The Lunacy of James Harrison

May 18, 2009May 23, 2010Danny Vinik Leave a comment

Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison says that he is going to skip the champion Steelers’ trip to the White House. Harrison doesn’t mention any political reason or scheduling conflict that prevents him from going. He just says, “I don’t feel it’s that big a deal to me”.

Seriously James? A chance to meet the President of the United States, one of the most powerful men in the world. A chance to forever have a picture with the first African-American President in the United State and to show that picture to your grand kids. A chance to put meager football players in comparison with the real world and the real problems beyond football. And you’re passing it all up.

James Harrison just doesn’t think it’s important though.

The fact that championship teams always meet and get a picture with the President has always confused me. What makes them deserve that? The answer I’ve come to is that it puts sports in perspective. Players are looked upon as larger-than-life heroes wherever they go. Place them next to President Obama though and they shrink to normal human beings. Continue reading “The Lunacy of James Harrison” →

Kobe Survives

May 17, 2009May 23, 2010Danny Vinik 2 Comments

Rockets Lakers Basketball The Los Angeles Lakers advanced to the Western Conference Finals with an 89-70 victory over the Houston Rockets in Game 7 of their series. And Kobe can breathe a sigh of relief. Even without Yao Ming for some of the series, the Rockets still pushed the Lakers to the brink of elimination and for Kobe to a career-crippling defeat. Kobe has faced so much scrutiny over the years for his character, his skill, his attitude, but this was a bit different.

This was Kobe vs Shane Battier. People have always wondered how good Kobe is, if he can carry a team to a championship, and if he is as good as Jordan (he’s not). This time though it was is Battier better at defense than Kobe is at offense. This was new to Kobe.

This Rocket team has limited scoring, especially with Yao out, but has great defensive players in Battier and Artest amongst others. Could the defensive stalwarts of Houston outlast Kobe and his Lakers?

Almost.

Battier played defense on Kobe like Kobe had never faced before throughout the entire series. Every shot, Battier has his hand millimeters from Kobe’s face. He fights through screens and hip checks every possession. He pushes Kobe around and forces him to his inefficiencies. Still, Kobe hits a shot and struts back up the court saying, “He can’t guard me” Continue reading “Kobe Survives” →

The Most Brutal Game In Sports

May 17, 2009May 23, 2010Danny Vinik 1 Comment

Want to know why hockey is the most brutal sport? Go watch a game seven in overtime and tell me you’ve ever experienced a more gut-wrenching, hear-pounding situation for a longer time. The Bruins-Hurricanes Game 7 last night ended regulation at 2-2 and headed to overtime where a next-goal-wins period ensued.

That is brutal. For every minute during that time, the teams fought for every loose puck, diving and throwing themselves, but nothing would go in. The fans stand and cheer the entire time, but at every turnover or bouncing puck, a silence falls over the arena at the chance of one team winning. Every shot draws shrieks from every fan in attendance and when a Bruins’ shot just missed, the place with fall back, cringing at a miss opportunity.

Now, in other sports there are certainly situations where this happens. Baseball has that 3-2 pitch in the bottom of the ninth. Football has that final second 45-yard field goal or the Hail Mary bomb. Basketball has the game-winning shot with 0.5 seconds left. Each one of those situations lasts at most for 1 minute. It is basically one gut-wrenching play to decide it all.

Hockey overtime is similar except that feeling lasts the entire time. From the drop of the puck in overtime until the game-winning goal, no one can relax for a moment. There aren’t even timeouts! It is 30 minutes of holding your breath and stomachs in knots. There is absolutely nothing tougher in sports to watch. Continue reading “The Most Brutal Game In Sports” →