A while back I wrote an
article called
What If? that outlined hypothetical scenarios that may have played out had a specific moment in time been altered. It would be as if someone traveled back in time to change the outcome of past events, drastically altering the sports timeline for years to come. What would be the ramifications or such a change? What would be the results of these changes? These are the types of questions we attempt to answer when we imagine what could have been
if such events had been different.
Now it's time to unleash Part II in the series of
What If? columns. Partly because it's fun to try to re-write history and imagine new outcomes, and partly because I had nothing else to write about this week. If you recall from Part I (if not, go
check it out!), last time we looked at scenarios in which events that appeared to be bad for Boston actually turned out for the best. This time, we'll focus more on events that didn't end up going our way.
What if the Celtics had drafted Tim Duncan?
Wake Forest Center Tim Duncan was the prize of the 1997 NBA draft, which included few other surefire franchise players. The Boston Celtics had finished the previous season with the league's worst record, giving them the best odds at winning the lottery and the rights to draft Duncan. Unfortunately, luck was not on their side.
The Celtics had historically been the league's most accomplished team, having won 16 titles to that point, but the franchise had recently fallen on hard times due to a run of mismanagement and bad luck. The Golden Era of the original Big Three had recently come to an end as injuries forced Larry Bird and Kevin McHale to prematurely retire their numbers to the rafters of the old Boston Garden. The franchise was robbed by the untimely deaths of Len Bias and Reggie Lewis, young stars expected to be passed the torch to the new generation of the team. These tragedies set the team back for several years, but 1997 was supposed to be the year when they finally got back on track thanks to their new savior - Tim Duncan.
Duncan is a future first ballot Hall of Famer and arguably the greatest power forward to ever play the game. His career averages of over 20 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks per game only begin to tell the story of the impact he has had on the league. He's an elite defender, unstoppable in the low post and a gifted passer for a player his size. To top it off, he's a terrific teammate and one of the classiest players in the league. Boston fans salivate while thinking how he would have looked in Celtic green.
This dream was not to be, as the San Antonio Spurs hit the lottery jackpot by being awarded the top pick in the draft. The Spurs already had a talented veteran team, but an injury to star David Robinson destroyed their season and put them into the lottery. Despite the odds, they managed to get Duncan, who teamed with Robinson to form a dominating front court. The twin towers soon catapulted the Spurs to the top of the league as they captured their first title in 1999. Duncan has continued to pile up a Hall of Fame worthy resume and has won a total of 4 titles so far.
Meanwhile, the Celtics fell to the third pick in the draft and selected Chauncey Billups. While he later developed into one of the league's top point guards, peaking as the Finals MVP for Detroit's title victory in 2004, Billups was slow to blossom. The Celtics impatiently gave up on him far too early, getting rid of him after only one season. After bouncing around to several other teams over the next few years, Billups eventually settled in and became a star in Detroit. Perhaps if they had been more patient with Billups then the blow of losing out on Duncan would not have been quite as bad. Instead, watching Billups become a star somewhere else just threw salt into the wounds of Boston fans that were already stung by the missed opportunity to draft Duncan.
Through a previous trade with Dallas, the Celtics had also acquired the number 6 pick in the draft, which they used to pick Ron Mercer. After two decent seasons in Boston, Mercer also moved on, although never achieved much more than being a role player. That pick can essentially be considered a bust. This draft wasn't particularly deep, so the Mercer selection didn't seem like a terrible choice at the time, but in retrospect it was far from the best option. Perhaps if the Celtics had been able to lock up a sure thing like Duncan with their first pick then they may have been willing to take more of a risk on a young high school star - like Tracy McGrady, who was selected by Toronto with the 9th pick that year. While McGrady has sadly broken down over the past couple seasons, he was one of the top scorers in the league for nearly a decade. Perhaps part of why he has been overcome with injuries late in his career is due to playing heavy minutes earlier in his career while carrying bad teams. Had things worked out differently then perhaps he could have teamed with Duncan in Boston, joining a core that also included All-Star Antoine Walker. Having other stars around them to help carry the load, along with the added incentive of playing for winning teams, maybe have prolonged the peak of the careers of McGrady and Walker. That big three could have dominated for over a decade, perhaps even surpassing the success Duncan has had in San Antonio.
