Finish

I hate cliches. I've always thought for one to use them really took a lack of originality and overall laziness. But they seriously never die.

And you know who I have to blame for that? Sports. Mark Saturday May 19, 2012 as a date that will forever now be known as the Day of Resilience; a day that will always echo the sentiment of a very famous cliche:

"It's not how you start. It's how you finish."

Take a look at today's UEFA Champions League Final between Bayern Munich and Chelsea. The final took place in Munich, giving the German club Bayern a rare home field advantage in what is designed to be a neutral site event. The visiting Blues of Chelsea were going to truly have to be road warriors to slow down the speed and pace of a club whose foot never comes off of the gas pedal with men like Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery at the helm.

Before this match even began, the legion of Bayern fans unveiled a banner that, in German, said "The cup is ours." This was their turf hosting the biggest stage with their most prestigious club as the favorite; they had already claimed it.

Besides, Chelsea had been lucky enough to make it this far. Their luck was bound to run out much like in 2008, when the club fell to Manchester United on penalty kicks.

For a majority of the game, it looked like just that. Chelsea was constantly on the defensive, as Bayern controlled possession and had numerous chances to bury opportunities. But the men of Munich could not convert. Mario Gomez had perhaps one of his worst matches ever in terms of finishing touch, and those speedy wingers I mentioned seemed to not be able to find the net. Bayern could not do it.

That is, until the 83rd minute.

On an arching cross from Ribery, Thomas Muller thwarted the ball with his head, sending it straight into the ground to give it a high bounce over a reaching Petr Cech to give Bayern a 1-0 advantage. The crowd and team celebrated as if the trophy was certainly going to stay in Germany.

One man in the arena had a qualm with that though, but just calling him a man really is not fair. The Legend of Chelsea would not have his career end this way. That icon was none other than Didier Drogba.

On a desperation corner in the 88th minute, Juan Mata crossed one into the box, hoping for a spark. Drogba, flying backwards, leaped over a defender, and perfectly struck the ball with his forehead into the very upper right hand corner of the goal. The Chelsea destiny was alive.

Fast forward now to extra time, when Drogba seemed to, in the great Martin Tyler's words, "go from hero to zero." An errant challenge made by him on Robben in the penalty box gave the brilliant Dutchman a penalty kick. Surely he would finish his chance, and give Bayern a one goal lead in extra time.

The man in headgear, Petr Cech, had other ideas. He denied Robben and kept Chelsea at a tie. The rest of extra time would not provide a goal, and the biggest game of them all would come down to penalties. And again, Bayern would start strong.

The club buried their first three chances, including a strike from goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. Before he tested his goal-getting ability, Neuer displayed his superb goal-preventing ability, saving the first shot from Juan Mata. Chelsea was down 2-0 in penalties after Mario Gomez converted on his kick, and 3-1 soon enough. They needed Cech to make a stop.

Surely enough, the man in a black helmet pulled out another save, denying Ivica Olic. After Ashley Cole tied it at 3, Bastian Schweinsteiger barely missed with a shot off the post. A stroke of luck had given Chelsea a chance to win their first UEFA title. And guess who stepped up and finished that chance?

You got it. The distinct, delightful, and dominant Didier Drogba. Chelsea had done it and did what Bayern couldn't; finish.

Flash over to North America, specifically Los Angeles. The Clippers, down 2-0 in their series against the San Antonio Spurs, had raced out to a 24 point lead in the first half. Those boring, tired, and old Spurs had finally shown their true colors. The sexy, young, and athletic Clippers had finally found the formula for victory.

The Spurs, in typical San Antonio fashion, did not start to come back with much loudness. Slowly but surely, they cut the lead to 10 points before halftime. A bit more manageable I'd say.

Before the 2nd half began, the cameras at ABC caught Tony Parker, Gregg Popovich, and Tim Duncan casually laughing at the bench. They must have thought this comeback would be a piece of cake. I mean, they had been here before, but this was ridiculous, right?

The only thing ridiculous would be the ferocity and pure speed the Spurs came back with. What we thought they lacked, they had in droves. They raced out of the 2nd half on a 23-0 run, taking the lead and silencing the Staples Center. Championship experience and veteran presence was proving to be too much for a cursed franchise who was now having success after some flashy transactions. Once the Spurs grabbed the lead, there was no doubt.

They led by 11 points in the fourth quarter when the Clippers clipped it to 7. But after the Spurs claimed that same lead amount again with 3 minutes left, the game was over. They had claimed a 3-0 series lead and the old guys had done something they had known for years that the new guys still need to learn; finished.

Finally, we go to Pimlico for the Preakness Stakes in Maryland. After a gut-wrenching, heart-stopping comeback by I'll Have Another to win the Kentucky Derby, the horse was still not the favorite to take the middle jewel of the Triple Crown. That favorite was the horse he had overtaken in the Derby; Bodemeister.

Bodemeister was favored again due to the track for the Preakness being a bit shorter than the track at Churchill Downs. If he got that big of a lead again, there would not be enough distance for I'll Have Another to catch him again.

For a majority of the race, it looked that way. Bodemeister had a commanding lead with only 300 yards to go, coming down the final straight away. The problem is that the Derby champion surely wanted another round.

