bengal of the NBA. If we had classy people who didn't get into fights once a year, Yeah.

[pacers31tc]

I was in Indianapolis for the Super Bowl and Pacers/Warriors game, and I was extremely pumped, running around the streets and circle with thousands of other pumped Colts fans, and it was one of the most fun times I've ever had.

However, if the Pacers won the Finals, I would go 10 times as crazy... I wouldn't get over it for years. Hopefully it will happen in my lifetime.

[indygeezer]

Yes I'm sure it would.

[Shack80]

Nope. Nothing will ever top the Colts first indy SB for me. I enjoy the Pacers and will be thrilled when they finally win the big one, but I am a football fan first.

[Wu-Gambino]

I think it would, I consider myself a bigger Pacer fan then Colts fan. I still love both teams, and would go crazy if either team won a (or another) title. The only thing that could top a Colts/Pacers title would be a Cubs World Series title.

[Tony Valente]

Originally Posted by Shade

Winning the Super Bowl is the summit of sports accomplishments

Since when? Americans are not even 5% of world's population. And gridiron ain't that popular outside USA. So this is bit weird affirmation to be honest. And I bet basketball is much more popular in the whole world than American football. Just my opinion.

[Adam1987]

Originally Posted by Tony Valente

Since when? Americans are not even 5% of world's population. And gridiron ain't that popular outside USA. So this is bit weird affirmation to be honest. And I bet basketball is much more popular in the whole world than American football. Just my opinion.

Well most of us on this board live in the USA. In the USA it is the Summit of sports accomplishments. Superbowl Day is the biggest day of the year outside of Christmas/Thanksgiving/New Years. There's no doubt that in America, winning the superbowl puts you at the top of the sports world.

[SparkyPacer]

So do you follow Chinese sports instead? I mean golly, they have such a large amount of the total population.

As great as the Colts championship was, I'm a Pacers/basketball fan first by a long mile.

[#31]

Hell yea it would mean more! That is the answer you will get from all European pacer fans tho, we are not into rugby so much, maybe thats why.. oh excuse me I meant "Foot"ball !

[fwpacerfan]

Originally Posted by Tony Valente

Since when? Americans are not even 5% of world's population. And gridiron ain't that popular outside USA. So this is bit weird affirmation to be honest. And I bet basketball is much more popular in the whole world than American football. Just my opinion.

Since it started being broadcast in every country on the globe with people watching it in every country. I'm guessing it started then.

[circlecitysportsfan]

I can honestly say i would of been more excited for the 98 Pacers than i was after the Superbowl. Which really isn't fair because that SB was so anti climatic after the AFCCG, that feeling would be almost as equal as the 98 Pacers beating the Bulls and winning it all.

[Pacerized]

That wouldn't even be close. I like the Colts, but I'm a Pacer's fan.

[rushmore]

I would trade 10 Colt's Super Bowls for one Pacers' Championship.

Heck, I'd trade a Colt's Super Bowl win if it meant the Pacer's focused on blocking-out, getting more rebounds and hitting free-throws...seriously...

[Shade]

One thing that hurts the Pacers a bit now is the fact that the Colts did it first. Part of the anticipation of a Colts/Pacers championship, at least for me, was to witness the community and a parade/rally. It's now been done.

[TheLemonSong]

I struggle with the "Which title would mean the most..." question all the time...here's what I feel like today:

1-- Cubs World Series (which will happen this season!!)
My *grandma* was a Cubs fan and I used to listen to the games on the radio with her when I was really little. It's one of the few memories I have of her. My father was born in 1945, and that was the last time the Cubs *made* it to the series, and they've *never* played a series game at Wrigley...it pains me to think of how many bandwagon jumpers there are for the Cubs, but as a true fan, it would make me *weep* to see our long struggle end!

2-- IU National Title. I was too young to remember 1987 and I was a freshman at IU when they lost to Maryland...I remember the thrill of it! I also think it's the polar opposite of a Cubs title. The Cubs have a bajillion bandwagoners, IU has very few. Dudes in rap videos aren't rockin' Hoosier jerseys....the Hoosiers represent Indiana, and as a proud Hoosier, it would make me swell with pride to see IU win the big dance! I brought almost nothing beyond clothes with me when I moved to Israel from the States, but one thing I made sure I didn't forget was my 8X6ft state of Indiana flag!

