How Did You Become A Pacers Fan?

[Gremz]

I often get questioned around the boards. "Gremz, how the hell does an Australian become a Pacers fan???" Thought i'd start a topic off to help us remember what made us Indiana fans in the first place.

My story is probably not one of any logical sense. I don't have any relatives or friends that follow basketball, let alone the Pacers. I've never been there, and i don't have any relatives who live there.
I remember back in around 1991-92 when NBA JAM hit the stores for the Sega Genesis, and a friend had purchased it. He was one of those psycho players who you just couldn't beat, no matter who you picked, or so i thought. I found a glitch, the 3 point shooting of Reggie Miller. It was fantastic. No one had been able to beat this guy, but Reggie simply didn't miss!!

It wasn't until March 25, 1998 that i started following NBA basketball with regularity. Everyone kept telling me about this Jordan guy and how great he was. So a friend of a friend invited me over to watch the game on that night. I remember getting there and seeing it was Chicago Vs Indiana and i was thinking "Hey that's the team that Miller guy plays for." Of course three hours later after the infamous push off of Jordan, and one of the greatest clutch shots i have ever seen, i officially was enamored with basketball, and more so. the Indiana Pacers!!!

Does anyone else have any stories to share??

[basketballwacko2]

I was born a Pacer fan. Pretty much. I went to games back in the old ABA at the Fairgrounds and in the early days of MSA. I was at the Hang'em High game in the playoffs against the Spurs when we hanged a replica of the Spurs mascot from the rafters. I was there for 3 ABA championships. The good old days when Dr Dunk, Neto, Big Mac, Mel, Boze and Billy "Killier" Keller was on the team and who could forget the great Roger Brown. I remember the bad old days when the previous owners sold off our good players for cash and the team was lucky to win 20 games a yr. I was at MSA when we drafted Reggie and a bunch of morons booed. They've always been my team!

[kdawg531]

I was born and raised here in Indiana. I remember watching two distinct things on TV as a youngster, and those were Notre Dame Football and of course, the Indiana Pacers. I was only six or seven when Reggie had his miraculous 8 points in 8.9 seconds, and I remember watching when he torched the Knicks for 25 in the 4th quarter in another playoff game. Ever since 1998, I have followed the Pacers more closely, as if it's my job.

My favorite memory is the game Gremz watched with his friend, the one where Reggie "pushed off" and nailed the three over Jordan. I remember running around the house for a good ten minutes in celebration.

[granger05]

I grew up in Montana. We have no professional sports team, and also don't border another state with a professional sports team. There's some regional bias for Denver, Seattle, and Minneapolis teams, but a lot of bandwagon fans. I got into basketball a little later and when I started paying attention I was annoyed with having to pick between the Lakers and Celtics (you had to like one or the other). My cousin was a big Celtics fan and I rooted against them at every opportunity. There was a year when Chuck Person and Reggie Miller took the Celts to 5 games in the first round as an 8 seed. Then the next year they played them again close. After that I was following Pacer box scores hoping that they could grab the seed opposite the Celtics. Their run in the 90s probably cemented things. My cousin is still sort of a Celtics fan I guess (he cares when they're good), but I follow the Pacers religiously. I went to school in Boston and got to see them play out there a few times. I live in Colorado now so every year I go and see them play the Nuggets. When they played the Lakers in the finals I drove from Fort Collins, CO, to Indy for game 5. I decided I couldn't miss a chance to see them in the finals.

[basketballwacko2]

^^^ I was at one of those games in that series with the Celtics I can't recall the year, i think it was game 3 it was the most rowdy crowd I've ever seen.

[Miller4ever]

The same moment for me as kdawg and gremz. I was about 8 or 9. Reggie Miller sunk that shot. My dad told me that that was Reggie Miller, who was the star of the Indiana Pacers. Back then, our family moved once every year, because my dad was working his way up in the world, so going through all those states, the only constant was Michael Jordan. I knew a lot of Bulls, but after he retired I stopped paying attention.

Then I watched a Yao Ming Rockets against the Pacers, and instantly I was enamored. Not my the Rockets. Here you have Reggie Miller, old, but still sinking those corner threes. Jermaine O'neal was an amazing young player back then, and Ron Artest clamped down on his man like nobody's business. I was always a Notre Dame fan, because that's where I was born, but from then on I decided to stick to my roots for life. Pacers and Colts. Unfortunately, the only home game I've ever been to was a Colts one in RCA, but whatever! Reggie Miller forever.

[APerna]

Phew.

Where do I begin?

I discovered basketball right around 1990, discovered Reggie soon after and after bouncing around among a few favorite teams I settled on the Pacers in 1992. I can't remember how many times I was heckled in New York during the heyday of the rivalry. I actually had a beer thrown at me, and I was only around 13 at the time.

[Miller4ever]

Beer thrown at you?

Did you instigate a franchise-destroying brawl?

Shouldn't have been napping on the scorer's table, bro.

[cdash]

I was really little, I want to say around 7 or 8. My dad was an enormous IU fan who always screamed at the TV and annoyed me. I asked if Indiana had any pro sports teams. He lied to me, and said no. So I got that Bulls vs. Blazers game for Nintendo and saw that there was indeed an Indiana team, and they were the worst team in the playoffs! So I started playing as them, then saw them on TV, and was hooked from there. I worshipped Reggie Miller to an almost unhealthy degree. In the fourth grade I wore jerseys to school every single day (not all Reggie jerseys, I had a wide collection, including a Damon Bailey Pacers jersey), and even got a goofy turtleneck with a Pacers logo on the collar to wear under them when it got cold. Good times.

