Steve Nash's Haircut of Destiny

Date: 5/9/2010
Watching: Spurs vs. Suns, Game 4, Round 2; Canucks vs. Blackwawks, Game 5, Round 2
Marv Albert (paraphrasing): "And so as the Suns try to close out this series, it's one-point game, going into the fourth quarter, this could not be set up any more dramatically." Um, really? What if it was, I don't know, Game 7? Heck, even this game could be set up more dramatically, if it was tied. Not a lot, but I'm just saying, you're way over-selling this game, Marv.

That said, if the Suns are really going to make a run at this, the NBA Playoffs just got a lot more interesting to me. They show Steve Nash on the sideline, and he's lying down for his bad back, and he's old, and he's got one eye half-swollen shut. And the thing about it is, he obviously doesn't care about any of that. At. All. Physical pain is really not an issue for him, as long as he has a chance to win the championship. And he honestly, truly, believes he does, and he knows he doesn't have many chances left. But there's no anxiety in that, because it's enough that he has had this one. If you think he's worried, then how can you explain his taking onthe Spurs, supposedly his arch-nemesis, and calmly demolishing them. He doesn't buy into the media narrative, because the fact is, this year's series is in no way determined by matchups of previous teams with different players. Whether he's going to be able to take down Robo-Kobe, I don't know. But HE thinks he can. He's not scared of Kobe at all. I hope he's right.

I also like Nash's low-maintenance, slightly distinctive haircut that he picked out 20 years ago so that he would never have to think about his hair again.

The Canucks win comfortably in Chicago, forcing a Game 6, in Vancouver. And here I'm going to have to point out again how I think fans are a part of the game: I really believe that a factor in the game will be whether or not the fans are afraid. If the fans are afraid, the players will know. And I don't think this team has the mental strength to ignore that. (I say authoritatively, having seen parts of 8 or 9 of their games).