I was over at my son’s house watching mostly the Florida “Panthers” hockey game (we lost 4-2) and at intermissions the “Heat” game. I saw Kyle and Jimmy in street clothes on the bench and immediately got stressed. Jimmy misses too many games. Every time we switched to the “Heat” game I got tense. I finally told my son to keep the “Panthers” on, I didn’t want to watch the “Heat.” Both local teams were practicing “load management”, the "Panthers" are playing out the string in a wildly successful regular season, but for the “Heat” this was a game five and a close-out game! I thought load management ended in the playoffs.
I'm worried about Manchester City. I am concerned that we gave up three goals at home today. Concerned that our margin for error in Madrid is narrow. Don't think, if we get past Real, that we will beat Liverpool in the final. Worried that if we don't win the Champions League this season that Pep Guardiola will leave. I’ve been disturbed all day by the Philadelphia “76ers”, too. Am still shocked by the Brooklyn “Nets” sweep. I wasn't up for stressing over the "Heat."
A normal lifespan in the NBA is 82. Two-thirds of the teams get a life extension of, at least, one, maybe two, maybe three before Association death; sixteen, more than half, get extensions of four to seven; the luckiest live to be almost 100 and it's possible to live till 110. But life is very fragile beyond 82; every extension is also potential sudden death. The "76ers" went from new-found Fountain of Youth vitality to critical condition in the span of 48 hours. No living mortal thought Brooklyn would need a pacemake just to make it to 84 only to die in a fiery crash at 88. Very few cognos think the "Heat" will live into their late 90's. Lose tonight and they would have entered "Sixers" World, a fraught, foreboding place, and I didn't want to go there with them as a fan. They didn't go there.