The Miami Miracle is an ESPY Finalist and I For One Love It

I am thrilled beyond words that ESPN thought to include the Miami Miracle among the ESPY “Play of the Year” finalists. While at the same time not loving the poll numbers. Out of 109,000 respondents, only 16% voted for it? And more than half somehow decided that Kawhi Leonard landing a buzzer beater out of the rafters that spent about 20 seconds on the rim to win Game 7 of a playoff series was somehow a better choice? I don’t know when I’ve ever been more disappointed by the outcome of an election in my life?

I was really hoping the Dolphins would win. Not that the ESPYs amount to anything more than filler on the most uneventful night on the TV sports caledndar. But at least for one, brief, shining moment, they’d show that highlight to the glitterati of the sports and entertainment world and they would all sit there in their Armani tuxes and their gowns with the $100,000 Blood Diamond necklaces and they would despair. Because all the Miami Miracle is now is a reminder of the sustained greatness of the one true, remaining sports dynasty.

Remember how that play was supposed to be the death knell of the Patriots reign of terror over the rest of the NFL? It was more than a fluke. More than just the law of averages catching up to a play that works once in a decade or so. It was a referendum on the team’s character, effort and coaching. It was about how they weren’t playing hard for their coach any more. It was about his decision making and arrogance, putting Gronk down on the goal line for a Hail Mary that never came.

The whole play was portrayed like the Berlin Wall coming down as the soldiers stood by and did nothing, signifying the end of the Patriots Evil Empire. And the following week at Pittsburgh – a game that produced yet another play that got its own name, “The Pick,” was Hasselhoff coming to do a concert at the Brandenburg Gate.

Except they celebrated too early. The wall stayed up. Bill Belichick’s military remained at their posts. His secret police are still spying on subversives and rounding up dissidents. New England’s oppression of the lesser nations remains intact, as powerful as it ever was.

But please do have fun watching that play again while we all watch the postseason games we’ve got marked “Save Until I Delete” on our DVRs. And remember that our scars are just the reminders of the times life tried to destroy us and failed.