I have found that making a choice of sports stars has turned me into a fickle fan. It seems that as soon as I am comfortable with my choices, somebody comes along to replace them. On the other hand, fame seems to go to their heads, and the next thing you know, they are breaking news in the paper or on TV.
My wife is more of a homey than me—she has a tendency to stay the course. I remember how delighted I was to discover she was a sports fan and had basic knowledge of most sports. Guys would love to share the weekend TV with their spouses and cheer for their respective teams. But as I have said before: “Careful what you wish for.”
When we met, she was a Boston Celtics fan. I explained that when playoff time approached the Celtics seemed to come in through the back door, just making the eighth spot in the post season. Her retort never changed. She would always point out the Championship banners hanging from the rafters in the Boston Gardens.
In the past few years she has taken to adopting players. Going back to the days of the Redskins fun bunch, players are her children.
However, it is impossible to sway her from her opinion once she has made up her mind. An example of this was her dislike of Moses Malone when he decided to skip attending the University of Maryland (her alma mater), and went straight to the pros. She was a teacher, and to her education was a lot more valuable than his $5 million signing bonus. Despite my arguments, she was unshakable.
More recently, she has treated my dislike of Michael Jordan with disdain. I found myself falling out of love for MJ when he showed up at the negotiations during the player’s strike. Here is a guy who has superstar status, a billion dollars in net worth, and is a team owner, asserting his influence over how much a minimum-wage player gets paid. I’m thinking, “Mind your business, Jordan.”
Recently, Jordan weighed in on the fact that LeBron James is using a legal supplement for energy and body enhancement. Mind your business Jordan, let the league decide what to do. Mark McGuire took andro when it was available off the shelf, and when it was banned, he stopped and retired. The league didn’t need help from any meddlers.
Although I was a supporter of LeBron James when the talking heads were on his case for not winning a championship, I have released the fickle fan and turned to the Golden State Warriors. Fortunately, my wife is in full support of this new set of children. She not only has Steph Curry as one of her sons, she has gone down a step and adopted Steph’s daughter as a grand. I am thinking that we will see the Cavaliers and the Warriors doing battle for all the marbles once again. And, I am thinking that with Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and a healthy Kevin Durant, the Warriors should take the pot.
I am also cognizant of the fact that the Warriors learned some lessons from last year’s Finals contest. They were up, 3-1, needing one more win, but mediocre performances caused them to watch Cleveland walk away with the trophy and the check.
So at least for this year’s NBA finals, the Lacys have hitched their wagons to the stars of the guys from across the bridge.