09.27.08 Where Amazing Happens: Failure

Why do we love basketball? There’s plenty of sports out there, why this one? What makes this game so special?

To everything that is good in life there has to be a little bad. You can call it the yen and the yang or whatever you like. Whatever its name, the bad is the balance of the good.

In basketball, that’s especially true. For every 60 win team, there are two or three teams that are lucky if they can win a third of that total.

It’s the risk all players, coaches and in the end, teams face. We’re coming up on the new season, and the risk is approaching. There will no doubt be teams that succeed beyond the hype and expectations, but the opposite of that awaits the unlucky and unprepared.

This new season will be a career year for several NBA players, but it will be just the opposite for so many as well. The brutal path of a losing season lies ahead for 14 unfortunate teams.

For all the possibility of glory, there’s even more possibility for failure. Only a select few players end an NBA season being truly satisfied. It’s the way it should be.

When a player misses a game winning shot, sometimes, that’s how it has to be. If every buzzer beater that’s attempted goes in then the act itself loses all meaning.

The most precious thing about winning a championship isn’t born out of success, but out of the failures of seasons past. It’s why Michael cried when got his first ring and why KG tried to pretend the tears weren’t there when his moment came.

What made Kobe Bryant’s MVP win this year a little more special than most wasn’t because he had a superior season. No, it was because he’d failed to win the award so many other times. Ultimately, he did succeed. It’s a great story.

There is a flip side to the coin of achieving success out of failure, and that’s simply achieving failure. The picture on this page shows a team fully aware of that concept.

So many NBA cities have either gone totally without a championship or it’s been so long since they had one that the memory and feeling is gone.

The pain of fans losing is sadly what makes sports so interesting. If everyone was a winner there would be no point to it all. If one is to win, someone else has to lose.

It may be horrible to witness, but it has to happen. Your heart has to be broken. You have to be disappointed. Would you want it any other way?

No matter how awesome it may feel to see the team or player we love succeed, it’s equally important to see them fail. For if they don’t first fail, the success just isn’t as sweet.

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09.24.08 Top Five Best NBA Commentators

Well, I’m back with my weekly top five list. I figured why not get two blogs out of one idea? This week I’m going to be giving you my five favorite NBA commentators and then next week I will throw out my five least favorite. How does that sound? Oh well, I like it.

5. Kevin Harlan

You’ll have to excuse that bad picture. I’m sure it’s not a surprise to learn that Kevin Harlan doesn’t rival Jessica Alba or Megan Fox for quality pictures. I’m pretty sure he’s never had his own spread in Maxim, at least I hope so… Anyway, I love this guy even if he’s a bit of a rip off from the number one selection. Who could not love his line when LeBron dunked on KG in the playoffs last season? “LeBron James with no regard for human life!” That just nearly beats out my favorite “Right between the eyes!” I love how he hits that line in the closing minutes of a close game when a player hits a three. Uh, it’s just classic stuff.

4. Doug Collins

This is what Bill Walton should be. What I love about Doug Collins is his common sense approach to the game. I remember when the Suns were getting torched by the Lakers in the first round three seasons ago, and Shawn Marion was playing lose on Kobe, resulting in a Kobe lay-up. Doug Collins just goes “Come on, that’s Kobe Bryant!” Doug always manages to say the “duh” moment that the teams can’t say to themselves. I know a lot of people may like Breen, Van Gundy and Jackson, but I think Harlan and Collins is my favorite commentating set.

3. Stan Van Gundy

I can’t stand Mark Jackson. I can’t put my finger on it. Maybe it was in the NBA Finals when he said he would take Kobe Bryant over Michael Jordan. It’s really smart commentary to say that you wouldn’t take the greatest NBA Finals performer in history, but you would rather have a guy who was getting schooled by Paul Pierce, a guy who had never even been to the Finals before. Oh well, Stan Van Gundy is pretty damn awesome though. I love how he just speaks his mind. He’s not afraid of ruffling a few feathers(that one’s for you moose killer VP) in the NBA front offices. That and I love how he’s able to put you down and then put himself down ever worse in the span of two sentences.

