Saturday, May 7, 2011

Thanks for the memories, jerkasses

Who needs The Shot when you can look at this happy bunny?
Just in case this beautiful May Saturday was too nice for you, Cleveland fans, that pandering organ grinder of doom ESPN saw fit to remind us that today is the 22nd anniversary of "The Shot," a moment which in time would serve to symbolize both one player's emerging greatness and one town's long-standing athletic pain.

We are treated to the same replays of The Shot every year during the NBA playoffs or any time a Cleveland team makes the post-season: The all-too-familiar camera angle from the opposite baseline showing Jordan moving with the ball toward that fateful spot behind the free throw as a desperate Craig Ehlo gives chase ; Jordan lifting for the jumper over Ehlo's outstretched hand and sprinting to the left as the ball sails through the hoop; MJ's mid-air scissor kick followed by the iconic triple fist pump as Ehlo collapses despairingly on the sideline.

We've seen this replay so many times you'd think it would cease to have meaning, but no, it still hurts, and national outlets like ESPN will continue to salt this already gangrenous wound until the sun turns black, the oceans evaporate into dust, and every other planet-ending plague prophesized in bad heavy metal songs comes to pass.

So who needs the tsuris on a gorgeous afternoon like this one? Enjoy the weather my fellow Clevelanders, and forget you even read this.

Add caption