Wednesday, April 30, 2003

Going To DC It appears that Linus and I will be taking a trip to Washington DC this July, to see my friend Jim during his short stateside return prior to shipping back out to the UAE. Linus and I are going alone, because we'll have a newborn at that point in the summer, and I can't leave Jane alone with two kids, and Jane and the baby aren't going to be travelling that soon after the birth.  So, it's just us boys.  I've talked to Linus about it, and he seems excited, even though he probably doesn't know what it means yet.  He knows we're going to fly in an airplane (A red one, he hopes...), he knows we are going to see the Washington Monument (which he recognizes from a book I have), and he knows we are going to the Aerospace Museum, where there are lots of airplanes and spaceships. As we sat in the yard the other day, I was watching him play, and thinking to myself that it's going to be a good thing for him to have time with a parent, all to himself, after going through three weeks of having a new baby in the house. And then I thought about how this trip is still three months away, and that he will have grown and changed so much in that time.  Not just his normal growth rate, which is already considerable.  His whole world is going to change with the baby coming, becoming a big brother, vying for attention.  It's a lot of change in three months, but I'm probably making a bigger deal of it than it will be to him.  Regardless, we'll have a great time in DC; I'll get to see Jim, and Linus will get to play with Jim's daughter Mercedes.  We'll miss Melissa and daughter #2 Reeve during our visit, unfortunately, but none of that will really matter to Linus, as long as we see those spaceships I've been telling him about. 3:22:45 PM    Say what?[]

Reality Bites Ouch.  It's hard to describe how disappointing it is for Wolves fans to see the team battle to a 2-2 series tie, then have a chance to play the three-time defending champs with home court advantage to close the series, only to get blown out by 30. You remember the Dull Pain of the Wolves Fan?  That pain just got a lot sharper. There's not much to say about last night's game, really.  The Lakers came out aggressive, and got contributions from several players.  The Wolves got in a hole, started taking (and missing) passive and quick jumpers, and that was your ballgame.  The Wolves never took advantage of Shaq's foul trouble, never got anything from Hudson or Wally or anybody else not named KG, and never gave their largest crowd a chance to be a factor. I stand by what I wrote yesterday, that Game 5 was a defining moment.  Is there any doubt that what happened last night will stick with the Wolves for years to come?  Hell, we're still talking about the lost chance against Seattle, and that was in freakin' 1998.  What hurts most isn't the loss, it's that they didn't compete.  After playing the Lakers toe-to-toe for four games, and finally showing that they could play with this team, last night was the absolute worst thing that could happen.  There was a thought that even if the Wolves didn't advance out of this series, with the way they represented themselves in this series it could still be viewed as a step forward, so long as they competed and played hard.  But now?  Now we're back to wondering if Kenny and Charles and Peter Vescey really do have it right, and KG and the Wovles are just a bunch of pretenders.  Even as a Wolves fan, I don't know the answer to that question. But enough of that.  It is tempting to write a post-mortem on this team, on KG's true ability to carry a team in crunch time, on Wally's ability to merely not hurt his team, much less justify the 6 year, $63 million dollar contract he is about to start. But there's only one little problem with that post-mortem, and that is that the Wolves aren't quite dead yet.  Like Dosha The Miracle Dog, the Wolves have now been run over, shot in the head, and put in the freezer to die.  And that's exactly why this series has a chance to go seven games.  You see, the Dull Pain of the Wolves Fan lies in the principle that you have to really care, and really believe in something, before it can hurt you the most.  As a Wolves fan, in certain situations we can divine the future by asking this simple question: What would hurt Wolves fans the most? The answer isn't to get swept by the Lakers, or even to lose in six.  It is for Wolves fans to believe they can win, only to be crushed by the reality of this roster, of the limitations and gaffes of this team.  Considering last night's debacle, what would hurt Wolves fans the most?  Certainly, getting beat by 30 again, with the Wolves an absolute no-show in Game 6 would hurt.  But at least then, there would be clarity.  We would see clearly that this team was indeed playing over it's head in Games 2, 3 and half of 4.  We would know that it was a mirage all along, and that yes, this roster needs to be broken up in some way. Clarity is a luxury the Wolves fan rarely has.  No, what would hurt Wolves fans the most is for the team to win Game 6, to set up yet another gut-check in Target Center in the elimination game, only to see yet another failure in a close game.  In that world, there would be no clarity, just the fog of a moral victory, and another year of miles on the odometer of KG, our most loved and sympathetic and frustrating player. There is a real side to this drivel about Pain and Expectations.  When were the Wolves effective in this series?  When they had nothing to lose.  When everything is there for them to grab, they can't back away from it fast enough.  Game 6 might allow them to get back to that point of desperation and pressure-free play. Do I think they'll win Game 6?  I give them maybe a 30% chance.  At this point, I just want them to compete.  If they compete, anything can happen.   9:49:55 AM    Say what?[]

© Copyright 2003 Doug Hennessee. Last update: 5/1/2003; 10:47:49 AM.