You became a sports fan so you could exult at the highs, marvel at the skills, cheer at the climax and experience the thrill ride.
And now, with the Warriors and the Giants, all of a sudden your only concerns are tweaked ankles, fractured thumbs, rib cartilage, bruised pelvises, MRI’ed ankles, neck “things” and getting out of the next two weeks alive.
The rally cry for sports fandom for the Giants and Warriors: Go team …… errrrr, I mean …. STAY HEALTHY!
It’s not quite as thrilling as a Steph Curry three-point barrage or a play deep in the hole by Brandon Crawford, but that’s your only mission as a Giants/Warriors fan.
Both teams are worried about only one thing, and it ain’t wins or losses.
As they like to say around the sports cliche department: The best ability, is availability.
We are one week away from the Giants opening at Dodger Stadium, and so far, mostly so good. Although Buster Posey had an MRI on his ankle and has seriously slow-played his spring, he appears on track for Opening Day. And although Jeff Samardzija had an MRI on his right shoulder and may start the season on the disabled list, the team assures us he’s OK. But both cases are enough to re-emphasize how fragile the Giants’ roster is.
This all is set against the news that Dodger star Justin Turner suffered a wrist fracture and will likely miss all 10 of the Giants-Dodgers games in April, and the news that 30-HR Diamondbacks outfielder Steven Souza appears to have injured his shoulder diving for a ball Wednesday night, severity TBA.
Gulp.
Get the Giants to Opening Day. Quick!
Meanwhile, it took having a truly great NBA team in our market to finally and fully understand how utterly useless the NBA regular season is. I mean, other than entertaining us for a few hours every third day, all the Warriors are doing is marking time until the playoffs. And all they’re doing while they’re marking time is making sure they are as healthy as they can be.
Curry’s ankle. Kevin Durant’s rib. Klay Thompson’s thumb. Draymond Green’s pelvis. Can we just fast-forward, DVR-like, to mid-April yet? Curry has already said that his ankle won’t be 100 percent until the off-season. But with 11 games to go and the 2-seed in hand, the Warriors are in basketball purgatory. They’d like to play to stay sharp, but they’re also willing to sit out to stay healthy. Does Steve Kerr have an inbounds play called ‘Catch 22’?
I can’t remember a time in recent Bay Area sports where we were so contingent on medical reports. Never in “Hoosiers” does Coach Norman Dale consult with the team doctor on an MRI. Never in “Field of Dreams” does Kevin Costner ask: “Dad … can I sit out to rest my neck?”
But this is our lot, sports fans. Sit tight, and the promised land will come. Wins and losses will matter again. Soon.