Rivalries were real, I mean existent. They weren't conjured up by Nike puppets, they were conjured up in big games and heated battles. In those days you could foul somebody into the third row and not face a lifetime ban from the sport. You could leave the bench and knock someone's nose off and not be crucified in the media. It was a better time. It was a time when real rivalries meant you didn't hug before big games and if you did the river dance during a rout you might just have your patella tendon ruptured the next time you played. I miss Larry and Magic. Those two divided friendships and gave us all something to argue about. Larry and Magic were polar opposites divided by a continent. Did you have the black converse or did you go with the purple and yellow. I know which pair I owned.
Those two defined you. If you liked Larry you were...like Larry. You were a little more quiet, you were a little less flashy and if you weren't a poor kid from Indiana, you wished you were. If you liked Magic you were a little bit of a "show off" and you were outgoing and you might just be a trouble maker. I don't know if that completely true, I think I am just describing the differences between me and my childhood friend Parker Gibson.
When was the last time you saw an NBA player go diving into the scores table to save a ball. I will tell you when. Late 80's Larry Bird. No one does this anymore. In "A Courtship of Rivals" they showed a number of clips where Larry dives, I mean sells out, to save a ball. I get dusty watching it. I don't know what it is, but it makes me remember why I wanted to be him for the first 13 years of my life. This documentary was everything I wanted it to be. Everyone always says, "who will be the next Jordan" and people always answer, "there will never be another Jordan" and while that is probably true I guarantee you we will see "another Jordan" before we see anyone who comes close to Bird or Magic.
As kids we grew up with these guys as our idols. We saw how much it hurt to lose (LeBron's leaving the court before shaking hands doesn't even come close, even though he thinks it does). Being competitive meant you would rip someone's balls off with your teeth if it meant you would have more points on the scoreboard when the clock read 0's. Its different now. It doesn't make me sad, it just makes me happy that we got to live in the middle of it. That when we shot free throws on our slanted driveway at night, we thought we could still be them.
Magic and Bird: A Courtship of Rivals is showing on HBO
No comments:
Post a Comment