This Post Is About Sports, In Case You Want To Leave

I won't hold it against you.

I'm spending the weekend someplace that actually has television* so last night I took advantage of the opportunity to actually watch some playoff basketball, rather than simply following the scores online.

I wouldn't say I'm a Celtics fan, though I have a fondness for Kevin Garnett, from the days I was a Timberwolves fan**, so I'm not too bothered by the outcome. I will say I'm disappointed the Celtics were able to turn up the intensity for the playoffs the way they kept insisting they could during the regular season. That's the kind of stuff the Spurs used to pull, and it just increases my perception the regular season is useless, or at least way too long. I'm not looking forward to all the jabber about what LeBron's going to do, but it was going to be discussed whether he was still in the playoffs or not, so I'll try and avoid it. Not having TV ought to help.

The end of the game is the part that sticks with me. Normally, I'm annoyed when a team is down by many points and they start following constantly. I understand the strategy, hoping their opponents will miss free throws, so they can close the gap with the time saved. But it slows the game down horribly, and I hate watching it. However, when a supposedly premature end to the season looms, I can understand if the Cavs had fouled the Celtics like their lives depended on it.

Except they didn't. I'm sure the Celtics and their fans appreciated the Cavs accepting defeat, but it seemed strange. I don't want to kill the Cavs for it, though. I know I've had times where I looked at some task ahead of me and said "There's no way I can do this, so I won't." Pre-Calc homework in 11th grade would be a frequent example***. It doesn't happen a lot****, but sometimes I can't see the point in killing myself in a futile attempt, so I don't. Maybe that's why the Cavs didn't try fouling. Or maybe they hate using that tactic as much as I hate watching it, and didn't want to go out that way. It was a little surprising, is all.

* There's no cable or satellite service where I'm usually staying, and we've recently been asked not to stream movies, TV shows, or music on our computers, because it takes too much bandwidth. Which prompted a coworker to state that if they take those away from us, the ought to at least repeal the "no drinking in the housing" rule. It wouldn't help me much, except it might keep my coworkers from becoming crabby.

** When he left and the team went completely in the toilet, I decided I wasn't going to root for terrible franchises in two sports, and I was already an Arizona Cardinals' fan. Now I'm a vagabond fan, rooting for whichever team interests or entertains me.

*** Almost every math class I took in high school - statistics being the exception - kicked my butt. Strangely, when I reached college, I did much better in the same classes. Were the teachers better, did I put in more effort (probably) or is it because I was going through concepts for the second time?

*** If nothing else, I hate feeling like a quitter. A lot of times, I put my head down and go until I'm done, so I can say I did finish whatever it is. I hate making other people have to carry my load. I'd imagine that's not uncommon.