Thursday a.m.: Where does Derek Fisher’s return rank?
One of those days that makes it good to be a sports fan, really. You sit through a lot of garbage that has to be packaged up for drama, and then you get a guy like Derek Fisher doing everything he can and it’s just enough. And there’s a happy ending on the personal side, too.
About that scene Wednesday night — does Derek Fisher’s emotional injury and valiant comeback compare to …
Willis Reed? I don’t know. I’m too young for that one, but I’ve seen the footage more than a few times and I don’t know if this return was quite that mythical.
Michael Jordan flu game? Yeah, I’d put it above that. Mostly because, like Pete Sampras puking and still finishing in the U.S. Open, I’ve always wondered if there was a sprinkle of added “drama.”
Kerri Strug? Hmmm, sprained ankle or completely discombobulated emotion, thought process and probably central nervous system, which would you play through.
Curt Schilling and the bloody sock? Man, Fisher wins based on personality alone.
The whole basketball world is relieved and happy for Derek Fisher. The best measure of his impact was when he came out onto the court and got a hug from Baron Davis. Amid all that intensity, the other team is rooting for him! (A little bit, anyway, you can’t help it.)
If you can get Mark Madsen blogging in your honor, you must be all right. And by the way, since Fisher went on the air with this thing called retinoblastoma, here’s what he’s talking about.
To the morning recap …
- All drama aside, as Kawakami writes, the Warriors blew this game.
- Ain’t nothin’ but a thing to Stephen Jackson. “It’s just two losses. I’ve been hit by a car.”
- Dee Brown is OK, which is a lot better than he looked walking off the court.
- My observation: I would love to know how many points the Jazz scored while Jackson was on the other side of the court pleading, leaping into the air or rolling around on the ground looking for a foul that wasn’t going to come.
- Giants lose, and I actually feel bad for Armando Benitez. He’s throwing the ball well, he’s not ripping teammates … OK, who is this impostor and where is his birth certificate?
- The A’s finish reminds me of something that’s starting to get a lot more talk around baseball: replay. It’s the one sport where it would actually work without delaying the game, because there’s 30-45 seconds between batters anyway. So, naturally, it’s not in use. Because baseball is wise.
- Pat Riley says Shaq isn’t on the trade block. That’s too bad, I was wondering if he could be in Oakland by Friday.
- Falcons coach says, “I need to believe in Michael.” The other option, apparently, is to be attacked by dogs. Tooth fairy arrives at 11, Santa shortly thereafter.
- Bill Belichick, doing the town with a woman who is or isn’t his wife. (But probably isn’t.) For a guy who spends so much time in the coaching cave, he sure does make it out to see the womens. Like QB, like coach, I guess.
- Roger Clemens is upset that his former manager noted that The Rocket wasn’t all about family when he was skipping Astros games to be with his family. FYI, there was a report way back when that Clemens spent a weekend in Vegas during a late-season playoff drive. That’ll go over big in New York.
- Finally … the Raiders make it official: They’ve severed all ties, forevermore, with anything named Lombardi.
Who cares about d fisher stupid return, he cost us the game
I don’t think it’s really fair to compare comebacks from emotional injuries to comebacks from physical injuries. The closest comparison I can think of is Brett Favre having a transcendent Monday Night Football game against the Raiders less than a week after his father died. But I would rank his performace well above D Fish’s comeback since Brett was the heart and soul for the Packer’s for the entire game, and played all four quarters.