2. Charles Barkley

Some people do forget that Charles Barkley isn’t a clown. I know it may seem that way, but if you actually listen to him, he does say some very smart things on basketball occasionally. Still, there’s no denying that he is the main reason why TNT truly has the only halftime show worth watching. I don’t want to watch Stuart Scott, like ever! What makes the TNT show the best presentation in basketball is that the people really seem to enjoy what they’re doing. Charles Barkley is a big part of that fun. At least I find it fun…

1. Marv Albert

Biting aside, you know this guy is the best. He just has the quintessential voice for commentating. It’s kind of drab, but also weathered. I don’t know, but this is the guy and you know it! He’s freaking Marv Albert! “Oh, what a move by Jordan!” That was this guy! He’s just one of those voices that any great moment in sports must be accompanied by. It’s just like a rule that was written somewhere. I don’t know where, but I guarantee you, it’s somewhere. Maybe it was on the third tablet that Moses dropped coming down Mount Sinai(History of the World, Part I). “Thou shalt have good sports commentators!” Marv Albert at least has one commandment on his side, if only one.

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09.23.08 Regarding LeBron

Everyone is always talking about this guy. Whether they love him, hate him or both, basketball fans today always allow LeBron James to enter the conversation of the sport. When you look at what he’s done on paper, beyond the stats, LeBron really hasn’t done much. He has one NBA Finals appearance and a scoring title. Yet, when people talk about this generation’s all-time great players, you simply can’t leave this guy off the list. Maybe it’s because there’s more to basketball than what can be read on a sheet of paper.

LeBron James was probably the most hyped player in history coming out of the draft in 2003. The guy was supposed to be Dr. J, Michael and Magic all rolled into one. That may seem a little ridiculous, but that was what people were saying about this 17 year old kid. That could have to do with the fact that he looked and played like a 25 year old NBA pro. LeBron James, even then, possessed a combination of size, speed and strength that had rarely ever been seen in the history of the sport. I would argue that no one player has had as many physical gifts as that of LeBron.

LeBron James didn’t set the world on fire when he first came into Cleveland. In his first few seasons the Cavs didn’t make the playoffs. That certainly wasn’t Jordan-like in that Michael never failed to lead the Bulls to the playoffs. LeBron James had won the Rookie of the Year and had thrown up some great individual stats, but his team simply didn’t win. The question of “Is LeBron just another Vince Carter?” was one that I heard quite often back then, and by knowledgeable fans and/or writers.

In 2006 LeBron would carry the Cavs into the playoffs, and would finish second in the MVP voting behind Steve Nash. To this day, I think if there ever was a playoff series that was fixed, it was the one the Cavs had against the Wizards in the first round of that year. Not so much in that I feel anything wasn’t on the level, but you couldn’t write a better playoff debut. Let’s see, in his first playoff game LeBron James walked out with a win and a triple double. He would follow that up with two game winning shots and a very memorable moment of punking out Gilbert Arenas in the deciding sixth game.

After that, LeBron was launched. He went out to push the Pistons to seven games, and then would overcome that same team with one of the all-time great performances in NBA history the next season. Sure, the Cavs would get swept in the Finals by the Spurs, but the fact that they were in the Finals through the will of their superstar was amazing. LeBron would follow that up last season with defeating the Wizards for the third straight year and pushing the eventual NBA Champion Boston Celtics closer to the brink of defeat than the Hawks, Pistons or Lakers could come close to. All of this brings a lot of speculation of when, not if, LeBron will get his trophy.

I’m picking the Cavs to win it all this year. I don’t feel that Boston will repeat, and they’re going to miss James Posey come playoff time. The Lakers have too many questions about them. Until they can prove otherwise, they’re too soft to win a championship. The Cavs picked up Mo Williams, and while he’s not the Scottie Pippen that they needed, he does make the Cavs a better team than they were before. The team they were before was one that was a Delonte West three pointer away from facing the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals. We already saw how that worked out the year before.

Then if you assume the Cavs would’ve beaten the Pistons, they would’ve faced the Lakers in the NBA Finals. Then the Lakers would’ve faced very similar match up problems with the Cavs that they did with the Celtics. Point being, last year, if the stars had aligned just right, the Cavs would’ve had a path to the NBA championship. They’ll be a better team this year, and that path remains viable.

The only question is not if LeBron will be great next season, but will he be great enough to win it all. I’m predicting that he will.

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09.20. 08 Where Amazing Happens: Surprises

Why do we love basketball? There’s plenty of sports out there, why this one? What makes this game so special?

Who wants all the predictions to be right? What would the point be of watching the games if all that has been said before hand comes true? I want to have some measure of suspense.

It’s why we watch the games. We want to see what’s going to happen. We, as the audience, need to see the result unfold before our eyes.

We’ve seen Jerry West’s half court shot. That’s a memory that’ll never leave the halls of NBA history, but what it was originally was a surprise.

