Dealing With Defeat

            Okay Boston, everybody take a deep breath. Inhale first; make sure that all of today’s fresh air fills up your lungs to replace the pain of last night. Then exhale the anger away and drink some Gatorade to help with the hangover.

            Alright, so you probably don’t feel much better. You probably still feel cheated by  the same Bruins team that brought you such great joy 369 days ago. You want to forget that the Washington Captials ended your Bruins season in Boston. Many of you want to wake up thinking that the final score was just the outcome of a nightmare. 

            It makes sense why you want nothing more than to call Felger and Mazz and vent. You want somebody to blame for your defeat, and there are a few candidates for your anger.

Curse Joel Ward for driving the dagger into the heart of your title hopes. Curse the Bruins power play for being worse than it was last year. Curse Tim Thomas for only being great instead of godly. Curse Milan Lucic and Patrice Bergeron for not having a goal between them the entire series.

            It is okay to hate the Capitals for ending your season, just respect how Joel Ward and his teammates delivered when it mattered most.

The Capitals came into this series as the underdogs and they pulled off an upset that will earn a spot on ESPN Classic. Ward only scored six goals in the entire season before putting the goal of his life in the back of the net. For the first time in NHL history, every game was decided by one goal. It sucks when someone has to lose a series this great.

In the end the better team won, as it always does.

There is nothing that the Bruins have to be ashamed of. At no point did the puck trickle through Buckner’s legs. This loss is not a ‘Brady threw the ball over the wrong shoulder or Welker dropped a ball in his hands’ debate. Both teams made plenty of mistakes throughout the series, it is just the Capitals were able to execute better at the game’s tipping point.

It is quite possible that Nathan Horton and a healthy Patrice Bergeron would have made for an entirely different series. It would have been nice if the Bruins could have been 3-23 with a man advantage this series instead of 2-23. However, those are excuses for the bitter.

Oddly enough, similar pain offers perspective. As much as it hurts, there is no way that this loss even comes close to the most painful in Boston sports history.

Bucky bleeping Dent hurt more feelings then than the Capitals did last night. Aaron Boone sending the Yankees to the World Series in 2003 was worse than Joel Ward sending the Caps to the second round. If The Giants ending the Patriots run at perfection blew a hole in the hearts of New England then the Bruins loss last night was a paper cut by comparison.

            So before you make plans to throw themselves off the top of Blue Hills, replay your own misery on TiVo, or say something incredibly stupid via Twitter, remember that the players on both sides of the result are human too.

            But that very often is forgotten after a tough loss. Sadly, somebody is going to be turned into a scapegoat to spare the rest of the franchise the wrath of the defeated.

            And that is the worst part of all sports.

Made of Honor

Everyone who dies gets to keep their bodies; it is the legacies of the dead that are left over for the living.

The more complex the person it is far harder to write the epilogue of their life. Many of us live relatively mundane lives that appear irrelevant to those who were not close to the person. It takes something either infamous or extraordinary or sometimes even extraordinarily infamous for the masses to remember their existence. 

In the case of Patrick Daniel Tillman, his legacy is defined by his complex character. Tillman was a reported atheist who read every religious text from the Book of Mormon to the Qur'an. He was a transcendentalist that Ralph Waldo Emerson would have been proud of. Tillman was a friend, husband, and a brother to those who loved him, as well as a Sun Devil, a Cardinal, and a Corporal to the public. 

Most notably, Pat Tillman was a man who denied fame, fortune, and personal security to protect the rights our forefathers fought and died for.

Tillman had to fight a lot during the limelight of his life. But with every fight, Tillman got stronger. He fought and got the very last scholarship at Arizona State University. Tillman rewarded the Sun Devils by winning the Pac-10 defensive player of the year. Tillman was barely drafted in 1998, but he made Rod Graves look like Scott Pioli when he was named an All-Pro in 2000.  

A hair under six feet and a pair of cleats over 200 pounds Tillman was too small to be a linebacker, but his ability to track the ball carrier was on a different level. At safety, Tillman racked up 238 tackles, two and a half sacks, three interceptions, and three fumble recoveries in 60 career games with the Arizona Cardinals. Opponents could see his hair from the huddle, yet Tillman got his tackles anyway through effort and hard work.

Then 2001 brought that horrid September day that will never be forgotten. The twin towers were reduced to rubble and nearly 3,000 Americans were taken from their loved ones. 

There were no words to comfort the suffering. Nobody could explain to the mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, cousins, nieces, nephews, uncles, aunts, parents, and grandparents, who was responsible or why they attacked. The remorse for the victims was soon followed by national outrage towards the enemy. And what Pat Tillman did just eight months later left the football world in shock.

He turned down a 3.6 million dollar contract offer from the Cardinals to enlist in the U.S. Army.

Tillman was not the first football player to serve his country. He did not have the iconic influence on his sport like Joe DiMaggio or Ted Williams when they went to fight in World War II. He did not shatter the color barrier in sports like Jackie Robinson after his service. Tillman did not even make the Hall of Fame after serving like 'Night Train' Lane. 

But none of that mattered.

