It was the sign of an agonizing defeat when fans of the Philadelphia 76ers poured out of Wells Fargo Center in the fourth quarter last night, watching former Sixer Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat advance to the Eastern Conference Finals in a 99-90 loss. Fans at home felt frustration beyond just the loss according to John Kincade.
On Friday morning 97.5 The Fanatic morning man discussed some of the jaded messaging, including one new series of advertisements from the U.S. Army.
“The people were like, ‘Yeah, we’re buying a house,’” John Kincade, the host of the show, explained. “And they’re like, ‘You’re buying a house?’ And he goes, ‘Yeah, [from] my time in the Army, we get zero percent financing right now on a house,’ and they go, ‘We get free bagels.’”
According to Kincade, the variety of military advertisements persisted throughout the game broadcast on ESPN. It drew an ironic contrast between the ethos of the U.S. Army and the 76ers play on the court.
“We got all these ads tonight for the U.S. Army while the Sixers are playing like the French Army,” Kincade said. “Because they honestly just surrendered.”
Indeed, there was criticism towards the 76ers play as a team, including the role of James Harden’s play on the court. Harden was unable to draw a foul during the entire matchup, an aspect of his game that helped him win the 2017-18 Most Valuable Player award, and only attempted two shots in the entire second half of the game. During the team’s struggles though, another soundtrack was in the minds of some watching from home.
“The Modelo [commercial] – oh my god,” said show co-host Jamie Lynch. “It was on every commercial break.”
At one point in the game, the 76ers were in a 20-point deficit to the Heat – leading to yet another commercial that catalyzed annoyance and instantiated the zeal of Philadelphia sports fans.
“I have YouTube TV, so my ads that I get are probably different than you,” explained show producer Pat Egan. “The one that I’m getting sick of is… a Kia commercial where a guy cleans up the beach for sea turtles. When your team is losing by 20, I ended up screaming ‘F the turtles.’”
Throughout the matchup, Egan was sending out what he called “hate tweets” towards the 76ers on social media, one of which demonstrated the lack of appeal playoff basketball has when watching your favorite team get eliminated on their home floor.
The show hosts continued to manifest their frustration throughout the show. Kincade even used ESPN’s Hubie Brown, a former head coach and former U.S. Army basketball team member, to explain his feelings.
“88-year-old Hubie Brown was already eligible for Social Security the last time this organization made the conference finals,” said Kincade. “Hubie Brown was 66! He was 66 – the last time they made a conference finals. By the way, Miami has now been to the conference finals eight times since.”
