Imrem: Wishful thinking doesn't work with Warriors
Yes, I was cheering for the Golden State Warriors to lose at San Antonio on Sunday night.
You got a problem with cheering against someone?
Take your beef up with Danny Willett, who a few hours earlier was visibly pleased when Jordan Spieth missed a putt at Augusta National.
Give Willett a break because the miss pretty much clinched the Masters championship for him.
During the Warriors-Spurs game, I uttered every anti-Golden State hex known to man and stuck pins into a Stephen Curry bobblehead.
Nothing worked.
Golden State won 92-86 to tie the Bulls' record 72 victories in an NBA regular season and has a chance to break it at home Wednesday night.
The Warriors did it in style, too, handing the Spurs their first home loss in their 40th home game.
Look, NBA memories are all we have in pro basketball right now. The current Bulls have spread nothing but frustration around here for months.
Personally, my life is sort of joyless except for a new recliner, “Happy Days” reruns on the oldies channel and low-cal pizza from the freezer section once a month.
Other former favorite pastimes are taboo: Lounging in the sun is bad for the skin, binge drinking will kill you sooner than later, and any food I can actually taste is bad for my system.
You want more? The state I love can't pay its bills, the city I grew up in is a homicide haven, and the suburban home I live in needs a full-time handyman.
Seriously, all that's left are cheap thrills and small favors, like memories of that special Bulls season.
At least I could say, “Yeah, my back hurts, but the Bulls won a record 72 games in the 1995-96.”
That won't mean as much now that the Warriors tied the Bulls and won't mean anything if they break the record.
What'll I say then, “The Bulls are in the draft lottery and the Warriors aren't”?
The funny thing is that I appreciate the Warriors, the way they play as a team and Stephen Curry dominates.
But I still hope the Warriors don't repeat as NBA champions, leaving the Bulls' '95-96 season as the best ever.
I know, I know, my inner Mercury Morris is showing.
Morris and his obnoxious 1972 Dolphins teammates don't want another NFL team to match them as undefeated Super Bowl champions.
The '98 Bulls, led by Mercury Pippen, uh, make that Scottie Pippen didn't want the Warriors to break their record either.
Oh, well, maybe the whole issue is moot because these Warriors certainly would lose to those Bulls in an imaginary NBA Finals.
Maybe the Bulls wouldn't sweep like Mercury Pippen, uh, Scottie Pippen suggested they would.
However, hardly anyone disputes that the Bulls would prevail. It's just a matter of how long it would take.
PredictionMachine.com created a simulated series and the Bulls won 63.8 percent of time but swept only 8.6 percent of the time.
Pippen predicted the Bulls would shut down Curry, which the PredictionMachine doubted.
Still, it's difficult to imagine Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green having their way on offense against Jordan, Pippen and Dennis Rodman.
Any time, any rules, anywhere … the '96 Bulls would win a series from the '16 Warriors.
But the record for regular-season victories sure would have been nice to keep.
mimrem@dailyherald.com