The poor puppy pictured to your left was named “Molly.” She didn’t make it through 2013, and she has not yet been replaced. You have to grieve a dead pet for a certain amount of time, and the proper mourning period has not yet passed.
So as 2014 begins, we bid a hearty good riddance to 2013. Aside from the expiration of Molly (she was not a puppy, but passed away at the young age of 8), think of all the calamities that went down …
The San Antonio Spurs blew the NBA championship as genius coach Gregg Popovich sat his three best players in the waning moments of Game 6 in Miami.
Derrick Rose went down for the season. Then the same happened to Brook Lopez. And then Al Horford. We got to see Kobe Bryant back in action for an eyeblink. We are currently witnessing what appear to be Pau Gasol’s final days in a Lakers uniform, and all I have to say about that is “Told ya so, Heisler.”
I could enumerate a dozen other things that went down in the calendar year that just passed, but the spending time dwelling on the past is time wasted.
A very smart person once told me: “Every ending is a new beginning,” so as we plunge into 2014 we will do nothing henceforth but look forward to the excitement that awaits us:
_ The Bobcats in the playoffs. (The ultimate cure for insomnia).
_ The eventual trade of Omer Asik. (Memo to Daryl Morey: Stop treating every other opposing GM like some latter day version of Glen Grunwald. You ain’t getting a stretch 4 and a No. 1 pick for the young Turk.)
_ The basketball World Cup. (Did they really need to change the name from “World Championship?” You can bet your bottom dollar that the name change was made after years of prompting by David Stern, who now enters the final month of his Castro-like dictatorship. We’ll miss ya, Dave, but we won’t miss your combativeness.) Are Americans going to pay attention this time? And is Andrew Wiggins going to make a commitment to Team Canada, which could result in our northern neighbors getting a wild card berth?
_ The Cavs in the lottery. Look, I really like this kid Nick Gilbert, but I’m getting tired of watching him beam with his dad after the numbers come up in Cleveland’s favor. So, too, is Peter May, who offers a cautionary tale about tanking in this column on Cleveland.
_The Hedo Turkoglu sweepstakes. Our favorite Turk has been biding his time on paid leave from the Magic, who will waive him this week if they cannot find a team willing to trade for him. And once Jan. 10 arrives, hope will spring eternal for the team that signs him … and perhaps for the team that signs Andrew Bynum (assuming he gets waived, too. Perhaps after being traded for Gasol?)
_Springtime in Indianapolis. Back when Reggie Miller was doing his thing for the Pacers, I spent more time that I can remember travelling around Indy in a rental car trying to get from my far-flung hotel to Market Square Arena. Practically every hotel room in downtown Indy is already booked for Memorial Day weekend, because of the Indy 500. But I am being proactive this time around, and I am booking my room for the Eastern Conference finals this week. My days will be spent with Sarah Shank, my postgame nights will end at the Slippery Noodle. And when the series against the Miami Heat ends, the Pacers will be advancing to the NBA Finals — unless my preseason prediction for the current season comes up wrong. And since it was made in 2013, the possibility of a bad year carryover cannot be discounted.
_ The 2-2-1-1-1 Finals. There will be a media charter flight, the NBA has said, which means nonstop service from Indianapolis to Portland will finally come to fruition.
Yep, it’s going to be a heck of a year. Maybe it’ll even bring a new puppy to replace Molly.
And maybe it’ll bring a new MVP. Because as the new year begins, LeBron James does not have a chokehold on the award even though he is far and away the best basketball player on the planet. The bar is set pretty high for him this season, and voters will not need much of an excuse to cast their ballots for someone else. And right now, the field is too crowded with worthy candidates to anoint him “The Chosen One” — no matter what his back tattoo says.
So on to the rankings we go, with yet another new No. 1.
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