It's hard to know exactly where this latest Chicago sports disappointment falls into place. What was heading towards a historical playoff series with El Heat -- essentially good vs. evil -- careened off track prematurely. As soon as the fibers of a certain ACL were shredding with 72 seconds remaining in Game 1 against Philly, the chances of that year-long anticipated rematch vanished. After the injury, I realized that I quickly processed one of the more commonly studied acronyms in medicine: DABDA. Well, most of it.
Denial: Maybe it's just a sprain. If we can prolong the series against Philly, Rose will be back in a week
Anger: Dammit Thibs! Why is Rose in there with a minute left in the game?!??!
Bargaining: Fine, Just let Miami and Boston lose. Please?
Depression: Currently ongoing
Acceptance: I'll get back to ya.
I had a hard time figuring out how to feel after Rose went down. Obviously I knew it was over, but it's hard to just turn the switch off, I mean, it's not like I'm a Miami "fan" where going to a game and "cheering" for a team is like going to see a concert - purposefully miss the opener, show up late, exciting, and then it's over and forgotten. I admired the way the Bulls continued to play hard, underscored with every second I watched of Atlanta Hawk basketball. Lesser teams would've been blown out at some point in that series. Not the Bulls. It's tough that effort like that goes unnoticed. I admire Deng giving everything he has. He's limited offensively but plays his ass off. As does Taj, Noah, and most of the roster. Boozer? Well, I think it's crystal clear that he's the new Soriano. He flat out stinks, will have a mediocre game every now and then when nothing is on the line and utterly shrivels away at the first inkling of a big moment. That's it. We're stuck.
So as things stand now, LeBron will waltz through to the finals without a challenge or adverstiy - exactly how he and the city of Miami prefer it. LeBron may be the least self-aware person on the planet. Which, as it happens, is why he's such a perfect fit in Miami. Miami is a pathetic sports town. In fact, calling it a sports town is a disservice to sports towns. To be a sports town there has to be fans, so already Miami is eliminated. But that's just the thing. Miami doesn't even realize that they're laughed at and mocked for their inability to support a team, and nor does LeBron.
Each sports city has its own unique culture.
Miami (I'll bend the definition of "sports city" for now to include Miami) - as stated earlier, views sports as an equivalent to a concert. 3 hours of entertainment without any connection to the performers. Will only show up if they're the prohibitive favorite, otherwise it's "not cool." Can't be seen as rooting or caring about a team that may lose.
Boston - Insists they are the center of the sports galaxy no matter what. Have a completely unwarranted sense of being owed something.
New York - Foreign concept that they are not always the best which is why they overreact to any mediocre team they have.
L.A. - Ummm, close 2nd to Miami as the worst fans. Similar in the fact that no one would care at all if they weren't at or near the top.
But I digress. As far as the Philly game goes, I couldn't even bring myself to watch games 3-5. I wasn't planning on watching game 6 but boy does twitter make it difficult to avoid something. I got yanked in about mid 4th quarter. My mild excitement was each time checked by the reminder that this team had no chance of doing anything and even if they managed to pull this series out we'd all be tortured with a Celtics series in the next round. I'd rather be water-boarded than watch Rondo do anything other than get thrown out of a game. Watson should NOT have passed the ball, but the foul on Asik was ABSOLUTELY a flagrant. The refs were too gutless to make that call. Typically, ripping an opposing player down by the neck is not a routine foul. Whatever. The season's over, mercifully, but the pain continues as long as LeBron is still scowling at a 4th string point guard he just hit a jumper over, the fake-tan, gold chain-wearing, spiked-hair, tank top and sunglasses inside-sporting Miami fans are still doing something other than staring at themselves in the mirror of a juice bar, and the Cubs, yes, the Cubs are the best thing going in Chicago. Uggh.
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