What about the picture on the top of the page? The Mavericks were massive favorites to not only defeat the lowly 8th seeded Warriors, but to possibly win it all. How did that work out?

Everyone has seen the shot a thousand times, but how many people would’ve bet on the Bulls knocking off a higher ranked Cleveland team in 1989?

Did anyone expect LeBron James to give one of the greatest playoff performances ever in the minutes leading up to the game five showdown with the Pistons? I know I didn’t see that explosion coming.

What about Kobe Bryant’s 81 point game? Even though he had scored 63 points in a game against Dallas earlier in that season, I don’t think anyone expected to see an 80 point game in the world of post-Wilt.

As much as any reason for why we love basketball is that there are very few certainties. On any given night any team can beat any other team. The talent level is that high, and the game of basketball lends itself to those possibilities

Basketball is rarely a game of force. The sport is more about finesse and accuracy. Given that a lot of what goes into a team playing well is mental, that creates openings in every game we watch.

Your team is down by twenty points? They can always come back in basketball.

Any player can catch fire on any given night, and for that one night, become unstoppable.

It’s about desire, focus and having a lot of luck. No team has ever won an NBA championship without having had a great deal of luck on their side at one time or another.

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09.17.08 Top Five NBA Team Uniforms

Welcome to The Quick Report! Welcome to my weekly top five blog. Last week I threw out my Top Five NBA Team Names, and so in keeping with the window dressing aspect of NBA teams, this week I give you my Top Five NBA Team Uniforms. There are thirty teams in the NBA and countless uniforms there in. Whether it is for home, away or whatever else, the NBA has a lot of uniforms. So, narrowing them down to my five favorites wasn’t easy, but hey, it’s my job. I’m sure I can suffer through it. What do you think?

5. New Orleans Hornets, Green

I know some might think this one looks a little cheesy, but I’ve always really liked it. For starters, green is my favorite color. Plus, I like the fact that it’s different than other NBA teams’ uniforms. With the Sonics now dead, the Hornets will have to carry the green flag. Whenever I’m flipping through the cable channels and I catch one of their games I always am able to identify the uniforms before the players. That doesn’t always happen with some of the generic blue or white jerseys we see on so many NBA teams.

4. New York Knicks, Blue

Well, I’ve kind of painted myself in a corner, haven’t I? I bash blue colored uniforms in the last sentence of the paragraph for the number five selection and then I go and rank a blue colored uniform higher. Well, come on, give me a break. Seriously, when I think of the New York Knicks I think of Patrick Ewing in this very blue jersey. I remember when Kobe Bryant was demanding to be traded and there was all of this speculation on where he might go. When the Mavericks were apparently in the hunt I remember I told a friend that I didn’t think Kobe would look right in a Mavericks uniform. My friend replied “All players look good in a Knicks jersey.”

3. Los Angeles Lakers, Yellow

I was torn on which Lakers jersey to put on the list. The purple one is really cool, but I think I like the white jersey the best. If I were a big Laker fan though, I’d have to buy the yellow one. The yellow Laker jersey is the Lakers. Whenever I think of Wilt, Kareem, Worthy, Magic, Shaq or Kobe I see them in a yellow Lakers jersey. It’s like I said about the Knicks, this jersey is a big part of the identity of one of the great sports franchises. More importantly, this jersey is a big part of the NBA’s identity. I think this deserves mention.

2. Boston Celtics, Green

Should I just copy and paste the last paragraph, substituting the Lakers with the Celtics? The Boston Celtics is the greatest NBA franchise in the history of the league. They may have the white jerseys that has just as many legendary moments soaked into them, but I like the green jerseys. When I think of the “Boston Celtics” I think of green. It’s the color association that I think most of us would probably use. Like the yellow for the Lakers, I always think of the great Celtic players in the green jerseys. The white ones are also awesome, but I don’t want to clog up a top five blog with two selections from the same team.

1. Chicago Bulls, Black

I bet this is the one you’ll laugh at most, right? I know the Bulls are most remembered as playing in the red and white jerseys, but I always like the black ones. Considering that black is such a popular color(I know it’s not a color!) for everyday people, it’s funny how few historically good NBA teams use the color. The Bulls only kind of use the color, primarily sticking to the aforementioned red and white colors. I like the black one! I just think it looks cool. Besides, isn’t that kind of the idea of having designed uniforms?

