Lose Larry Legend

I think we’ve reached a new low. \nOf course, by we, I mean the Indiana Pacers. We’ve officially hit rock bottom. \nIt is time. Larry Bird has got to go. \nHis time is up. He can’t blame his missteps on “the brawl” anymore. That train left the station about two years ago when Ron Artest went to Sacramento. It’s time for him to step up and take the blame for the problems he’s caused. \nI don’t have time to gripe about all his mistakes because I’d fill the whole paper. Let’s just look at a recent few:\nIn an offseason when everyone is making big trades and moves to gain a competitive advantage, Bird signed two players no other team wants, waived one of our biggest assets and signed a coach that the Philadelphia 76ers didn’t even want.\nHe signed Kareem Rush, a Lithuanian Basketball League All-Star who was cut by the Bobcats for having a bad work ethic, and Travis Diener, a three-point specialist who barely averaged three points a game last year. What’s more, he cut Darrell Armstrong, the one veteran leader we had and our only true backup point guard.\nI like our new coach, Jim O’Brien. I have high hopes for him and I think he can do well. But he’s walking into a disaster. \nRush has potential to be a great fit for our team, but being cut by the Bobcats for having a bad work ethic has bad news written all over it. We will find out how well he fits in as soon as he gets in his first bar fight with Jamaal Tinsley. \nDiener is a shooter who can’t defend.. He’s basically Mike Dunleavy, but worse– which, contrary to common belief, is possible.\nWhy cut Armstrong? Who is going to start at point guard when Tinsley goes down ten games into the season with a paper cut on his right pinky toe? Who is going to be the vocal leader on the team when we start 1-15? Who is going to bail Shawne Williams out of jail?\nSpeaking of Williams, did anyone else notice in The Associated Press report in Tuesday’s Indiana Daily Student that said he missed his first court appearance because he overslept? \nReally? Williams couldn’t set an alarm? He couldn’t get one of his friends, who contributed to the reason he was summoned to court, to wake him up? Was he partying all night at Jermaine O’Neal’s club, “Seven?” \nI live and die Pacer basketball, but lately I’ve only been dying. Watching Bird tear this team apart piece by piece is painful, and it’s starting to make me sick. \nEvery inch of my body wants to believe that this team can do well this year, but I can’t reason it out logically.\nEither way, next year I will still be sitting in front of my TV – wearing my Tinsely jersey with an airsoft gun sticking out of my belt, waiting for someone to yell “DUMP!” so I can fire off rounds into the air– because, as the wise Stephen Jackson once said, “Where I’m from, ‘dump’ means pull out your gun and shoot” – watching every single game and cheering for a win. We can get eliminated from playoff contention a few games before the All-Star break, and I will still watch and cheer.\nOn the bright side, we have a great chance at winning the Eric Gordon lottery in next year’s draft.\nThat is, if Bird doesn’t trade the pick away.\nShoot me now. Jackson, Tinsley: “DUMP!”