Last Saturday, the San Antonio Spurs visited the Los Angeles Clippers in a meeting of Western Conference frontrunners. It was, by all accounts, your typical NBA game. At least, it looked that way for 47 minutes and 50 seconds.
But, oh. How a game can change.
As sports have gained popularity and importance in society, watching sports has gone from a casual, passive form of entertainment to an obsession that plays a central role in the day-to-day mood of countless fans. We pour immense amounts of energy into rooting for our teams and hating others, and our enormous emotional investment in the fortunes of teams we have no direct connection to can seem irrational and ridiculous when looked at from a non-fan’s perspective.
Popular sports discussion has changed immensely in the last few years, transforming everything from how games are covered to the topics that keep talk shows going strong. Among myriad other novelties, we now hear about trades and injuries on Twitter before the athlete in question has even learned of his fate or gone to the hospital for an MRI.
Seven hundred thirty-seven days. That is how long we waited. But, it was worth it. Because, as of Sunday, some semblance of order finally, finally, returned to our lives in the most exciting way imaginable. We can take a couple of deep breaths, go about our daily business knowing that two plus two is four, and that Tiger Woods is, well, Tiger Woods.
Last week, I envisioned my first non-baseball column of the year as being fairly unremarkable, a way for me to buy time until a bigger and more exciting story came along. “Big,” yes. “Exciting,” not exactly. I’m referring, of course, to the ongoing scandal at Penn State, one that has shaken Happy Valley and the sports world to its very core.
It’s fair to say that the 2011 baseball season did not go the way any of us expected.
Amidst the recent media firestorm and with Theo Epstein all but out, the mess for the Red Sox has only just begun.
I’ve never been a particular fan of Red Sox owner John Henry. After what has gone on since the Red Sox epic 2011 collapse, however, my disdain has progressed to a slightly more pointed dislike. Sure, he’s saying and denying all the right things to the press now. But he has been at the center of plenty of controversy in the last three weeks, much of it having to do with two of the most prominent figures in Boston baseball history — both of whom are on their way out.
