Finger: Food For Thought: Is It Really Over?

[duncan228]

Food for Thought: Is it really over?
Mike Finger

It’s too early to tell if the Spurs’ reign as the most consistent NBA winner of the past decade is over. But as history has proven, dynasties have limited shelf lives. Here’s a look at some of the more memorable ones, and how their conclusions compare with what the Spurs are enduring:

Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

Years: 1943-49
Championships: Four
Why it ended: The Fighting Irish went 37-0-2 during one stretch from 1946-50, but their dominance gave way to other superpowers, most notably the one created by Bud Wilkinson at Oklahoma.
Spurs parallel: In Frank Leahy’s final season at South Bend, the Irish fell out of public favor by faking injuries in a game against Iowa. In some quarters, Manu Ginobili was known as a flopper as well.

New York Yankees, Part I

Years: 1947-62
Championships: 10, with 13 trips to the World Series
Why it ended: Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford had to get old sometime.
Spurs parallel: The transition from Joe DiMaggio to Mantle early in the dynasty went as smoothly as the one from David Robinson to Tim Duncan. The next step wasn’t so easy.

Boston Celtics

Years: 1957-69
Championships: 11
Why it ended: Bill Russell, having run out of fingers for championship rings, decided one toe was enough.
Spurs parallel: The Celtics were the embodiment of a crusty guy with an appreciation for fine cigars. The Spurs were the embodiment of a crusty guy with an appreciation for fine wine. Both leaders had a pretty good big man to build around.

UCLA Bruins basketball

Years: 1964-75
Championships: 10
Why it ended: After 27 years and 620 victories, John Wooden finally retired.
Spurs parallel: By the end of the dynasty, the sport was littered with UCLA copycats. And when you look around the NBA today, every team is either scouting internationally, integrating the corner 3-pointer into the offense or trying to find the next Sam Presti.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Years: 1974-80
Championships: Four
Why it ended: The Steelers were besieged by injuries in the 1980 season and couldn’t keep things together well enough to make the playoffs.
Spurs parallel: Jack Lambert was feared like few NFL defenders ever were. But like Bruce Bowen, by the end of his days with the league’s premier team, the defense as a whole wasn’t what it once was.

Los Angeles Lakers

Years: 1982-91
Championships: Four, with eight trips to the NBA Finals
Why it ended: A fellow named Michael Jordan grew up.
Spurs parallel: Maybe neither Kobe Bryant nor LeBron James is Michael Jordan. But together? They can have a similar effect in disrupting a dynasty.

Dallas Cowboys

Years: 1992-96
Championships: Three
Why it ended: Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones stopped getting along, and Troy Aikman started suffering concussions.
Spurs parallel: This locker room isn’t as interesting as the one at Valley Ranch in the 1990s. And R.C. Buford and Gregg Popovich’s relationship is strong. But it probably isn’t a good idea to bring up the words “Luis Scola” when they’re together.

New York Yankees, Part II

Years: 1996-2001
Championships: Four, with five trips to the World Series
Why it ended: Mariano Rivera finally proved himself to be fallible in a memorable Game 7 against Arizona.
Spurs parallel: Like the Spurs, the Yankees’ core was built upon homegrown talent. When the focus started shifting to trades and free agents? It was much more hit-and-miss.

New England Patriots

Years: 2001-08
Championships: Three, with four trips to the Super Bowl
Why it ended: Eli Manning proved he had more gumption than most people thought, and David Tyree used his head.
Spurs parallel: Tom Brady started becoming more well-known for dating a celebrity than for playing a game. Somewhere on a red carpet, Tony Parker knows the feeling.

[raspsa]

It was said of the great Celtics dynasty that one reason for their eventual demise is that Red Auerbach was too loyal to his veterans. He would pass on opportunities to trade them even when it was apparent that they were no longer as productive as they had once been, to the detriment of bringing in frresh talent. Sounds familiar?

[Yorae]

Finger food?