Ramblings Post #362
I know I said it somewhere before, but what makes a player great is not just their skill, but their competition. It's not fun watching someone win all the time. Or at least, that used to be the case. Today I'm not so sure. We learn a lot from a loss: weaknesses and flaws. What we learn from a win is that we got it right and nothing is wrong. Even if the win was luck. Even if the win could be chalked up to the other player's failure. No, what makes someone great is the adversity they have to overcome.
We live in the age of the dynasty.
Um, sports dynasty, that is.
With the return of the freaking New England Patriots to Superbowl, the idea that the major sports should be competitive seems to have gone out of the window. Full disclosure, I am of the opinion that Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and most of the Patriots staff and management should have been "run off" from football years ago after Spygate fiasco and then again after Deflategate. How many times in the past five years have the same teams turned up for that year's and that game's championship? The return of the goddamed Pats to the football's final game is a reminder that Alabama went to the championship again this year, that the New York Yankees are always in the hunt and the Golden State Warriors shouldn't ever be allowed to sign LeBron because if they did the rest of the league should just forfeit.
Okay, I will admit I was okay with the Kobe and Shaq running the boards back in the day, and Magic and the Showtime Lakers before them. And I kinda like Golden State today (The Curry fellow!), so there is probably some bias here. But just because I happen to like when the teams I like win, it doesn't make the underlying premise any less truthful. Sports have become less competitive as of late.
I'm from the south, so I know college football. You kind of have to, it's like a required class, along with reading, math, BBQ and NASCAR. I don't even follow NASCAR and I know the legends and the lore. But college football in the south is something special. From the tailgates that start on early Saturday morning and that don't end until the wee hours Sunday morning to the temples of the gridiron meant to deify those who play the sport. It is no laughing matter. And the reality is that for big programs, the only successful season is an undefeated one. Which is how we end up with Alabama.
I like to win as much as the next fellow. But winning isn't everything, and as it turns out winning all the damn time is not even good for you. It takes a special kind of player to win it all and still be humble. It takes an even more special fan to see their team win all the time and not act the ass. Most Alabama fans haven't mastered that art yet. That the organization that runs college football actually seems to encourage this is also disheartening. The idea of building character isn't constant victory. Wait, you didn't know that sport builds character, through adversity? As my brother once described it, in football as in life, after the last play is over you still have to line up for the next one, good, bad or ugly.
But I digress. Baseball needs to be ashamed of itself. And looking back I wish I'd played baseball. Sure the idea of a little horsehair knot screaming at my forehead at 103 mph is more than a bit unnerving. But I could have played in minors for twenty years and still turned a pretty penny. (I am aware that no I could not, it doesn't work like that but this is my baseball fantasy, hush up.) But baseball has the Yankees. A team that can hand out 200 million dollar contracts. To catch and hit a ball. Does baseball have a salary cap? I know big market teams usually can outspend small market teams. Technically that's fair, but then it really isn't.
Why am I talking about baseball?
That LeBron could "take his talents to South Beach" and win a championship with a good team, then go back home and win a championship with an okay team, then get back to the championship round with essentially a pickup squad, and is now in LA attempting to do the same thing is just... frightening. I'm not sure if it shows a lack of talent throughout the league, or that he really is that much better than everyone else. It may be a little of both. In any case, I makes me wonder about the viability of the league. No longer do we have squads sweeping in out of nowhere, Cinderella story style. No, the only reason we'll have a different East coast participator for this NBA finals is that 'bron-bron moved to Tinseltown. But we all know whose going to win. At least, I think we all do.
Which brings me back to the Pats going back the Superbowl. Quite frankly the entire AFC needs to be ashamed that it's come to this. Again. I for one am sick of it. The charm, the unpredictability of the game is diminished. Yes, the AFC championship had some drama this season but it ended the same way.Again. And still others may argue that having the Pats as the team to beat year after year is a kind of drama of sorts. I disagree. I'm really hoping that Brady discovers Scientology five minutes before kickoff and just retires to go spread the word of LRH.
