Staring at the television screen late Monday night while watching the Indianapolis Colts rack up another win, a familiar but unwanted affliction came over me. It is a common illness that has no known cure and always occurs toward the tail end of a semester. Symptoms include fatigue, the inability to open a book, and a general loathing of all things academic. I know I have contracted this plague because it's been 14 minutes since my last sentence.
The final weeks of a semester are tough; the work is the most important and it seems much harder to get done. This period determines the winners and the losers - in terms of GPA, at least.
In this manner, sports are the same. The end is the most important part of a game and often decides who wins and who loses. In addition, winners are usually able to raise the level of their play at the end to pull out a positive result. For the purposes of this column, we'll call this the ability to finish a game.
By finishing a game, I mean that a team or player is mentally tough, can focus and rise to the occasion, do the little things necessary to win, get a big play when required, and be clutch. This quality is evident when a basketball or football team hunkers down, increases intensity and gets a big defensive stop. It is also evident individually when a relief pitcher fires strike after strike or when a tennis player comes up with a massive ace in a set tiebreaker.
Every day and every week, the ability to finish a game, or lack thereof, is on display. For example, this past Sunday, the New York Giants' place-kicker Jay Feely missed three potentially game-winning field goals in the fourth quarter and overtime. Despite committing one less turnover and gaining nearly 150 more total yards, the Giants lost a big game to an NFC foe when the Seattle Seahawks' Josh Brown was able to make his own field goal with less than three minutes left in overtime.
Another NFL example came from the St. Louis Rams-Houston Texans game. Despite being down 24-3 at halftime, the Rams rallied to win 33-27 in overtime after outscoring the Texans 30-3 in the second half and overtime. The Rams may not be a good team this year, with a record now of 5-6, but they are certainly better than the one-win-Texans, and Houston's inability to finish off their solid first-half performance is an indication of its woeful season.
As a Boston sports fan, I am very aware of this ability to finish games. On the one hand I have the New England Patriots, with Tom Brady's undefeated postseason record and his career number of game-winning drives already over twenty, and of course, Adam Vinatieri's clutch field goals.
On the other hand, however, I have the excruciatingly frustrating Boston Celtics. The Celtics can hang with any team in the NBA for three quarters, but often fold in the end. Their offense becomes stagnant against the increased pressure defense of their opponent and they lack the toughness to make big stops on the other end.
To prove my point, simply look at the Celtics' two losses to the Detroit Pistons, maybe the NBA's best team thus far. In the first contest, the Celtics played great and actually took a one point lead with less than a second remaining. Of course, however, the Celtics let Richard Hamilton, one of the league's best shooters, go through a double screen and bury an open jumper at the buzzer. In the second game, the Celtics had a lead going into the fourth quarter, but were completely schooled in the end, getting outscored 38-19 in the final quarter as they lost by 15.
Even Monday's loss against the Magic showed the Celtics' late-game ineptitude; as Mark Blount's feeble shot attempt with 12 seconds left was summarily stuffed by Dwight Howard. Hey Blount (hilariously pronounced "Blunt" now), pack your bags, bud.
Across all sports and throughout history, late performance is required for great athletes. David Ortiz was considered for this year's AL MVP because of his statistics with runners on base in late inning situations. Quarterbacks Joe Montana and John Elway were defined by Super Bowl two-minute drills. Tiger Woods seems to make every shot and putt when he needs to. Michael Jordan's career, minus that whole Wizards comeback that didn't happen, was bookmarked by clutch shots at UNC and in the pros.
In the end, I hope this column inspires you to be the Tom Brady of your biology class and empowers you to raise your academic game as we reach the end of this fall semester. Now if you'll excuse me, I've done way too much writing today; I need a nap.
