Human Victory Cigar

As I watch the my20 Detroit broadcasts, it is obvious that the Pistons are back to ticket sales circa 2000/2001. Struggling to sell themselves in a market saturated with sports success. This in itself is not very surprising. For the last 4 years Ben Wallace has been the image of the Detroit Pistons. Undrafted, hard working, all heart. And now that he is gone, forecasts must be adjusted and marketing strategies revised.

Of course, nothing stokes the passions of a Detroit basketball fan like a monstrous block and those passions manifest themselves in fan noise, clicks of the turnstile, hotdog and beer purchases. If you thought Ben walked for $12 million more than the Pistons were willing to pay, consider that the Pistons thought that losing Ben was going to cost them less than $12 million dollars over 4 years in tickets, merchandise and sponsorship revenue.

Rewind

It speaks for something when a primarily suburban audience thirsts for the blue collar grit of an inner city and it’s rotting monuments to prosperity long past. That is exactly what the man from White Hall Alabama brought to us. A connection to the Bad Boys teams that Joe Dumars never represented as well as Bill Laimbeer or Isiah Thomas, and a break from Grant Hill, a player whose accolades and achievements could not overcome his lack of a mean streak in the fans eyes.

I’ll admit that through 1999 and 2000, I was just as likely to watch a game as to miss it. That there was no one on the roster whose jersey I wanted (having already paid a pretty penny for Grant Hill’s in red, white and blue back in ‘95). The Pistons lacked intensity, pride or an identity. It was the lowest point for a franchise that had done everything it could to alter it’s DNA, to reinvent itself around a superstar.

Ben was about facing adversity with dignity. And he had us at hello. Chin up, hands on hips and unintimidated. Big Ben was who we all want to be when times are tough, when troubles seem insurmountable. He made losing tolerable if the effort was there. After an unremarkable era that had fans disconnected from a team losing in teal and on many nights, featured a cast of lazy bums just collecting a pay check, Ben and his Goin’ to Work Pistons re-established lines of communication.

For several seasons, we were in tune with who Ben Wallace was projected to be. The organization, the media, and the man on the street would all laud Wallace as a kind of superhero. Basketball Moses leading the team to a promised land.

Now I’m not so naive as to believe that Wallace wasn’t a complex and introverted individual, or that selling such an angle is the obligation of anyone. Without a doubt he had his character flaws, his idiosyncrasies and even moments of terribly poor judgement in Detroit. But we were insulated from that. We were sold Rocky, He-man and Goliath’s David. When Ben swung the hammer on the PalaceVision screen, it really meant we were going to work. One city, one legion of fans and one team. We stood together.

Fast Forward

Faced with a solid and potentially great team, the Pistons Blog Squad, the Detroit News, and Booth Newspapers have instead decided to devote pages to Ben Wallace showing up his coach in Chicago by wearing a headband.

It was never more evident how soft our local coverage is until WDFN 1130AM, the Pistons flagship radio station, invited Sam Smith, the infamous Chicago sports columnist on air to tell us about what a bad person Ben Wallace has become. Sam held back nothing, throwing stones at every house (Scott Skiles, John Paxson), not just the glass ones. While the shock value was high, particularly when led in by Matt Dery’s “I am mad at myself for not exposing Ben earlier” confessional, the most striking thing was that someone out there, in another NBA city, wasn’t afraid to call out a star player, a general manager or a coach.

In Detroit, it’s long been one villain after another. Rick Carlisle was “not a good person”, which lead to the hiring of Larry Brown, a man of questionable loyalty, who would open up the offense (for Ben) and take the team to the next level. When it was time for Larry to go, he was now the designated “not a good person” and Flip Saunders was exactly what this team needed. While there was a publicly known issue with Carlisle excluding Ben from getting offensive touches, no such issue was ever made known with Larry Brown. And yet that very idea has now become part of who Ben is with the national media painting him as a coach killer.

Pause

Today WDFN 1130 AM is running a Ben Wallace “Malcontent Award” promotion during Sean Baligian’s “It is what it is” segement from 9:00 AM until 12:00 noon. Not a “Scott Skiles is a tight ass” award. Not a “John Paxson is a lousy GM” award (with an obvious local candidate in Matt Millen). They’re going to mock and belittle Wallace just 6 months removed from crushing Shaquille O’Neal on the Palace floor.

The Pistons flagship radio station which hosts weekly player/coach interviews, has access to practices and broadcasts every game, doesn’t run a promotion like this without the blessing of the franchise. One phone call to back off would be enough to put an end to the continued assault on Ben Wallace’s character.

Why has that call not come? Shouldn’t this market be more concerned with Ben’s legacy in Detroit than making him look foolish in Chicago?

Nostalgia can be very profitable. The continued negative characterization of Wallace as a petulant and greedy athlete? I can’t see the money in that.