Let’s talk sports wish lists
OK, I know, No. 1 on every sports fan’s wish list is a championship. We all want a World Series, a Stanley Cup, a Vince Lombardi Trophy, Larry O’Brien Trophy, the College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy, NCAA men’s basketball National Champion Trophy, and hey, you name the sport and there’s a championship trophy and we all want OUR team to win it.
Some long-suffering fans deserve that wish-list item more than others. Cleveland Indians/Guardian fans haven’t celebrated since 1948, and the Rangers, Padres, Brewers and other have never hoisted the MLB Commissioner’s Trophy. The NBA Clippers have zero championships, the Sacramento Kings haven’t won in 70 years and the Atlanta Hawks for 63 years. For NFL fans, the Arizona Cardinals haven’t won since 1948 and the Detroit Lions have gone 64 years. In the NHL, the St. Louis Blues and Toronto Maple Leafs have gone 55 years.
Second on the list is that we all want our heroes to have the season and postseason we dream of them having. No injuries and all of the records, performances and clutch heroics we want for them … and for us.
Third, for now, might be an end to COVID (for many more meaningful reasons). For sports fans, no more compromised athletes and missed games. No more protocols and game and season impairments.
OK, let’s do a different wish list. This is for fun … you have your own wish list, and I can’t read minds. If I could, I’d hire myself out as an NFL play-caller or MLB bench coach, or I’d be playing on the World Poker Tour. Oh, and I’d make sure to make my wife smile 24/7.
So what do sports fans wish for? How about these wish list items:
MLB fans: an end to the lockout. Happy management-player harmony and accords. And maybe robot home plate umpires, better announcers and every game on free TV.
Yankee fans: Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra, Elston Howard, Joe D., Bernie Williams, Babe, Lou, Guidry and Jeter in their primes on today’s roster.
Other fans want reincarnations of Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Stan Musial, Roberto Clemente, Ted Williams, Sandy Koufax, Herb Score, Minnie Minoso, and it goes on and on.
NBA fans: Michael Jordan back in uniform. Young Oscar Robertson playing today’s game. Wilt facing off against Bill Russell again. Larry Bird against Magic and Walt Frazier vs. Earl Monroe. A healthy, young Pete Maravich shooting threes in games that count.
Laker fans: Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Kareem and Magic, teaming with Kobe and Lebron.
NFL fans: Jimmy Brown and Gale Sayers playing 17 games a season in their prime, and Joe Montana, Roger Staubach and a younger Tom Brady calling signals. Dick Butkus, Ray Nitschke, “Mean Joe” Greene, Lawrence Taylor, Bob Lilly and Reggie White lining up on D.
Rams fans: the Fearsome Foursome starting on defense.
NHL fans: Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr, Gordie Howe, Mario Lemieux, Rocket Richard, Bobby Hull, Nik Lidstrom, Martin Brodeur, Ken Dryden, Dominik Hasek back playing today’s game in their prime, and old-time hockey with current speed. Bringing back old hockey grit and feel with today’s finesse.
March Madness fans: Your brackets are perfect with lots of upsets, and one Cinderalla team makes the Final Four.
Boxing fans: More substance and perhaps less style, but a chance to see the brilliance of Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Sugar Ray Robinson and Sugar Ray Leonard in the square ring again. Battles like Carmen Basilio-Paul Pender and Hagler-Hearns on “Friday Night Fights.”
Horseracing fans: Secretariat in a match race against Spectacular Bid. Seattle Slew against Round Table, and Willie Shoemaker, and Laffit Pincay back in the silks.
Winter Olympics fans: a “Miracle on Ice.” Eric Heiden, Franz Klammer, Ingemar Stenmark and Lindsay Vonn – one more time on the slopes. The artistry of Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, Dorothy Hamill and Peggy Fleming on the ice again.
You get the idea. A wish list filled with great memories, but there are tons more for today, wishing that today’s heroes fulfill our dreams and hopes on the fields of play.
Remember: A dream is a wish your heart makes. Dream away and make your wishes. I hope they come true for you.
Merry Christmas.
OK, this is your chance. I am not Santa, but send me your wish list and let’s see what we can do, and what your fellow fans think of your wishes. Give me an email at mike.blake@mountvernonnews.com and let’s talk sports.
See you next time.
