I AM THE FORCE

I have a shameful confession to make. I'm rooting against the Milwaukee Bucks. I used to love the Bucks, from Abdul-Jabbar to Sidney Moncrief, Marques Johnson and Brian Winters. They were my team, and I rooted for them just like most Wisconsin sportsfans. But the nature of the team and the decisions they've made in recent years has turned me in the other direction.

The firing of Terry Porter by the snakish Larry Harris and the little Senator Herb Kohl really left a bad taste in my mouth. Especially, when they ended up replacing him with a mediocrity like Terry Stotts. It seems Herb bungled, firing Terry before he found out that Doug Collins wouldn't accept the job. Just a couple months after pledging his full support, Harris through Terry Porter under the bus. No class from this organization.

Terry Porter had proven he knew how to coach, and should have been given more than one bad year to get things back on track. A Wisconsin native, who preached the benefits of defense and team play, apparently just was not exciting enough for Herb Kohl or Larry Harris.

I must admit that the Senator himself is a big reason I don't like the team. He uses his role as team owner to help innoculate himself from any serious political critique. Sure, he's worthless, but he saved the Bucks and paid for the Kohl Center so he must be a good guy. The little freak may be a good guy, but he sure has been a pathetic waste of time for Wisconsin. Money and a good consultant should not be enough assets to become a United States Senator. And his anglings for government subsidies for a new arena should appear ridiculous to taxpayers who see how much money Herb inherited from his parents.

And the team is a boring caricature of the worst in NBA basketball. They stand around and set up isolation plays for Michael Redd, seldom actually looking like a team in the process. Who can really care about these guys? If Larry Harris doesn't ship them off to Oklahoma City or Seattle, these guys will bore us to death for many years to come. They aren't winners, and that's obvious every time they accept another loss streak. They seem content to stay in the middle of the pack, and hopefully eke their way into a final playoff spot. If they don't make it, I'm sure they'll just shrug it off and head home to wherever it is they actually live.

So, I hope they keep losing, so that Herb Kohl will finally sell the team and Larry Harris will move on to a more Hollywood location. This team needs to hit bottom before it will ever attain for the heights again. A few good players is not enough to turn this organization into a winner.