3-- Pacers title. Same reason as the IU title...no Pacers bandwagoners. It's special for those of us in the small market who cheer for our team year in and year out...

4-- Colts. CHECK!

5-- This might sound strange, but I think it makes me happy (albeit less than I would be for a win by my fav. team) to see rival teams lose...I *enjoy* it when the Sox, Boilers, Kentucky, Patriots, Pistons/NYC, etc. LOSE! If all of my teams lost but won just *one* more game than all of thier rivals, I could be *content*...I'd still want the title, but if IU beats UK and PU I'm always pretty happy, and I enjoy seeing them fail !

[arenn]

Absolutely, Yes.

Look at it this way, I didn't go to the Superbowl, but I would pay big, big money to attend the Finals with the Pacers.

[Naptown_Seth]

Originally Posted by Shade

One thing that hurts the Pacers a bit now is the fact that the Colts did it first. Part of the anticipation of a Colts/Pacers championship, at least for me, was to witness the community and a parade/rally. It's now been done.

True, and that's something I mentioned too. But again my point is that IF THE TEAM WON then they wouldn't be the team of right now. BTW, we've yet to experience a parade in the summer time. It was freezing out there and most of the people were waiting in the dome. Circlefest, 4th of July concerts, etc get more people outside partying than were out for the Colts parade. It was just the fact that people were out in that bitter cold that was amazing.


The process of going all the way would make fans love this roster, Tinsley included. That's been the point all along regarding attendence and off court issues, winning cures all.

So to go through this process you first must imagine what the ride to the NBA Finals would be like, either with this group or that a new group came on board. Either way even casual fans wouldn't be disgruntled and things like "it's good to see Tinsley finally getting it" would be said rather than "he's an embarrassment".

Nobody was embarrassed that Pacers were mentioned during the Gold Club scandal.


So somehow they put it together, win the ECF IN DETROIT due to someone's good play, probably the whole team, and then pull a massive upset of Dallas/PHX/SA.

Yeah, I think the city would dig on that. And then as I said before, all those memories of how Reggie couldn't quite get there would come back. You don't think guys like Reg and Dale and Tony and Jax would be seated in the front row of the Finals? The winning team would be closely associated with the beloved teams of the past, the ones that felt like the underdogs that Indy always has been.


The recent Colts haven't been underdogs by the fanbase's view, they've been underachievers. And despite that, despite "choking" year after year, that's all been instantly forgotten with the SB run.

But just check Shade's thread prior to the playoffs to get an idea of what it looked like before they beat KC, BAL, NE, CHI. Kinda sounds a lot like what people say about the Pacers right now.


The process of winning would create a lot of good vibes with this team.


BTW, I attended both the AFCC and game 5 vs LAL in 2000. The reaction after the event downtown was VERY similar, and that was just the Pacers getting it to game 6. The AFCC and SB reactions were bigger ultimately, but not by that much.

Cripes, this town had rallies 2 years in a row just for the ECF runs under Larry Brown.

[Doug in OH]

It has been a while since I lived in Indy - and I lived there before Peyton got there.

I used to say that I thought that if you asked the typical sports fan in Indy that...

a) the Colts were just something to do - the Pacers were a passion and
b) the typical fan would prefer one NBA Championship to 2 Super Bowls.

Then I went to the AFC championship game. It made game 4 of the ECF versus the Magic look like a wake at the end (Smits shot). It was like nothing I have ever experienced. The town really has become a football town - that would not have happened without Manning and the success he and his teammates have had.

My first love... my passion is the Pacers. No matter who is wearing the blue and gold. So I would rather have an NBA championship. But today - unlike 10 years ago - I would rather have 2 Super Bowls than one NBA.

The Colts have become the team Indy loves - but I still think that the fact that they did not change the name when they moved still leaves a bit of a funny feeling in the Indy fan - like the team isn't 100% ours. Make sense? Maybe not to you - it does to me.

[RWB]

Originally Posted by Doug in OH

Make sense? Maybe not to you - it does to me.

Yes it does, but maybe this will help.

Indianapolis, World Football Champions.

[grace]

5 years ago I would have said the Pacers. Now it's the Colts by far.