Of course had that have happened then the Celtics may not have had the chance to select Paul Pierce the following year. Every season and draft over the next decade would have turned out differently, meaning the current big three of Pierce, Garnett and Allen would never have been formed. Duncan has had the best career of any of those players, but overall the current trio is probably better than the Duncan, T-Mac, Walker trio. So what it boils down to is which do you prefer - the current trio that only has a 4-5 year window of being a contender but has already won 1 title so far, or the trio that could have been, which is not guaranteed any titles but likely would have made the team a contender for 10-12 years.
What if Roger Clemens had stayed in Boston?
Roger Clemens historic career began with the Red Sox in 1984. He quickly established himself as one the game's elite pitchers, leading the Red Sox to the 1986 World Series in a season where he won the first of his record 7 Cy Young awards, as well as the AL MVP award. The Rocket dominated for over a decade in Boston as he piled up wins and added to his stellar accomplishments.
His already storied career seemed be winding down near the end of his tenure with Boston, as he failed to record more than 10 wins in each of his last three seasons with the Red Sox. This prompted then GM Dan Duquette to proclaim his infamous quote about Clemens being in the "twilight" of his career, before letting him leave as a free agent after the '96 season.
Angered by how his departure from Boston was handled and perhaps fueled by Duquette's words, Clemens revived his career the next season after signing with Toronto. In each of his two seasons with the Blue Jays, the Rocket won the Cy Young award, as well as the pitching Triple Crown. His dominance while playing for a division rival made his departure from Boston even worse for Red Sox fans, who vilified Duquette for running him out of town. To make matters worse, the Blue Jays then traded Clemens to the hated Yankees, who anchored their pitching staff and led them to two World Series titles in '99 and '00. Perhaps the Yankees dynasty would not have been as dominant if Clemens was still pitching in Boston instead of for New York.
It was only after his career ended that Clemens found himself caught in the middle of a steroid scandal after former teammate Jose Canseco publicly accused him of being a steroid user. We may never know the truth regarding what illegal substances Clemens may have used or for how long he used them, but the evidence is fairly clear that he did use steroids and likely started doing so in Toronto. This helps explain his career revival. Did Clemens start using steroids because he knew Duquette was right about his career winding down and he needed a boost to prolong it? Or did he simply want the boost to make himself more dominant than he had ever been to stick it to his old team for letting him go. We don't know how things would have turned out had Clemens stayed in Boston, but there seems to be no evidence that he was using while in Boston, so perhaps if he had stayed he never would have found a reason to start. Or perhaps he never would have made connections with the wrong people, such as former Yankees trainer Brian McNamee, who claimed to have injected Clemens with steroids himself. Therefore, it's not unreasonable to argue that had Clemens never left Boston then his reputation and legacy would not have been tarnished and he would not be currently facing trial for lying about his involvement in the steroid scandal that was brought before Congress.
Clemens resume shows him to be one of the greatest pitchers of all time. He's won 7 Cy Young Awards, an MVP, 2 World Series titles and is a member of the elite 300 wins and 4,000 strikeouts club. Perhaps he would not have reached all of those lofty milestones without the help of steroids, but he had accomplished a great deal of those numbers in a Boston uniform before the steroid scandal had even begun. Looking at his career in Boston alone, he put up impressive numbers. If he never left Boston then he likely would have accumulated at least most of the numbers he would later add with Toronto, New York and Houston. He may not have been quite as dominant or have his career last nearly as long without the help of steroids, but he would still have had a Hall of Fame career.
After leaving Boston he would never again be viewed the same in the eyes of Red Sox fans that were angered that he left them for a division rival. Fans that previously supported him now loathed him. He was viewed as a mercenary, a hired gun. He would later be called a cheater and a liar for his role in the steroid scandal. No other player, aside from maybe Barry Bonds, has been under more scrutiny and been more vilified in their career than Clemens. Despite all that he has accomplished, all it's led him to is a fanbase that turned against him, an asterisk next to his name, possible jail time and a legacy that lays in ruins. To think, this could all have been avoided if he had just stayed in Boston.
What if the "helmet catch" never happened?
