Reggie Miller Retires and Other Rainy Night Musings

Well, it truly is the end of an era.

I remember my senior year of high school I wrote a coulmn for the K-O News about how so much was changing from the world that we, the Class of 2000, had grown up in. Just as we were graduating, it seemed like so much else was changing as well in the worlds of pop culture, politics, and sports. At that time I wrote about how my all time sports hero, Charles Barkley, was retiring from the NBA. Who would I follow after him? Who would I root for? I have enjoyed many NBA games and playoff series since Sir Charles' retirement, but I don't think I've ever felt the same personal investment in the outcomes of the games. I haven't found another player to latch onto and hope that finally, this will be their year to win it all.

With one exception: Reggie Miller.

I have been a Reggie Miller fan for years now. No other sports figure has provided so many exciting, nail-biting moments as Reggie, the greatest clutch player in the history of sports. Reggie's last-second shots are the realization of every kid's fantasies. It's down to the wire, there's one second left, the game is tied, and the ball is in your hands - it's your shot, your chance to be a hero. Reggie embraced that challenge and was that hero. He was brash, showy, but yet he always seemed to be fighting the good fight. He was always a kind of underdog, playing on the small market Indiana Pacers and never getting the true recognition he deserves. He was the guy who seemed to have the guts to stand up to the big boys of the NBA and never take a backseat to anybody. He had legendaey duels with Michael Jordan's Bulls, Patrick Ewing's
Knicks (and of course Spike Lee), and Shaq and Kobe's Lakers. Reggie Miller is also one of the most interesting players to watch in the NBA. He has his own unique style of play unlike that of any other player, though some like Detroit's Rip Hamilton do their best to emulate him. Reggie is constantly moving, coming off screens, and faking out his defenders in order to get open. Even at age 39, he is still constantly on the move, and uses the space of the court better than anyone else. Reggie is also a near-perfect free throw shooter, consistently among the league's best. Plus he has his pre-free-throw ritual of dipping his hands into a bucket of salt before he shoots for a better grip on the ball.

Reggie is one of the NBA's all time greatest, if not the greatest of all time, in the realm of three point shooting. He has had so many clutch three pointers that it's impossible to remember them all, and he has continued to be the Pacer's go to guy in the clutch even now, despite the presence of other stars on the team like Jermaine O'Neal. Many remember his famed 13 point in eight seconds burst against the Knicks about ten years ago as one of the all time great end of game performances.

I remember back in middle school David Carasso was the biggest Knicks fan, and I had already become a huge Pacers fan. What we had in common was that both of our teams were always foiled in the end by Michael Jordan. But Knicks Vs. Pacers has to be one of the all time great sports rivalries, largely because of the amazing performances that Reggie would always bring to those games.

I saw Reggie Miller play in person this past year in Boston, in a playoff game against the then-woeful Celtics. Every time Reggie touched the ball, you could feel the crowd hold their breath, collectively anticipating what would happen next. Every time Reggie did make one of his patented quick-release three's, I stood and clapped despite being in Boston, because I knew I was witnessing greatness.

Now Reggie is retiring, and Miller Time will soon come to an end. The last great sports hero of my childhood will be gone. Coincidentally, Karl Malone, my brother's all time favorite along with his Utah Jazz partner John Stockton, also just announced his retirement. Except in rare instances when he an Stockton were pitted against the Bulls in the finals, Malone was always one of my least liked players. Not that I didn't respect him, but as a Barkley fan Malone and his Jazz were always the villains, and my brother and I had an intense rivalry with me rooting for Barkley and him rooting for Malone to finally win a title. Like Reggie, neither ever did. They were victims of an era dominated by Jordan and his Bulls. Jordan kept greats like Stockton, Malone, Barkley, Reggie Miller and many others from ever winning an elusive NBA title. But in recent years Reggie was one of the few still playing from that group, still gunning for a title. The Pacers, then coached by Larry Bird, got to the Finals in 2000, but were bested by the emerging Shaq and Kobe dynasty. Since then there have been many close calls, most notably against Detroit just last year, but still nothing.

So this will be it. One last time, I will watch the Pacers' playoff games with that sense of excitement mixed with dread that you can only get from watching a sports team you love play with everything on the line. And this time it is everything for Reggie Miller, the ultimate clutch player. With the emergence of the Shaq-Dwayne Wade duo in Miami, the Pacers are definitely underdogs. But you never know. Maybe they can do it. Maybe they can surprise people. But one thing is for certain - if the game is close, and the clock is winding down, and the world is watching - you can count on the ball being in Reggie Miller's hands to take the big shot, just like always.

And then, one way or another, it will be over.

OTHER RANDOM THOUGHTS:

- Finally had the big dinner with the other new NBC pages tonight at a cool place in Burbank called Mo's. Good times, and man it was good to have some restaurant-bought food after a long stretch of microwavable cousine for dinner.

- BELATED SMALLVILLE THOUGHTS: Two GOOD episodes in a row? Wow, that was unexpected. Yes, the Lana-Jason-Lex subplot still totally reeks and is a waste of Lex's character. BUT, the Clark-Lois dynamic is really what carried this episode. Count me in as ready for METROPOLIS featuring the adventures of Clark Kent and Lois Lane. They need to drop the Lana-Jason-witch stuff and hook up Clark and Lana for one last time before Clark inevitably leaves Smallville, as in the comics. They also need more cool villains. Chris Carmack as an evil football player was pretty good here. I also really liked all the talk of Clark's destiny and the moral lessons he learned that led him away from playing college football. Kind of an anti-Incredibles message, but hey it makes sense for Clark NOT to play football and it's what WOULD do. Good stuff. My grade: B+

- OH YEAH ... Forgot to mention the SWEET reference to THE OFFICE on this past week's ep of LOST. A paper company in Slough? Niiiice.

- Cool to see the GREAT actor Morgan Freeman on the Tonight Show today. Also sweet was a skit featuring Gilbert Godfried as Cupid. I can't explain exactly why, but I find Gilbert and his loudmouthed loser/pathetic pervert persona to be absolutely hilarious, and probably laughed at his skit today the hardest I have at anything I've seen since I started at NBC and the Tonight Show. I was in tears at his line delivery. Give the man his own sitcom, for crying out loud!

- Lately my car's turn signals seem to randomly stop working, and it is making me nervous. But then they randomly start working again. Weird. Could I be pressing some button or switch that is turning them off? Anyone have any ideas?

- Man, RAIN is really a huge downer here in sunny LA. Today the pouring rain just made the Tonight Show audience SO antsy while in line. Everyone was grumpy and I got yelled at by people a ton of times today, so it was pretty chaotic.

- Lots to do this weekend. Looking at apts, other assorted errands, and more. Hopefully some fun thrown in there too. Yeah, you heard me.