At Least This Is A Fun Kind Of Madness

When I begin each blog, I sometimes have an idea about what I am going to write. Other times, I may begin with one item and then words start to flow. In the sports world, there is scant opportunity for writer’s block. 

There is always something happening in the week that passed. Right now, as seemingly in most months, we are in a period of overlap. Hockey and poor basketball are grinding towards the end of long regular seasons, seasons which feel longer because, at the start of COVID if the seasons happened at all, they were far shorter than they are now. 

When it’s your team which is underperforming, the end of the season cannot come soon enough. For those teams which make it to the playoffs, there is a renewed sense of hope for the fan base. Even if that optimism is much more emotional than logical. 

I think of the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers. I think of the Brooklyn Nets. I think of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals. None of these teams lead their respective divisions. 

Yet buoyed by the possible return of superstars or the continual play of their superstars, there is a belief that your team might catch fire and leap through opponents. After all, we love underdogs. Look at the groundswell for St. Peter’s University after two commanding victories in the NCAA Tournament over favored opposition. Ditto Iowa State, a team which was 2-22 last season, but with a new coach and judicious use of the transfer portal, the Cyclones are in the Sweet 16. 

` I heard Shaquille O’Neal, the former Lakers center, observe that Lebron James and company can emerge from the season-long funk that the team is mired in and actually beat the Phoenix Suns in a playoff series. How he arrived at that leap of faith is beyond me.

Is he trying to drum up ratings for TNT, where NBA post-season contests will be telecast? He might as well be on the unmanned rocket on the launch pad at Cape Kennedy waiting to send its payload to the Moon. 

But the faithful for so many teams want to hear from supposed experts or their former stars that their team can actually win it all despite some mortifying games through the course of the regular season. I am sure that the loyal supporters of the Toronto Maple Leafs feel that way—no Stanley Cup in Ontario since 1967, which was before the first expansion. 

It is what fueled the loyalists of the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs when those two franchises were in the doldrums until they attained the Holy Grail. I imagine that the fans of the San Diego Padres are still optimistic, even when superstar Fernando Tatis, Jr. went on the injured list after a foolish off-season motorcycle ride. For the Padres have NEVER won the World Series. 

In football, the off-season is full of twists and turns. In this time of free agency and trades, a seismic change in the landscape of the NFL can occur in the blink of an eye. With Carson Wentz gone, Indianapolis Colts fans wondered what was next? Well, Atlanta gave up on QB Matt Ryan, a fixture for the Falcons, and “Matty Ice” finds himself the man now in Indiana. 

How about the fate of the Kansas City Chiefs, Miami Dolphins and New York Jets being intertwined by movement with one player? When Hill rejected the Jets offer for him, and chose Miami as his destination,  Miami fans swooned over their new acquisition, while Jets fans were once more enraged over the team’s inability to effectuate meaningful change. 

All the while, KC re-tooled its wide receiver corps with some quality players, which should not hurt Patrick Mahomes II as the Chiefs compete in the now-loaded AFC West, where QB’s Justin Herbert (San Diego); Derek Carr (Las Vegas); and former Seattle QB Russell Wilson, the guy whose wife is Ciara (Denver). Those exhalations in San Diego, a city which hasn’t had a winner forever—and I mean forever—may be replaced with sighs as the recycling of players continues and injuries inevitably mount when the games begin to be played. 

Think of how the fans of the Golden State Warriors are feeling right now. The season began with such promise. A big lead in the standings. Pundits pronouncing that the Warriors were unbeatable and the undeniable favorite to win the NBA Championship. Steph Curry set the three point record. 

Then Draymond Green fell to injury. His influence on the way the team operates is everything. He is the  motor that drives the bus. And the team began to struggle. 

Sure, sharpshooter Klay Thompson returned from his long rehabilitation after his knee injury. That provided a boost. Green finally came back, and things seemed to be rosy again. 

Until Steph Curry went down with a foot injury and James Wiseman suffered a setback in his rehab from his knee injury. With the playoff looming in mid-April, what seemed like a great chance for the Warriors to have another dream run to the title is now definitely in question. 

This has resulted in a rollercoaster ride for the faithful. While they have hope, that optimism is certainly tempered by the reality of what has happened during the season. 

With the news that Mayor Eric Adams has lifted the vaccination mandate for athletes and performers in New York City, the Kyrie Irving saga has taken a new turn. Irving can now pair with Kevin Durant on the floor of Barclays Center, taking the stress off the best player on the planet as he tries to guide the Nets to a championship. Having Irving on the court makes the Nets more formidable—except in Canada, which is where the Toronto Raptors await as a likely play-in opponent. The vaccination mandate still is in place in the Great North. 

So, while Nets fans have had a fateful twist in the Irving odyssey, they continue to have angst over his vaccination status. This will be the same for Yankees fans who must endure Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo not being able to play in Canada for 9 games—which could make all of the difference in the world in what promises to be a tight AL East where the Blue Jays, Red Sox, Rays and Yankees are all playoff contenders. 

I can tell you that my wife, a lifelong Yankees fan, has lost respect for Judge. It didn’t help that Judge tweeted support for Irving when news of the lifting of the vaccination mandate was announced. Two peas in a pod. Let the fans be damned. 

Judge is headed to salary arbitration with the Yankees if the team and player cannot reach a new multi-year agreement. Judge asked for $21 million for the 2022 season. The Yankees countered with a paltry $17 million. 

Arbitration is a rough sport. The player cites how good he is and why he deserves the amount requested. The team then trashes him, pointing to how badly the player performed—his strikeouts, men left on base, games missed due to injury, etc. 

The Yankees beat up relief specialist Dellin Betances a number of years ago and it has weighed on Judge. He has said all of the right things about wanting to be a Yankee for life. Just as long as they pay him what he wants. While remaining unvaccinated. 

New York hasn’t won a crown since 2009. In Yankeeland, that seems like an eternity. Judge, Gerrit Cole, Giancarlo Stanton and all of the high-priced Bombers are eternally on the clock with the toughest and most loyal fanbase. 

So my wife and I are in the company of so many others who wish, hope, pray and do how many other ungodly things to root their hearts out for their teams, based on promises, conjecture and the projections of those supposedly in the know. 

Thankfully, there is the NCAA Tournament for a diversion. Until April 4, when it comes to an end in New Orleans. There are only 16 teams left and everyone’s bracket is busted. 

At least this is a fun kind of madness.