2017 Cleveland Indians Positional Previews: Third Base
February 5, 2017What does a Super Bowl win mean for the future of Tom Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo?
February 6, 2017As a fan of sport who loves watching the game’s best compete on the biggest of stages under the brightest of lights, I feel confident in saying we may never have another 12-month stretch as we have between June of 2016 and this past Sunday night. Rooting interests aside, the way the NBA Finals, World Series, and Super Bowl unfolded were each, individually, movie scripts on their own. For them to all occur sequentially? Fewer words can describe it outside of “incredible.”
Forget the odds and the math and the likelihoods and the line charts. The Cleveland Cavaliers did something that had never been done in the history of the NBA when they came back from a 3-1 deficit, laughing in the face of home court advantage, and won Game 7 in epic fashion. The Chicago Cubs would do something similar this past summer, but it was a game-tying home run from one of the most unlikely of sourcesâoff of the most unlikely of sourcesâthat would force extra innings in Game 7. Then Sunday night, with the Atlanta Falcons cruising through the game’s first 50 minutes, up three scores and the FOX Sports team displaying a graphic that read these types of leads resulted in a record of 93-0, fans were given a finish that made the “One Yard Short” finish of Super Bowl 34 look like a preseason game.
These three finishes, be they through the course of a seven-game series or a one-game win-or-go-home scenario, are so significant that we almost forget that the 2016 men’s basketball championship was decided on the first buzzer beater in college basketball championship game history when Villanova’s Kris Jenkins sank North Carolina, this after UNC guard Marcus Paige hit an absurd, double-clutch three-pointer to cap a comeback from a 10-point deficit. Months later, the football version of the collegiate championship would come down to Clemson’s final drive, coming back from a two-touchdown deficit to upset the favored Crimson Tide of Alabama. Had Kyrie Irving’s three-pointer come at the buzzer, we would have had two buzzer-beaters, the equivalent of such in football with two come-from-behind wins, and a World Series that went beyond nine innings. More rare than a Grand Slam in tennis or a Triple Crown in horse racing, it’s the sort of epic stretch of high-profile contests that defies logic, one that will be hard-pressed to ever, ever be repeated.
More rare than a Grand Slam in tennis or a Triple Crown in horse racing, it’s the sort of epic stretch of high-profile contests that defies logic, one that will be hard-pressed to ever, every be repeated.
Each team, each player, each coach… Outside of the games themselves, you have plenty of overriding narratives. LeBron James returns to Cleveland to make right and help the city win its first title in 50-plus years. The Chicago Cubs, after a century of failure, build a team that could be on the verge of a dynasty, leveraging a rain delay to triumph. The New England Patriots, for all their winning, had their quarterback suspended for the first four games of the season, traded their best linebacker midway through the year, and were without their best offensive play maker. The list goes on. I mean, J.R. Smith is an NBA Champion!
Given the teams that won in 2016, and how they went about doing so, it’s difficult to concoct a scenario that would be better. Sure, outright domination is fun if it’s your favorite team doing the dominating2, but for the casual fan, one who lives within the storylines, the last 12 months have been the sort of narratives that live in the heads of screenwriters. The NBA has a fun hashtag for their social media channels called #thisiswhyweplay. If anyone ever questions why you love sports as much as you do, all you need to do is point them to any of the championship games over the last year.
#thisiswhywewatch
This week’s edition of #ActualSportswriting:
- “The Anthem: Six voices on the song everyone hears differently” buy Tom Junod (ESPN)
- “The education of a coach’s son” by Kevin Clark (The Ringer)
- “The misunderstood genius of Russell Westbrook” by Sam Anderson (NYT Mag)
And finally, a big thank you to everyone who has supported us on Patreon. We’ve added even more benefits to becoming a patron, so if you have the time, feel free to head over to at Patreon.com/WFNY and help support the cause.
66 Comments
Nice perspective, Scott. I hadn’t thought about it that way, but we may have just finished up The Year of All Years that will be talked about for decades.
I was really hoping to see Alex Mack get the ring. Ah well.
I sent condolences to a friend in Atlanta this morning. He said the whole city is in agony.
RGB has got to have sad people all around him today.
And Mack just didn’t have that punch last night. Several times I saw him get moved backwards, which just isn’t Mack.
Crazy year of sports. Going to be tough for the next year to top it.
Three great championships. The losing teams were all great teams that were finally exposed at the very end.
I’m glad I’m not an Atlanta fan this morning. That stuff is devastating.
Also glad I’m not a Niners fan who gets to look forward to more great play calls from Kyle Shanahan.
https://twitter.com/ZachKleinWSB/status/828627287348219906
I didn’t want to give up hope before yesterday’s big game, but well, now it’s official: the Browns didn’t win the Super Bowl again this year:(
The wife was bummed.
But, I’ve pre-conditioned her by exposing her to Cleveland fandom.
The positive side is that more people will acknowledge that Matt Ryan is such a great QB and he’ll be around for quite awhile.
His leg definitely wasn’t 100%
Shanahan’s playcalling was suspect near the end, but the real difference was the defense running out of gas, just like Alabama.
I don’t know. He made some bad calls, but he also developed that offense into the No. 1 unit in the NFL. I’d take my chances.
Don’t know what you are talking about. Mingo, D.Lewis, and Sheard all got rings. Heck, so did Belichick. Sure, Mack, Gabriel, and K.Shanahan didn’t, but all former Browns cannot win every year.
