SMTBSI wrote:HoopsterJones wrote:Y’all are definitely fueling the Celtics hate with bumping this thread last year when Jaylen broke out AND this year.
HoopsterJones wrote:That will fuel more hate. If you’re going to complain about the hate the Celtics receive at least allow yourself to be educated on the contributing factors to the perceived hate.
This is bully/abuser logic. We're going to hate on you constantly every chance we get, and when you chirp back, it's proof you deserve the hate. I believe you're reversing cause and effect.
Here's my theory (and I hope, if you actually read it, you will see that it's not purely defensive/reactionary; I really think the cause-and-effect makes sense):
Over the past several seasons, a number of fanbases have had a top tier player leave their team. That's a sensitive event, that always frays folk's nerves. This is totally understandable. I don't blame them one bit for those emotions.
In each case, Ainge and the Celtics have been connected as an interested party to acquire the player. Some of these conversations may have gone pretty deep, while others may have been pretty superficial. The other team, understandably, always wanted one or both of Tatum or Brown (or, far enough back: the BRK picks that became them), and we weren't willing to part with them. As Tatum and Brown have continued to ascend (or, far enough back: as the BRK picks came in at high slots), those fanbases became resentful that we weren't willing to part with them, and so attempted, whether consciously or simply reacting instinctively, to make us "regret it", by pushing the "lol Ainge overvaluing his assets and screwing himself" narrative every chance they got. Misery loves company, and if you're not happy with the fate of your franchise, you can take your mind off of it by making others feel bad as well. This is very human.
Once it had some legs, with every passing big-name trade we failed to get in on, the myth and legend only grew, until it became an instant and-1 factory to parrot, not only here, but on the T&T board, and the Wiretaps as well (I've honestly never seen wiretap posts getting any real amount of and-1's before, except for those LOL'ing at Ainge). At this point, it is simply known that Ainge is a snake who constantly screws himself. No doubt remains on this point among the RealGM hive mind. Some of these posts literally get almost 100 and-1s, just for parroting the talking point, regardless of evidence or context. See: the first couple pages of this thread.
It's gotten so ridiculous and over-the-top, that Celtic fans are now very vocal about pointing it out. And when we do that, posters like you blame us for bringing it on ourselves. And so the cycle continues.
So what I will say in closing is this: the next time you see a post that says something like "lol Ainge screwed himself again" and it has 75 and-1s, and you're about to click to add the 76th, consider the fact that the majority of the Celtic fanbase is
very happy with where we're sitting right now. And the next time a Celtic poster points out the ridiculousness and laziness of the narrative, and holds people to their awful takes when they turn out to be awful, consider if you wouldn't have had the same urge if the roles were reversed.
