Relationships and The Man

“When it’s good, its so, so good,
And when it’s gone, it’s gone”
–Ben Harper

You know when your team has “that one guy” that will get you to watch an entire season? It’s a special feeling—it’s great, and almost makes you do that evil Austin Powers laugh every time you watch an opponent try to deal with him. The only downside is that you usually don’t realize it except for two instances: the beginning and the end. It’s similar to a good relationship—you know it’s good, it’s comforting, but you don’t think about it very much. You think about it at the very beginning (when you get the player in a trade or the draft, and the first couple of weeks) and you think about it at the end (when the player leaves as a free agent or in a trade).

It’s just like a relationship. The beginning has all the feelings of lust where you can’t keep your hands off of one another; you KNOW it’s good. Then there’s the end, you look back and remember how good the relationship was. You look back and start to remember all of the things that you took for granted. Both serve just to remind you for next time: Don’t take the good things for granted.

Look at the L.A. sports scene and there are examples of this all over the place. What is great about it is that they are all perfect examples of the same concept, yet all in very different ways. The city just rode into the playoffs on the 2 month rollercoaster of Mannymania. You look down the 110 freeway at Kobe and you see a guy that’s been around for 12 seasons, winning 3 championships and going to the NBA Finals 5 times. Across the hall in Staples center, Drew Doughty is already showing signs 7 games into his career that he could be another special athlete that captivates an entire fan base. All of these guys are around at the same time—it’s hard to not feel spoiled.

Manny Ramirez’s unceremonious departure from Boston is a great example of this idea. During his 7 full seasons in Boston, his average season was .313 with 33 home runs and 114 RBIs. That was an AVERAGE season. Not only that, he helped lead the Red Sox to their first championship in 86 years when he won the World Series MVP in 2004. He anchored the 2007 lineup that brought New England their 2nd ring in 4 years. Even after all that, he was traded to Los Angeles and the Boston media and fans were happy to get rid of him. I was wearing my Dodgers shirt in Boston a couple of weeks after the trade and I heard from a random guy on the street, “You can have Manny. You’ll get sick of him really fast, you’ll see.” If I’m ever sick of a guy that hits over .300, hits more than 30 home runs and over 110 RBIs while bringing me 2 World Series victories, please tell me to get a hold of my life!

Well, one team’s trash is another team’s treasure. Manny brought some of the most exciting September and October baseball the Dodgers have seen in 2 decades. Not only was he hitting around .400 most of the time, he brought a buzz to the ballpark that I haven’t seen since Orel was pitching in the late 1980’s. I still can’t remember having a guy on the team that I would skip beer runs to watch.

Manny’s quick arrival and possible departure shows how the theory works. Dodger fans never finished the honeymoon period with their superstar—in fact, we’re still living it. We appreciate what we have and know how bad things could be if we lost him to free agency.

Kobe Bryant is a different example of L.A.’s relationship with a different superstar in a different position. If you ask around the NBA who they’d want to have the ball at the end of the game, it’s all about Kobe. The Black Mamba has been so clutch, it’s just expected when he drives the dagger into another opponent. The Lakers know it, their opponents know it, and we know it. But think about it, when you discover that you have the best closer in the league—you use him all the time, no questions asked. Now, Kobe’s been so good for so long, he makes it look easy. You’ll hear fans say things like, “Kobe should be the decoy on this play,” or even, “just think what we could get for Kobe in a trade.” First of all, Kobe should never be the 2nd or 3rd option at the end of the game. Dude is a finisher, let him finish. Just because he makes it look easy, doesn’t mean that it is.

Laker fans have been watching Kobe do his thing for such a long time, sometimes they forget just how good he is. They say the right things, they know he’s one of the best 2 or 3 best players in the game, but you never think about trading him. Ever. I honestly don’t think people will realize exactly how good he is until he’s gone and someone like Andrew Bynum or Pau Gasol is the 1st option on the team. It’s sad when greatness becomes expected.

Now check out what’s going on inside Staples Center on the ice. The Kings have an 18 year old defenseman that already looks like he fits with the big boys. Not only that, he’s already showing glimpses of that je ne sais quoi that makes fans giddy just thinking about it. He’ll have end-to-end rushes that make you wonder how good he’ll be once he has some experience! Of course he’s making some rookie mistakes, but there’s a spectacular flair to his game that hasn’t been seen in L.A. since Gretzky left. Before the draft, he was compared to a couple of former Boston Bruin defensemen: Bobby Orr and Ray Bourque. I laughed off the comparisons and I still don’t think anyone should be compared to the greatest defenseman of all time—but Doughty’s damn good. He has that same quality when he’s carrying the puck that makes you feel like he’s going to create a scoring opportunity for himself or one of his teammates, even if its not there. The best part of this—he’s 18 and grew up wanting to be a King. He’s locked up for 5 years before he’s even a restricted free agent. I’m not sure that even the Kings front office can screw this up.

I know that just about all Kings fans are watching and can’t even hide their smiles. It’s because he’s new. He’ll make a bad cross ice pass at the blueline or he’ll get beat on a 1-on-1 situation and the mistake is just laughed off. “Oh, he’s just young—he’ll figure it out.” I hope we continue to appreciate him day in and day out, but I’m sure we won’t. Such is human nature.

I’m doing my best to appreciate what I have while I have it. I know there will be a day where the Dodgers don’t have a legendary power hitter in the middle of their lineup, the Lakers won’t have a stone cold killer who can drop 81, and the Kings won’t have a once in a generation prospect on defense. When they’re gone, I’ll spend my time wondering how the organizations will be able to replace all of the talent we got to enjoy. Until then, I’m going to follow my own advice and enjoy the show while I can.I’m sure Mrs. Cheap Seats (to-be) will be glad to hear that I’m going appreciate what I have!

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