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09.15.08 Regarding Shaq

As I’m sure most of you have heard Shaquille O’Neal set his retirement deadline for when his current contract with the Phoenix Suns is up in two years. I personally believe that it might have been a good idea for Shaq to retire a few years ago, but you can’t blame the guy. He would’ve been leaving a big deal of money on the table. Who cares about a legacy when money’s involved?

The facts about Shaquille O’Neal’s career are pretty clear. He was one of the most physically gifted players of all time, with an ability to overwhelm his opponents with his size and strength. There’s no question that Shaq was one of the all-time great creators of mismatches. Though, along with his gift, came an arrogance that few could ever match. Throughout Shaq’s career he’s shown a great interest in being highly regarded as a player, but what it takes to maintain that regard was something he didn’t think applied to him.

When Shaq entered the league after being drafted by the Orlando Magic I think many people thought he had the opportunity to be the most dominant player ever. There had never been a player with so much size and power, but who also had the speed and basketball IQ to match. After two seasons in the NBA Shaq had carried the Magic to the NBA Finals, passing Michael Jordan and the Bulls along the way.

We all obviously know that Shaq jumped ship from Orlando to go play for the Lakers in Los Angeles. It was Shaq’s years with the Lakers that he will undoubtedly be most remembered for. Shaq did it all in Los Angeles. He won an MVP trophy, three championships and had a drama filled feud with Kobe Bryant that would make daytime soap operas jealous. In his prime, Shaq wasn’t only a winner, but he was also a star. Some would argue that being a star might be better than being a winner. Either way, Shaq was both.

It was his level of stardom that made him a very expensive talent to have on a team’s roster. In 2004, after the Lakers got spanked by the Pistons in five games, Shaq’s fate came down to the biggest decision Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak will probably ever make. I think everyone had seen that Shaq’s best days were behind him, but he was still the best center in the NBA at the time.

The choice to trade Shaq to Miami will always be a controversial decision. There’s two ways to look at it. One, the Lakers made a big mistake in that Shaq gave Miami two highly competitive years, one ending in a championship. Two, the Lakers saved themselves some money and were able to plan for a future that seems to paying off now. I tend to think it was a good idea not to pay Shaq the kind of money that he was asking, but I also think that the Lakers are just plain lucky with how things have turned out.

Shaquille O’Neal is never going to go down in history as he would’ve liked to. He never stayed in shape and he’s paying the price of those sins now. Like Hakeem and Ewing before him, Shaq has learned the pain of staying in the game too long. We tend to remember the best days of Hakeem and Ewing, and maybe that will be how we remember Shaq after he’s retired. I can’t predict the future. I do know that, right now, it seems like a million years since Shaq was one of the best players in the league. In a little over 700 days Shaq’s story as an NBA player will have come to a close. It may be a little past due, but I’m not looking forward to writing about it.

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09.12.08 Where Amazing Happens: Commitment

Why do we love basketball? There’s plenty of sports out there, why this one? What makes this game so special?

It’s been never easy. Basketball is a team game, first and foremost. Though, it allows itself to spectacular individual brilliance as well.

Money too often influences that brilliance. The true test is when money is possible, but not taken. The riches are left behind for the rewards of a team.

Glory is far more rewarding than fortune. It’s that principle that has always drove the best to become great. The best want to be the absolute best, monetary rewards becomes secondary.

It’s about sacrifice above all. It’s about knowing that you are more than just yourself. It’s about winning above all. That’s the most important thing.

A player places himself into a program and an environment for the better of both. A player wants the success, at any cost. Even if that cost is his own personal success.

That’s what is called integrity and honor. Many players in the sport that is basketball claim to have both, but few truly do. It’s not about talk, but actions.

To be apart of something larger than yourself, to be apart of a team, that is greatness. Not just in name, but to be apart of a unit that is a collection of pieces.

The collection of everyone’s heart, will, strength and passion can be unbeatable. The sum of the parts is always stronger than when they’re separate. Strength in numbers indeed…

The ends may be selfish, but the path must never be. The path and the journey is what it’s all about. There are no shortcuts. Only the most adamant about the virtue of the path will prevail.

There will be setbacks, no doubt. Nothing worthwhile ever comes easy, as true champions of basketball always learn. The road is always brutal, but would it be worth it if it wasn’t?

If the goal was easy to achieve, would it even be a goal? The concept is to achieve what few have ever done. There has to be a reason for that.

The goal can’t be achieved by one man. It takes agreement of souls and blending of minds. Teammates must share in success and defeat if either is to mean anything in the long run.

The long run is what the goal is. It’s the entire and whole shebang. It’s what the sprained ankles, long nights, early practices and the pain are all for. The idea of winning, that’s what it is.

