BETE NOIRE :

David vs. Goliath : N.J. Relishes Underdog Role Against Defending Champs(Washington Post, June 5, 2002)

The New Jersey Nets have used what they perceive as an overall lack of respect as fuel all season.

Now, with a best-of-seven meeting with the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals beginning Wednesday, New Jersey has more doubters to conquer. The Nets are playing in their first NBA championship series against the most dominant team of this era. Few give them a chance.

At first I foolishly thought that this article was going to agree with me that the Nets should be favored over the Lakers, just as David had to be favored over Goliath, but, alas, once again this metaphor gets butchered.

Forget everything you've ever been told about David as an underdog and think of him as Indiana Jones in the scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark where the giant scimitar-wielding Arab confronts him in terrifying fashion, only to have Indy whip out a pistol and shoot the big lug. That's all the story of David and Goliath really boils down to is the resort to superior technology to defeat a seemingly more powerful foe. The sling was long recognized as one of the most lethal and, because of its range, effective weapons of ancient times. It is only the fact that the slingshot has become a plaything for growing boys that allows us to misunderstand this story so badly.

So now we are come to the NBA Finals. The point of the metaphor in this case is that where Shaq obviously calls to mind Goliath, because of his sheer size, the possibility also exists that the Nets are better armed, have superior weaponry in this battle, and should therefore be favored.

Or they might get swept--but, contrary to popular opinion, that won't be a case of Goliath beating David. It'll just mean that the Nets aren't very good.

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 6, 2002 8:09 AM