It’s often said that every journey begins exactly the same. Whether it’s a triumphant Lord of the Rings-esque journey ending in untold riches and life affirming self-discovery, or it’s a Billy Bob’s fateful trip to the local mini-mart that ends in a botched robbery, police standoff and a once promising life now spent behind bars, it all begins with an innocuous first step.
Sometimes that first step can be a harbinger of things to come, and other times, a red herring on a twisting and turning path which not even Nostradamus himself could see coming. It may have been left out of the final text, but, it’s a little known fact that Frodo Baggins himself rolled his ankle pretty good on that first step outside the Shire and actually considered turning back (There has been no confirmation, however, that Billy Bob found a penny heads up when he walked out the door that fateful day.).
While everyone likes to get things started on the right foot, real life rarely plays out like a movie, where the opening scene often foreshadows a string of serendipitous events leading to the most predictable of Hollywood endings that ties it all together in a nice tidy bow.
In real life (and, yes, we’re counting sports as “real life”) however, there are few storybook endings, and things rarely stick to the script. Each season, every talking head, prognosticator and “expert” spends weeks on end fully digesting the past season, combing over the big offseason moves and then breaks the entire season down to a few simple words, in an attempt to set a narrative for the forthcoming season.
“These teams are good”…. “These teams are bad”… “These teams are in the middle, and thus, completely irrelevant”… “LeBron James is amazing”… etc.
It’s all in a (mostly futile) attempt to figure out the entire season before it starts. Considering how often the so-called “experts” are correct in their prognostications, it’s amazing how much time all of us sports junkies spend combing through these season previews as if they’re gospel, and spend even more time debating their validity, even though it always simply comes down to whether or not they think the team I like is going to be good or not.
Then, when the season starts, and things don’t go exactly how we all thought, the entire sports community, in unison, becomes Tom Smykowski and busts out their Jump to Conclusions Mat (Moot!).
Yet, while I am quick to point out the patent absurdity of such dramatic overreactions to what amounts to a miniscule amount of evidence, I would be fooling myself if I said anything other than how fantastic it all is.
Because, you see, this constant overreaction to the most inconsequential of minutia is exactly what makes being a sports fan so dang fun. It’s the roller coaster of emotions that each game sends you on, and how each new data point suddenly becomes the only one that matters.
Two years ago, the Portland Trail Blazers were expected to be a bottom feeder once again, with a young team full of rookies and an opening night matchup against the championship favorite Los Angeles Lakers and their new unstoppable superstar trio of Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard and Steve Nash. So, when the Blazers, led by wise-beyond-his-years rookie point guard Damian Lillard took down the mighty Lakers, Portland was abuzz with talks of a surprising playoff run and a big “you suck” to all those who “doubted” this young Blazer team.
81 games later, and the team was mired in an ugly 13-game losing streak, on their way to a 33-49 season. Right about where everyone predicted. Oh, and that Lakers team? Not nearly as good as everyone thought, as they just snuck into the playoffs as the 8th seed, before getting swept out by the San Antonio Spurs. So much for that big opening night win against a league power.
Of course, the flip side of that coin was last year. Most people, including Blazer fans, were expecting a modest boost in the team’s win total, with an outside shot at sneaking into that final playoff spot in the loaded Western Conference. Things were cautiously optimistic in Blazerland, heading into the season with a matchup against a rag-tag bunch of nobodies in the certain-to-be bottom-feeding Phoenix Suns set to kick things of in glorious fashion for this up and coming Blazer squad.
However, after limping out of the Valley of the Sun following a demoralizing 13 point thumping at the hands of the lowly Suns, you’d be hard pressed to find a Blazer fan who wasn’t spouting doom and gloom for the team’s fortunes going forward.
Fast forward another 28 games, and the Blazers were the hottest team in the league, out to a scorching 24-5 start, while the Suns are equally as surprising, jumping out to a 19-11 start of their own, on their way to 48 wins.
All this to say that while it’s easy to get jacked up following last night’s triumphant Blazer victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder, it’s but the first step on the long, arduous journey, full of countless twists and turns that is the NBA season. LaMarcus Aldridge isn’t going to shoot 100% from 3-point land, but, Damian Lillard isn’t going to average 10 points per game, either. Things are just getting started.
So, strap in and get ready to enjoy what is sure to be another adrenaline pumping roller coaster ride of a season, because, while we all love to be right and play the “I told you so!” card, it’s not simply about where things finish, it’s about relishing the raucous ride. The Lord of the Rings has nothing on this epic journey of adventure, redemption and self-discovery.
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