Do you ever get the feeling that you can't quite express what you're trying to say? I'm not just talking about writing. Sometimes you're asked a question, and you realize that you're answer doesn't quite represent your internal monologue. It's frustrating, to say the least. Well that happened to me just this morning. I made a valiant attempt to argue that Chris Paul and Dwight Howard would leave their original teams, just as Garnett, LeBron and Melo (will) have done in consecutive seasons. But then I re-read the post and recognized my folly. It's not that I do not believe in what I'm saying; I do. But to spare you the agony of reading what I had written before, I decided to scrap it completely.
I'm not sure why I felt so obligated to get that off my chest, but I feel a million times better now that I have. Almost as good as John Starks when his dunk over Michael Jordan immortalized him in the eyes of Knicks fans everywhere. So much so that we somewhat forget his horrendous game 7 shooting performance. But to top off this moment of honesty, I must admit my pure dejection. No more football. Basketball is in its annual mid-season "nothing really changes too much in the standings because teams are not playing with complete urgency" stage. Same with the NHL. The college basketball season, despite its grandeur and intensity across college campuses, has no lasting impact in the general sports world. To most, college basketball is defined by two things: March Madness and Gus Johnson. Baseball, at least, is close to the beginning of its season, but still too far away. Pitchers and catchers reporting, while a momentous occasion, is only a marker on our baseball calenders to indicate that "we're almost there!"
Everything is either dead or at a standstill. That's what makes the end of the football season even more painful. We have to the college basketball conference tournaments before the juices start pumping and the chatter becomes audible. So for the next 3 weeks, I will remain dejected as I mourn the loss of football. The loss of Gregg Easterbrook. The loss of meaningful NFL Live shows at 4:30 in the afternoon.
In the meantime, I'll be honing my pickup basketball skills with everyone else whose holding onto the glory days of high school. Maybe I'll take up the English Premiere League, although that's a large project in itself. I'll struggle to come up with things to write about. Maybe the NBA All-Star game, but that's about it. So NFL, I bid you farewell.
10 comments:
You'll still have Peter King.
I will always have Peter King. This is the dead period of the sports year. It is all about college basketball for me, but I understand others aren't so into it before the NCAA Tournament.
"Almost as good as John Starks when his dunk over Michael Jordan immortalized him in the eyes of Knicks fans everywhere."
Yes, I had that poster in my room, even after...
"So much so that we somewhat forget his horrendous game 7 shooting performance."
I definitely have not forgotten this. Jordan out, one mother fucking chance to get the title... John Starks shits the bed. Imagine if he simply had a normal game and NY won . He would be beloved in NY. Adored. Now, he's in this weird sports purgatory.
It's like Ewing. I can never forget that finger roll miss...
Cs, how did Ewing miss that finger roll? I watched the "30 for 30" about that and still don't see how he missed it. That was crazy.
Starks would have been a NY folk hero if he could have had a decent shooting game. I am not a huge Knicks fan but even I felt bad for them after those two incidences.
Ben: That 30 for 30 was painful, but well-done. All building towards that miss. And the thing is, the Knicks were down 3-1 in that series. And even I knew, just based on how things were at the time, that NY would tie it, and then bring the series to a Game 7 in NY and lose. The whole series was doomed. I just didn't expect it to happen so poetically - with Ewing missing that lay up. It really summed up the Ewing era.
Also, bonus note. I was in Atlantic City with my family the winter after that finger roll miss. I had my Ewing jersey on, and I remember it clear as day: I was in the Taj, waiting in the lobby. These three kids, I was like 13 at the time, something like that, these 3 kids, just a bit older than me, they walked by and the lead thug did this exaggerated finger roll, and yelled "EWWWWWWIIIINNNNGGGG" and all his friends went "OOOHHHHH!!! EWWWWWIIIINGGG!!" and they all laughed at me and walked away. At that age, it was a devastating blow to my self-confidence.
Follow up humiliation: for Xmas my grandmother bought be a 1996 USA Olympic team jersey with who else but the name "MILLER" across the back. And I watched the fucking Reggie 3 pointer, steal, 3 pointer Game 1 at her fucking house too. Apparently, she didn't connect the dots.
CS, that is painful. I remember that game and I thought for sure the Knicks would win that Game 7. I didn't like how "30 for 30" drew it out so long, it was just painful.
That sounds like it would be a brutal blow to your self-confidence. I wonder what team those kids were a fan of? Probably the Nets.
Ouch. I bet you felt bad because you wanted to wear the jersey not to hurt your grandmother's feelings, but you also wanted to burn it while it was still on your body.
Ericb,
Peter King will live forever.
cs,
The Ewing miss and Starks "shit the bed" game was one of those "where were you when it happened moments. I enjoyed the 30 for 30, even if it was extra painful. I really hope those continue for a long time.
My friend a labor/contract lawyer brought up a point about the 18 game season. Originally the owners had talked about it as a way to keep players money the same, but increase their own revenue. Now the owners seem to want to increase to 18 games AND decrease the amount of money the players get. Exactly where are their brains in this? What makes them think that the players are going to sacrifice their bodies for less money, and two more full games a season?
He sees a Tobacco Companies type lawsuit from players accusing the NFL of purposely covering up concussion and other medical problems from playing the game, and gutting it financially that way. He points out that until an independent concussion study group was formed and started churning out information that the NFL had to have but was ignoring, that the NFL did nothing. Stuck it's head in the sand.
i think what got him riled up was an NFL suit on the radio talking about the "fans" wanted 18 games because they were tired of the 4 meaningless pre-season games. Well, what they are actually tired of is paying money for tickets as if they were real games. Nobody has to pay regular season prices for basketball, baseball, or hockey pre-season games. In the NFL though, they just roll it into your season ticket package, and screw the fan. After the Super Bowl, it's sad to ralize that the NFL isn't jsut another greedy, soulsucking corporation....but that it seems to be as incompetent and full of pass-the-buck jackholes as all other companies.
Ok, this is the last Knicks mid-90s memory, but you mentioned the "where were you moment." I had a little league game that finger roll Sunday. I was pitching, so my mind was split between the game and The Game. So, I VHS'd Game 7. Back then, no cell phones, nothing, so the only way you'd hear is via the radio, which was highly unlikely on a ball field. But sure enough, someone's dad had a headset and a radio, listening to the game. I'm pitching, and I keep looking at him on the bleachers, wondering, but trying not to read hints because I was going to go straight home and watch the recording. I will forever remember The Moment. I didn't know for sure. I didn't ask anyone. I just went right home and watched the game, but The Moment was, I was on the mound, and this guy stands up, takes off his headphones and walks solemnly away towards the parking lot. I'm thinking, ok, that looked bad. REALLY bad. But maybe it ended well, the Knicks won, and he left to celebrate. Maybe he doesn't show joy very well. Maybe it went into overtime... MAYBE fucking SOMETHING other than a loss. I was clinging to anything, though I just knew Knicks lost. Went home, watched the game, and almost vomited when Ewing missed that lay up. And as he missed it, all I had in my mind, was the dad walking slowly to the parking lot, and forever I'll tie those two together. That miss evokes the image of that man, wearily walking away from his son's game, broken and beaten...
Post a Comment