Celebrate the Underdog

NBA -- Jeremy Lin continues to provide hope to Knicks - ESPN

Life provides very difficult and oftentimes, very short odds.  So getting a guy with all the odds stacked against him, and then seeing him do very well, is inspiring.

I personally don't like the Knicks, but that is a franchise that is in need of a different kind of hero.  They chose Amare Stoudemire to be their man, only to trade for Carmelo Anthony and ruin their dynamic.  They get rid of Chauncey Billups, their emotional anchor, to save money, thinking that the glitz of the city will draw free agents.

Maybe the allure of New York will rope them in, but having a great city in which to play isn't enough.  Ask the New York Mets.  They spent a whole boatload of money, and their team still sucks.  Ask the Los Angeles Clippers.   More than a quarter-century in LA and they could only celebrate a few years of success.

I celebrate teams like the San Antonio Spurs for doing well as a small-market team.. They had luck of circumstances, clear management direction, and good coaching.  Even though I hate the way they made it to their city, I celebrate the Oklahoma City Thunder for building on their own talent and exercising patience with their young core.  Now they're rigged to win many championships.

I celebrate the underdog because it's the right attitude to be in - playing against the odds, playing with a sense of desperation, playing with something to prove - because playing with a comfort zone is the one of the easiest ways to run a Titanic into an icepack.

Now, if there could only be someone to spark the Celtics...