The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 835 A new beginning

The 1998 Super Bowl took place at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California, after the game between the Trail Blazers and the Pacers.

Both teams' players watched the Trail Blazers vs. Pacers mid-season game in the locker room before the game, witnessing the Trail Blazers' 41-game winning streak.

This was one of the most intense Super Bowl games in NFL history, with the two sides battling it out from the first quarter until the very end.

The Denver Broncos defeated the Green Bay Packers 31-24, becoming the first AFC team to win the Super Bowl in 14 years, making for a thrilling victory.

However, this was also one of the worst-rated Super Bowls in NFL history. According to Nielsen ratings later, this year's NFL ratings dropped by 10% compared to last year, which is a significant decline.

In summarizing the reasons for the decline in viewership, Nielsen pointed out that it was not because the game was not exciting enough, the promotion was not effective enough, or the influence of the NFL Super Bowl had declined.

"The key reason is that the Portland Trail Blazers had a 41-game winning streak. Their games before the Super Bowl caused the audience to be overly excited, and many people were not interested in or had the energy to watch the Super Bowl, which led to a sharp drop in Super Bowl ratings."

This conclusion was validated after the 1999 Super Bowl. Without the Trail Blazers' impressive 41-game winning streak, there was no one to steal the spotlight on the NFL Super Bowl day, and the ratings indeed rose.

Therefore, the Trail Blazers' 41-game winning streak in 1998 was not only a great sports record, but also one of the few highlights in the NBA that could rival the NFL in terms of viewership and influence.

Gan Guoyang was involved in almost all of these highlight moments.

After securing the victory, the Trail Blazers players returned to the locker room and celebrated briefly.

Bird asked Gan Guoyang to give a speech, and Gan Guoyang and his teammates said: "Halfway through the season, we have won all the games. However, if we cannot win the final victory, all of these will be for nothing, so everyone still needs to work hard. Of course, our current achievements are equally great, so let's enjoy this moment of joy."

That evening, Gan Guoyang unusually treated everyone to drinks at a local bar in Indianapolis, and he paid for everything himself.

The Trail Blazers players partied until the early hours of the next day before heading to the airport to catch their flight back to Portland.

Many people got completely drunk, and even Mullin, who had been abstaining from alcohol for half a season, broke his abstinence and indulged himself a little.

A team, a player, or even an individual cannot be constantly on edge.

You always need to relax and catch your breath.

Gan Guoyang is already practically a superman, having won three or four consecutive championships before, and this time he carried the team to a perfect record for half a season.

After defeating the Pacers, even this cyborg couldn't hold back anymore, and he drank a lot of alcohol during the party that night.

Later on, he and Sabonis, those two heavy drinkers, terrified the Trail Blazers' staff.

If you drink any more, you might drink yourself to death, bro! You've only played half a season, and it's not even the finals yet!

If the league were to hold a drinking contest, the Trail Blazers, with Forrest Gump and Domantas Sabonis on the court, would definitely be a top contender for the championship.

It was almost morning when I returned home to Portland, reeking of alcohol.

Everyone in the family was asleep, and Gan Guoyang had a separate room by himself.

The room lights were on, the sheets were freshly changed, the pillows had been aired out, and there was fragrance burning by the bedside.

His wife knows all of Gan Guoyang's schedules. Over the years, every time he plays an away game and comes home, she arranges everything so that Gan Guoyang can get a good night's sleep immediately.

After the extreme excitement came extreme exhaustion, both physical and mental. For three whole months, Gan Guoyang felt that he had never relaxed for a moment.

This is something that has never happened in my professional career over the past decade or so.

Back then, I would win a dozen or so games and lose one or two, which helped me adjust my form.

We won 41 games this season, and although most of them were easy wins, we were very nervous.

After defeating the Pacers and fighting all the way to the end, Gan Guoyang quickly fell asleep under the influence of alcohol.

When he woke up, he found that it was still dark.

"Damn, I only slept for a little while, right? I'm so tired, how come I only slept for such a short time..."

Gan Guoyang felt he had only slept for an hour or two. He looked at the clock on his bedside table; it was a little after eight.

"Around 8 o'clock... I slept for three or four hours, but it wasn't enough, so I went back to sleep."

Gan Guoyang turned over, still wanting to sleep, but looking out the window at the pitch black, it didn't feel like eight o'clock in the morning.

Moreover, he was extremely hungry, so he jumped up, opened the window, and looked out, only to realize that it wasn't eight in the morning, but eight in the evening!

He slept for a whole day, and it was a very deep sleep. He thought only an hour or two had passed, but in fact he had been unconscious for the entire day.