The championship parades, the banners, retired numbers, hall of fame inductions and all of the rest of it grow from this. Winning and success grow from this. It’s above one’s self and one’s own personal ambition.

There’s only one word to describe all that it takes to win a championship in the NBA. One word that has applied to Russell, Kareem, Magic, Bird, Michael and Timmy. One word that equals maybe the greatest act a player can do in the NBA or all of professional sports.

Commitment.

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09.10.08 Five Best NBA Team Names

Hello, to all the NBA fans out there. As some of you might have noticed, on Wednesdays I’ve started posting top five blogs. Well, that’s now the plan anyway. Each Wednesday you can come back here and see my weekly top five list. Now I know it’s kind of pointless for a blog to have a schedule, but that’s just how I roll. That’s right, I’m lame. Anyway, last Wednesday I wrote my weekly top five list about the worst NBA team names. Well, this week I figured why not come full circle and throw out the five best NBA team names?

5. Utah Jazz

Okay, this isn’t really a good name, but how could I leave it off? The fact that arguably the most mundane city in America in Salt Lake City has a sports team named after music that is anything but mundane, well, that’s irony folks. I can’t help it, I’m a fan. Now we all know that the Jazz originated in New Orleans where the name actually made sense, but for the franchise to settle in a state primarily known for the Mormon religion, that’s just pure comedic gold. Besides, could anyone think of a better name for a team in Utah than something littered with irony?

4. Phoenix Suns

I will be the first to admit that this sounds like a WNBA team name, and it’s about as threatening as the thought of fighting a 72 year old John McCain. Still, something about this name just works. The name completely fits with the desert area in which Phoenix is located, and it just sounds good. Whenever it comes time for the weekly TNT games or whatever, this name just sounds so good in the billing. “The Suns take on the Lakers, tonight at nine!” The Phoenix Suns is a name that fits its franchise, not like some other NBA names that are just there because the franchise has to have a name.

3. Boston Celtics

Do I really need to say more than the fact that this team has seventeen championships? The term “Celtics” just epitomizes what the view of the Boston culture is known to be. The idea is that the city is primarily blue collar, Irish and catholic. It’s about this idea that Boston isn’t about flash or spectacle, but rather hard work and team philosophy. The Boston Celtics are the NBA’s premier franchise. It will always probably be that way. Unless the number two pick has something to say about it…

2. Los Angeles Lakers

I know, I know! The name “Lakers” is patently ridiculous for a city that has no lakes. We all know that the team started in Minneapolis and then moved to Los Angeles. The thing is I don’t care. The name just rolls right. When you say the name “Los Angeles Lakers” there’s not a moment of disconnect where it feels wrong or out of place. The Boston Celtics may be a name that makes sense to the city in which the team is hosted, but the Los Angeles Lakers and their name have just about equally prestigious name recognition. That can’t be overlooked.

1. New York Knicks

One thing I have always found so fascinating about the New York Knicks is that they, somehow, have managed to become an NBA marquee franchise. Unlike the Boston Celtics, the Los Angeles Lakers or even the Chicago Bulls, the Knicks have never really done anything. They’ve had a hand full of NBA Finals appearances and two championships about thirty five years ago. They’ve never really done anything to warrant such high placement in the NBA’s franchise hierarchy, but they still seem to be the quintessential basketball team. The Knicks have the most famous arena in the world to play in, and the biggest basketball nuts in as fans. Like the Los Angeles Lakers, the name of the New York Knicks just works. In my opinion, more so than any other name in the NBA.

I’ll see you guys Friday. In the meantime, do me a favor and visit www.sportsviews.com

09.08.08 Regarding Michael

We all know Michael Jordan. He was arguably the most famous athlete of the 20th century. Michael Jordan was basketball’s most marketable star for about the last twenty five years. He’s as identifiable with the sport as probably any one singular person ever will be. Despite some current background noise, no one can honestly claim anyone today can measure up to what he left as his legacy. I would argue that no player ever could, or indeed ever will be able to do that. Like Muhammad Ali and Babe Ruth, Michael was an exception to which there was no equal.

“If I was to honestly meet Michael Jordan, and he wasn’t an ass, I’d actually be disappointed.”

That was something a friend of mine said to me the other day. I grew up with the “I wanna be like Mike” image that we all did, but something is different now. When I was growing up Michael Jordan was the guy who got cut from his high school varsity team, and then worked really hard to get on the team the next year. He was the nice guy who practiced harder than everyone else so that he could be the best. Somewhere when I got older that view changed. Maybe it was when I read the infamous book “The Jordan Rules” or when I found out he punched Steve Kerr(I seriously still can’t understand that).

