Ferris Bueller said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while you could miss it.”
He’s right. And sometimes you have to see those moments that are sure to predict the future. I have observed defining moments in all sports, and I’m not talking about the heroics that win games, but rather the actions that indicate certain doom is soon to follow.
In 1988, the Los Angeles Lakers were celebrating their second straight National Basketball Championship and in the locker room CBS broadcaster Brent Musburger was interviewing head coach Pat Riley while champagne showered in the room. The year before, when the Lakers won their first title under Reilly with Kareem Abdul Jabar playing a major role, in the wake of that title Riley said, “We will be back here again next year, this team will repeat as champions.”
They did.
The prediction and realization prompted Musburger to ask Riley whether he would now predict a third straight title for his Lakers? Before the coach could speak, Jabar, who had been listening to the exchange, put a towel in Riley’s mouth and indicated that he didn’t want the responsibility of a third straight title.
Jabar knew the work and challenges of winning it all, and didn’t want to commit to that level of effort again. He didn’t know that is what he was saying with the towel, but I did. Jabar won six NBA titles in his career, none after he stopped his coach from challenging him to win another.
I am a lifelong San Francisco Giants baseball fan. While fans of the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs were always getting headlines on how long it had been since they won a World Series, us San Francisco fans had never won one. That appeared ready to change in 2002 when in the sixth game of the World Series the Giants took a 5-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning.
Starting pitcher Russ Ortiz was sailing along and victory was just eight outs away when he was replaced by Giants manager Dusty Baker. Ortiz began to walk off the mound, but Baker stopped him and tossed him the ball a departing pitcher usually leaves at the mound for his replacement.
“Oh no,” I blurted out while attending a friend's Halloween party and watching the game in his family room. No one else in the room seemed to know what I was responded to, but tossing that ball like here is your souvenir of a World Series win was a fatal error. It wasn’t over, and you can’t do that on an opponents home field without paying a price.
The Angels scored three runs in the seventh, and three more in the eighth to win Game Six, 6-5. The next night, they won the series with a victory in Game Seven. I would be left waiting another eight years before the San Francisco Giants finally won their first World Series.
Tom Brady played in ten Super Bowls and won seven of them. After he guided the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV he had some extra fun in the team’s victory parade. Instead of having the parade on land, the Buccaneers opted to have a boat parade with their athletes spread out in a number of crafts.
During the celebration, Brady decided it would be fun to toss the Super Bowl Trophy from his boat to another, a move that could have found the Vince Lombardi Trophy sinking in the harbor. The pass was complete, but my radar went off and I knew that action was the behavior of a man done winning Super Bowls and now ready to simply bask in past glory.
The fact that Brady needed assistance exiting his boat, a little too much to drink the cause, was further evidence that the winningest Super Bowl quarterback of all time was done being focused on the future, and simply enjoying accomplishments already completed.
He will never win another one, I told Kevin, my son, as we watched the festivities.
He didn’t.
Last week, we had another athlete taking action that is certain to spell doom for his otherwise surging National Football League team. The Chicago Bears had a three point lead on the road against the Washington Commanders and time on the clock for only one more play. The celebration of the Bears win started early for second-year defensive back Tyrique Stevenson, who was waving in mock tribute to the Washington fans when the ball was snapped fifty yards up field.
Commanders Quarterback Jayden Daniels had ten seconds to scramble around in the pocket before getting a clear path to launch a desperation Hail Mary pass. That was enough time for Stevenson to get back into the play that he missed the snap on, time to run towards the scrum as Daniels' pass would fall just short of the endzone.
Stevenson leaped up and tipped the ball into the endzone where Washington receiver Noah Brown caught it with the ease of a father tossing one underhanded to his four-year-old daughter.
Game over. Commanders win. Stevenson is roasted by the media and his hometown fans.
He apologies and hopes to move on.
Not so fast I suggest. His arrogance heading into that final play was not only his; he was in a context set that had many more Chicago players enjoying the same level of optimism that spilled over to arrogance. Stevenson was just the lightning rod that lit up a deeper concern in the Bears camp.
You know what that means?
It means we can cash a ticket this week betting against the Bears.
Qoxhi Picks: Arizona Cardinals (pk) over Chicago Bears