The Season Is Already 33% Complete
Different sport, but Bill Parcels’ famous quote that you are what your record says you are is equally applicable to baseball. Each team has played roughly 54 games by now, so there is enough data for each team to determine exactly how good they are. Yet, keep in mind that with expanded playoffs there is still plenty of time for a team that has gotten off to a disappointing start to turn things around. That’s particularly true in the National League which contains a quartet of teams with unexpectedly mediocre records. That has made the wild card race very soft, the Mets lead that pack of clubs and even they are currently in a tie for a wild card position despite being only one game above .500. The Mets, Phillies, and Padres are each only a hot streak away from being right back in it, and even the Cardinals, who are in a much deeper hole, have a positive run differential which indicates they have the talent to make a strong run.
The uphill climb out of the quicksand is a bit tougher in the American League. The Blue Jays and Mariners are both basically as far back as the Phillies and Padres are, but the teams they are chasing have much better records than the current NL playoff placeholders. And at this point the best bet for the Guardians is to ignore the wild card race and set their sights on the division title - too large of a deficit, too many teams to leapfrog. All hope is not lost for the teams with title hopes that are still slow to get out of the gate, however. Recent history proves that a slow first couple of months need not be a season ender. As long as you make it to the postseason you’ve got a puncher’s chance. But it is getting close to the point where these clubs need to make their moves.
It should also be noted that the Monday slate of games contained some noteworthy comebacks. Royce Lewis, who is still only 23 going on 24, returned to the Minnesota lineup after recovering from his second ACL tear. Mike Soroka returned to the mound with Atlanta after missing almost 3 full seasons following 2 separate Achilles tears. And best of all, Liam Hendriks made his first appearance of the season for the White Sox after completing his cancer treatments.
NBA Finals Time
After a month and a half of playoff action, the NBA Finals matchup is set, and as everyone predicted it features the Western Conference #1 seed Denver Nuggets against… checks notes… the Miami Heat? The team with only the 8th best record in the Eastern Conference? The team that was trailing in the 4th quarter of the last game in the play-in tournament and thus came very close to missing out on the playoffs altogether? Those Miami Heat? The NBA playoffs tend to be very predictable, except when they aren’t.
Kidding aside, the finalists were led by who have been far and away the top 2 players throughout this postseason. Regardless of what happens in the Finals, Jimmy Butler’s run will go down as one of the greatest in playoff history. He was beginning to look a little gassed in games 5 & 6 of the Eastern Finals, but he regained his footing in the closeout game and led the Heat to an easy victory over the Celtics. And it was an absolute blowout; after the opening minutes there was never a time when you felt that Boston stood much of a chance to get back in the game. That was a recurring theme throughout these playoffs; it was shocking to see so many teams come up empty in clinching games. And how did Caleb Martin suddenly turn himself into a top dog? Stars lead the way, but it’s often the supporting players that make the difference between victory and defeat.
Meanwhile, the Denver Nuggets have been sitting pretty, getting their rest and eagerly anticipating an exhausted Miami team having to play the first 2 games in the thin Denver air. More than 45 years after the merger, the San Antonio Spurs remain the only former ABA franchise to win an NBA title. The Nuggets are hoping to finally become the second. Nikola Jokic is playing at an even higher level than Jimmy Butler is. It’s stunning that even with 2 MVP awards people tend to underestimate Jokic. Part of it is probably due to the fact that he still looks a bit doughy and unathletic; almost as if he is a Slavic Bryant “Big Country” Reeves. Don’t let the visual fool you, the guy is a dominant scorer and one of the greatest passing big men in league history. Add a fully healthy Jamal Murray, a third major contributor in Michael Porter Jr., and an array of role players, and this team is firing on all cylinders at just the right time.
Everything indicates this should be an easy Nuggets victory, but the same could have been said before the Heat’s series against the Bucks and the Celtics. Fool me once, etc. My head says Denver in 5; my heart says nothing from this playoffs has made any sense, so let’s just sit back and enjoy. Whatever the result, America gets the Nikola Jokic vs. Nikola Jovic battle it deserves. May the best Nikola win.
How To End Things
We’re in the midst of multiple highly acclaimed TV series reaching their grand finales. As a result we’ve been constantly hearing the phrase “stick the landing.” No one wants to see an otherwise tremendous show end poorly, after all our final collective memory of these characters happens as the screen fades to black. As much as I love a great closing chapter, I’m also very much an “it’s the journey more than the destination” guy. The Seinfeld finale didn’t spoil the hours of laughs that show gave me. And so what if Game Of Thrones had a WTF conclusion, I prefer to remember the litany of complex characters and compelling story lines.
There are a handful of requirements for a good finale. Wrap up the story in a way that makes sense. Give each character an opportunity to essentially take a final bow - ideally try to bring back actors that had previously left the show come back at some point during the last season for a curtain call along with popular recurring characters receiving their own final spotlights. Importantly, do not create a finale with a tone too out of wack from the rest of the show. I’m thinking of the finale from the original run of Will & Grace, which flash forwarded into a future in which a rift had caused them to be estranged for more than a decade. The finale dealt with their inevitable reconciliation, but it still seemed off.
Everyone has their own finales that they either love or loath. As always, time will tell which of this month’s crop will eventually enter the pantheon. Some of my favorites include Justified (you can’t come up with a better closing line) Six Feet Under (the closing montage was such an emotional gut puncher) Star Trek: The Next Generation (couldn’t really close things with the cast about to move into feature films, so the closing poker game felt so right) The Larry Sanders Show (both celebrates and mocks the very idea of star-studded finales) and of course the famous ending scenes of St. Elsewhere and Newhart. What are some of yours?
Jump That Shark
Expanding upon the previous section, one of the many acclaimed series that is coming to an end is Barry, which among its many strengths contains a career best performance from Henry Winkler. He’s had quite a career, a small part of which contains his connection to the phrase “jumping the shark.” That of course refers to the Happy Days episode in which Fonzie waterskied over a shark cage.
It took place in a Special Episode of the show; the entire cast traveled to California together as a Hollywood talent scout wants to make Fonzie a star. In the type of absurd sitcom plot that was standard in the time, he accepted a challenge to perform the infamous stunt. It’s a well-known episode, but when was the last time you’ve actually watched the clip?
While keeping in mind that 1970s TV was rarely intended to make much sense - story continuity was seldom a priority - where to begin? Most people focus on the fact that he is still wearing his leather jacket during the jump, but that only scratches the surface. Look how small the shark enclosure is. Look at how there appears to be no actual cage - what prevents the shark from simply swimming away? Look at how close they are to the shore; it seems awfully shallow for a shark to thrive. And wouldn’t it be preferable to have someone with more experience than Richie pilot the boat? Finally the scene was punctuated by Potsie & Ralph sharing a joyful hug, suffer momentary gay panic, and immediately turn to hug the comely beach girls who happened to be standing next to them. The 70s were something else.
Closing The Book For The Day
Thanks again for reading, and be sure to tell someone you love about it. Or someone you hate. Everyone is welcome. See you on Friday.
St Elsewhere’s ending has always been controversial. I think much of the cast hated it. I thought it was great though. I put it up there with Newhart and 6 Feet Under.
As an aside, the final scene of the Odd Couple is a classic. Not truly a finale, because they didn’t know they weren’t coming back, but still a perfect ending.
I loved the ending of the Good Place, Newhart, St. Elsewhere. I always thought the ending of the Sopranos was powerful and forced us to imagine what occurred. Deep Space Nine was another that had a "what was that?" Trek conclusion. DS9 ranks very high on my Trek lists.