re: Bird vs Walker

[Jamey Rallis <rallis@vgi.com>]

Joe and co.,

it's easy to get caught up in comparing Walker and Bird, and then
comparing the fan and media's treatment of them.

But IMO, there's only 1 reason why Bird was treated as a king, and Walker
is thrown to the wolves.

Bird's teams won, right from the beginning.

Walker's teams have never made the playoffs.

Granted Bird had lots of help, and it doesn't explain the good son/bad son
of Mercer vs. Walker, but I gotta believe, if Bird's teams had sucked
until 1985, he would've been crucified as well as a no-good hick that
should be packed off to his farm in Indiana.  All kinds of sordid stories
would have been printed about Bird, Parish, and eventually Johnson, if
they lost, and lost often.

Winning forgives all.

-Jamey