He's all about Superman, so let's Kalel him (😜) with 20 Questions - Kryptonic starts us off!!
Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2025 10:18 pm
I'll admit it, Special K, before I met you? I totally thought that Superman was kinda lame, both due to being overpowered and seemingly getting himself beat up to a pulp (at first) before actually doing anything to/about the bad guy(s). At least, this is how it seems like it played out in Bruce Timm's animated series with him, both with the original TAS, and then later on with Justice League. Maybe that's why I had some gross/morbid satisfaction out of seeing Superman lobotomize some guy in one of the Justice Lords alternate universe episodes of the Justice League. And then, I think in the same episode, Supes totally heat-visions Luthor. Woof. He really let his inner dog out. Woof, woof.
But hot damn, this isn't about Superman, cartoons, or what Superman really gets up to in his Fortress of Solitude. This about you, and your genuine awesomeness that you have shared with the board - both in the past as well as in the so let's do present day.
So, let's do this
1. How did you find the .net back in the day, and what was your handle and avatar prior to "Kryptonic"?
2. Since we're all fans of the Phoenix Suns, how did you originally find your way into the fandom? I imagine a lot (maybe even most) of us were/are local, but I kinda feel like each fan origin story is a little different in its own way.
3. Along with getting sucked into (or embracing the suck of) the team, what player(s) would you say helped galvanize your fandom the most? I know for me, it was a combination of the particular player(s) and usually a memorable play (for whatever reason) by them that would burn itself into my memory. For better or worse.
4. When did you first start following the team, and if you care to divulge, how old were you at the time?
5. Was the first season you followed the Suns the most memorable for you, or is it perhaps another year or cluster of years? I guess if I was to extrapolate on this a bit, I would say (with a degree of obviousness) that some seasons resonate/made more of an impact on me, than others. No doubt, following the Suns just before they traded for Charles Barkley added a certain je ne sais quoi for me, in this regard.
6. Charlie childhood trauma question time!! As I told the board (and yourself offline), the last Suns home game I've attended was Game 6 of the 1993 Finals. And I guess because of that, the question is this: Say Paxson misses (or we play better defense) and we hold on for Game 7. Do you think there's any way in the world that the 1993 Phoenix Suns reel off three straight against Michael and his Bulls...why/why not?
7. NOW SPEAKING OF CHILDHOODS...how was yours?
Really though, I just wanna know if you grew up with any other Phoenix Suns fans in your family. 
8. Briefly branching out from the Suns, but staying with the sport, did you (and presumably still) have a love of the sport of basketball growing up?
9. Presuming an affirmative answer to the former, did you play on any teams competitively? Perhaps polishing those pre-NBA skills, once upon a time?
10. Jumping back into the Suns themselves, what past (retired) players do you look back on with the most fondness?
11. Same question as above, but reversed, we are talking about a GENERATIONAL lack of fondness, here. Which past Suns players just absolutely stuck in your craw? Perhaps creating a negative je ne sais quoi? You have no idea how badly I wanted to rhyme with that phrase.
12. Personal question time!! I know I've already said as much in the preamble post, but seriously, feel free to throw up any boundaries (even and especially in the form of Deandre Ayton) towards answering at all, or to whatever degree you want/don't want to answer. But, that said, you and I both have had our struggles with chronic pain. And just in general, what is something about chronic pain that you feel is not as readily noticeable or perceptible to someone else (who doesn't share the struggle) who's on the outside looking in?
13. Kinda a related question, and certainly yours truly projecting, but I've found that for me, watching the Suns can be something akin to a treatment, sometimes bordering on a prophylactic when it comes to dealing with my body. Never an aphrodisiac, though, at least not these days. So at any rateeeeee, does watching our Suns (maybe more so in seasons past) provide something of the same for you? Or maybe in current times, it's more like hate-watching? Lol.
14. Valentines Day is coming up, and I'm single. And somehow I'm going to turn this into a question. So I guess I will ask you if you have any fun plans, and do you personally think that life is like a box of chocolates?
15. Alrighty, so segueing back to superheroes. You know I love Batman. And I know that you know that I love Batman. And my goodness, as a kid, did I ever think Batman was cooler than Superman. There's a good chance I still do. Anyway, let's get question out of all this. I know you've told me offline before that Superman knows he is overpowered. Is that seemingly (and with all due seriousness) why (I feel) he lets himself get beat up to said pulp before really retaliating? And much like with Batman, I doubt all incarnations of Superman over the years have been samey (as far as the illustration of the usage/non-usage of his powers).
