It’s all good
There is rational belief and irrational belief. If it’s over something that doesn’t really affect your day-to-day life, I don’t think it matters a great deal which kind of belief it is (rational or otherwise) if it’s about something positive (we will ignore the annoying conundrum that wishing “positive” for the knicks will necessarily mean “negativity” for their opponents ). Expecting a string of wins (hell, expecting any win) from the Knicks, at this stage of their development, is hardly calling on the four horsemen.

Is it “rational” for someone stricken with a particularly deadly form of cancer to belieeve s/he’s gonna beat it? Possibly not, but who’s it gonna hurt? If it works out, the person gets to live! Nothin wrong with that.

So irrational belief in Knicks success this season is not a big deal, it’s not hurting anyone. Mebbe it’s like the kind of belief a mother might have in her troubled multiple-offender son, that he can work it out and be somethin one day. Nevermind that the odds say he’s likely to end up living out his life behind bars (and if he’s Black, the odds are scary enough as it is, just comin outta mama’s chute). No, nevermind them daunting odds, she is gonna BELIEVE that he will wind up a positive contributor some day anyway. Can’t hate her for that.

Sometimes you beat the nearly-100%-fatal cancer, sometimes the badass child winds up the famed civil rights lawyer. More often you wind up the losing side of the Alamo.

But at the end of the day, mebbe the real difference between the “they can still win it” camp and the rest lies in the idea of control/influence.

The mother crying over her wayward child might still have some influence over the behaviour. The deadly-cancer-stricken person has no choice, if he wants to live, but to believe he can win b/c the alternative is DEATH (setting aside the very real data that suggests mindset can have an effect on serious illness).

barkley and jordan in their playing days had a lot of control over what they did during a basketball game. But there is a very good reason why they are no where near as successful in gambling as they were in their basketball careers, despite their very confident, positive outlook on life. It is the reason why you have insurance for yourself and your family because belief that things will work out in the end is not always enough.

Lottos aside, strong and firm belief in positive outcomes is necessary to success, but it is not always sufficient. I’m not sure that belief in oneself should translate to belief in things/people/events over which you have little or zero control. There might be something to the “collective will/belief” idea but I’m not convinced it works all the time. Especially not when you’re dealing with an extremely stubbon owner and general manager/coach. Interventions don’t always work.

Froma Knicks fan perspective, we have little control over this gaggle of fragile egos. They have shown us time and time and time again that, collectively, taht they do not have the stuff this season to win more often than they lose. One game it’s a crawford brickfest, the next it’s a bad pass by Lee, in another it’s Curry’s lack of defensive jump, in some others it’s zeke’s coaching; sometimes it’s all those things, but it’s always somethin. The boat has too many little leaks and not enough fingers to plug them.

Now if you choose to ignore that “reality” and believe til the math lops off all possibility, that the Knicks can/will turn the ship around, then there’s nothin wrong with that. It just shouldn’t be the attitude that defines fandom.

Oprah has this one line that always stuck with me: whenever someone shows you who they are, believe them.

The Knicks and Obama are showing you who they are. BELIEVE THEM.

As always, jus’ bloggin. Good morning all.

Or would you rather have your loved ones or yourself in such a Hospital that ignores the
over whelming odds and sees Life.. not the odds. against.. even though not blinded.. you go the extra mile
and don’t quit until GOD/Allah/ Buddah/ the Supreme being decides?????
I’ve seen Miracles …and one is worth 1000 negative outcomes!
The Knicks are my Family ….. While there is life I will always hold out hope
until the END! The Knicks still have Life and you ask me why I don’t KILL THEM?
Anti ..you take the easy way out, I’ll hang on till the last point, whistle, time out!
Hypothetically speaking whom amongst us would have you if their life depended on it vs My Postion?
Damn…. I’m Glad your not responsible for people’s lives…and BTW…the Meek shall not inherit
the EARTH! The Path of least resistance is always the easyest to walk upon! I don’t go down that PATH!

You are absolutely right that the answer focused on I. But your question to Peace asked for an answer focused on “I”, not the Knicks. You asked “why do you believe in this losing team the way you do.” We agree with the obvious as stated by the record; the Knicks are currently losers. You asked why I “believe” losers or those believed likely to stay or be losers receive my faith. You have my answer.

When the Knicks collectively think as I have expressed, they will be on the path of champions. I wish I could transfer my belief to Eddie Curry. He does not believe and Isiah has been unable to get him to believe. The Knicks don’t believe that their teammates believe in winning. But I believe that one is not born with a winning attitude or a winning vision; a stable vision is born from effort and results. It is an internal hunger that is like a famished beast. A winning attitude is relentless and ultimately unwavering. The Knicks do not have that, but I believe they will. Yoou believe it won’t come till the luck of theping pong balls provides a winning attitude. I won’t protest your vision. I won’t denounce your vision. If it comes to the ping and the pong, I hope you are right — perhaps it is as likely to create a winner as a trade or adding one or two pieces through free agency. I don’t know. But I know that I will not be satisfied with a a ball being sucked to make my team a winner next season.