I'm just so done with the dynasties. I mean, since you can't eliminate Cleveland after the first kickoff anymore, should there still be a team that feels destined to make it all the time. Where is the balance?
Barkeep, a drink. Doesn't matter. Hey, you know anyone with a spare Superbowl ticket that want to donate?
I know I said it somewhere before, but what makes a player great is not just their skill, but their competition. It's not fun watching someone win all the time. Or at least, that used to be the case. Today I'm not so sure. We learn a lot from a loss: weaknesses and flaws. What we learn from a win is that we got it right and nothing is wrong. Even if the win was luck. Even if the win could be chalked up to the other player's failure. No, what makes someone great is the adversity they have to overcome.
We live in the age of the dynasty.
Um, sports dynasty, that is.
With the return of the freaking New England Patriots to Superbowl, the idea that the major sports should be competitive seems to have gone out of the window. Full disclosure, I am of the opinion that Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and most of the Patriots staff and management should have been "run off" from football years ago after Spygate fiasco and then again after Deflategate. How many times in the past five years have the same teams turned up for that year's and that game's championship? The return of the goddamed Pats to the football's final game is a reminder that Alabama went to the championship again this year, that the New York Yankees are always in the hunt and the Golden State Warriors shouldn't ever be allowed to sign LeBron because if they did the rest of the league should just forfeit.
Okay, I will admit I was okay with the Kobe and Shaq running the boards back in the day, and Magic and the Showtime Lakers before them. And I kinda like Golden State today (The Curry fellow!), so there is probably some bias here. But just because I happen to like when the teams I like win, it doesn't make the underlying premise any less truthful. Sports have become less competitive as of late.
 |
| No, it's no real. But oh man, it would have been beautiful. |
I like to win as much as the next fellow. But winning isn't everything, and as it turns out winning all the damn time is not even good for you. It takes a special kind of player to win it all and still be humble. It takes an even more special fan to see their team win all the time and not act the ass. Most Alabama fans haven't mastered that art yet. That the organization that runs college football actually seems to encourage this is also disheartening. The idea of building character isn't constant victory. Wait, you didn't know that sport builds character, through adversity? As my brother once described it, in football as in life, after the last play is over you still have to line up for the next one, good, bad or ugly.
But I digress. Baseball needs to be ashamed of itself. And looking back I wish I'd played baseball. Sure the idea of a little horsehair knot screaming at my forehead at 103 mph is more than a bit unnerving. But I could have played in minors for twenty years and still turned a pretty penny. (I am aware that no I could not, it doesn't work like that but this is my baseball fantasy, hush up.) But baseball has the Yankees. A team that can hand out 200 million dollar contracts. To catch and hit a ball. Does baseball have a salary cap? I know big market teams usually can outspend small market teams. Technically that's fair, but then it really isn't.
Why am I talking about baseball?
That LeBron could "take his talents to South Beach" and win a championship with a good team, then go back home and win a championship with an okay team, then get back to the championship round with essentially a pickup squad, and is now in LA attempting to do the same thing is just... frightening. I'm not sure if it shows a lack of talent throughout the league, or that he really is that much better than everyone else. It may be a little of both. In any case, I makes me wonder about the viability of the league. No longer do we have squads sweeping in out of nowhere, Cinderella story style. No, the only reason we'll have a different East coast participator for this NBA finals is that 'bron-bron moved to Tinseltown. But we all know whose going to win. At least, I think we all do.
Which brings me back to the Pats going back the Superbowl. Quite frankly the entire AFC needs to be ashamed that it's come to this. Again. I for one am sick of it. The charm, the unpredictability of the game is diminished. Yes, the AFC championship had some drama this season but it ended the same way.Again. And still others may argue that having the Pats as the team to beat year after year is a kind of drama of sorts. I disagree. I'm really hoping that Brady discovers Scientology five minutes before kickoff and just retires to go spread the word of LRH.
I'm just so done with the dynasties. I mean, since you can't eliminate Cleveland after the first kickoff anymore, should there still be a team that feels destined to make it all the time. Where is the balance?
Barkeep, a drink. Doesn't matter. Hey, you know anyone with a spare Superbowl ticket that want to donate?
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