Pacers Are Back Home Again in Indiana
As if declaring their annoying Hoosierness would be enough to defeat the Lakers, the Pacers trotted out all the weapons of the breed Sunday, from David Letterman imploring “Make Daddy Proud” to Gene Hackman’s hackneyed pregame movie speech to the scoreboard boasting “in the other 49 states, it’s just basketball, but this is Indiana.”
So thoroughly disgraced is Bobby Knight that the Head Hoosier of the Heartland was ignored altogether, there apparently being little inspiration in zero tolerance.
If championships could be won on peripherals, the Pacers would sweep the three games in Indianapolis. The citizens are more genuine, if not passionate about how all of this turns out, at least collecting in larger and louder piles to make it seem that way.
“A lively crowd,” conceded Laker Coach Phil Jackson.
Conseco Fieldhouse, the Hanging Gardens of basketball arenas, has it all over the Staples Center in the way that a bed and breakfast outclasses a place that leaves the light on for you.
Arguments may follow, but so help me, I’ll take the Pacer Mates over the Laker Girls, as I would rhubarb pie over a soy shake.
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