Believing is Art

by Irv Soonachan It’s opening night for the Warriors, who have missed the Playoffs 14 times in the past 15 seasons. By way of comparison, the Clippers have been to the Playoffs twice in that span. Yet every year, the Warriors pack an arena full of people who, as the popular team t-shirt indicates, “Believe.” And not just on opening night – these fans stick it out the whole season. Strolling around the stands an hour before the game, I meet 29-year-old die-hard Homer Shamoeil and his 20-year-old brother, Henry. They’re about halfway up the lower level in some pretty pricey seats they found on StubHub, and they’re already wearing foam fingers, ready for tipoff. “Henry made me buy them as soon as we got here,” Homer says a little sheepishly. Homer has been going to Warriors games faithfully since 1989, when the entire Bay Area fell hard for the Run TMC team. “You just wait for that season, that breakthrough season,” he says. “They have a lot of good players, young players, and a lot of...