Triple OT

I didn't know what to write about until my grandmother and I talked earlier tonight. In my family she's probably the biggest basketball fan of us all and she said, "Can you believe this game?" I played it off like I knew what she was talking about. I turn on game 6 of Boston @ Chicago. The score was 118-118 going into the 3rd overtime. Third overtime. How does a game end up tied at the end of three definitive periods of basketball? Everybody is exhausted. People are pushin' and shovin' practically in fisticuffs. Bloody noses, tweaked ankles, missin' teeth. It's like a hockey game played on wood. Fans are screamin' and yellin' though they'll never know the rigor of the physical demands of playoff basketball in the NBA.

At one point Chicago had 17 turnovers. Boston probably had a few less but then Paul Pierce and a couple of other key Celtics fouled out. Chicago has rookie of the year Derek Rose and second year energizer bunny Joakim Noah along with Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich. See, some chide youthful exuberance as well meaning but ultimately too inexperienced for any real success. But the Bulls didn't get the memo. Say what you will about Boston being short-handed due to injuries. No pardons will be given in hindsight if the Bulls find away to dethrone the champs.

Is it possible that young people sometimes get judged unfairly? People seem to expect failure and immaturity from young people instead of growth and tenacity. It's mystifying. Whether it's NBA playoff basketball or American Literature class on a smoggy afternoon, maybe it's time to expect more than mediocrity from the youngsters. Face it, the sooner young people find the wherewithal to overcome obstacles, the sooner they stop believeing that their youth is an excuse to fail. As I read one blog today, the grownups said they were generally impressed with teens. They said they're not so bad but the tenor of the blog's posted comments suggested that young people are kind of tolerated, not challenged but coddled and examined like some lab experiment. With the resources available to today's young people, they could run a country. Don't believe me? Post a comment.