Those who didn’t know better might have walked into the ORACLE
Arena on Friday night and thought they were seeing a team
called
”
We Believe.
”
Oakland – Those who didn’t know better might have walked into the ORACLE Arena on Friday night and thought they were seeing a team called “We Believe.”
That was the slogan plastered on hand-held signs placed in every seat and on the shirts handed out to the sold-out crowd on hand for the Warriors’ first playoff game in 13 years.
“This is a life-long dream as a Warriors fan,” said Nick Swinmurn of San Carlos.
Swinmurn, a native of England, became a Warriors fan in 1980 shortly after moving to the United States. When he arrived in California, he had no knowledge of the sport of basketball.
“My dad went to a Warriors-Rockets game and brought me back a pin and I was sold,” Swinmurn said.
His loyalty to the team goes back to his days in college before the then-Oakland Arena was renovated. He would stand in line on the first day tickets went on sale to grab his spot in the top row of the nose-bleeds.
Now a season ticket holder in Section 102, he made a slight upgrade for the playoffs – grabbing a pair of front-row tickets in the corner.
“For the playoffs I had to upgrade,” Swinmurn said.
He’s also one of those in attendance not wearing the “We Believe” shirt. That’s because he is sporting a custom-made shirt that reads “Cuban’s Rich But Baron’s Money” in reference to Dallas billionaire owner Mark Cuban and Warriors’ star Baron Davis.
It has taken a lot of believing on behalf of Golden State fans. And so while this game may be a big reward for a player such as sixth-year guard Jason Richardson, whose tenure with Golden State is topped only by Adonal Foyle, this game was truly for the fans.
Fans that continued to pack the arena in full-force regardless of how lowly a product they saw on the court.
“We Believe” is a slogan that the Warriors’ front-office should have been using for a long time. Because believe is something the fans always did.
While the team trotted out such phrases as “A Great Time Out” during an era that could hardly be referred to as such, somehow fans continued to believe that the team would eventually turn it around and snap the league’s longest postseason drought.
So when playoff basketball made its return to the Bay Area, it was no surprise that the fans were anxious to see it. A franchise single-game record and ORACLE Arena record crowd of 20,629 was in attendance – a mark that becomes the largest gathering to ever watch a basketball game in the state of California.
Many of them arrived early, passing the hours prior to the game with such activities as playing cards on stairwells and listening to speakers outside the entrances play highlights of some of the best moments in Warriors history.
As game time neared, the intensity only picked up. Seventeen minutes before tip-off, deafening roars of “Let’s go Warriors” filled the place.
The players have joined in with the “We Believe” theme. Mickael Pietrus held one of the shirts to the camera as the team walked down the hallway before taking the court.
The fans believe, the players believe. Over the next several games, we’ll find out if belief is enough to drive the Warriors to the upset and a playoff victory over the top-seeded Mavs.
