Hail to a Warrior; Goodbye to an era gone by

This past Friday, an era finally came to its end.  It was something that was completely expected, a journey that was in the works for over twenty years. One could say that in some ways, it was a storybook ending for a tale that had its ups and downs, but still ended happily.  For me, though, it closed a book on a period in my life I will never ever forget. On September 5, 2008, Patrick Ewing was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

It is not as if this moment was unexpected.  The announcement came back in April, and even then, it felt like it was just going through the motions.  Patrick has been retired for over 5 years, now, and he had proven his Hall of Fame credentials for probably ten years before retiring.  Nearly 25,000 points, over 11, 000 rebounds, nearly 3000 blocks, leading the Knicks in nearly every major category that means anything, and being an 11-time all-star only scratches the surface of his greatness. Despite the on-again, off-again, love-hate relationship that he shared with New York, he WAS the Knicks for fifteen seasons.  He was their offensive and defensive leader, but he was also their spiritual provider.  He was a blue collar warrior in a ritzy town.  I’d like to think that in the end, the true Knicks fan, like I am, really did appreciate all that he brought to the table, night in and night out.  While all great things have to come to an end, as his career in New York did that sad day in September, 2000, some memories never die.

I have grown up being a basketball fan, and for me, I can trace my youth while watching the career of Patrick Ewing.  He made Georgetown basketball matter back when I didn’t know anything about basketball, but growing up in this area, the two names I knew were Patrick Ewing (of Georgetown fame), and the Knicks (my hometown team).  Back before it mattered to me, I still remembered seeing that Ewing was drafted by the Knicks, and feeling like somehow, they were right for each other.  I remember rooting for the Knicks as I grew older.  I didn’t really follow them so much, but I can remember watching games with my brother, and it was something we shared.  The first game I really remembered seeing was Game 5 of the 1990 Eastern Conference opening round against Boston.  It was a Sunday afternoon, and we were watching the game together, and I remember how Patrick wouldn’t let them lose.  These were the Celtics; one of the great franchises of the 1980’s, still with Larry Bird.  I remember Patrick hitting that fall-away 3 pointer from the left-hand corner, and thinking that shot had to indicate something.  Obvioulsy, history will show that the Knicks lost to Detroit in the next round, but at that point, I just remember thinking that no one in the league was more “powerful” than Patrick, and that it was just a matter of time before he would take the Knicks to the Promised Land.

I remember that Andrew went off to college, and I followed a year later.  The 1990-91 season was a forgettable one.  Patrick scored 28.6 points a game (yes, I remember his numbers), and 10.9 rebounds a game, to go with 3+ blocked shots, but the were embarassed in the first round by the Bulls, who would go on to win their first championship.  I was a graduating senior in high school, and still into enough other things not to notice quite as much.  When I went off to college though, is when I really started following Patrick and the Knicks with a fervor.  Keep in mind that this was really before the true birth of the internet, but I still managed to track every box score from every game he played, from the beginning of the 1991 season, up until he retired.  I still have the Excel spreadsheet that I kept, more or less every night.  I became fascinated with statistics, partially because I wanted to see where he stacked up against his peers, but later, to see just where his place in history would be.  It is an interest I still have today.  It is a real pleasure to be able to identify players you know are not just contemporary greats, but indeed, who you know when watching, you are really watching history in the making.  I don’t feel that way about too many players today.  It is not because there aren’t good players, maybe even all-time greats, but because I haven’t found myself as emotionally attached to the trials and tribulations of Patrick Ewing.  I think that the only modern player I can follow in a similar way is probably Tim Duncan, who I firmly believe plays “the right way”.  Just like Patrick, I believe that he leaves it on the floor every single night, plays offense and defense, and cares more about winning a game, than in filling up his box score.  Duncan is a champion many times over, and when he retires, I will know that I have witnessed one of the greats that will stand the test of time.

The 1990’s were a great time for the Knicks, and as a fan, I enjoyed them as well.  Patrick was celebrated as one of the game’s great players, and the Knicks were consistently playing deep into the playoffs.  Unfortunately, for both Ewing and the Knicks, there was always someone/some team in the way.  If it wasn’t Jordan and the Bulls, it was Olajuwon and the Rockets.  As Ewing aged and the Knicks revamped into the LJ/Allan Houston era, they had epic battles with the Alonzo Mourning Heat, and the Reggie Miller Pacers.  They lost out the Spurs in the 1999 finals.  They may never have crossed over the top of the mountain, but they kept open their window of opportunity about as long as could possibly be expected, and they did it by playing the game the right way.

I will respect Ewing for setting the tone for how to play the game of basketball.  He probably sweat more than any athlete (or human being) I can remember, but he did it by giving his all to play defense, and in standing tall from the first minute to the last, win or lose.  Critics would say that the 1990’s Knicks were boring, ugly, and played dirty.  It is true that some of their games, when the shots were not falling, could be a bit on the ugly side, but I loved every minute of it.  They played a style of defense that was true New York in every way.  It was about pride, and standing their ground, and thuggishness aside, Ewing made them into warriors, just as he was.  They never made excuses, and they never lost faith in themselves.  New York can be a tough town to please, and Ewing stoicly shouldered the burden of their annual playoff exits, only to guarantee that they would return to fight another day.

