Paying Homage: Thanks to Michael Ruffin, Things Could Always be Worse

After last night’s loss to the deplorable Charlotte Bobcats, many fans of the Washington Wizards find themselves at a loss (most notably our own DJ Saam). The frustration is kicking in. Before long, the Phone Booth is going to be more of a ghost town than it already is.

But Wizards fans: Just remember, it could always be worse.

Let’s go back to March 30, 2007. The Wizards had a three-point lead with 3.8 seconds to play. The Raptors had no timeouts and were forced to inbound from their own end. A court-wide pass was lobbed and subsequently intercepted by then-Wizard Michael Ruffin.

And then this happened...

 

The Raptors went on to defeat the Wizards in overtime by a score of 123-118.

It’s hard to forget the Eddie Jordan reaction. He didn’t yell at Ruffin, didn’t even confront him about it. At that point, all he could do was smirk and shake his head.

Unfortunately, five-and-a-half years later, that feeling during the Toronto game is how many fans are feeling only six games into the season.

At a 0-6 record, the only thing that could disappoint the fans even more this season so far would be for the team to have another Michael Ruffin moment; a moment so inexplicable that the Randy Wittman reaction would be transformed into one of the most memorable .gifs of all time.

So, as the Wizards head to Dallas tonight with a 0-6 record and probably will finish out the night at 0-7, just remember.

It could always be worse.