There are many self-proclaimed Best Rivalries. However, the one that takes place on the hardwood in North Carolina between two teams of varying shades of blue is every bit the best rivalry in all of college basketball. PeriodI. A storied rivalry, a phenom freshman already predicted to go first overall in the draft & a former president sitting courtside…..the energy surrounding this year’s initial match-up could be felt through the television. Alas, all of that changed a few seconds into the game when the aforementioned phenom suffered an injury.
A good team in their own right, the Tar Heels did what they should have and seized the opportunity. After all it is nonsensical to game plan for a player not on the court. Even when Duke narrowed the gap, a genuine feel for a victory being within reach was nonexistent. The genie was already out of the bottle.
Hmmm, there seems to be a lot of genies escaping lately:
With the slow ticking of time during the Super Bowl it soon became evident that whoever managed to get in the end zone first would emerge victorious. The anticipation of an offense fueled showdown was lost well before halftime….
Tipped a hat to the Patriots for doing a darn thang then promptly disengaged from the genie out of the bottle conversation of Tom Brady, the most accomplished quarterback equating to the GOAT, as in the greatest since the game began waaayyy back in the day….
By that logic we would have been better off having never seen Barry Sanders. Insert Barry behind a powerhouse offensive line & the odds lean toward him not having walked away from the game as one of the greatest to play that position…without a ring being put on it.
Having one more ring than Michael Jordan somehow has not given Robert Horry a pass into the GOAT conversation. THAT genie couldn’t get out of its enclosure with a stick of dynamite….
Arguably the best hands in the game & at least one ring to show for consecutive Finals appearances does not a leader make. When Kyrie Irving decides against shenanigans like making flip remarks to the press regarding his intended 2019-20 whereabouts…only to come back several hours later and label those very same remarks “a distraction”…we’ll simply be pleasantly surprised! He has shown who he is, believe him.
As bad as the optics are for a player wanting out of a contract…it doesn’t compare to stating publicly a desire to be anywhere else but there, a parent weigh in just as publicly from a platform which I wish he’d never been given, the hometown crowd belting out boo birds to its star player, the player leaving the game, his teammates and the arena with essentially an owie, only to play in the All-Star game a few days later. Clearly, everybody is not going to be happy with the ultimate decision, I only hope Anthony Davis and the Pelicans arrive at one soon.
Otherwise they’ll be venturing into Steelers territory. From the outside looking in, all of the triple threat pieces fit so nicely….then like a game of Jenga played by someone who has indulged in a few too many adult beverages, it all came crashing down. The last thing a GM could sell is a qb notorious for throwing teammates and coaches under the bus while simultaneously dodging any remnants of accountability for his own mistakes, bonehead offseason decisions, and allegations of sexual misconduct…as beyond reproach! I have no doubt this once highly regarded organization wants to right the ship. Putting an ill-advised ‘leader of 52 kids’ mentality back into the bottle would be a good start to doing so!!
