The time is now
History has an ugly habit of repeating itself from time to time. It has the chance to do so because people either forget about it, or don’t learn from its mistakes.
Most often when people think about bad historical consequences they think of war. And who wouldn’t? War affects everyone, regardless of whether or not they follow politics, the news, or the events leading up to it.
But what frustrates me is when history repeats itself in the line of sports, specifically with this year’s NBA finals. You would think that with enough commentators to over-populate the island of Ellesmere and enough coverage to practically live a day in the life of some of these players that we would learn from our mistakes, especially coming down to the playoffs.
Now, I understand that some games cannot be predicted. Take the final four in this year’s March Madness. The whopping four people in the nation who saw that coming were idiots. But once the final four were set, most of the nation knew that UCONN would pull it off. With their history, Jim Calhoun, and young team, it’s hard to argue that feeding them a streak of success would make them hungry for the title.
Same with the Superbowl this year. Sure, it was a close game during some parts. But the Cinderella/underdog excuse can only go so far, sometimes. If you do your homework and look at both teams, you don’t even need to see them play to know what the outcome is.
In that game, there was a point between the third and fourth quarter when Clay was told by linebacker coach Kevin Greene “it’s time.”
The Packers were struggling to gain momentum and the Steelers were making headway. Those couple words were what made that game spectacular, in that Matthews managed to sack Mendenhall, make him fumble the ball and turn it over to the Packers. Those words are the spark that can inspire a player to make that one defining play, and like UCONN, once you taste success, it’s hard to keep you from wanting to bring home the trophy.
So what irks me is the coverage that’s been shadowing LeBron James and the Heat. Yeah, he’s been putting fewer and fewer points on the board, especially in Game 4, ESPECIALLY during the fourth quarters. But to say that he’s “checked out” and putting all of the pressure now on Dwyane Wade to compensate isn’t what the Heat needs.
What the Heat need is that spark, and irritation from the media and friction between James and the rest of the nation is what’s going to make it. You do the best when you’re under pressure. You do the best when you KNOW the outcome of a play, or game is on you. We’ve seen this time and time again, and I truly believe that despite the Heat and their recent struggles, they’re going to come out of it victorious. It’s just, history.
Allie Delury 