MAGIC-al
I'm a little bit excited for the NBA Finals. Not a lot excited, but a little bit. I'm excited because for the first time in a long time, a lot of the sportswriters seem to be talking about the same thing and it's not scandalous. They're talking about the battles of the past. They're talking about the history of the sport. They're talking about Bird and Magic and games that happened 21 years ago. Part of what makes (made?) pro sports so cool when I was a kid was the history and the continuity. There were fewer teams and fewer stars. The stars weren't so overexposed and if they happened to be greedy bastards it wasn't on the nightly news. They were grown men, playing a game, and generally they stayed with the same team for most of their careers. Teams like Boston and L.A. had the potential to be dynasties. I'm not sure I knew what that meant, but I knew it meant greatness.

Yes. Yes. I know this is an over-simplified analysis, but it's the analysis through the eyes of an idealistic 9-year old. Just a boy who wanted to grow up and play. Because playing was the best thing he knew to do. Now, I see a lit bit of that idealism in the columns and the sports-world chatter of excitement for this coming series. ESPN is replaying Game 6 of the 1987 Finals right now. The men in that game are not particularly muscular-looking. They look like they could have been pulled off the playgrounds. They were the pros. It's no wonder boys thought they could achieve that ideal. The fans are decked out in purple and gold. The shiny jackets are out in force. I don't know how those went out of style. I'm told, however, that they are out of style. If they replay this summer's series on on ESPN in 2030, I bet we'll see a lot Kobe jerseys. Will we wonder if we'd gone from wanting to be superstars to just wanting to dress like them? Maybe not. Maybe this series is going to bring back some of the magic to the NBA. Maybe it can be relevant again as a game instead of a business. It's stirring up a lot of history, which brings some excitement for the fans with a memory. What does it do for the new fans, I can only wonder. The teams lack some continuity, but that might be overlooked if we end up with a great series.

I worry that too many columns and too many blogs will slice and dice and analyze this series to death. I'm tempted to limit my sports reading to once daily with breakfast like the old days. I can't recall if I was taking the paper with the '87 Finals, but I'm certain I poured over the sports sections when Jordan was dispatching my hero Magic and the Lakers. I put up posters, full size behind the door and wore a purple Lakers hat, but the changing of the guard had come and it took me another 10 years to realize it. Here I am trying to appreciate the sports heroes of today. They don't seem to have the reach and the power that they did back then (if one ignores advertising dollars), but maybe the change is less about them and more about me. One change is certain: Go Celtics.