Elton Brand Is Back...I Think

Being a Clipper fan is a strange experience. I certainly think I get to enjoy the good times more than most sports fans do, because they are few and far between. But rooting for this team has not been easy over the years.

Drafting Danny Manning should have changed the franchise. Then he blew out his knee. Signing Ron Harper should have changed the franchise. Then he blew out his knew. Sean Livingston should have changed the franchise. Then he blew out his knee. Elton Brand did change the franchise. Then he blew out his ankle.

Sure, a lot of the blame over the years has to fall on management and ownership. They have made some terrible moves, but every organization has. No organization has this kind of luck. So the Cubs haven't won in a while. How many times has their franchise savior suffered these types of injuries?

Now they are winding down another dismal season that had glimmers of what could be, or maybe what could have been. The light at the end of the tunnel is that Elton Brand is possibly going to make his season debut Thursday night. I would give you more information about it, but when I go to Clippers.com, it opens with a screen about the dance team, and I really just can't get past that. I think the normal Clippers' home page is still there somewhere, but it is hard to read the words on the screen, so I don't try.

Out of curiosity, I went to Spurs.com, just to see if this dance-team-on-the-home-page thing is league wide. Guess what the Spurs have on their team home page? Basketball news. Same with the Lakers, Rockets, Celtics, Jazz, Suns, Mavericks, etc. The Hornets, Warriors, Hawks and some of the other rare playoff qualifiers have playoff ticket pre-sale screens on their homepages.

But with all the bad luck and losing, there are some perks to being a Clipper fan (besides the dance team even!). Tickets and parking are cheaper than Laker games. Better seats are always available. Ralph Lawler is the best in the business (besides Marv Albert). As I said, the good times are so much sweeter. I am not disappointed with a 30-win season, because I remember three 17-win seasons, a 15-win season and a 12-win season. Who doesn't love hating Danny Ferry. Loy Vaught was awesome. And best of all is Clipper Darrell (and if you have not been to a Clipper home game in the last decade, yes he is real and yes he is really loud).