The house was dark. There was a note left by Wang Fuxi on the bedside table. She had taken the two children to see a movie and would probably be back around nine o'clock.

"You were sleeping so soundly that I didn't wake you. When you wake up, there's some food in the fridge, and you can ask Aunt Liu to cook for you. Don't drink alcohol anymore."

The note was filled with his wife's concern for him. Gan Guoyang put the note in his pocket, opened the refrigerator to find something to eat first, and then asked Aunt Liu to make him something to eat later.

Gan Guoyang has a huge appetite, and his refrigerator is always stocked with all kinds of food to fill his stomach. Gan Guoyang carefully selects what he wants, his mind is on the dazzling array of food in the refrigerator, and he does not notice the slight footsteps behind him.

Something hard pressed against Gan Guoyang's back, like some kind of tube.

"Don't move, hands up!" a cold, hard voice rang out.

Gan Guoyang's hair stood on end. Damn it, a thief broke into his house?
Gan Guoyang could only slowly raise his hand. He tried to turn around, but the voice said again, "Don't move! I'll shoot if you do."

At this moment, Gan Guoyang suddenly realized that the voice sounded so familiar, and it was speaking Chinese, not English.

Gan Guoyang turned around abruptly, grabbed the object pressing against his back, and snatched it away. Upon closer inspection, he realized that it was his father, Gan Youwei, standing right in front of him!

What Gan Guoyang was holding wasn't a gun, but a broom handle...

"Dad, what are you doing? Are you trying to scare me?" Gan Guoyang complained.

Gan Youwei stared blankly, his eyes showing three parts confusion, three parts fear, and four parts thoughtfulness.

Gan Guoyang realized that his father might be having a relapse.
Putting down the broom handle, Gan Guoyang slowly approached and said, "Dad, it's me, I'm your son."

Gan Youwei sat down, stared at Gan Guoyang for a long while, scratched his ear, and said, "Son...my son...is my son this tall?"

Gan Guoyang took some food from the refrigerator, sat down, and said, "Your son is a basketball player, Dad. How can he play basketball if he's not this tall? Do you remember playing basketball?"

"Playing basketball? Basketball... I remember yesterday the Trail Blazers beat the Pacers, achieving their 41st consecutive win, and Gan Guoyang scored 38 points and grabbed 16 rebounds... Oh, my son is Forrest Gump?"

Gan Youwei's eyes finally cleared as he remembered that the person sitting in front of him eating bread was his son, Gan Guoyang, the world's number one basketball superstar. Seeing his father's expression, as if a computer had successfully connected to a network, Gan Guoyang finally breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Dad, really, if you really encounter any emergency, you should call Quentin or Xiao Feng. Who are you trying to scare by pretending to be a gun with a broom?"

"Quentin... Little Feng... Uh, I don't remember, I can't recall right now. What was I originally planning to do? Oh right, I was going to the kitchen to make you something to eat. You slept all day without eating a single bite, you must be starving when you woke up. But, after I left the room, I forgot what I was supposed to do, I just wanted to come to the kitchen anyway. When I got to the kitchen, I saw Lao Gao looking for something in front of the refrigerator, I thought he was a thief, so I grabbed a broom..."

Gan Guoyang sighed and said, "Luckily, we don't have any guns at home. Otherwise, if you had a gun, wouldn't you have shot me?"

Because Gan Youwei has a bad memory, Gan Guoyang never dares to fire a gun at home. Anyway, he has a professional bodyguard team, so he doesn't need such a thing.

Gan Youwei smiled sheepishly, got up and went to the stove to prepare something to eat for Gan Guoyang.

"Dad, you..."

"what?"

"Um...get me a few pounds of noodles first."

"Okay, you wait here."

Gan Guoyang didn't want Gan Youwei to cook, because his memory isn't good these days, and he sometimes forgets the steps while cooking.

However, considering that Gan Youwei could do little for him, Gan Guoyang couldn't bear to refuse his kindness, so he told him to cook some noodles to tide him over.

Of course, Gan Youwei's cooking of noodles was not just simple instant noodles. He first fried a fish and made a pot of fish soup as the base for the noodles.

A dozen minutes later, Gan Guoyang enjoyed a delicious fish soup noodle dish, and ate seven or eight bowls in one go.

Gan Youwei seemed very happy, eating and drinking as he went, and even asked, "41 consecutive wins, that's really impressive. Who are we playing next? Can we keep winning?"

Gan Guoyang said, "The next game... I can't remember the next game either. I don't really look at the schedule anymore. Just bet on me to win."

