Thursday, June 10, 2021

The Old Guys Club

 I don't know what else 2021 will be, five months in. But so far it's the Year of Tapioca.

The Year of Metamucil. The Year of Dammit The Battery's Dead In My Hearing Aid Again. The Year of  You Kids Better Get Off My Lawn, Because I Can Still Out-Putt You, Out-Drive You and Take You To The Hole.

In short, it's the springtime of old-guy revival out there, and thank God for it. Not all old people are as decrepit and crazy Nutbar Louie Gohmert, the geriartric Texas congress critter who wondered this week it we could shift the moon's orbit and see if that will solve the climate change problem.

Of course, someone already thought of that. It didn't solve the climate change problem, but it did keep Martin Landau's career alive.

In any case, thank God for Sportsball World, which has done its bit to give old people a good name in a year when there's a 78-year-old grownup in the White House. 

Tom Brady won the Super Bowl at 59 (OK, so 43, then). Phil Mickelson won the PGA Championship at almost-51. Helio Castroneves beat the kids at Indy to become a four-time 500 winner at 46. And now?

Well, anyone see what Chris Paul is doing these days?

He's 36 years old, long in the tooth for an NBA point guard, but you'd never know it. The man hauled the sadsack Phoenix Suns out of the the NBA's remainder bin this season, providing a wise old head and some oncourt direction that earned him a couple of league MVP votes. 

Now the Suns are two games deep in the Western Conference semifinals, and they're up 2-0 already on the Denver Nuggets. Last night they floor-waxed the Nuggies 123-98, and ancient Chris Paul did his bit with 17 points and 15 assists.

He and Suns' star Devin Booker, the best backcourt in these playoffs not named Kyrie Irving and James Harden, combined for 35 points, 17 assists and 15 rebounds. Not a bad night's work.

Now, it'll be interesting to see if the Suns can sustain that heading to Denver, because this is the NBA, where momentum is a unicorn. Five'll get you 10 the Nuggies follow up their 25-point pasting by laminating the Suns in Game 3. It's just what they do in the League.

In any case, those of old enough to misremember a whole pile of stuff have a reason to  lord it over Generation X, Y, Z or whatever letter we're on now. "OK, boomer"? 

Don't look now, punk-os, but Helio just passed you on the outside.

And Phil just jarred another birdie.

And CP-3 just crossed you over, scooted into the paint and made you look silly with the dish.

OK, children.

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