The Monday Stack - Nothing Like The Playoffs
Truly the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat as dreams die on the way to the final four.
It is Monday morning and we have another sports weekend in the rearview mirror.
According to many – and I won’t try to disagree – this NFL Divisional Round playoff is about as strong a sports weekend as the calendar can muster. What spectacle that demonstrates that there is nothing quite like the NFL, there is no hope to ever get the rules defined in a satisfactory way to feel like the referees don’t hold way too much sway over the outcomes, and that winning a Super Bowl is next to impossible.
When we talk about a player, we want to know if they ever “won it all” and if they did, how many times were they able to win it? If the number is too low, then they don’t get to be considered a true legend.
But, what we never truly examine or remember is how many things have to break right to be able to hold that trophy and that parade. There are so many little details along the way that winning it all feels out of the control of the guys we hang the responsibility upon. A quarterback has to hope that everyone around him can do their job or he will ultimately take the historic blame.
The running game didn’t work? Too bad.
You should have been better. Receiver didn’t catch the ball? Too bad. Be better.
Offensive line has no clue? That’s on you. Be better.
How about the defense can never stop anyone and you aren’t even on the field? Too bad.
Same for the coach. He never steps on that field until it is time to offer a handshake of victory or defeat. He just prepares his team for the moment and then hopes they don’t let him down. He hopes that kicker on the other side misses the kick. The guys who advance each week in this tournament do the best they can do and then hope the outcome allows them to do it all over again next week and they quickly get to work to try to get their tired and bruised body back to where it can perform for 50 million again next weekend. It is truly their honor to march on to the next battlefield in one week’s time.
Yes, there are other things going on in the sports world for sure. The Stars appear to be in full downward spiral, the college football championship game is tonight, the Anthony Davis situation continues to develop, and the draft season is beginning right here in DFW this week. Heck, we even have a tennis major underway in Australia.
But, I won’t be able to make this version of our Monday-riffing-on-whatever newsletter about anything but the four wonderful football games we witnessed this weekend and what I think about all of them.
So, let’s get this going.
THE MONDAY STACK
I have three overall thoughts about the games that I cannot get out of my head all weekend long.