In truly heroic stride, I'll Have Another barreled down the back stretch to give Bodemeister another run.  This effort was surely greater than his Derby performance, as the horse somehow came up with the win again. He got his nose in front right before the finish, and he had snatched the taste of victory from Bodemeister once again. The horse now has two jewels for the Triple Crown, and both times, did something Bodemeister failed to do; finish.

Sports provide us with the ultimate examples of famous cliches. They're the sole reason these expressions stay alive. To believe in yourself for an entire journey, no matter if it is measured in minutes, months, or years, is something truly remarkable. And when you finally have the chance to achieve the climax of that journey, after all of your obstacles, simply remember to do one thing; finish.

May 19, 2012. The day where we learned to do just that.

Some Miami Advice

 There are some pretty annoying trends currently taking hold of the American sports world today. Ones that come to mind are the Tebow craze, significance of the QUARTERBACK POSITION (Trent Dilfer voice), and the continuing notion that one player has to take every final shot.

To me though, there is one trend that trumps all of those: the over-criticism of the Miami Heat.

When LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh all agreed to join forces, most casual fans immediately hung up a minimum of three future championship banners for the franchise. How could a basketball team possibly lose with three of the NBA's top 30 players?

Well, that's the problem. Everything in the Heat's future is invested in the production of three players. There is literally nobody else on that entire team who can score consistently enough to be considered a key contributor. If one of those three goes down, as Bosh did, then the whole championship possibility for Miami just took a huge hit.

If you don't believe me, I invite you to take a look at the roster. Well, we have two average point guards in Norris Cole and Mario Chalmers. We have big men who could not score a basketball if you put the hoop at five feet in Joel Anthony, Juwan Howard, Eddy Curry, and Dexter Pittman. Better yet, we can put in Mike Miller or James Jones to maybe hit a three.

Nobody on that list of names fulfills the distinction of being a role player. The only two I didn't name, Shane Battier and Udonis Haslem, could actually give you enough to be a role player. And here's a little tip on basketball if you didn't know; role players will win you championships.

Take a look at the greatest NBA teams to ever step on a court. The Bulls dynasty saw greats like Dennis Rodman, Toni Kukoc, and Steve Kerr make key contributions at multiple points to help Jordan and Pippen win all of those titles. Shaq and Kobe knew they could dish the ball to Derek Fisher, Rick Fox, or Robert Horry to hit a key shot in a key moment. Bruce Bowen was a key cog in the Spurs dynasty. John Havlicek, believe it or not, was a sixth man for his first four titles with those great Celtic teams.

If the Heat had three or four players that could live up to those role-playing capabilities, they could win an NBA title. But at the moment, they just don't. It's all about the Big Three. The spotlight never leaves them, which is not helpful.

Go back to my point about "the last shot" or "the clutch gene" being an annoying trend in sports. The situation with the Heat is the perfect example of how this is ruining the game of basketball and truly driving a team like this insane.

Nowadays, everybody thinks there has to be one designated guy to take the final shot in a basketball game. If he's double-teamed, it doesn't matter. You're the star; you have to shoot it. This "hero ball" is not the answer to winning basketball games. You win close games by drawing clutch plays, but there's even a slight catch to that: you have to have guys who can execute those last plays.

The Heat are an enigma with this phenomenon. They have two NBA stars who are looked at to close games; James and Wade. Tonight, both of these men failed in the final minutes with missed free throws and opportunities to give their team the win. Unlike the rest of America, I'm not going to sit here and place heaps of blame on them solely for that.  Let's consider the circumstance of tonight's last play.

Down by three, Erik Spoelsta decided to draw the final play for Mario Chalmers. First, I give him a great deal of credit for coming up with a set play to win. Excellent move. But where was he wrong? Well, he picked Mario Chalmers to take the shot. The only meaningful moment Chalmers has ever provided was a last-second three to give Kansas a national title, truly memorable. But that was college. This is the NBA.

Spoelstra put the game on the shoulders of a player is simply not capable of hitting a shot like that. The Lakers knew "Big Shot Rob" (Robert Horry) and Derek Fisher could hit shots like that. The Bulls knew Steve Kerr could nail a buzzer beater. Last year's Mavericks never worried about Jason Terry having the ball in his hands in the final seconds.

Miami does not have this luxury. They have no choice but to give the ball to James or Wade and hope they can create something. So, in actuality, I will criticize the Heat any time one of these two does not take the shot because there is simply nobody else capable of making it. Who else are you giving it to?

People need to remember that fact. The third leading scorer on the Heat tonight, without Bosh, had five points....in four quarters of basketball. Criticize Bosh all you want, but without him, this team has nobody to replace him. No depth will lose you championships every single time, which is why I believe the absence of everybody's favorite human velociraptor will do just that to Miami.

The bottom line is I am actually quite surprised by the Heat's rapid success. This is a team that has no point guard or center and absolutely nobody on the bench who can come in and be a force. They should not be contending for a title already. Combine that aspect with the pressure of every loss exceeding everybody else's losses, then you have a pretty tough predicament on your hands.

So, next time the Heat lose, don't just look at The Big Three's stats. Take a look at everybody else's. Then, you might calm your outrage a little bit.