Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Nothing Lasts Forever



A week ago my favorite player was traded away from my favorite team.

The next day a bridge I had crossed many times fell into the Mississippi River, killing at least five people including a guy I had played baseball against named Patrick Holmes.



I'm lucky I wasn't on that bridge. I'm lucky I get to feel sad about KG leaving for Boston and I'm lucky (if not crazy) to feel hopeful about the future of my Timberpups.

Two years ago, when I was still doing my sports fan TV show THE SHOW TO BE NAMED LATER..., we had an idea to have an 11-year-old Wolves fan interview Wally Szczerbiak after the final game of the season. Rumors were rampant that Wally would be traded that off-season, so we figured this might be her last chance to interview her all time favorite player.

So we got permission from the team, (show host) Jonny Voss came along to help out, I operated the camera, and here's what happened...



We learned later that KG left without talking to the media that night, but he went out of his way to talk to us.

As Jonny expressed in our lead out to commercial, we really did believe that the Big Ticket would be a Timberwolf for the rest of his career, just like those people on that bridge believed they would make it home safely last Wednesday.

Nothing lasts forever. Not home run records (Bonds hit #756 tonight). Not TV shows (no matter how much your local superstar athlete loves the one you created). And certainly not KG in Minnesota.

But we'll always have our memories (and thanks to DeROK, we have this heartfelt video tribute)...



And there's always hope. I snuck into the Wolves press conference today where they introduced the five players they received in the KG trade.


I chattered about everything I saw in the Go Wolves group at FanChatter.com, and my fellow Wolves fans followed along, responding to my chatter and challenging me to speak up and ask a question. I didn't.

But the back and forth on the site was great, and the new guys looked good (except for Gerald Green who looked tired/bored/sedated), and mobile sports fan chat once again proved to be pretty cool.

Even with no guarantees, life is good, isn't it?

2 comments:

FLCeltsFan said...

Gerald is still a kid. He looked more scared than anything. He was the only one in a suit up there and really does try hard. As a Celtics fan, I am going to miss those guys. They are great kids and you got a great deal. Minnesota will love Gerald, Al and Gomes. They will give you all they've got all the time. I am going to really miss them.

Unknown said...

Sweet segment with KG and Wally.
I'd never seen that one.
And, as a Wolves fan, it is a bizarre combination of sadness and excitement that I'm feeling right now.