Is there anything worse than the excruciating wait for something you're really looking forward to? Leaving for a week's vacation on Friday always seems to make the week crawl along at an interminably slow pace. This is where I'm currently at with the football season, while the end of the lockout and tidal wave of player movement have certainly been nice, there's still a month to wait before the games that count actually start...and it's going to be a slow one. Sure you could look to areas outside sports for distractions, but do you really need to be reminded that the current balance of your 401k is approximately equivalent to a cup of coffee? I thought not.
Many writers out there seem to be dealing with this year's August lull by wondering what might've been if changes were made to sports history. Locally, Michael Rand of the Star Tribune has been re-visiting some of the more painful losses in Twins and Vikings history, wondering how history might've unfolded differently had they gone the other direction. On a national level, SI's Joe Posnanski unveiled the concept of Sports Code, a take off on the file "Source Code", and it's notion that while you can't directly change events, you can attempt to change the circumstances surrounding them, and let the chips fall where they may from there.
Posnanski explains:
There are only two conditions that I just invented for Sports Code.
(1) You can’t change a sporting RESULT. That is to say, you can’t go back and have Scott Norwood MAKE the field goal or have Michael Jordan MISS the jumper or have that Butler kid make the halfcourt shot. You cannot make Bill Buckner field the ground ball cleanly (though you could try to convince Red Sox manager John McNamara to put in Dave Stapleton as a defensive replacement). Those are results, and they happened, and they cannot be changed (in my completely made-up scenario). No, you can only change something tangible, something that might make a difference ...
(2) You can’t go back and create a whole new ending. That’s a slightly tricky concept, but here’s what I mean: For it to be a true Sports Code moment, you need to leave the ending open-ended. So, as much as you might want to do this, you can’t have Jim Joyce make the right call so that Armando Galarraga gets his perfect game. Because, in that case, he GETS THE PERFECT GAME, and the story is over. That’s a closed ending. The point here is to change something and then let a new ending unfold naturally.
As a serial lamenter of what might've been, this concept intrigued me, and when a friend called my attention to the article last week, I had to ask the question: What would comprise my Minnesota Sports Code Top 5?
About a year-and-a-half ago, on the heels of the most recent Vikings debacle, I was compelled to put together the Minnesota sports Hall of Pain, and that's where most of my inspiration is drawn from. The first two items, in fact, have to do with the two games Rand chose to wonder about:
1. Tell Denny Green to stay aggressive
No one could say for sure what would've happened in the 1998 NFC Championship game had the Vikings put the pedal down and attempted to bury the Falcons with their prolific offense...but we do know for sure what going the conservative route got us. All season long, a record-setting offense had covered up flaws in a mediocre defense by getting up big and making opponents react. The kneel down at half was just one example the could be found of a wide-open gameplan turning conservative overnight. They should've continued to adhere to the Randy Moss matra of "just chuck it deep dawg", instead the offensive coaches Schottenheimered the s*it out of it. Somebody needed to remind Denny that playing not to lose is for losers.
2. Tell Gardy to pull Joe Nathan
Sure the guy was a fantastic pitcher, but you're going to throw him out there against the heart of the best order in baseball for a third inning in a huge postseason game? I can remember being surprised at the time. Then enraged, followed by disappointed, hopeful and ultimately despondent. Throw in the Hunter home run that gave us the lead in the top of the inning, and it was one of the quickest emotional rollercoasters on record. Ahhh, those were the days, back when postseason failures in New York had the potential to wound.
A couple others have to do with draft day dealings:
3. Tell Kevin McHale not to swap Ray Allen for Stephon Marbury
For my money, the greatest sports "what-if" in this town during my life time. A 1-2 punch of Kevin Garnett and Allen would've created the makings for decade's worth of perennial contenders, not alienated Tom Gugliotta and completely changed the course of a historically awful franchise. On a related note, if someone put a red button in front of me right now, and told me that if I pushed it, Stephon Marbury would drop dead, I can honestly say that I would not. I can also honestly say that from 1999-2001, there was approximately an 80% chance that I would've pushed that button.
4. Tell Mike Nolan to draft Aaron Rodgers
This wouldn't have done a thing to help my team, but it would have prevented Rodgers of landing in Green Bay and becoming the phenomenal quarterback that he is. Watching this whole thing unfold has been like a bad dream for Vikings fans, who didn't even have time to celebrate the end of the Favre Era before a new QB who might end up being even better came along. Aaron Rodgers seems like a decent dude, I wish no particular ill on the man, but why the hell did he have to end up with the Packers? Ghandi must've had a cheesehead, and Hitler some Helga horns, given the karma at work here.
And finally, the current great "what-if" on our local sports scene, appropos to the last couple nights of baseball:
5. Tell the Twins to take the Red Sox trade offer for Johan Santana
With the Red Sox in town this week, we've already gotten a good look at CF Jacoby Ellsbury, who's in the running for AL MVP this season. Tonight, their elite lefty Jon Lester will take the mound, looking to finish off the series sweep. During the Santana sweepstakes, it was widely reported that a sticking point for the Twins was the inclusion of both of these players in the Red Sox offer. Boston, quite astutely as it turned out, would only include one, which ultimately scuttled the deal. 3 1/2 years later, offering the package of four players the Twins ultimately ended up receiving from the Mets for either one of these BoSox stars would get you laughed out of the room at best, committed at worst. Three of the four "prospects" Minnesota received are now gone from the organization, with the fourth, Delois Guerra, not exactly knocking down the door to the majors. Sure, Carlos Gomez had a few fun moments here, and brief flashes of potential, but ultimately the greatest benefit realize from dealing the best pitcher in the game was one season of J.J. Hardy and Jon Rauch. Be still my heart.
And if all that doesn't have you significantly depressed, it's probably time to refill the prescription.
No comments:
Post a Comment