FALCON POINTS
Disappointing World Series result reminds us how special 2017 really was - and it will likely never happen again
Oct 30, 2019, 10:50 pm
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
As the Astros watched the Nationals win the World Series Wednesday night in Game 7 by a 6-2 score, it was hard for Houston fans not to be disappointed, especially how the Astros choked it away. Seeing Washington celebrate its first title on the Astros home field was a tough pill to swallow. It was an exciting time for the Nationals and their fans, however. And it should be a reminder of just how special 2017 was for the city of Houston.
Hard to come by
Unless you are Boston, championships don't come often. In 1995, the Rockets won their second title when Clyde Drexler came home and Rudy T reminded us to never underestimate the heart of a champion. It seemed like it would go on forever.
It didn't. Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen came and went, and the Rockets have been chasing a title ever since. Many of you reading this might not have even been born when it happened.
Special memories
That's why 2017 was so special. It was a rare moment, where a team took a city that was still reeling from Hurricane Harvey and brought it one magic memory after another. They went through three of the legendary franchises - the Red Sox, Yankees and Dodgers. It was something that could never be repeated.
Those Astros were charming. They were MVP Jose Altuve. World Series MVP George Springer. They were the magical trade for Justin Verlander, who brought Hollywood flash with his wife, Kate Upton. It was pure magic. It brought all of the city together. That is something rare indeed in our society these days.
This is what it meant to me at the time. I am certain many of you felt the same way.
Something to enjoy
It was what makes sports great. The pain of all those years of losing just reminds us how incredible it is when you finally see it happen. That's why this disappointment should remind us of just how excited we were in 2017. Those moments are made even more special when you come up well short, as the Astros did Wednesday night.
Not so lovable
Unlike 2017, outside of Houston, no one liked the 2019 Astros team. Everyone was rooting for the Nationals. They became the lovable first-timers. The thought of Max Scherzer finally getting to hoist a trophy. The annoying Baby Shark. A pesky, gritty lineup. When the capital of political corruption becomes more popular than you, it's time to embrace your inner villain.
The Astros became the bad guys. They added Roberto Osuna, whose domestic violence case brought a stain to the organization, no matter how it played out. Justin Verlander caused a scene with a reporter. Yuli Gurriel was suspended for a racist gesture in the 2017 Series. The antics of Alex Bregman and Josh Reddick might be loved by Houston fans, but they are both players that you hate if they aren't on your team. Then, of course, there was the infamous incident with their former assistant general manager. It was overblown and mishandled on both sides, but it also created a false narrative about "culture" in the national media, who continued to pound the Astros no matter what they did to try to make it right.
Fair or not, this was the national image of the Astros. And with a World Series on the line, they folded, and the rest of America celebrated.
What's next?
The Astros will be good for a few more years, and might even win another title, although it is unlikely. Gerrit Cole is certainly gone, but Lance McCullers should be back, Jose Uquidy looks promising, and someday even Forrest Whitley might show up. Or the Astros will make some off-season moves to boost the rotation. George Springer, Carlos Correa and Michael Brantley are under contract for another year. But there is nothing guaranteed; this year's team should prove that. Getting past Tampa, the Yankees, and even coming back from down 2-0 to take a 3-2 lead was damned near impossible. The Yankees will be better next year, so too will the Red Sox. Not to mention the Dodgers should the Astros get that far.
The bottom line
So 2019 is in the books. A.J. Hinch, who made all the right moves in 2017, mismanaged the pitching staff in Game 7 in an ugly way, and the Astros came up short. He brought in Will Harris, who was overworked, when Cole was there to do the job. It cost them a title.
Still, it was a great ride that ended with them coming up short of the ultimate prize, but it was still fun to get there. An American League championship is nothing to sneeze at. But that's also why the memories created in 2017 were ones that will last a lifetime. As great as Hinch and the Astros were in 2017, they were failures in 2019.
Feel bad for this loss, but enjoy 2017 again, because it is not something to be taken for granted. It is more likely than not it will never happen again.
