This was too funny to me to not write about. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Bruce Jenkins shared a few of his Warriors thoughts in his Saturday column, among them Golden State’s home opening player introductions. Were those necessary with no fans in the stands? Jenkins says that’s correct, the display was not needed, and he threw in a strong jab at Warriors Hype Man, Franco Finn. (Yes, he’s officially listed as Hype Man on warriors.com.)
Here’s a novel concept: With not a fan in sight, the Warriors made a concerted pregame effort to fire up those empty seats. It was the usual awful, shrieking maniac introducing the players at full volume as the sound people cranked up imaginary fan noise. What an embarrassment. That really has to stop.
Bruce Jenkins/San Francisco Chronicle
I’m a huge fan of Jenkins, so this isn’t to throw him under the bus in any way. It might be a bit extreme to call Finn a maniac, but he’s got an aggressive announcing style, and with zero fans in the stands, it did seem like a bit much. Jenkins is a more seasoned than most in sports media, and I usually vibe with what he’s got to say. My twin brother calls me a “sports conservative” and he’s right about that. But blame the ownership is what I say. Finn is stuck on automatic. Automatic maniac according to one man’s opinion. We’ll see what kind of introductions Golden State has moving forward.
A personal side note: I know a person who knows Finn, who is a San Francisco native. It’s just a seven degrees of Kevin Bacon type thing, but hey it’s a small world. Finn has worked his way up with the franchise, and let’s hope people can attend games soon so he can join the ‘maniac’ Warriors fans (if those still exist at Chase and I believe they do) for a Great Time Out.
Also, Jenkins noted the lowered championship banners from opening night. He liked them there, and I did too–at the start of the game. I hope the Warriors lift those back up to their lofty perch. The Warriors have too many issues right now and watching them get annihilated by the Blazers right in front of those banners was painful. I can only imagine what Kelly Oubre thinks when he has those suckers staring him right in the face. Though three of those banners are brand new, relatively speaking, Golden State is miles away from having a contending club.
I’ll be watching every game of the season as the Warriors try to get there, however. Get your popcorn ready. Between Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, James Wiseman, a bunch of moving parts, no fans, a stacked Western Conference, normal crazy trade-deadline movement and maniac hype-men, there will be plenty to keep us entertained.
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