Wall, Wizards Dress For Celtics' "Funeral"

Let the record state that if my mother’s alma mater was not the University of Florida and that if Tim Tebow hadn’t played for the Gators, the University of Miami Hurricanes would have my collegiate sporting allegiance. The ‘Canes starred in my favorite ESPN 30 for 30, “The U”, and my favorite moment from that swagger-filled documentary is when the Hurricanes dress in camouflage fatigues prior to their 1986 National Championship tie with the Penn State Nittany Lions.  

Is telling your opponent that you are going to “war” and dressed for “combat” more intimidating than telling your opponent that you’ve already dressed for their funeral? I’m not sure but that is exactly what the Washington Wizards are doing before their mid-season match up with the Boston Celtics.

The Wizards and Celtics have already played twice this year and those two games have had their fair share of antics, from overly aggressive and physical play, to fines, ejections and this altercation between Wizards star John Wall and Boston’s Jae Crowder. Clearly, there is no love lost between these two.

I’m sure the NBA loves this kind of hype for a meaningless January game, Twitter has it’s own “Moment” dedicated to the spat, but it is just that, a meaningless January game. No one is ending a season in the playoffs tonight, no one is winning a championship and to be frank, neither of these two teams are going to be competing for the Eastern Conference title unless LeBron James pulls a Fedor-esque retirement in a month.

“That’s cute.” said Boston Celtics point guard and leader Isaiah Thomas, when he was told about the Wizards wardrobe for the evening.

I’m with Thomas. It’s no Miami Hurricanes in camouflage, it’s cute but they’ve convinced me. On a meaningless January night in the National Basketball League, they just picked up one more viewer and I think I’m a Wizards fan now.