Warriors Fever

Yahoo Sports wrote an article about the Warriors' upcoming season and how they're competing with the A's, Giants, Raiders, and 49ers for popularity in the Bay Area.

Warriors fever in September?

Yeah, that might be a stretch. After all, the A's and Giants (barely) are making playoff pushes, Cal's undefeated football team is climbing up the national polls, and Stanford's train-wreck loss to UC Davis has our morbid attention.

Expectations have been skyrocketing ever since the Warriors went 18-10 down the stretch after trading for point guard Baron Davis on Feb. 24.

Of course, Warriors fans have been fooled before, have bought into their team's this-will-be-the-year spiels. Borrowing a line from Fed Chief Alan Greenspan, they've been victims of "irrational exuberance" before.

This year, though, seems different. Those high expectations seem downright rational, assuming Davis remains healthy and continues to be the leader and superstar the Warriors so desperately needed.

"The players, from what they've done this summer, feel this is real," Warriors executive vice president Chris Mullin said Wednesday afternoon during a pre-training camp news conference at a McAfee Coliseum luxury suite. "I think the excitement is about the talent that fits together that can win. It's not a marketing ploy.

If you're not excited about the Warriors for the upcoming season, check your pulse, you might be dead.