Thoughts on the AI Trade

Ive told you this once before cant control me
If you try to take me down youre gonna break
I feel your having nothing that youre doing for me
Im thinkin you are a fake, you are that way
I stand alone
Inside I stand alone
Youre always hiding behind your so called goddess
So what you dont think that we cant see your face
Resurrecting back before the final fallen
Ill never rest until I can make my own way
Im not afraid of fading
I stand alone
Feeling your sting down inside me
Im not tired forever
I stand alone
Godsmack - I Stand Alone

As previously stated I'm a sports fanatic. Add to that the fact that I'm from Philly and support all my local teams, and that makes me a depressed, cynical sports fan with a Napoleon complex. Good times. Sports matter a little too much to me. Like any true Philadelphian, I live and die with the Eagles. Nothing gets me higher or lower than the birds. That being said, I have always been more of an Eagles fan than a football fan. If there's two crappy NFL teams or two teams I care little about playing, I tend not to be interested in the game. Basketball, though, is completely different for me. I am a hard-core NBA fan. I'll watch pretty much any game no matter who's playing. I'll keep tabs on draft prospects. I'll devour any basketball article I can find. I am still, of course, a Sixers fan. And it just so happened that I had the distinct pleasure of following Allen Iverson from when we drafted him in 1996, until we traded him a few months ago.
A few thoughts on AI the basketball player. We loved him in Philly. Always will. He epitomized the city of Philadelphia like no other athlete since Charles Barkley. Philly's been in a title drought among the four major sports since 1983. And being on the east coast we are constantly overshadowed by New York, Boston and DC. This broods an atmosphere full of contempt, urgency and dissatisfaction. We are the perpetual underdog that never wins (hence the city's association with Rocky). Philly' a blue-collar city. And we like that in our athletes. All we ask is that they give their all for us every time they're out there competing. If we feel you're not giving your all, you WILL get booed mercilessly. You need a tough skin to play in Philly. And you have to earn the fans respect. McNabb earned his respect after finishing a game with a broken ankle. The '93 Phillies got the city's heart cause they were a down-and-dirty tough as nails group of guys. The Stanley Cup winning Flyers teams from the mid-70s were down-and-out bruisers. These teams and athletes will forever be beloved in Philly simply for the way they played the game. Add to that list Aaron Rowand after he ran into a wall making a catch for us last year. This is the reason Scott Rlen and Eric Lindros eventually wore out their welcome here. We expect our players, especially our star players, to play hard, to play hurt. They can't be afraid to get their jerseys dirty. It's why a prima donna like Alex Rodriguez could not play in Philly. He just is not a Philly guy. But at the foremost of this list of city sports icons one must place AI.
From the very outset, AI and Philly were meant to be. He was a 6 foot (6 foot!) shooting guard who had been doubted his entire career at Georgetown. In a league dominated by taller, more physically intimidating players, he was the ultimate underdog. But he was fearless. He attacked the rim at will, making taller player his bitch. He took on all-comers. And he got knocked down. He got hurt. He broke bones. And he always got back up. At he risk of his career and welfare, he'd play hurt. He played with dislocations, sprains, strains and God knows what else. And he never complained about the pain. It was part of the game. He played to win. He played for us.
Yeah, we had our issues with AI. Off the court he was not the most ideal role model. He had shady friends and gained notoriety for kicking his naked wife out of their house a few years ago. And he hated to practice. And he could be seen as selfish on the court. And he was quite opinionated and could rub some people the wrong way. Yeah, he wasn't perfect. But damn if that isn't what Philly's all about. AI is what Philly wants all its athletes to be. Going 100% every damn night. Giving it all. Wearing their heart on their sleeve and leaving everything on the court, the field,the rink or the diamond.
Even those with the toughest skin eventually crave that one something that every athlete yearns for: a championship. Just ask Curt Schilling and Charles Barkley. Both were tough, popular guys that had the city in the palms of their hands. They were meant to play in a city like this and we loved them for it (and still do love them fo that matter). But as they got older they wanted the chance to contend. And you can't blame them for that. They gave us everything they had. The only one's you can blame is management. And the same goes for AI. There will never be another Allen Iverson. With his combination of skill, heart and utter fearlessness, at his height. He will NEVER be duplicated. He was a once-in-a-lifetime player. He wil eventually go into the Hall of Fame. But it was time for Allen Iverson to leave the Sixers.
Okay, maybe we should've traded him over the summer instead of waiting until the season started. And it's hard to really evaluate the deal until we see what the Sixers do with their draft picks (and god help them if they fuck them up). But it was clear AI needed a fresh start. With the toll his body has taken, who knows how much longer he'll be able to play at a high level. And with AI needing the ball constantly, the young players on the Sixers, most notably Andre Iguodala, were stagnating. The 2006-2007 Sixers were going nowhere and it was obvious to everyone involved. Both the team and AI needed a change and Iverson deserved a chance to play on a competitive team.
I was sad to see AI go, even if it was for the better. He had been a constant for 10 years of my life. Seeing him leave was akin to an end of my adolescence. And seeing as I'd leave Philly a few months after AI, it pretty much was an end in one way. But every end leads to the beginning of something else. So the Sixers will go on, without AI. Iverson's in Denver now, but he'll never be forgotten in the hearts of Philadelphians. When you earn the heart of a Philly fan, you get it for life. We are loyal to a fault. If they ever want to build a statue to him, I'm all for it. Hopefully Iverson will win a title before he retires. And when he does, I'll be on my feet giving him the recognition he deserves.