Maybe that Little League coach was right.
You know the one, the person who insisted on playing everybody and took great pleasure in taking the kids out for pizza after the game. Always a smile on their face and insisting that every kid, regardless of talent level, have fun out there because winning isn’t everything.
Could that motto actually extend into professional sports as well? The Miami Heat finds themselves in just the right situation to prove it can.
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There’s a lot to weigh in with an unpopular statement like that, so bear with me. First of all, you have to remove the part of professional sport that makes it … well, professional.
This is a business based on fans’ willingness to pay to watch a game or own merchandise with their favorite team’s logo. Years of losing rarely translates into support for a team unless you’re the Chicago Cubs, whose fans have embraced the idea of the “lovable loser” so completely their identity is based on it.
Otherwise, winning is essential to keeping ticketholders happy and revenue streams flowing.
But forget all that, at least for now. I’m talking about just the nuts and bolts of following a team and not knowing what happens next.
The mystery of it all that makes sports so exciting … kind of like falling in love and not knowing what will happen next but knowing that because it happens with a certain person – the right person – it makes it perfect.
The past four years have been an incredible ride for Heat fans (and yes, they are out there, despite the prevailing thought that they didn’t exist until July 8, 2010). They celebrated the formation of what seemed like a historically-great team and were despised and mocked for it.
But that didn’t matter because there was an overwhelming joy in knowing that incredible talents like LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh were theirs and played for their team. While 29 other fan bases fumed and complained and ridiculed, Heat fans imagined the possibilities while visions of championships danced in their heads.
It’s the most exciting aspect of sports, the question of what could happen next. It’s why the NBA and NFL has turned the drafting of unproven talent that often fails to pan out into huge spectacles that create months of anticipation.
It’s why March Madness rocks the nation. It’s the basis for why we all root for the underdog, hanging on the edges of our seats in the hope that the impossible actually happens.
Miami’s “Big 3” era was marked with a weird sense of tediousness. Four regular seasons came and went, a total of 328 games, and there was always a sense from the team that they didn’t matter.
That kind of disinterest eventually affects the fans, as well. Early thoughts from 2010 of winning 70-plus games were replaced with bored expectations of the postseason.
Hopes for big games in December, January and March fueled you until the playoffs when games actually matter. This was part of what made the 2013 27-game winning streak such an exciting time in team history; contests against the 76ers, Magic and Kings took on a greater significance.
By the way, this isn’t an approval of that kind of attitude. Quite the opposite.
Fans are at the mercy of the teams they follow and are defined by them (like the Cubbies faithful). How can a March game against the pitiful Cleveland Cavaliers become interesting? Oh, maybe by allowing a 27-point deficit and then winning the game in dramatic fashion.
Still, these moments were few and far between. And maybe it’s the lament of a spoiled fan base that enjoyed four straight trips to the Finals and two championships, more success than several franchises (including Cleveland) have ever enjoyed.
This doesn’t deny the unparalleled happiness of watching your team win a title.
But there’s a still a regular season that, for many people, represents a great part or even the sum total of their reason for being fans.
Which brings us back to this year’s Miami team, facing life without James. What happens next? How will this season end? Are these roster moves all built toward Pat Riley’s master plan of rebuilding a team in a year or two? Can Mario Chalmers actually play consistently?
So many questions and no real answers, at least not yet. But it’s the reason – like the draft or like a first date – for hope.
It’s something to actually look forward to because the talent level on this team, while great, doesn’t guarantee anything. No artificial drama added.
It’s a lot less likely that the Heat is a lock for the playoffs but there’s always the unknown and unrealistic hope that they might make it and somehow bring another championship to Miami. And that makes games in February and April much more exciting than they have been in years.