I read everything you wrote and the attitude you’re conveying is more the person you are personally than about these inept Knicks. Example, notice how many times u wrote “I”. Now if you was speaking from your point of view as “I” playing on this current Knicks team—-then I would have reason to believe. The thing is I don’t think many of the Knicks feel the way you feel. Or, perhaps they do but their talent is not matching with their ablilities. I’m not any more or less a die hard Knick fan as anyone here. Just that our indidviual priorities on how we feel about the Knicks right about now is not the same.

You believe in the Knicks, and so do I.

We both believe in the “P’s”.

You believe in the PLAYOFFS and I believe in the PING PONGS!

SEE WE BOTH BELIEVE!!!!!

LGK!!!!

While I am personally dissatisfied with their play and teh coaching, I do recognize the improvement. the problem is that we saw improvement last year and accepted that as a promise for this season. The promise never came. Qrich was not healthy, Eddie was not in shape, Isiah was not focused and not ready or willing to be a good coach, and Stephon was not ready or willing to be coached. We sucked. But any suggestion that the team is playing well because they are not paying attention to Isiah is dead wrong.

And even then on a personal level, winning is just a temporal state. It is a moment in time that begs you to move on ASAP and get the next victory and the next and the next. Winners are addicts. They hate losing. They feel it to the depths of their soul forever. You ask Michael Jordan what he remembers about his career. I bet you in private it will be that one shot he missed that still bothers him; that championship he didn’t win. Ask Magic the same thing and he’ll remember the season he came back from injury and screwed up enough to keep the Lakers out of the Championship.

The Knicks are still in it, but I know that every lose pushes the playoffs farther and farther away. When that end comes, I will find somehting else to do with my time; something that is about winning in one form or another.

I root for the Knicks and believe they can win, because how I “express” my fandom changes when the emphasis is on a lost season or losing. Personally, I alwasy concentrate on winning and or the possibility of winning or improving to win. Such an emphasis provides me energy for other parts of my life. Losing sucks. I don’t like to lose and I don’t accept losing. If the Knicks surrender, I will give up expressing my fandom with such energy and with the Knicks as a daily priority.

I agree that there is a point in time when expecting the Knicks to lose is logical and makes sense. WE crossed that point a long time ago. I admit that it is more likely that the Knicks will to make the playoffs this year than last year. I also admit that it is more lokely that I will not win the lottery or sell enough product to pay off all of my debts. I admit that before Barack Obama won a few states in the primary that it was unlikely that there was going to be a Black president in the White House. I admit that before Edwards dropped out of the race there was no way that a women would be president. I admit that I have spent much of my life praying and wishing for the improbable and impossible, like the Miracle Mets and the 2008 New York Giants or Joe Namath beating Morall, Unitas and the Baltimore Colts.

I don’t deny anyone the right to manage their expectations or emotions by conceding defeat before it actually happens. I don’t blame people for evaluating what they see, instead of expending energy on what could be. But that’s not what has worked for me in life on any level. I don’t admit defeat until it is over and even then I try my best to redefine the end to fit my purposes. I will not root against my team until the end is clear, not near. When I admit defeat, I will move on to my next opportunity for victory. That’s the way I am made. That’s the way I operate.

So folks can call me, Peace, O&B and all the other die hards whatever they want. Accepting losing does not fit our DNA. We don’t need to accept losing to manage our expectations. We expect winning. Once losing happens, we move on to expecting winning in the next go round that’s it.

I may miss ten shots in a row, but I am not afraid to take the game winner because I believe I am made to win no matter how much I lose. I don’t give up on a loose ball just because a player is closer. i don’t give up on a rebound becuse a player is 2 feet taller. I don’t give up on anything when the objective is to finish a winner.

I am not afraid to win. I am not afraid to believe that I can win until I lose. And guess what, my opponents need to be afraid of me. Very afraid. And that’s how opponenets usually are about people who believe in the core of their soul that they will win no matter how bad things may appear. Ask Tiger Woods. Ask Michael Jordan. Ask Donald Trump. Ask Johnnie Cochran. Ask anyone who believes in the improbable.

I won’t hate you because you don’t believe. I won’t hate you because you think my fanaticism borders on lunacy. You are probably right. But I know there is a chance that you are wrong. I like that chance. I believe in that chance. I will always believe as long as there is a chance; not a realistic chance. a chance. I am a fanatic and I am proud of it.

I’m not really into tanking the season—-and the Knicks are still getting paid a lotta momeny to play and at least try to win—but I think they allowed themselves to lose to many games to pretend they can all of sudden start winning then become playoff bound. I’m not that much a positive thinker at this point.