A warning on taking greatness for granted

It’s easy to take greatness for granted. Like most people outside the Boston area, I will be rooting against the New England Patriots this weekend. I cannot begin to explain how sick and tired I am of seeing Belichick and Brady in the Super Bowl. I know they aren’t in the Super Bowl every year, but eight straight AFC title game appearances? Come on. At the beginning of each season, there are always those “experts” who claim this will be the year the Patriots’ dynasty comes to an end. Guess what. Those people are wrong every single season. We’ve become so accustomed to seeing the Patriots in playoff games that I’ve heard people say they will refuse to watch the Super Bowl this year. The thing is, those people need to be tuned in on Sunday. Why? Because we, as sports fans, should care about dynasties and the legacies great teams, players, and coaches leave.

In today’s sports world, it feels like there are dynasties everywhere. We’ve already talked about the Patriots, but how about Alabama’s NCAA football team and the NBA’s Golden State Warriors? Every year we know those teams are going to compete for titles. And as easy as it is to root for the underdog in those games, it’s important that we appreciate those dynasties and never take their greatness for granted. The thing about dynasties (and greatness in general) is that you never know when they will end. Even though I like to give those aforementioned “experts” a hard time about incorrectly predicting the collapse of the Patriots’ dynasty, the truth is, that collapse is inevitable. All dynasties come to an end and that end is often sudden. Many will rejoice the end of these dynasties’ greatness and claim that parity will be restored, but — as much as I hate to admit it — dynasties are good for sports.

It’s easy to hate great teams, players, and coaches. We claim that they make sports boring or even unfair in some cases (*cough* Golden State *cough*). The thing about greatness, however, is that it draws interest. When there are dynasties in sports, not only do die hard fans tune into games, but casual fans do too. Even people who normally wouldn’t care about certain games have an opinion when a great team or player is involved. I have family members who don’t know a lick about the NFL, but because the Patriots are in the Super Bowl, they have an opinion or prediction. My sister wouldn’t be able to tell you who Patrick Mahomes, Todd Gurley, or Aaron Donald are. She couldn’t pick Drew Brees out of a police lineup. But she knows exactly who Tom Brady is and who he plays for. That’s the power of greatness. That isn’t to say those other players aren’t great, but Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and the Patriots are in a different stratosphere.

Do you really think a Kansas City vs New Orleans Super Bowl would garner the same interest from those casual fans? Absolutely not! And I would have loved that matchup as a hardcore NFL fan. We had a similar, more extreme situation with last year’s Super Bowl. The NFL was panicking about a potential Philadelphia, Jacksonville matchup. Why? Because casual fans who knew nothing about those teams would look at those names and say, “Who cares?” The Patriots, of course, bailed the NFL out and beat the Jaguars in the AFC championship game. Now I know many of you are probably thinking, Okay, but I don’t care what those casual fans find interesting. Well you should. The hardcore fans will follow sports regardless of who’s playing. Their support is almost guaranteed. It’s the casual fans that affect the popularity of sports and the direction leagues go in. Which is why those great teams, players, and coaches are so important.

If you’re a dedicated sports fan, you’ve seen enough of the Patriots, Alabama, Golden State, and/or LeBron James to make you sick (if you’re not a fan of those teams/players). It’s gotten to the point where we see certain plays or highlights that would be considered incredible if they were performed by other teams or players and brush them off as ordinary or even expected. That’s sad. Like I said earlier, we never know when greatness is going to end.

I’ve been a Detroit Tigers fan my entire life. You’re probably thinking, Is this the same article? I thought we were talking about greatness and dynasties. What do the Detroit Tigers have to do with any of that? While I could sit here and argue with you about why the Detroit teams from 2011–2014 were phenomenal, I won’t. The real reason I bring up the Tigers is because of Miguel Cabrera. Maybe you’ve heard of him. Miguel Cabrera is one of the greatest hitters in the history of baseball. If you disagree with me, here are some gaudy career stats for you to look at: .316 batting average, 2,676 hits, 465 home runs, 1,635 runs batted in. He is also an 11x All-Star, back-to-back MVP winner (2012 and 2013), and the only player to win the Triple Crown since 1967 by leading the league in batting average (.330), runs batted in (139), and home runs (44) in 2012. If you still don’t believe me, check out this video of him battling the first player to ever be unanimously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, Mariano Rivera, back in 2013. I still get goosebumps when I watch that. What’s my point? Over the last few years he’s battled injuries and, at 35, a return to that elite level seems more and more unlikely. When one of your favorite players or teams declines like that, you see firsthand just how fleeting greatness is.

So even if you’re not an Alabama fan, appreciate Nick Saban and the way he gets kids to buy into something bigger than themselves. Admire the way LeBron — who can seemingly score whenever he wants to — creates for his teammates and keeps everyone involved in the game. Relish the chance to watch one of the greatest teams in NBA history, the Golden State Warriors, play a beautiful, unselfish brand of basketball in an age of counting stats. Respect the Patriots and Bill Belichick for the way they prepare and change their game plan depending on their opponent. Sit back and enjoy the way Tom Brady dictates and manages the game at 41 years of age. You never know, this could be your last chance.

I’ll leave you with a quote from my cousin, Michael, who’s a huge LeBron fan. A while back, I asked him why he wants LeBron to win more rings. He looked at me and said, “I want to live in the same era as the greatest athlete of all time.”