Is the concept of "momentum" a cliche? Sure, but so are statements like "We're just gonna play 'em one game at a time", "We prepare for every game the same way", and "If we go out there and play the way we know we can, the scoreboard will take care of itself". And out of all of those, "momentum" is probably the truest one.

Nobody is going to skate up to Brian Engblom and say, "It doesn't look good. We beat the hell out of this team and had the series all but won and somehow they came back and now we've got one for all the marbles in their building. What the fuck! We're gonna try hard the way we always do, but I don't like our chances."

To me, "momentum" game to game just means the prevailing attitude of a team as a collective heading into that game. Now maybe the Kings feel exactly the same way right now as they did heading into Game 5 with a 3-1 lead, but I doubt it. You'll never know, because they aren't going to tell you. Being professional isn't about the way they feel. It's about the way they act. I'd bet a lot of money that the attitude in the Hawks locker room is a lot more positive today than the one in the Kings locker room. That's your momentum.

They still have to play the game though. LeBron James can go 24 hours without eating, pull a muscle in his back, and feel like absolute horseshit. I can be trained to the minute, have had a great night's sleep and a fresh breakfast, feel great and ready to go, and have all the momentum in the world for my one on one game against LeBron and I still won't win. Because momentum is just one small factor. The talent disparity is too great. But when we get to the championship rounds of professional sports, everyone is great. The margin between me and LeBron is huge, but between LeBron and Noah- and more particularly between their teams- it isn't as huge as people make it out to be. When one guy or one team or one horse stands so far out above everyone else, that's what we remember. It doesn't happen all the time. That's what LeBron is trying to do. A lot of people are hoping and wishing for him to do it. He hasn't yet. It was shocking when Jordan hit that shot over Ehlo. But in retrospect, it wasn't shocking at all. He did that stuff all the time. What was really shocking was when he threw the ball to Nick Anderson.

Anyway, this series isn't about one team standing so far above everyone else. And if one team does, you can see it's the Hawks. Coming back from a 3-1 deficit to win two Cups in a row is the beginning of legend. These are two good teams and this game is likely to turn on a small thing like a split second mental lapse by Quick or Crawford or even Doughty or Kane. Or momentum.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

TL;DR


sorry JORR, but part of my social contract with dan bernstein is that i accept him as being unequivocally correct regarding any/all issues pertaining to sports. so yeah don't mind me while i carry on to bitch about the guy who has programmed my sports thoughts for the better portion of the last ~11-13 years.

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I saw a tweet from cover.com saying 75% of the action is on the Hawks but yet the line has dropped from -150 to -143

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I know each game is its own entity unto itself but to expect the Kings to win 3 road game 7's during the course of one playoff run has got to be pretty low. Im sure there's precedent
for that happening and they could very well win tonight but just the odds have to catch up to them at some point.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

I believe it was Doughty that said before game 6 that it was a must win game for them. They know they are not coming into Chicago tonight and winning game 7.

They had their shots to close it out. They couldn't do it.

Hawks got this tonight.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Doughty said they'd win tonight, too. He thinks he's Messier.

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That just means that the heavies are on the Kings. The percentage of bets means nothing, it's about total dollars.

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

Of course that is what he said. That is what he has to say. In his heart he knows it is over.

Just like last year in the NBA finals. Spurs had a shot to close out the Heat. They failed. Everyone knew the Heat were winning game 7.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

I think momentum is 100% an IN GAME thing. I agree it doesnt carry from game to game.

but to say, that momentum doesnt exist is because a sports geek cant measure it, is wrong.

Momentum is the thought that one team is just better than the other for that 10 second, 1 minute, period, or game. Everyone on the court, field, ice, etc knows it. Maybe they prepared better, maybe they just got lucky that day but it is a feeling that all players and coaches know on both teams.

It's why coaches call timeouts, to kill the other teams momentum. You never see a team running the offense well and they call a timeout. OK, well maybe the Bears under Lovie! But other than that, teams try to kill the other teams momentum.

To say it doesnt exist because it cant be measured tells me you never put the jock on for any level of competition and your bedroom as a kid was filled with ribbons, trophies and plaques all giving you credit for your PARTICIPATION. "Where did you play your ball" someone once said!

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

"Phil Emery just blew that pick"

I think teams remember getting their asses kicked. So it's game-to-game as well as intra-game.

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Middle Aged Crazy, like Uncle Terry

Of course they remember, but everything is different to start a new game. Location, time of game, etc etc

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

By that theory the Kings had momentum in Games 5 & 6 since they had to feel more positive knowing they were 1 win away from the finals.

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“Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.”- JD Vance
“My god, what an !diot.”- JD Vance tweet on Trump
“I’m a ‘Never Trump’ guy”- JD Vance

Usually you were whipped because the other team is better. Ask the Pacers.

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“Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.”- JD Vance
“My god, what an !diot.”- JD Vance tweet on Trump
“I’m a ‘Never Trump’ guy”- JD Vance

Or the Thunder.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I think it's more complicated than that though. I would agree that in the vast majority of cases, however we want to define "momentum", the team with a 3-1 lead probably has it. But all human beings have different personalities. Forget about the talent level for a minute, Jonathon Toews and Andrew Shaw are obviously very different guys from an emotional standpoint. If you were creating a team with a perfect personality profile, you probably wouldn't want all Shaws. But you wouldn't want all Toews either. Obviously, no front office has the luxury of putting together a team based only upon emotions and personalities. You have to be able to play hockey too.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don