I believe that there are certain traits I have patterned after Patrick, and not just in my game. (Even though I did my best to make a 5′ 11″ white boy into a 7′ 0″ center….there is only so much I could emulate, even if I played with friends who were shorter than me).  I try to emulate his work ethic, and I know that like Patrick, I try to block out alot of the negativity that can surround me.  I don’t deal with external drama around me; I like to go to work, do my job well, and go home.  I don’t feel the need for excess flashiness, and I am also a bit guarded as to exactly who I let into my world.  I consider myself loyal to a fault, and for a true friend, I will do anything for you.  That being said, I know that to alot of outsiders, it can come across as aloofness or indifference, but if I really wanted you to know my business, you would already know it.  Otherwise, your opinion of me just doesn’t matter much.

Ewing’s career trailed off for a couple remaining years with stops in Seattle and Orlando, before he retired.  The Knicks have never really recovered, and as an NBA fan, I have struggled to find the same kind of love that I had when I rooted for Patrick and the Knicks.  I will always be a Knicks fan, even if their present state is pathetic, with moronic management.  I have searched for those remaining connections….the Georgetown alums, the few remaining real-post centers which play like Patrick, but really, these are just cheap substitutes.  For over 15 years, I considered myself a true Hoops junkie, catching hundreds of games (whatever NBC and TNT offered, prior to getting access to the NBA league pass), and reading hundreds of box scores (mostly torn from newspapers, before I could get almost instant internet access).  I set my schedule around when the Knicks played, and I internalized their winning and their losing.  I can remember important dates by what happened with the Knicks.  I remember my college graduation was the same day as the Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, when Patrick brought the Knicks back,only to lose it in the final seconds when a finger roll in the lane rimmed out.  I remember vividly the year when Patrick broke his wrist on a stupid defensive play by Milwaukee’s Andrew Lang.  I remember in 1994 when they beat the Bulls in Game 7 (Patrick was scoreless at the half, but had 17 points in the 2nd half to win).  I remember hearing play-by-play of the last 2 minutes of the Game 7 against Indiana, when he threw down the John Starks miss for his 24th point and 22nd rebound (I was watching The Flintstones movie with my then girlfriend, who complained that a “stupid game” was more important than she was….). Then of course, there was the madness of losing a quarter of Game 5 in the finals, watching OJ in his dumbass car chase…couldn’t he have run at another time? I remember sitting through a friend’s graduation at Gettysburg with Jamal, watching the Knicks lose to the Heat after losing players to a suspension, but not without Patrick pouring in 36 points in the losing effort.  I will always remember the year when  I met one of my best friends, Lynn, because she gave me play by play of games from the NY/Atlanta Eastern Conference Semi-Finals, en route to the finals in 1999.  I will remember where I was when I heard he was traded, and what I was doing when he finally retired (I had a pretty decent car accident the day after that one, too).  One of the best moments of my life was going to Madison Square Garden in February, 2003 to see his number retired.  To see New York finally appreciate him the same way I did made me proud to be a fan.  There will always be the woulda, coulda, shoulda’s about his career.  He was always one of the top players, but never the MVP.  The Knicks were always a competitor, but never one the title.  I can think of at least 5 different seasons when I really thought they could have, if not should have won the title, but didn’t.  But this is not to lament what didn’t happen…it is to celebrate what did take place.

I am a bit sad now, because in all reality, this is a very real chapter in my life that is officially over.  For all of the souvenirs I have in my basement…the jerseys hung, the figurines on the mantle, the trading cards in the binder, and the hours upon hours of games I still have on tape, Patrick Ewing now belongs to the ages of the Hall of Fame.  I traced my life from childhood, through my adolescence, and well into adulthood following this man.  I don’t idolize what he did as a basketball player per se….I don’t care about the money, or the bling, or all that fame carries.  I don’t care so much about the points scored, etc, as I do about how he carried himself,  on and off the court.  I admire the way he always played the game; all out.  He dedicated himself to being the absolute best he could be, and he always laid all his cards out on the table.  These are life lessons, and I hope I have learned them well.  As I have watched my boyhood heroes retire over the past few years, there are very few left, and I have been fortunate to see some get immortalized into the Halls of Fame.  Nevertheless, I doubt that I will ever have the same connection with another athlete, in any sport, than I did with this man.

I raise my glass to all that Patrick Ewing accomplished.  He earned his place in the Hall of Fame by truly embodying greatness, and with dealing with all of the enormous pressures placed on him since Day One.  No one can argue with his significance in the history of the game.  For me, though, he taught me how to truly embrace a sport, how to look at it from different angles, and how to become a true enthusiast.  It is not enough, to me, just to celebrate an individual’s achievements, without becoming a student of the whole sport.  This is why I consider myself a real NBA fan, and one with a real opinion.  I have taken this same approach to studying other sports, but I will never be as in tune with the NFL or MLB as I am with the NBA.  I feel like my stepfather, Arn, who can speak with authority about his memories of Ted Williams and the great Red Sox teams of yesteryear. I only hope that as I move on with my life, I can pass on similar tales to my children of the great wars fought on the court by Patrick Ewing, a player for the ages.