My Photoshop skill, she is not so strong.
But I like the idea. I'll get a friend to clean it up. How will it look on a T-Shirt? Keep Corey on the back... Play Corey on the front.
The Keep Corey - Play Corey! campaign is already reaping dividends. In today's LA Times Jason Reid writes about a Staples Center meeting between Donald Sterling, MDSr, Elgin Baylor and Corey. Sterling called the impromptu meeting to tell everyone. "He wants Maggette to be with the Clippers for a long time."
I'm a little disoriented by the prospect that Donald Sterling appears to have the most common sense of the bunch, but gratified that someone stepped up to try to resolve this situation.
Obviously, Donald is fully on board with the Keep Corey - Play Corey! campaign, though surprisingly I did not notice his name on the petition.
Now, some among you may say, "Wait a minute ClipperSteve. Keep Corey - Play Corey! began on Thursday, but this meeting occurred two evenings before that, after the Grizzlies game on Tuesday." Well, obviously DTS has been reading ClipsNation, has seen the many pro-Corey posts, and correctly deduced where it all was heading. I am gratified that he and I began our campaigns about the same time, and all I can say is, great minds think alike.
Kidding aside, I don't want to give the impression that ClipperSteve is a crackpot. An online petition is a little extreme, especially considering that at the end of the day, we're looking for maybe a 10 to 15% increase in playing time. Big deal. But there's no doubt in my mind that Corey needs more minutes, and importantly, he simply needs more respect. Even MDSr's comments today were lukewarm and insidiously backhanded, as Citizen mp pointed out:
By leading with "In the role he's in..." MDSr closes the rhetorical door on other roles, i.e. a starter's role.
Let me also point out that I am generally speaking a big supporter of MDSr. Obviously I disagree with his handling of Maggette, but there's no denying the positive impact he's had on this franchise. I am on record as saying that he deserved his extension, and I supported him during the Phoenix playoff series. So this is not an "I hate MDSr" campaign.
And it goes without saying that they have the right and the obligation to trade Corey if it will improve the team. No one was more enthusiastic about bring Iverson to LA than your truly, because the trade on the table (involving both Corey and Sam, two of my favorites) was clearly beneficial to the team. But stop shopping him - it makes us look desperate, which explains the low ball offers we've been getting. Keep him, play him, use him as if he's a long term Clipper asset, which he is. That can only increase his value, and if some other GM, desperate for an athletic wing, makes a terrific offer, then do the right thing for the team.
But MDSr remains less enthusiastic about Corey Maggette than ClipperSteve. Oh well. Of course, it's entirely likely that the opinions of DTS and Elgin Baylor, not too mention a little team success as Maggette plays more, will hold more sway than a petition of crackpots. But it couldn't hurt, right?
So c'mon people. If you want to see more of Corey, sign the petition, tell your friends to sign the petition, tell the people in your section to sign the petition. In a city of 10 million people, an online petition with 50 signatures is not much of a show of support.