Even when Tillman became a part of the 2nd Battalion, he didn't turn back. When he and his brother invaded Iraq in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Tillman did not run away. Even when he was redeployed to Afghanistan, Tillman was aware that the grim reaper was omnipresent in War.

Then, death came for Tillman in the form of friendly fire on April 22nd, 2004.

It's hard to understand the mentality behind Tillman's decision. Why a man who had worked for his dream career would throw away his personal security to risk his life for people he didn't even know. How a sense of duty to the nation he lived in superseded his love for the game he spent his entire life playing. 

Regardless of the reason, Tillman's sacrifice should be remembered as an act of valor.

Every team Tillman was a part of has honored his life in some way. Tillman's former high school renamed their field after him. The Sun Devils and Cardinals both retired his number. The Pacific 10 conference renamed its defensive player of the year award to the Pat Tillman defensive player of the year. And fellow ranger Roy Fanning began a walk across the country to try and raise 3.6 million dollars for the Pat Tillman Foundation.

Even with these honors and tributes there remains a gaping hole in the household of Tillman and every other family that has lost someone to war. The Silver Star that is somewhere in the Tillman family is not going to fill the void left by their departed son. No Purple Heart is going to reanimate a man or woman who died to protect the citizens of the United States. Regardless of the circumstances death sucks.

Dealing with the premature death of a loved one is far and away the hardest thing anyone would ever have to do in life. There is no pain that comes close to it. Nothing ever makes it fully better, humans just learn to deal with the loss rather than let it destroy us.

But like the legacies of the fallen, the awards are as much for the living as they are for the person who served. Even though the medals will not return the deceased, they represent symbols of honor that the recipient had. The families that remain get to keep a token of their soldier's bravery with them at all times, and keep them alive in their own memories.

So may Pat Tillman and the other 1,346,000+ men and women who gave their lives to protect their countrymen be remembered for their sacrifices, and may tomorrow bring the day where nobody dies. 

Behavior Behind the Bounty

Right in the middle of football's tug of war between the need for violence and the desire for safety resides the bounty issue. 

Defensive coordinator Greg Williams offered cash rewards for big hits that sidelined opposing players. That much has been proven, but what has not been resolved is how the game gets just the right amount of violence to keep people watching and the desire for everyone to walk off the field under their own power.

That ideal middle ground between violence and safety will never be bridged no matter what the league does. 

Football is a multi-billion dollar industry that is entirely dependent on grown men exerting their physical will on each other for entertainment purposes. Without these hulks running into each other at full speed, football would have the exact same national appeal as competitive crocheting. There is no football without physically jarring hits that end up on Youtube.

Don't get me wrong, it is a great idea for the NFL to strive towards complete player safety. Even if the league's motivation behind safety is to protect their own hides against lawsuits, there is no rational argument for not having a safer game. 

Simply put you can't not tackle people in football and expect the fans to stay committed to the game. Besides, there are so many rewards for NFL players who make the violent hits the league is so afraid of.

Let's take a look at the perks for running into a person with the force of a wrecking ball at the speed of a train. The rewards for leveling people in football include millions of dollars, your last name on the backs of countless jerseys across the country, and being the spokesperson of a food chain or (and there could not be any more irony here) an insurance company. Just ask the NFL's faces of Subway Justin Tuck and Ndamukong Suh. Both of these men were chosen to represent the chain while holding a job that is based on driving men into the ground at full force. 

Besides, the voices of the players have been neglected throughout the assault on their culture. Ravens safety Bernard Pollard blasted Goodell for the punishments regarding the bounties while Cardinals kicker Jay Feely said the NFL only cares about defending themselves against lawsuits. When it comes to the issue of the game's culture, the voices of the players have been muffled.

There is the argument that the players are so engulfed in their own culture that they are ignorant to the dangers they face. Yet in order for the argument to be resolved, all sides of the issue need to be heard, not just the sides that are convenient for the league to hear. 

The NFL has made the predictable, and correct, move of hammering the Saints for the program. Goodell has made an example of New Orleans in hope that the culture gets curbed. It will not, but the people who watch the game will mistake the punishment as progress and patiently wait to be breastfed more violence in 2012-2013.

The fans got what they want, now it is up to the league to figure out what they want their game to become before everyone stops watching all together.

Dwight Enough

Stan Van Gundy has had to put up with a lot of crap for a coach with a career .646 winning percentage.

Van Gundy molded the play of young men at six different colleges from 1981 until 1995. When he coached the Miami Heat in 2005, he was jettisoned by a coaching icon who wanted to prove he could literally come out of the general manager's booth and win a title. In 2008, Van Gundy was called the master of panic by a former Magic center that used the franchise as toilet paper when he left for Los Angeles.

But none of it can hold a candle to the tornado of feces that was conjured up by the man with the biggest shoulders on the planet.

Dwight Howard has been the poster child for NBA players who can't get out of their own way. It has felt like the 'will he stay and be good or screw the Magic over?' question has enveloped the entire season.

Howard's play (20.6 points, 14.4 rebounds, 2.2 blocks per game) has been great during the self generated controversy. His rebounds have never been higher than during a shortened season that has been dragged out by sources questioning will he or won't he leave. Howard's flip flopping ability challenges Mitt Romney's.