I no longer view Michael Jordan as a nice guy, but I have more respect for him now than I ever did. Michael did work harder than everyone else, but that’s not it either. Michael Jordan is notorious for having been extremely hard on his teammates, but you always saw that he was never harder on anyone than himself. Michael Jordan achieved five MVP trophies, six championship rings, ten scoring titles and hosts of other awards and accolades in his basketball career, but you could always tell that he was never satisfied. Now, old and retired, he still seems restless for the game.

One of the biggest mistakes basketball fans make about Michael Jordan is expecting his replacement. We will not get another Michael Jordan. It will not happen. As much as we may want to paint Kobe Bryant or LeBron James with the Jordan brush, they will never be Michael. Kobe and LeBron will no doubt go on to do great things, but Michael Jordan is just that, Michael Jordan. Players will eventually come along that will break the records Michael set and do things that Michael didn’t, but to dwell on that as evidence of a new player’s supremacy is a fool’s game.

What fans miss about what still makes Michael Jordan the measurement by which all other players are gauged is that it’s not about numbers. Michael Jordan won six championship, and Bill Russell won eleven. Michael has five MVPs, and Kareem has six. People don’t refer to Michael as the greatest of all time because of accolades alone. All of the greats have amazing numbers they can throw at you. What made Michael Jordan the greatest was the fact that we’d never seen a player that was as larger than life than he was.

When Kobe Bryant went up against the Celtics in the NBA Finals this year, despite it being his fifth trip to that level of play, there was a question about him. Could he rise to this challenge? The general opinion of the basketball minds in the early years of Michael’s career was that if he could get the Bulls to the Finals, Michael would find a way to win. You never had to doubt Michael in the biggest games. Michael had the least amount of help of any of the major dynasties, but when it came time to bring his team home a trophy Michael never failed. That is his legacy and why he is the greatest of all time. Bill Walton may be crazy, but he does say some smart things occasionally. He once said that the truly great players, the few of them there are, when the biggest games came around, you knew they were going to be the best player. Does that honestly apply to anyone else in the history of basketball more than Michael Jordan?

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09.06.08 Where Amazing Happens: Drama

Why do we love basketball? There’s plenty of sports out there, why this one? What makes this game so special?

Drama is one of the things in life that makes it worth it to stick around as long as possible. We love the suspense of what might happen next. There’s no end to the possibilities inside your own head.

All year you’re team has been playing amazing. The team’s play has been so amazing that a championship parade isn’t out of the question. It’s early, but a fan can dream, right?

The team has made it to the midway point of the season and seems to be playoff bound. You’re so hyped for the future and so you tune in to watch a seemingly meaningless game against a far inferior team with a losing record.

The game goes well for the first half. You’re team leads at the break and victory is almost certain. The boys come out and play with passion! This is a team on a mission!

Then… tragedy strikes! Out of nowhere you’re team’s best player, the team’s everything, is hurt. He’s being carried off the floor, and you can’t believe your eyes. This can’t be happening.

Your team manages to hold on and win the game, but that doesn’t matter now. The franchise is hurt, and without him this may be the last win for a very long time.

The prognosis isn’t good. It’s not career threatening, but he’ll miss the rest of the season. The space you’d picked out for that championship banner in the team’s home arena will have to remain empty.

You fear the future. The team looked so good, but it was obvious that he was the glue. He was the guy who made everyone better. It’s over now, and you know it.

Immediately, your worst fears seem to be realized. The losing streak you’d predicted is here, and it’s ugly. Teams you’d once looked down on with contempt are now picking the bones of your beloved franchise clean.

For the short time your hero was in the game, the team did pile on a lot of wins. They looked to be a top seed and were becoming serious contenders. You hope they can hold on and at least make the playoffs. It’s just a hope, but sometimes hope is all you need.

Your hope, your prayers seem to be rewarded. The team is playing well and looks to be closing in on a playoff spot. After the mass losses, a measure of success may still be able to be found.

It’s been a rough road, but the boys have made it in to the playoffs, barely. The star was injured and the team was shook to its core, but they came through to the other side. You can feel joy that the season turned into a simple disappointment and not a catastrophic failure.

They lost in the first round, but you knew they would. It wasn’t about winning the series. It was about getting to play the series. The one thing you can take solace in is, wait until next year!

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