I am Reek

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Anybody out there read or watch Game of Thrones? If so, you'll probably have an idea of what I mean when I say that being a Timberwolves fan feels a little bit like being Theon Greyjoy. Or better yet, Reek.

SPOILER ALERT! For those who haven't, but are planning on watching or reading it, you may want to stop. For the rest of you, please, read on.

For the uninitiated, Theon's a fella who basically gets captured and then tortured FOREVER, well, over a few thousand-page books anyway. Physical torture, psychological torture, you name it, he gets it. Over and over again. Repeatedly. It's hard to think of a character in any book or movie or TV show that I have ever read or seen in my life who has a worse go of it than Theon--maybe the gimp from Pulp Fiction, but we never get any backstory. In fact, Theon so completely loses his sense of self that he comes to think he's not even Theon anymore, but a creature named Reek. And that's what it's like to be a Wolves fan.

This is my first post in almost a year. For 13 years before that I posted on the ESPN board all the time, and I moved over to this board for a little while when that shut down. But this past year, I just couldn't bring myself to post. In fact, I couldn't even bring myself to watch. I used to watch all 82 games, every minute. This year, I bought league pass, and maybe watched a half dozen games. I just couldn't do it anymore.

I can't really explain it except that I assume this is sort of how torture just finally breaks people. I used to get into discussions--who should we pick in the draft, what free agents should we go for, what kind of offense should we run--basically playing GM and coach at the same time and not-so-secretly believing (like most of us) that if I were in charge, things would be better. Deep down of course, I know that basketball, like life, is pretty unpredictable, with much of it out of your control as a GM or coach. So we shouldn't have been so harsh on McHale, and Kahn, and now Flip. Although I did always believe that I knew enough to share my thoughts on the board (and honestly, I am sure you could have picked a bum off the street and they would have been a better GM than Kahn).

But this year, I finally just lost all of that. It was tortured out of me by the cumulative effect of years of this team's perpetual losing. It's weird. This was the most successful season we've had in a long time from the perspective of wins, but other than Brewer and Dieng and Turiaf, I just didn't care for any of the players, and I definitely didn't care for the team in any way. It's like the constant losing that I've been subjected to, the front office blunders, the inability to finish games (or seasons) well, Love's whining, all of that just tortured me to the point where I reacted by emotionally shutting down. I have said for years that some people have been putting false hope into Rubio as a coping mechanism (sorry, I know that sounds harsh). I was never one of them, but this past year, withdrawal became my coping mechanism. Whatever happens, I will just accept it. Trade Big Al for peanuts? Yes. Hire Rambis? Ok. Pass on Curry? Don't take Lawson? Johnson over Cousins? Invite Kevin Love to wedge his way out early because we wouldn't give him the 5th year (ostensibly to save it to use on Rubio YEARS in the future when he had never really proved himself)? Sure. I'll just take it silently. I am broken. And I know who I am. I am not Theon Greyjoy. I am Reek.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Drew, Welcome back to the torture chamber!

You actually missed some outstanding games and outstanding performances. I know folks were hoping for much better results, but the team had moments where it absolutely fired on all cylinders and we blew people out of the water. Also, we had a couple of brilliant wins late in the season.

Just sit back and enjoy the process.....

[WildWolf2813]

I'm almost where Drew is. They won 40 games and it wasn't enjoyable. I know it won't be fun once Love leaves, but I throw in the towel when Ricky leaves. I just have no faith in Flip, Glen or the Country Club to get their collective heads out of their asses. The sad part is that when this falls apart, no one will care. You'll never see a "how can this team be better?' There won't be that support or concern. They'll just be hoping we're bad enough for the team to relocate.