Baseball season is over so lets move on to the NBA…in a minute. First, some final thoughts on Mr. Bonds, his defeated team, and those victorious Halos.
Before the series began, I stated that in order for Barry Bonds to be considered one of the truly "best of the best" and "greatest of the great" players in the history of the game, he needed to win a ring. The 2002 World Series, his best opportunity at such a piece of jewelry, was in fact a "must win" situation for him.
Bonds had possibly the best statistical playoffs and World Series of any position player ever, and his team still came up short. "What happened?" you ask. Can Bonds be solely responsible, or does the blame extend to the rest of his team as well?
Well, the bottom line is this: they were eight outs away from victory with a five to zero lead and the pitching blew it.
Bonds bobbled two balls in the outfield, each of which allowed runners to advance and certainly hindered his pitcher's efforts.
An all-around great player would have fielded the two hits cleanly and either thrown out the advancing runners or held them to only one base and given his pitcher a more favorable situation to pitch out of the inning. Also, if you want to be great you have to instill excellence and confidence in those around you. Bonds obviously fell short here. Finally, the Angels pitched to him each time he was at bat in game seven, and he produced a mere single when one big hit could have given his team the momentum they so desperately needed.
Is this overly critical? Possibly, but did Babe Ruth, Joe Montana, or Michael Jordan ever leave one anything to criticize? Most certainly not.
Enough about losers though; they soon fade from our memories like the Buffalo Bills of Jim Kelly, the Minnesota Vikings, Karl Malone, and just abut every Atlanta Braves team save one from the past decade. On to those champions of both Disney and Major League Baseball… the Angels. Quite simply, their run was phenomenal. They benefited from some luck, as they only had to play one (Yankees) of the other top five teams in the league in their playoff match. It is not their fault that the A's, Braves, and Diamondbacks all lost to inferior teams and opened things up for the Heroes of Orange County. As for their fans, let's see them keep wearing their red and supporting the team the way they did this October for the next decade and then I'll be convinced. Again and as always, my apologies to the long time Halo loyalists (all five or maybe six of you) who must be feeling as if they died and went to heaven last Sunday night.
Finally, the NBA, which began on Tuesday as the Lakers lost an oopening night for the first time in eleven years. Does this mean anything at all? Sorry Kings fans, but I'm afraid it doesn't. By the time the playoffs roll around Shaq will be well back, his big toe healed and the Kings will be Queens for the fourth year in a row. However, the Lake Show will finally come to an end this year, when the Nets, from the swamps of Jersey, defeat Big Chief Triangle's crew in six games come June and Jason Kidd becomes great in a way that Barry Bonds can still only dream about.
