Over the years, my more intellectual friends have wondered why I watch sports. I’m a pretty devoted NBA fan, despite the low quality of play nowadays. On the first day of the playoffs last spring, the Phoenix Suns pulled off a mind-blowing upset of a win against the San Antonio Spurs (who would triumph in the series and go on to win the NBA championship). I thought, “It’s stuff like this that makes me tune in again and again.”<\/p>\n
Now, here’s something else you should know about me: I will watch a playoff-game 7 in ANY sport. Even hockey, in which I have no interest whatsoever. There’s something about the double-elimination game that’s absolutely compelling. You might just get what happened to the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2000 NBA playoffs. Winning by SEVENTEEN points with less than 15 minutes to go, Portland put on one of the greatest exhibitions of choke-artistry ever witnessed. You could argue that the team never recovered from that loss.<\/p>\n
And then there’s what happened to the Cubs tonight, in game 6 of their National League Championship Series. They were 5 outs away from reaching the World Series for the first time since 1945, with one of the best pitchers in baseball throwing lights-out all evening, riding a 3-0 lead. The crowd was in a state of rapture, ready to watch their team finally return to the Big Dance.<\/p>\n
And in the span of 5 minutes, the roof caved in. The Florida Marlins dropped an astonishing EIGHT runs on the Cubs in the inning, and went on to win the game, forcing a game 7. It was a meltdown of monumental proportions. Can’t say I’ve ever seen anything like it. There’ve been implosions before (most notably game 6 of the 1986 World Series), but this one carried the weight of all that Cubbie futility.<\/p>\n
We’ll see what happens tomorrow night. I’d still like to see the Cubs get through to the Series. That way, after my Yankees dash the dreams of Red Sox fans tomorrow afternoon, they can thrash Chicago around and incur the enmity of all those fans for generations to come.<\/p>\n
(And, as much as I love game 7s, I’m REALLY hoping the Yankees finish off Boston in 6…)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Over the years, my more intellectual friends have wondered why I watch sports. I’m a pretty devoted NBA fan, despite the low quality of play nowadays. On the first day of the playoffs last spring, the Phoenix Suns pulled off a mind-blowing upset of a win against the San Antonio Spurs (who would triumph in … <\/p>\n