Motor City Mission

Guest Blogger: Dan Selph

This is actually a narrative paper written by Dan for college. It does seem lengthy, but you should giggle your way through it in a matter of minutes.

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Fifteen plus years of fanaticism would finally payoff. A decade and a half of obsession would lead us to a moment in time that forever marks the pinnacle of Detroit Pistons fandom. For the first time in our lives, my brother Jeff and I were going to the Palace of Auburn Hills to see the Detroit Pistons play the hated Boston Celtics. Not only were we planning to be in attendance, we also had a goal. Our preparation began the night before. We were armed with markers, poster boards, white T-shirts, black afro wigs, and a burning passion to live in infamy. The creative side of the operation was provided by Mrs. Katey and Sarah Selph. As the artistic members of the family, they were designated the task of creating posters that would be sure to draw the attention of Palace camera men. We had a long night of poster making ahead of us and an even longer journey the next day.

Our journey to the Palace would have to start early. We lived across the state in Grand Rapids, and Auburn Hills was going to be a 3 hour drive. We set out on Interstate 96 at 3PM eastern standard time. There was little time for stops of luxurious frivolity. All stops were limited to bathroom breaks and refueling.
We arrived at the Palace in record time. Finally we were there, the Mecca of the Motor City Bad Boys; the house that Isaiah built. The very same building where the likes of Joe Dumars, Bill Lambiere, John Sally, and Vinnie Johnson would hoist the O’Brien trophy high above their heads while being showered in flowing bubbly Champaign. This was the arena where Chuck Daily coached the pistons to 2 championships in as many years. This is the place we dreamed of for years.

We made our way to our seats, high above the hardwood floor where the Pistons would soon take the court. It was time for us to put into action the plan we had spent hours slaving over the night before. We removed our jackets and unsheathed our posters to get into place for our moment; a moment that ultimately would lie solely in the hands of an individual camera operator. It was his attention we had to attract, and his opinion we had to impress. Dawned in suffocatingly tight T-shirts colored in the representation of Ben Wallace’s jersey and black afro wigs, it was our time to shine.

With 10:16 to play in the second quarter, we were urged by the arena announcer to stand to our feet and “Make some noise!” So making noise is what we did. I was holding a poster over my head that stated “I am Ben Wallace’s Twin” and Jeff was holding a poster saying “Ben Wallace: Blocking shots and taking names.” We knew for sure we would find ourselves on the giant screen above the middle of the court. As the crowd settled back in, we realized we had been shut out again. It was nothing to be overly concerned with at that point, after all we had not even reached half time yet. But a phone call would change our lives forever.
The phone call came in on Jeff’s cell phone, on the other line was our sister Lisa. With the noise in the arena Jeff was having trouble hearing what she was saying, but it was confirmed. The sweetest words ever spoken came loud and clear into Jeff’s ear. “I just saw you two idiots on the TV. You guys look ridiculous!” We had finally done it, we had completed our mission and our status as Detroit Pistons fans was forever secured. What we learned that night is that although you may be shown on the jumbo screen, you may not make it to the TV broadcast. And to that point, although you may be shown on TV you may not make it to the jumbo screen.

You may be thinking at this point that the story is complete, but I assure you it is not. Jeff set his VCR to record the game that night just in case we were successful in being shown on TV. He immediately located our moment in the game and continued to watch the game in fast forward to determine if we were shown yet another time during the game. As the game came to an end and the Fox Sports post game report began, they led the analysis of the game with a shot of Jeff and me holding our signs yet again. The sports anchor made the statement, “These guys claim to be Ben Wallace’s twins, I just don’t see it.” Not only had our efforts paid off, they had provided a greater return than any of us had anticipated. We had been shown twice and actually referenced to in the post game report.

This moment will forever remain as the greatest moment of my fan career. It is true what Dr Emit Brown said in Back to The Future.” If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything.” You too may experience a moment where fanaticism turns to glory, if you are willing to put in the time to make it happen.