Why We're Doing the Lottery Party Again
Spike explains the difference between history and moments -- and why we can't pass up an opportunity for another one of the latter.
The Lottery Party in 2019, which featured Chu Chu Maduabum, was titled “The Final Lottery Party,” and for good reason.
We didn’t think we’d have to do it anymore. First, we never thought we’d be out of the playoffs again. But second, I’m not even sure either of us (Mike and I, not Chu Chu and I) thought the pod would still exist in 2025.
But alas, here the Sixers are, and here we are, and here the Lottery Party is.
But that’s not the reason we’re doing the Lottery Party and Live Ricky VI. I mean, we couldn’t do it without the Sixers having the worst all-around season in NBA history, and we probably couldn’t do it if the podcast didn’t exist, so those conditions existing are allowing us to do it, but it’s not the reason we’re doing it.
We are doing it because we owe it to all of us to make sure this moment exists. I am old as shit now, and the more I look back at life, it’s really just the moments that you remember. Allen Iverson’s 10+ years as a Sixers player is really whittled down to a few moments that everyone remembers. The Eagles Super Bowl win in 2018 is also really about five or six moments everyone remembers. (To the casual fan it’s really just two.) I know what you’re saying: “Iverson’s career was so much more than the stepover and crossing over Jordan!” And you’re right in a lot of ways, but also you’re wrong in a lot of ways.
There is history (what happened) and there is your memory (what you remember). At this point, everything that happened is written down in one way or another. But that’s not what your memory is built on. Your memory is built on the images you see repeatedly, the video clips you see replayed, the stories you tell over and over. History is built on a lot. Your memory is built on a little.
We, as The Ricky, can not rob ourselves of another moment, another memory for the mental files. Yes we have done hundreds of episodes (maybe thousands? I don’t know). Yes there have been a bunch of Live Rickys, and a bunch of funny moments. But at this point, we’re really about winning the Lottery in 2016, the picks swapping, Sam Hinkie getting fired, and maybe a couple of other floaters. (Covington getting an ovation at the 2017 Lottery Party?) For an Iverson-on-the-Sixers-length career, we can’t miss the opportunity to be together for this one.
If the Sixers win the Lottery and get the No. 1 pick (we’re getting it), the place will explode in a way we’ve never seen before. Not just victory, but relief. It will make the 2016 Ben Simmons Lottery Win celebration look like nothing. We will always remember it. We’ll get made fun of by fans of other teams by acting like we won the championship but man it’ll feel like we did. We’ll also feel great if we just make it to the commercial, or keep the pick at all. And if we lose the pick entirely, it’ll suck - but hell, at least it'll be guaranteed to be one more moment we never forget. (To a lesser extent, Guerschon Yabusele somehow getting the biggest ovation of his career will be a fun moment as well.)
Fy The Process was a good reminder about how much I love who we all are when we’re together, even when all we have to celebrate is one another. Let’s give ourselves one more moment like that (until the next one).
This is what it’s all about!