You can count me among the tweetin’ Twitterers (or is that the Twitterin’ tweeters?) now: http://twitter.com/MikeVacc
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The catch phrase of the NBA postseason was either invented or perfected by Jeff Van Gundy at some point in the past few weeks, when he made it a nightly mission to mention that pro basketball is a “make or miss” game. There are a zillion reasons why basketball is such an arresting game; the simplicity of “make or miss,” and the fact that it is impossible to summarize any game quite as easily as that explains it all.
And last night’s Magic-Lakers game may well be the very symbol of just what a make-or-miss game it really is. Think of what was at stake in Courtney Lee‘s hands with six-tenths of a second left in regulation last night. Not only the outcome of a game but, likely, a series — he makes it, the Magic win the game; he misses and the Lakers have life. He makes it, the Magic are the ones in control of the series with three home games approaching; he misses, and the Lakers are in charge, knowing they’ll be back in LA no matter what happens in Florida the next three games. He makes it, Stan Van Gundy is hailed a genius (which Kobe Bryanthailed him as anyway; he misses, it was just another coach’s bold idea that died somewhere between clipboard and hardwood.
A make-or-miss league. It sure is.
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The Yankees have come from behind 20 times to win so far this year, but none of the ones that came before felt quite as late-’90s-vintage as the one they collected yesterday. Back in the day, there were times when opponents looked like they had to find 20 outs over the last two innings, not just six; in the eighth inning yesterday, just by looking at the Rays you knew they were totally flummoxed how to get out of that predicament. Walks helped. That killer error by Willie Aybar helped. Hideki Matsui discovering his 2004 legs helped. But that’s just it: the old Yankees used all of these things to not only beat you but convince you you were the ones playing two runs behind no matter what the scoreboard said.
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I know Phillies fans have been enjoying the after-bliss of a championship. But you do have to wonder how much longer the honeymoon lasts for Brad Lidge, who is the only reason the Phillies haven’t already started Secretariat-ing the East.
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It’s fine if the Mets want to blame Citi Field for all that ails them, but the fact is they just completed a six-game road trip in which they hit all of one home run, and earlier in the season went 0-for-the-West-Coast in seven games in San Francisco and Los Angeles, too. It’s only going to be more glaring in the next six games against the Phillies and the Yankees, both of whom, to borrow a football phrase, can score from anywhere on the field thanks to their ability to hit balls over fences.