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They’ll be watching in Canada, not just because of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, though the NBA’s scoring champion and MVP favorite who plays for Oklahoma City surely helps lure in fans who are north of the border.
They’ll be watching from Serbia and Greece, the homelands of Denver star Nikola Jokic and Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo. Alperen Sengun will have them watching Houston games in the middle of the night in Turkey, too. Slovenian fans will be watching Luka Doncic and the Lakers play their playoff opener at 2:30 a.m. Sunday, 5:30 p.m. Saturday in Los Angeles. Fans in Cameroon will be tuned in to see Pascal Siakam and the Indiana Pacers. Defending champion Boston features, among others, Kristaps Porzingis of Latvia and Al Horford of the Dominican Republic.
Once again, the NBA playoffs are setting up to be a showcase for international stars.
In a season where the five statistical champions were from five different countries, an NBA first — Gilgeous-Alexander is Canadian, rebounding champion Domantas Sabonis of Sacramento is from Lithuania, blocked shots champion Victor Wembanyama of San Antonio is from France, steals champion Dyson Daniels of Atlanta is from Australia, and assists champion Trae Young of the Hawks is from the U.S. — the postseason will have plenty of international feel as well. Gilgeous-Alexander is in, while Sabonis and Daniels (along with Young, obviously) could join him if their teams get through the play-in tournament.
“We have a tremendous number of international players in this league,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said earlier this season. “It’s roughly 30% of our players representing, at least on opening day, 43 different countries, so there’s much more of a global sense around our teams.”
By the end of the season, it wound up being 44 different countries — at least in terms of countries where players who scored in the NBA this season were born. For the first time in NBA history, players from one country other than the U.S. combined to score more than 15,000 points; Canadian players scored 15,588 this season, led by Gilgeous-Alexander, the first scoring champion from that country.
Gilgeous-Alexander is favored to be MVP this season. It'll be either him or Jokic, which means it'll be a seventh consecutive year with an international MVP for the NBA. Antetokounmpo won twice, then Jokic won three of the next four, with Cameroon-born Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers winning two seasons ago.
“Shai is in the category of you do not stop him,” Toronto coach Darko Rajakovic said after a game between the Raptors and Thunder this season.
In other words, he's like a lot of other international guys now. Nobody truly stops Jokic, Antetokounmpo and Doncic either.
And this season brought another international first: Doncic finished atop the NBA's most popular jersey list, meaning NBAStore.com sold more of his jerseys than they did anyone else's. Sure, that was bolstered by Doncic changing jerseys midseason when he was traded by Dallas to the Los Angeles Lakers, but it still is significant.
The Slovenian star is the first international player to finish atop the most popular jerseys list — and the first player other than Stephen Curry or LeBron James to hold that spot in more than a decade, since soon-to-be-enshrined Basketball Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony did it when he was with New York in 2012-13.
“We’re so small, we have 2 million people. But really, our sport is amazing,” fellow Slovene Ajsa Sivka said when she was drafted by the WNBA's Chicago Sky on Monday night and asked about Doncic and other top Slovenian athletes. “No matter what sport, we have at least someone that’s great in it. I’m just really proud to be Slovenian.”
All this comes at a time where the NBA is more serious than perhaps ever before about growing its international footprint. Last month, FIBA — the sport's international governing body — and the NBA announced a plan to partner on a new European basketball league that has been taking shape for many years. The initial target calls for a 16-team league and it potentially could involve many of the biggest franchise names in Europe, such as Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City.
It was a season where four players topped 2,000 points in the NBA and three of them were international with Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokic and Antetokounmpo. Globally, time spent watching NBA League Pass was up 6% over last season. More people watched NBA games in France this season than ever before, even with Wembanyama missing the final two months. NBA-related social media views in Canada this season set records, and league metrics show more fans than ever were watching in the Asia-Pacific region — already a basketball hotbed — as well.
FIBA secretary general Andreas Zagklis said the numbers — which are clearly being fueled by the continued international growth — suggest the game is very strong right now.
“Looking around the world, and of course here in North America," Zagklis said, "the NBA is most popular and more commercially successful than ever.”