With official beginning of the summer now under our belts, and as we move on with our lives, there is the matter of the Boston Celtics losing the 7th game of a rather incredible series.
For those of us who have occasionally been down in our lives, coming back is always the dividing line, the defining bit about our lives, between the men and the boys or the girls and the women.
The Celtics comeback after nearly being beaten to death by the Miami Heat in three consecutive losses was nothing a modern day sensation.
Actually, it was a miracle.
The 7th game was to have been the triumph of all triumphs, the comeback of all comebacks.
Regrettably, it wasn’t.
Instead of triumph, the Celtics failed.
In the biggest moment to confront them during this dramatic season, the Celtics chose not to show up.
Or was it the Heat who came to play, and in retrospect, that’s exactly what happened Monday evening.
After being battered and bruised, the Heat, who were supposed to lose because the Celtic’s juggernaut was just too powerful to tame, showed up.
At the same time when the ball was put into play, the Celtics had managed again to squander the grandeur of their comeback by failing to show up for the finale.
Getting over the finish line, winning, is what sports is all about. How you play the game is important.
Winning, ultimately, is everything.
Did the Celtics show up to win Monday night?
No they didn’t. The Heat did that.
They won convincingly 103-84.
Credit them for coming to play when all the chips appeared tobe down.
On the other hand, after winning three straight after first losing three straight, what were the real time chances the Celtics could take the fourth game in a row and walk off the court like champions to be?
It wasn’t in the cards as someone at a poker table at Encore might say after losing all the chips in front him.
Far better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. Kudos to the Celtics for coming back from the abyss.
Shame on the Celtics for not showing up Monday night.