[FlyMaster]

Chokin' The Chicken

Sometimes in sports, and in life, talent and preparedness are completely overrated precepts. If an athlete or a team is somehow predisposed to the “Choking Gene,” then sooner than later they will inevitably choke. The greatest organizational case study for the “Choking Gene” is the Red Sox. For all the talent that has graced Fenway over the course of the passed century they have exactly 2 World Series Championships sitting on the mantle. On Tuesday night the “Choking Gene” reared its head, as most Boston fans probably thought it would, and the Red Sox are now one game away from another morose winter.

Let’s hop in Doc Brown’s time machine, fire up the flux capacitor, and take a quick spin through Red Sox history. Cy Young, a man who won 511, pitched for the Red Sox and won one championship. Ted Williams, arguably the best hitter and fly fisherman to ever grace the planet Earth, never won a championship. Yaz…no championships. Tiant, Clemens, Evans, Rice, Hurst, Oil Can Boyd (okay I just threw him in), Tony Conigliaro, Buckner, etc; what do they have in common? No championships. Individually, all of these players were great, but while wearing the Red Sox uniform, all of them caught the “Choking Gene”. When an organization and its fans become accustomed to blowing it, they inevitably will be magnetically drawn to blowing it over and over again.

This year’s incarnation of the Red Sox is no different. They were up on the Yankees by 13 games, but late in the season the Sox started looking in the rearview mirror and began thinking “we’re choking.” And they were right. So what, they limped into the playoffs and faced an Angels team that was beat up. No need to get overly-excited, buddy. In the ALCS the Sox have shown their colors…and the colors are yellow and bright yellow. Being scared of failure means you will fail. The Red Sox have failed again. Sure, there’s one game left and they could somehow pull of a trade for Dave Roberts so he might spark some kind of miraculous comeback like the famed 2004 ALCS comeback, but that’s not going to happen. 2004 was the exception in Red Sox history, and was not the seachange event that some make it out to be. One moment, or series of fortuitous moments, cannot rescue an organization from its genetic predispositions. Like acupuncture, aromatherapy, and tantric sex, the Red Sox need to find alternative means to fight the genetic history. For the record, I do not suggest the Red Sox embrace tantric sex as their first line of defense.

Fret not Red Sox nation for you are not alone in the world. There are several others with whom your beloved share the “Choking Gene.” Let me introduce you to Mr. Phil Michelson, Mr. Andy Roddick, the late 1980s/early 1990s Denver Broncos, Dan and Dave (those decathletes with bad Reebok commercials), Mr. Barry Bonds in the playoffs, Mr. Karl Malone in the last two minutes of any game, and the Los Angeles Clippers. I suggest you all get together in a circle and begin chanting “almost is good enough.” Get used to the chant. Embrace it. Feel it. It may help you delve into your souls and confront the “Choking Gene” ogre lying in the deepest recesses of your DNA. If that doesn’t work, just sit back and realize that your constant failures do provide great drama and entertainment value because losing magnificently is twice as good as winning pedantically…at least for the audience it is.

FlyMaster Signing Off…For Now!

[JBC77]

Good read.