I think Atlanta will be drafting some DBs.
I know. I’m just being snarky b/c I think he’s kind of a d-bag.
Take it from us…they shouldn’t draft DBs…especially those who claim they will “wreck this league.”
– I have no trouble admitting my dislike of Brady and Belichick, which made last night’s game more of an agonizing march toward frustrating inevitability than an exciting comeback for me as a viewer. And that the chronically insufferable Boston fans get yet another thing to thump their chests over is nauseating.
– I hope Brady gives his MVP goodies over to Julian Edelman for bailing Tom out on a heave into traffic. It’s not that Brady didn’t finally wake up and play toward the end, but I’d have put White or Edelman ahead of him on my MVP ballot. It’s not as egregious as Peyton Manning getting MVP of Super Bowl XLI, but at what point do we just start calling it the Quarterback of the Winning Team trophy?
– That Matt Ryan to Julio Jones play–Ryan on the run threading a pass to a leaping Jones for a tap-dance routine on the sideline–was one of the most amazing plays I’ve seen. It’ll get forgotten by and large in the aftermath, but it was at least as impressive as what Aaron Rodgers and Jared Cook did against the Cowboys.
– Malcolm Butler, pick up your jock and turn in your helmet, son.
– I do not want Jimmy Garoppolo for any combination of first and/or second round picks.
– I’ll still take Super Bowl XXIII (Niners-Bengals) as best Super Bowl I’ve ever seen, and Joe Montana as greatest QB I’ve ever watched.
He did. And I hope someone sends him a PowerPoint detailing how he did it.
Is Lombardi still a special assistant?
I can’t hold fleeing that goat rodeo against him.
Indians weren’t exposed so much as injuries finally caught up to them.
What is a goat rodeo?
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Goat%20Rodeo
One note that was never confirmed but widely suspected is also that the Ray Farmer sideline texting mysteriously was uncovered by the NFL in the same timeframe.
He was “allowed to leave” though he always has great things to say about NE
This past year has been an incredible one for sure. I know many don’t care about soccer, but Leicester City winning the Premier League was the most improbable out of any of the sports finishes this past year. They faced 5,000-1 odds!
The first Julio sideline catch was just perfect technique.
The second Julio sideline catch (that you reference) was inordinate athleticism doubled with perfect technique.
The Edelman catch was more important than either (obv.).
But, if we are talking best SB catches ever, then it’s another hated duo. Ben to Holmes against the Cardinals. Hate even typing it.
Can’t believe I forgot about this. Good call, Jacob. I think the issue here is that while their season-long destruction of the odds was a terrific story, there wasn’t a championship match like those explained above.
Time to expand my vocabulary!
So what you’re saying is that Mack and Schwartz didn’t win their teams a Super Bowl? Good thing we “let em walk”! đ
Given the Falcons LBers, I also wonder if more people will realize that Peppers can play S/LB hybrid in today’s NFL
Benjamin didn’t even push his team into the playoffs!
When the announcers kept bringing up Gabriel last night (3rd quarter I think?), my younger son went on a tirade of “Who cares about him… the Browns let Benjamin go who is so much better”
We woulda went 3-13 with those guys anyway!
Let’s say 4-12. Would picking No. 6 in the draft instead of No. 1 hurt us more than not having them?
What do we say to first round tweeners, Alfred Blue?
http://media.nola.com/saints_impact/photo/alfred-blue-barkevious-mingo-1e7cd4c9eb1090c8.jpg
We’ll know for sure after the trade down.
Huge difference. DE/OLB was a true tweener between positions.
LB/S is now a legitimate NFL position that every team needs to have on their roster for defensive audibling. Used to be called the “Monster” in the old days.
Also, I hope nj0 saw Mingo run right past the onside kick attempt. He got to the wrong spot so incredibly fast (it wouldn’t have mattered since the kicker touched the ball but still funny).
Texts from Ray…. calls from Kyle….. hmmm……
great post B-BO … Malcolm Butler was the hero in their Super Bowl win against the Seahawks … what a great player. but you are right , i’m surprised he didn’t blow-out his knees on that play.
I had that same thought when I saw that Mingo play and I laughed and laughed. Never going to get old. Bless you, nj0.
And I’d still like to see if we have a coaching staff that can develop players in traditional positions before I have any confidence that we can incorporate hybrid ones.
I feel that Steelers catch, but I think the Julio catch where Ryan threw it an inch above the defender’s hands could be the best catch i’ve ever seen. I am still dumbfounded. It’s the whole play, not just the catch.
Gregg Williams with Mark Barron would like a word with you.
And I’d still like to see if we have a coaching staff that can develop players IN CLEVELAND in traditional positions before I have any confidence that we can incorporate hybrid ones.
(Sorry, should have been more specific.)
Is there something in the water that will sap his coaching ability? Too much flouride maybe?
I love it when people reference my posts đ
Julio’s was a more difficult catch. Adding in game situation & meaning to that Holmes one makes it tough to top.
That’s as likely a reason as any for everything that’s happened with this franchise since ’99
I’ll talk to my dad about getting less flouride pumped in. Think he has enough contacts throughout the city that we can get something done especially if it is noted to help the Browns out.
Chancellor is the poster child for that position, and he has 30 pounds on Peppers.
Barron is the same size. Mathieu plays it and is miniscule.