Maybe he is better when he is torturing management and fans by publicly pondering his future. Perhaps Howard has to make a list of possible teams he wants to play for so he can produce. If that is the case, teams should either sign Howard for eternity or avoid making him the face of their franchise.

There is no questioning that Howard is the best center in the NBA right now. Even if his range has not expanded much beyond dunking and closer. The center position in the NBA is historically weak, and Howard resembles the closest thing to the ghosts of Shaq, Kareem, and Wilt in today's game.

Howard's talent undeniable, his behavior is inexcusable.

There is a better example of how Howard should be handling himself two spots above his team in the standings. Rajon Rondo had his fair share of trade speculation in the first half of the year, yet he kept his mouth shut and let his play determine his paycheck. As great of a season Howard has been having on paper,  his words and lack of ability to quell the issue in public have haunted his club for the entire season.

Perhaps the more pathetic part of this situation is Magic management. A multi million dollar franchise run by plenty of people should never be dominated by one employee. There was no reasonable trade market for Howard because there was no good counter offer; but Howard's name remained on the trade block. If you can't get good value for a guy, don't offer to trade him because it will generate distraction.

Magic management didn't get that part and now they are left with the ruins of their credibility.

Howard is holding his team hostage, and anything short of being able to run the franchise himself will result in his departure. And a man who came to the NBA straight out of high school is going to enjoy being openly courted in free agency. Instead of college campuses, teams will pitch their cities as wholes to make D12 want to live there. And when that time comes, Howard will lavish in the spotlight surrounding the debate as to where he will be taking his talents.

But as usual, teams are so blinded by talent that character takes a back seat. If Lakers, Bulls, Celtics, Nets, and Mavericks are willing to make Howard the player a crazy offer, they should be questioning on how much to invest in Howard the man. Hypothetically speaking, there is nothing to stop Howard from pulling this crap for his new team.

So good luck to whoever wins the Dwight Howard sweepstakes, they are going to need it.

It's Missing Something

There used to be a time in Sports when the post game press conference meant something. The coach or manager would trudge to the podium to atone for his team’s sins. And if a pesky journalist asked a question that the manager were not in the mood for, he would let the reporter hear about it in an expletive ridden tirade. 

Apparently those days are behind us. 

No more Dennis Green flipping out because the Chicago Bears were who he thought they were. Long gone are the days when Jim Mora yelled the answer a question about the playoffs. Mike Gundy will no longer challenge a reporter on the grounds that he was a man. And Lee Elia, the man who turned the entire Cubs fan base against him, would be blackballed from baseball today.

Because the post game tirade is an endangered species on the verge of going extinct. 

The post game tirade has been the reason people who are not watching the presser because of work bother to tune in at all. Every one of these men created a story that overshadowed their respective games in less than ten minutes. The ranting and raving showed a human side to the men behind the podium. They gave us the illusion that they cared about the loss as much as the fans who buy their team's jerseys. 

Sure Pat Knight at Lamar had a moment in which the nostalgia of tirades came back. Knight lambasted his seniors for their unsatisfactory work ethic. It did lack the volume of Gundy's rant, and the profanities of Elia's tirade. Knight shared the disappointment of his school's fans and boosters had after that loss, and it was nice to see that the pulse of the post game tirade can still be felt by the media and fans alike.

Unfortunately, the same men who passionately yell on the sidelines during the games are reduced to clichés and one sentence answers after it. Everyone who knows these coaches, or even watch their games casually know that when they take questions, are putting up walls. If the coaches behind the podiums were the same men who led their teams on the field, they would not have been hired. 

The vanishing act of the post game tirade can be directly linked to the ever growing business culture that is devouring sports at an alarming rate.

Every coach and manager has been trained to say all the 'right things' to the media. Coaches do not want to be responsible for costing their team money by saying something that would result in a large fine. The men who sign all the paychecks do not want their employees to say anything that would jeopardize the public relations of their businesses. 

That logic is rational on Wall Street, yet this business type attitude being programmed into the minds of the coaches after the game hurts the game itself.

Yes the owners rely on these coaches to make their brand look presentable. And yes the coaches saying anything discriminatory prejudice, or blatantly ignorant would harm their employers. But the people who truly care about what these coaches have to say are wearing team attire instead of business suits.

Individuals who go to sporting events want to know that they are getting some kind of return on their investment. The fans who don jerseys want to know that the players and coaches on their favorite teams experience the same feelings of agony in defeat. 

The lack of coaches and managers getting upset in front of the cameras saps the human side of sports that make it watchable. If the line that separates entertainment and business gets erased, then sports will become sport. And the only people who enjoy sport are the elitists who probably own the teams.

The post game tirade is not just about watching coaches flip out after a tough loss, or the subsequent ability to make hilarious musical remixes of the tirade on Youtube. A coach or manager loosing his cool for a moment reminds everyone who watches sports that the men in charge care about the outcome too.

And if these businessmen who own teams can't understand that, then their clientele will look elsewhere for both business and entertainment.