An Indiana Pacers Thanksgiving

Despite the loss last night against the Kemba Walker led Charlotte Hornets, I wanted to tell you what I am thankful for. Obviously, it is the Indiana Pacers. I have said it multiple times to family and friends, “I like the Colts, but I love the Pacers.” I probably should not let the Pacers success and failures define me so much, but my mood lives and dies with them. If the Pacers win then there is nothing that can bring me down, but if they lose, well, you will probably not want to talk to me for at least 12-24 hours. It has been this way for as long as I can remember.

I was at a game in the days of Danny Granger and Troy Murphy in 2008 when Murphy beat Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers on a last second tip in. Never in my life had I been that ecstatic and I am not sure I ever will be again.

Then in 2012 in the days of George Hill and that other guy that plays with the Oklahoma City Thunder now, Hill stole the ball from Monta Ellis and the Golden State Warriors and scored on a three point play with 1.8 seconds left to win the game. It was a West Coast game and I was living in a dorm room at Indiana State University, so at 1 in the morning I fell face first into my pillow and screamed as to not wake anyone, but that yell was pure joy.

Another one of these stories takes place in the 2018 playoffs. It was game 3 of the Cleveland Series. The game that Bojan Bogdanovic went off for 30 points. That game I pulled a hamstring jumping off of the couch, pulled my shirt off and swung it above my head while running around the house, and yelled “BOGEY” more times than I can count.

My mood is whatever the Pacers’ mood is and I am okay with that. The only time this has come back to hurt me was the Malice at the Palace. I am not thankful for that and will never write about it again.

I am thankful for the fact that the Pacers have a lot of likable players this season. I am thankful that Myles Turner loves Star Wars almost as much as me and builds with Legos. I am thankful that Bogey wears 44 so I can yell “Let’s Go Austin Croshere!” I am thankful that this team has two great Centers. Lastly, I am thankful that I was introduced to the Pacers when I was a child, because I honestly have no idea who I would be today without them. So every time you hate something the Pacers did, every time you hate a choice that Nate McMillan made, or when you yell at a player for missing their free throws and not getting rebounds just remember that we could be living in a world without the Indiana Pacers. And that, frankly, is not a world that I would want to be a part of.