Gan Youwei shook his head and said, "No, I'm going to bet big next time. I'm going to bet you guys will lose."

For the past two seasons, Gan Youwei has maintained his habit of betting on sports, placing a small bet on every Trail Blazers game as a way to remember the outcome.

After finishing cooking the noodles, Gan Youwei took out his notebook from his inner pocket, put on his reading glasses, looked at it, and said, "Oh... the next match is against St. Anthony... riding boots? riding whip? horse legs?"

"It's the Spurs! There are only about twenty teams, and you can't remember their English names."

"Hey, how could I remember that clearly? But I know this team, Robinson, and this year they also got something... what was it again? Billups... They've been doing alright."

"You think you can beat us just because you think you're okay? You're underestimating the Trail Blazers. Just wait and see if you lose money."

Gan Guoyang ate three more bowls of noodles in one go before he felt a little full. He had had enough carbohydrates and could now replenish his protein intake.

I slept well again that night and participated in training the next day. There was a game against the Spurs that night.

But to Gan Guoyang's surprise, he started feeling unwell in his stomach the next morning.

Then I squatted in the toilet for a while, and went to the toilet twice more before going to practice shooting at noon.

Because of severe diarrhea, Gan Guoyang didn't eat anything at noon. He only replenished some electrolytes and ate some food in the evening, closer to the competition.

As a result, before the competition started, Gan Guoyang felt weak in the legs and couldn't exert any strength. Sure enough, even a hero can't withstand three bouts of diarrhea.

If it were the playoffs or the finals, Gan Guoyang would definitely grit his teeth and unleash his full power, even if it meant messing up his pants, he would still insist on playing well.

But this is the regular season, and after a 41-game winning streak, everyone is exhausted. Even the fans and spectators who have been following the Trail Blazers are starting to feel tired.

People started paying more attention to the All-Star Game, whether there would be any suspense in who would win this year's championship, and what a joke it would be if the Trail Blazers didn't win the championship and their 41-game winning streak became.

In short, a long journey, but one that is destined to end, is coming to an end.

As luck would have it, tonight's opponent, the San Antonio Spurs, is in excellent form lately.

The Spurs failed to acquire Tim Duncan in the draft, so as a second choice, the Spurs management selected guard Chauncey Billups.

Since they couldn't get that superstar center, they had no choice but to pick a decent guard to partner with David Robinson.

Under Popovich, Billups performed well, and with the Spurs at full strength, they became a formidable force in the Western Conference once again.

Facing the undefeated Trail Blazers, the Spurs maintained a calm mindset before the game, not treating it like a lottery prize where they were determined to win.

Instead, the whole team remained calm. David Robinson said in an interview, "We will give it our all in a regular season game. The Trail Blazers' achievements are admirable, but that's no reason for us to give up. In short, we will play our game."

On the Trail Blazers' side, apart from Gan Guoyang being unwell and out of form, the other players were more or less relaxed and sluggish.

Mullin, Sabonis, and others drank heavily, and Kobe, O'Neal, and a few others even threw a party to relax back in Portland.

As expected, the Trail Blazers suffered a crushing defeat at the Rose Garden, completely out of sorts and getting thrashed by the Spurs.

The Trail Blazers suffered a crushing 109-91 defeat, ending their winning streak at 41 games and marking their most painful loss of the season.

Gan Guoyang only scored 19 points and 11 rebounds throughout the game. He was feeling unwell and needed to rest and recuperate.

However, after the game, the Portland fans in the stadium did not leave early, nor did they boo or complain.

Instead, the entire arena erupted in enthusiastic applause, thanking the Trail Blazers for their magical performance over the past half-season.

Losing a game is sometimes not an end, but a new beginning, just like how Gan Guoyang's loss of the championship often signifies the arrival of a new championship cycle.

The players felt frustrated, but also relieved. The heavy burden of the winning streak was finally off their shoulders, and they could start from scratch.

The 41-game winning streak is now history, and a great history that will be forever etched in our memories. But history is history; it's in the past, and we should look forward.

When Gan Guoyang got home, he found his father and questioned him: "Dad, did you put laxatives in the noodles yesterday? You wouldn't go that far just to win the bet, would you? You put drugs in my noodles, I almost died from diarrhea."

Gan Youwei really won big with this game, but the price was that his son was tormented.

"What are you talking about? How could I do such a thing? But... but that fish from last night didn't seem very fresh; it seemed to have been sitting out for a while..."

"..."

Gan Guoyang decided that he really couldn't eat his father's cooking anymore, especially during the season, he had to be extra careful.

(End of this chapter)