Just Like That, It's Over

  Just like that, it was over. That statement applies to so many things in sports. The Yankees 11 game winning streak. The dirty hit on the Warriors’ Gary Payton II by Memphis’ Dylan Brooks. Or the goal by Pittsburgh in the third overtime by the Penguins in Game 1 of their series with the Rangers. Maybe even James Harden’s career, as we watch the Sixers flounder without Joel Embiid. 

Look at sports any way you want. There is a finality to every contest and every series. Some games seem to ease into the ending. Others are wrapped in controversy or a spectacular moment. 

It can be a knockout punch by a boxer, the metaphor used by many announces to describe the conclusion of a playoff series, especially when it ends a winner-take-all game. Perhaps it involves a walk off home run or a bases loaded strikeout from an ace closer. 

Maybe it is a winning jump shot which rolls or bounces around before settling into the bottom of the net. We’ve seen those many times before. 

Unquestionably, sports is loaded with drama. A single play in a pressure situation is all it takes. Especially if a superstar is the focal point. 

Sometimes the official makes the decisive call. A strike to end the game. A penalty at a critical time. Or a foul which places a player in a position to win the game. 

Sure, the pre-game anticipation builds with the importance of the clash. Media hype can make the moment even more compelling when it does occur.

Those who grew up with Jim Mc Kay’s voice over on ABC’s Wide World of Sports completely understand …”the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat…” graphically displayed with the ski jumper’s slide off a slick ramp. We exalt when Tiger Woods is victorious or even makes a birdie putt in his comeback from the disastrous car accident. We also exhale when Aroldis Chapman gets through the ninth inning, saving another victory for the Yankees. 

Competition is the essence of the soul. But it is not mutually exclusive from cooperation, which is defined by team sports. For any one athlete to succeed, it takes a group of like-minded individuals operating in sync.

We glorify those who win. Yet we forget those who succumb to injury or defeat, or at least we do not give them the credit they may be due. 

The University of Michigan fight song “Hail to the Victors” expects nothing less. The demands placed on those who compete fails, in many instances, to account for the brilliance of an athlete or team to reach the championship. 

There used to be third place or consolation games at basketball tournaments. It gave the teams that battled to the penultimate game another opportunity to walk away with a little piece of glory. There is no shame to finish with a silver or bronze medal at the Olympics. 

Even the NFL had The Bert Bell Benefit Bowl, held at the Orange Bowl from 1960 through 1969. Imagine an era without a Super Bowl and a real game to establish which team is third-best in the league. So outdated.  

C’mon, really? At the same time when legendary Green Bay Packers Head Coach Vince Lombardi offered this nugget of wisdom:

“Winning is not a something thing, it is an all time thing. You don’t just do

things right once in a while…you do them right all the time.”

He added: “Winning is not everything, but wanting to win is…Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” But leave it to that noted late and great Yankees player and American humorist, Yogi Berra, to put it all in perspective: “You wouldn’t have won if we’d beaten you.”

Maybe the Yankees heard about my vicious blog excoriating them. That might have been the motivation for the 11 game streak, notwithstanding that it included wins over second tier opponents like Baltimore and Cleveland. Highly unlikely. 

Nonetheless, those in the doldrums—Aaron Judge, Gleyber Torres, newcomer Isiah Kiner-Falefa and, to some extent, perennial below the Mendoza line “superstar” Joey Gallo—came alive when it was needed most, to propel the Bombers into first place, with the best record in MLB. 

Of course, the old adage about pitching applies—you can never get enough good pitching. Which has been the real weapon for the Yankees. Both the starting and relief pitching has been superb. Granted that the schedule has been kind to New York, but the players are paid to play the games required of them. 

And when it suddenly came to an end Wednesday night in the Rogers Centre, a.k.a., the place formerly known as Sky Dome, Yankees fans were sad for losing a winnable game for 12 wins in a row. The final scoop by Toronto first baseman Vlad Guerrero, Jr. of a low throw to first by Matt Chapman on a ball hit by IK-F may have punctuated the end to a great early season streak. 

No longer a celebration over the 11 win streak, the focus was only on the loss. But many teams are as dominant over such a stretch—especially early in the season—a season which had an odd start due to the attenuated labor negotiations. The answer is precious few. 

A lot can come from a loss. Should the weather cooperate and allow any of the three scheduled games to be played this weekend, the Yankees can start a new winning streak,  showing what kind of mettle this team has. 

College basketball coaches aren’t saddened by a loss during a conference tournament. Why? Because it gives them a valuable teaching moment for their young charges, diverting their attention from the momentary loss to focusing on what the goal should be all along—winning a bigger prize. 

I am certain that Aaron Boone knows this and would like his team to get back on the winning track as quickly as possible. Yet he also recognizes that it is a 162 game marathon played in a shorter amount of time than normal, which means that there will be peaks and valleys. His eyes, and that of his team, are on capturing the first World Series title since 2009. 

Look at Golden State. In 2016, the year they won a record 73 games, the team failed to win the NBA title. So they learned from that hard loss to Lebron James, Kyrie Irving and the rest of the Cleveland Cavaliers and won titles in 2017 and 2018. 

Now that they are whole, the Warriors believe they are truly in contention for another title. The opposition is stiff. In the West, Memphis, the current opponent, has a virtually unstoppable Ja Morant (largely because Payton, the one who could hold him in check, is now gone); Phoenix looks every bit as awesome as they were in the regular season when healthy. And in the East, Milwaukee, Boston and Miami are illegitimate title contenders. 

What is going to happen to all but one team is that they will not become champion. What the non-victorious will be remembered for and what they will have accomplished in losing will not matter in the climate of professional sports. 

What will happen is this—like the Yankees streak, the no hitter the Mets put on the Phillies or the next OT winner in the Stanley Cup Playoffs or the retirement of C. Vivian Stringer, Hall of Fame Women’s Head Coach at Rutgers—just like that, it will be over.