15b. Yeah I'm cheating here, but this question was put in after I/we finished the 20, lol. But seriously, Kryptonic, why in the name of Ayton did Darkseid kill (spoilers from the 90s!!) Dan Turpin as he (Darkseid) was retreating during that episode of Superman TAS (that certainly scarred me as a child)?
16. Okay, you know what? Maybe THIS is what it is with me and Superman. Superman and I. Whatever. But, as a kid, I would occasionally rent games from Blockbuster Video for my Nintendo 64. I feel like I can already feel some of the members of this board collectively cringing/seizing as they read this. But anyway. I swear on Ayton, that for a solid week, Superman 64 (even though it was just called Superman) was rented out at Blockbuster. And in my 13-year old-addled mind, I thought to myself that this must have been a sign from the gaming Gods themselves, that this game was some kind of a gift. And it was a gift - it was just from Satan. Because when I actually was able to rent it (shrugging off an employee's warnings) holy hell was I in an unholy hell. At least for a weekend.
Did you ever play this game? Surely (and I won't call you that) you've heard of it. But yeah, this single game and the singular experience I had with it, may in fact be the reason why I've always seen Supes in a somewhat negative (definitely green-tinted) light.
*Shudder*
17. Getting down to the last few questions here, including (and it always will be) my favorite #20. But before we get there, man I gotta ask, how/why do you think the 2021 Finals went the way they did? I'm not just talking about the backdoor sweep by the Bucks, but just the matter of how we lost. Seriously though, any thoughts on how/why we were able to win two straight, and then never another game, after that? Surely, Giannis wasn't sandbagging it or holding back on us Dragon Ball Z style, prior to Game 3? DID THE BUCKS JUST PLAY TOO DAMN RANDOM?!
*deep breaths*
18. The Kevin Durant trade. Tell me (and us) what your thoughts were on our team before, during, and after the trade - hindsight included in all that, of course.
19. This is sorta a prelude to number 20, but is/are there any members of the .net that you'd like to shoutout here and now (just like Luther Vandross) in this space who has/have made any sorta impact on you during your time here?
20. And lastly, this is where I channel Captain Planet (I'd love to see a fight between him and Superman, btw) and say to you that "The Power is Yoooooooooours!!" Or in other words, who on the board do you wanna hear from next?
Again, thank you, Kryptonic, for being the catalyst in getting this going. Not even Darkseid himself could stop you or us on the .net. He could probably stop the current version of our Suns though, especially with his Omega eyebeams.
But hot damn, this isn't about Superman, cartoons, or what Superman really gets up to in his Fortress of Solitude. This about you, and your genuine awesomeness that you have shared with the board - both in the past as well as in the so let's do present day.
So, let's do this
1. How did you find the .net back in the day, and what was your handle and avatar prior to "Kryptonic"?
2. Since we're all fans of the Phoenix Suns, how did you originally find your way into the fandom? I imagine a lot (maybe even most) of us were/are local, but I kinda feel like each fan origin story is a little different in its own way.
3. Along with getting sucked into (or embracing the suck of) the team, what player(s) would you say helped galvanize your fandom the most? I know for me, it was a combination of the particular player(s) and usually a memorable play (for whatever reason) by them that would burn itself into my memory. For better or worse.
4. When did you first start following the team, and if you care to divulge, how old were you at the time?
5. Was the first season you followed the Suns the most memorable for you, or is it perhaps another year or cluster of years? I guess if I was to extrapolate on this a bit, I would say (with a degree of obviousness) that some seasons resonate/made more of an impact on me, than others. No doubt, following the Suns just before they traded for Charles Barkley added a certain je ne sais quoi for me, in this regard.
6. Charlie childhood trauma question time!! As I told the board (and yourself offline), the last Suns home game I've attended was Game 6 of the 1993 Finals. And I guess because of that, the question is this: Say Paxson misses (or we play better defense) and we hold on for Game 7. Do you think there's any way in the world that the 1993 Phoenix Suns reel off three straight against Michael and his Bulls...why/why not?
7. NOW SPEAKING OF CHILDHOODS...how was yours?
Really though, I just wanna know if you grew up with any other Phoenix Suns fans in your family. 8. Briefly branching out from the Suns, but staying with the sport, did you (and presumably still) have a love of the sport of basketball growing up?
