But even Phil Jackson may not have been able to save them from the repeat of an experiment that failed when he was there: bring in some aging superstars for a team that looks unstoppable, at least if you judge by old highlight reels. Injuries and lack of chemistry killed that Karl Malone/Gary Payton experiment, and the same factors ruined this season. Especially injuries.
Injuries to key players are the story for many teams. Oklahoma, Golden State and Chicago got through the first round despite them, but that's probably it. Everybody is competing to finally lose to Miami, which has played even better this year, despite injuries. Right now they're pretty healthy so it's probably pretty safe to snooze through June.
The NFL had their draft, and for all the volumes of words wasted on it, nobody has any idea of who is really going to be helped decisively. But even with a reputedly strong draft, I still see the Ravens as a lucky one month wonder. The Steelers seemed to have a good draft, everybody says, but I'm afraid I don't understand how they get better with no help to the offensive line.
Which brings me to the only sport and only team I really enjoy watching, baseball as played by the San Francisco Giants. In the early season they don't have their dominating starting pitching, but everything else is working as it was last fall. Lately they're coming from behind a lot, with games being tied and won in the very late innings. In that they remind me of my 1960 Pirates, and one of Bob Prince's signature sayings when they squeezed out a come from behind victory: "We had 'em all the way!"
Another 1960 Pirates reference: Pablo Sandoval is the best bad-ball hitter I've seen since Smoky Burgess.
But mostly (as I've said before) they are so much fun to watch. Especially at home, because even though I've been in that ballpark only once, it's an indelible memory. The combination of what a great park it is with the great fans--I saw a game in the Barry Bonds era, when there was always excitement and a lot of winning--makes it so easy for me to feel like I'm there while watching it on TV. So here's this story from this past weekend:
I watched the early innings of the Giants-Dodgers game on Saturday, when the Giants built a 5-1 lead. Then dinner time and then Saturday night movie time, so I only glanced at the score to see them behind as the Dodgers had scored 9. Then when our Netflix was over, the game was in the bottom of the ninth, tied 9-9, with Buster Posey up, the bases loaded and one out. Basically there are only a few ways you don't win with this combination. First of all, there's Posey, a great hitter, last year's MVP, who won the previous night's game against the Dodgers with homer in the last of the 9th. Posey had at least a dozen ways to put the ball in play and win the game. He could win the game just by being walked. The only bad things he could do were to strike out or foul out, but the next batter would still come up with the bases loaded. The worst thing he could do was hit into a double play. Which is what he did, on the second pitch I think.
So the TV went off, and by the time I got to my computer to check the score--I was prepared to go to my cave to resume watching--the game was over, the Giants had won in the 10th, via a home run, by a player I had never heard of: Guillermo Quiroz.
Later I checked the recap, and found out he was the backup catcher and pinch-hitter, and that he hit it with one out in the 10th. Much later, just before sleeptime, I turned on the TV--the Sportsnet Bay Area station often replays the entire game but I never know when--and there it was. I saw immediately that I had turned it on with the score tied 9-9 and the bottom of the 10th. I then saw there was one out, and I realized this was the guy. I saw exactly one pitch--it was the home run ball.
What a moment! The stadium was in delirium, and so was Quiroz. It was a line shot to left field that he and everybody knew was gone right away. He was ecstatic on the bases. He took his cap off, exposing a big round bald spot on the top of his head. Quiroz was a veteran journeyman with six major league teams that mostly kept him playing in the minors. This was his first home run of the year. He won a game with it in extra innings, at home, for the Giants, in very probably the oldest rivalry in major league baseball, the Giants and the Dodgers.
We were all part of a moment in that man's life he will never forget--and unlike a lot of such moments lately, this was one of joy, celebration, accomplishment, fulfillment, a dream come true.
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