[APerna]

Beer thrown at you?

Did you instigate a franchise-destroying brawl?

Shouldn't have been napping on the scorer's table, bro.

It was legit too. Some plus-sized Knick fan. I'm calmer than Ronnie.

[Miller4ever]

My first Pacers gear was an Artest Jersey.

I'm ashamed.

[Dunthreevy]

I was born, and so it came to be.

Seriously though, I became a fan of basketball because of my uncle who used to love Dominique Wilkins and Spud Webb in the late 80's. Eventually I actually started following pro basketball, and started really paying attention to the Pacers in 1993 when Antonio Davis came over from Italy. I met him and his wife when I was 10 years old at a Petsmart during an autograph signing, and they were so cool my Mom even became a fan of the team. She loved her some Mark Jackson and the "Jackson Jiggle". I've been a die-hard fan since that 93 season though. Through the years of Scott Haskins, Dwayne Schintzius, Eddie Johnson, Ricky Pierce, Duane Ferrell, Kenny Williams, Darvin Ham (who I really wished would've been awesome), Edtrick Bohannon, Mark Pope and all the other random players who have come through Indy since then, I've never given up on our boys.

[dixava]

I
I remember getting there and seeing it was Chicago Vs Indiana and i was thinking "Hey that's the team that Miller guy plays for." Of course three hours later after the infamous push off of Jordan, and one of the greatest clutch shots i have ever seen, i officially was enamored with basketball, and more so. the Indiana Pacers!!!

Does anyone else have any stories to share??

this is exactly how i became a PACER fan!

[RikSmits1]

The reason I became interested in the Pacers is Rik Smits. Basketball in The Netherlands was and is at a very low level and Rik was our first player who made it in the NBA. Dutch pay TV started broadcasting NBA play-off games and a friend invited me to watch together. Not sure but I think it was the 93/94 season. I have seen several great battles with the Bulls and Knicks. Due to time difference we had to watch at night but it was worth it and I became a real Pacer fan.

[xxSnEaKyPxx]

I had some basketball video game a long time ago, I didn't really have a favorite team then so I just kinda played with everyone. Then one day I picked the Indiana Pacers and fell in love because I could just shoot 3's with Chuck Person, Reggie Miller, and Michael Williams all day long. Been a fan ever since.

[CableKC]

I became a Pacers fan on May 7th 1995. Need I say more?

[chatard5]

I started watching basketball when I was about 3 (1990). I was born in St. Louis, so have no basketball team I immediately loved Jordan and the Bulls. I actually went to quite a few games seeing Jordan and Pippen in Chicago when I was young. I remember one Jordan got 50-some points, another a triple-double, and another one was a playoff game they won. Then I moved to Indy when I was 6. The Bulls had just finished there 3-peat at this point (I think), and I see some team named the Pacers (I didn't know about other teams besides the Bulls and my brothers favorite, the Suns). This was 1993-94, so it didn't take long to fall in love (yes, love is how I would describe it) with Reggie Miller and the Pacers. From when I was 6 all the way til around 6th grade I would get out EVERY piece of Pacers gear I owned and put it next to my TV. It didn't matter if we were playing the Bulls or the T-Wolves. I remember have 22 things I would grab, ranging from my Pacers trash can to... of course... my Reggie jersey. Oooh the memories. I don't officially remember my "turning point", but I do remember praying so hard when the Pacers played the Magic. Brian Shaw was having the game of his life, he hit a few 4th quarter 3s if I remember correctly. It might have been Reggie or Byron Scott who hit a 3, and I thought the Pacers had it won. Shaw comes back down and hits a 3 to take the lead. Then Smits hits the 15 footer at the buzzer. That is the first time I remember praying for a Pacers win, so something around then turned me blue and gold for life. I could go with so many stories, as all fans could, and remember the day, where I was, and everything about so many games.

Anyways, one more of my favorite moments, which I think is underrated, was the game against New Jersey. We were an 8 seed and New Jersey the 1. I had 4 of my friends over (1 goes on this board sometimes. We considered it good luck to hit him with one of those paddleball things). Anyways, after we all gave up on the season, New Jersey misses the clinching free throw, Reggie gets it and hits the 40 footer. We all jumped for 5 minutes going crazy. And then in OT Reggie dunks (Reggie and dunks. 2 words that don't go well together) it with 2 seconds to go. Unfortunately we ended up losing in double-OT, but the joy we had for those 5 minutes trumps that.

[Miller4ever]

Very nice. BTW, did I tell anyone that Brian Shaw and Mark Jackson live in my neighborhood back home?

[Gremz]

And you moved why?????

[Miller4ever]

Didn't move. I go to college. I still go back home whenever I can afford the plane ticket.

I'm pissed. The year after I graduate high school his son starts playing basketball there, and Reggie supposedly scrimmaged with some other dudes against them and goes to games. A friend of mine got his autograph for me. Destiny is weird like that. It's okay, though I'll meet Reggie Miller either sometime when I get back, or in the future elsewhere.