"With any luck, the Celtics close out tonight"
-Kent Jackson before Game 6
I appreciate your sympathies, Lynn. I would like to hear about Ben's magical jinxing power to see if it could trump my own bravado of "closing out tonight..."
Ugh, what an idiot!
Meanwhile, the TV in the Jackson household is about to endure a week of The Bachelorette, So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing with the Stars, American Idol, Gossip Girl, 90210, and countless reruns of Gilmore Girls.
I'm not asking for your pity. Really, I'm not. It's hard to complain when I've subjected Dana to so many sports over the last few months*, but I just don't think I've prepared yet for the monsoon of reality TV (or Gilmore Girls).
*Dana walked into the room the other night and said, "where are the Celtics' regular players?" I replied, "They're all injured." She said, "I meant Rondo, where's Rondo?" I was happy with this as it compared favorably to when she asked, "The Celtics are playing the Magic? don't they have J.J. Redick?" How do you respond when your wife - who knows very little basketball - asks about a player like J.J. Redick? I got all aloof and called her out on her J.J. fandom...I hate that guy.
Anyway, the Celtics showed a lot of heart this year in the playoffs, but I say they quit in Game 7. Yes, they were on their last legs and yes they had significant injuries, but I felt like they thought "Hey we have won so many Game 7s over the last two years, they'll just give us this one, right?" Not so.
The Magic is a team that I don't really have any feelings one way or the other about, so it's not that bitter a pill to swallow, definitely not as humiliating as the inevitable sweep against Cleveland would be this round. I just wish they had kept it close to the last 5 minutes and pressured the Magic into collapsing like they've done a couple other times. I was also hoping for another Rondo-riffic performance, but he played average. But hopefully - and I said this last year too - he'll take the off season and study some tape and notice how far off of him defenders play, then work on a jump shot. He would be unguardable.
Since this is a goodbye to the Celtics, I must say that I knew they wouldn't repeat when Garnett was pronounced "done for the season." But I was proud of their post-season and the games they won on sheer determination. I mean, Scalabrine was playing 20 minutes a game?! Big Baby hitting game winners?! How am I complaining?!
Having said all that, my main criticism on Kobe is that he can't be Jordan when he allows his team to be eliminated by 20+ points (he's done this numerous times). Well, no one is calling Pierce "Jordanesque," but he did allow his team to be beaten by 19 at home in a Game 7. Maybe he was spent, whatever I don't care. The last five minutes were terrible, luckily I can just watch last years highlights to try and forget it. It wasn't all on him, but I expected more. But oh well, good job, Magic! And good luck with LeBron next round...
(and speaking of Kobe, the Lakers going to Game 7 was a joke, Nuggets in 6).
Don't worry about my sports intake...I've still got the slumping Red Sox to watch (lost 2 of 3 to the stinking Mariners last weekend). Does Friday Night Lights Season 3 count as sports?
Who am I kidding? I will still "witness" LeBron play...
1 comment:
I texted my buddy Will, a University of Memphis Tigers fan, near the end of regulation during the 2008 national championship game. The Tigers were cruising up to that point, then crashed and burned. I sometimes try and reverse jinx the Cats but it never works--I did it right before we got blown out AT HOME by Georgia in basketball. I'm sure Lynn can think of more examples, but that's all I've got right now.
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