9. Presuming an affirmative answer to the former, did you play on any teams competitively? Perhaps polishing those pre-NBA skills, once upon a time?
10. Jumping back into the Suns themselves, what past (retired) players do you look back on with the most fondness?
11. Same question as above, but reversed, we are talking about a GENERATIONAL lack of fondness, here. Which past Suns players just absolutely stuck in your craw? Perhaps creating a negative je ne sais quoi? You have no idea how badly I wanted to rhyme with that phrase.
12. Personal question time!! I know I've already said as much in the preamble post, but seriously, feel free to throw up any boundaries (even and especially in the form of Deandre Ayton) towards answering at all, or to whatever degree you want/don't want to answer. But, that said, you and I both have had our struggles with chronic pain. And just in general, what is something about chronic pain that you feel is not as readily noticeable or perceptible to someone else (who doesn't share the struggle) who's on the outside looking in?
13. Kinda a related question, and certainly yours truly projecting, but I've found that for me, watching the Suns can be something akin to a treatment, sometimes bordering on a prophylactic when it comes to dealing with my body. Never an aphrodisiac, though, at least not these days. So at any rateeeeee, does watching our Suns (maybe more so in seasons past) provide something of the same for you? Or maybe in current times, it's more like hate-watching? Lol.
14. Valentines Day is coming up, and I'm single. And somehow I'm going to turn this into a question. So I guess I will ask you if you have any fun plans, and do you personally think that life is like a box of chocolates?
15. Alrighty, so segueing back to superheroes. You know I love Batman. And I know that you know that I love Batman. And my goodness, as a kid, did I ever think Batman was cooler than Superman. There's a good chance I still do. Anyway, let's get question out of all this. I know you've told me offline before that Superman knows he is overpowered. Is that seemingly (and with all due seriousness) why (I feel) he lets himself get beat up to said pulp before really retaliating? And much like with Batman, I doubt all incarnations of Superman over the years have been samey (as far as the illustration of the usage/non-usage of his powers).
15b. Yeah I'm cheating here, but this question was put in after I/we finished the 20, lol. But seriously, Kryptonic, why in the name of Ayton did Darkseid kill (spoilers from the 90s!!) Dan Turpin as he (Darkseid) was retreating during that episode of Superman TAS (that certainly scarred me as a child)?
16. Okay, you know what? Maybe THIS is what it is with me and Superman. Superman and I. Whatever. But, as a kid, I would occasionally rent games from Blockbuster Video for my Nintendo 64. I feel like I can already feel some of the members of this board collectively cringing/seizing as they read this. But anyway. I swear on Ayton, that for a solid week, Superman 64 (even though it was just called Superman) was rented out at Blockbuster. And in my 13-year old-addled mind, I thought to myself that this must have been a sign from the gaming Gods themselves, that this game was some kind of a gift. And it was a gift - it was just from Satan. Because when I actually was able to rent it (shrugging off an employee's warnings) holy hell was I in an unholy hell. At least for a weekend.
Did you ever play this game? Surely (and I won't call you that) you've heard of it. But yeah, this single game and the singular experience I had with it, may in fact be the reason why I've always seen Supes in a somewhat negative (definitely green-tinted) light.
*Shudder*
17. Getting down to the last few questions here, including (and it always will be) my favorite #20. But before we get there, man I gotta ask, how/why do you think the 2021 Finals went the way they did? I'm not just talking about the backdoor sweep by the Bucks, but just the matter of how we lost. Seriously though, any thoughts on how/why we were able to win two straight, and then never another game, after that? Surely, Giannis wasn't sandbagging it or holding back on us Dragon Ball Z style, prior to Game 3? DID THE BUCKS JUST PLAY TOO DAMN RANDOM?!
*deep breaths*
18. The Kevin Durant trade. Tell me (and us) what your thoughts were on our team before, during, and after the trade - hindsight included in all that, of course.
19. This is sorta a prelude to number 20, but is/are there any members of the .net that you'd like to shoutout here and now (just like Luther Vandross
) in this space who has/have made any sorta impact on you during your time here?20. And lastly, this is where I channel Captain Planet (I'd love to see a fight between him and Superman, btw) and say to you that "The Power is Yoooooooooours!!" Or in other words, who on the board do you wanna hear from next?
Again, thank you, Kryptonic, for being the catalyst in getting this going. Not even Darkseid himself could stop you or us on the .net. He could probably stop the current version of our Suns though, especially with his Omega eyebeams.