Super Bowl XLII showcased the juggernaut New England Patriots against the underdog New York Giants. The Patriots are coming off the most dominant regular season in league history. Not only had they become the first team to ever go 16-0 during the regular season, but their offense had shattered nearly every record imaginable. They set a new standard for points scored in a season. Tom Brady teamed with new toy Randy Moss to set records for most TD passes and TD receptions in a season. Combine that with the fact that head coach Bill Belichick is considered to be a genius and it all added up to a sure title victory for the Pats - which would have been their 4th of the decade.
Sadly, we know how that turned out, as the Giants shocked the world by beating the Patriots 17-14. The surprising aspect isn't so much that the Giants won, but how they won. A serious of improbable plays led to a last minute scoring drive that put New York ahead with just over 30 seconds remaining in the game. On that drive, no play was more controversial or bizarre than the "
helmet catch."
Trailing by 4 points on what would be their last drive of the game, the Giants were in desperate need of a touchdown. At the time it seemed like an unlikely challenge, as they were still on their own side of the field with just over a minute left and facing 3rd and 5. What happened next was one of the most unbelievable plays in Super Bowl history. Not because of some amazing feat of athleticism or skill, but because of plain dumb luck. For starters, the play almost never happened, as the Patriots nearly sacked Eli Manning before he ever had a chance to throw the ball. Patriots defenders had their hands on Manning, pulling at his jersey, but he somehow managed to escape (despite that nobody would ever confuse Manning for having the strength of Ben Roethlisberger or the mobility of Aaron Rodgers). On the previous play Manning had thrown an incompletion to David Tyree, but on this play he for some reason decided to trust his #4 receiver once again with the game on the line. Despite being well covered by Rodney Harrison, Manning launched a pass up high towards Tyree. The receiver jumped up to get it, only to be met by the physical Harrison who had no intention of allowing an easy reception. Both players had their hands on the ball, but Tyree somehow managed to pin the ball against his helmet as he went to the ground. He never caught the ball cleanly with both hands, but he had one hand on the ball, it wasn't moving and never hit the ground. Therefore, it was correctly ruled a completed pass, despite that no player would ever intentionally attempt to catch a pass in that manor. Tyree could not have hoped to convert that same reception again if he tried it 100 times. Not even a Giants fan can argue that the catch wasn't a fluke delivered by some well timed luck.
Had the Patriots managed to sack Manning it would have set up a nearly impossible 4th and long play to decide the game. Even if they hadn't gotten the sack, and incompletion would have set up 4th and 5 from the same spot with precious seconds having ticked off the clock. Instead, they got a first down 32 yards further down the field, into Patriots territory.
Even after that miraculous play, the Giants still had an uphill climb ahead of the, but fortune remained on their side. After a sack on first down forced them to use their final time out, Manning went back to his good luck charm, Tyree on 2nd and 11. The pass was nearly intercepted, as Asante Samuel appeared to get his finger tips on it. Unable to make the catch that would have ended the game, Samuel at least disrupted the path of the ball enough to cause Tyree to drop the catch. However, that drop may have actually been the best thing that could have happened for them on that play. Had he caught the ball it would not have been enough for a first down and would have brought up 3rd and short. By the time the offense was hurried back to the line there would have been less than 30 seconds remaining, since they were out of time outs. They likely would have attempted a short pass or two trying to pick up the first down, which would have wasted more time, before taking a shot at the end zone with only seconds left to play. Instead, Tyree did not catch the ball, meaning the clock stopped. They converted the next play for the first down and managed to get out of bounds to stop the clock - a play that was much more to their advantage than the catch Tyree dropped would have been. They were lucky enough that the ball wasn't intercepted, but if Tyree had caught it then the Giants may not have had enough time left to score.
The last play of the drive was a beautiful fade route to Plaxico Burress, whose speed and size made him impossible to cover on that play, leading to an easy game winning TD. Credit Manning and Burress for a perfectly run play, but none of it would have been possible if not for the unlikely events that preceded it.
David Tyree became the hero of the game for his unbelievable catch. Do you know what his next catch in the NFL was? That's right, there wasn't one. Tyree was cut by the Giants before the start of the next season and has been out of the league ever since. So a player that's not even good enough to still be in the league decided the fate of the Super Bowl.
If Tyree doen't make that catch then there is a pretty good chance that New England holds on to win that game. A victory would have capped off a perfect season and given the core of Brady-Belichick their 4th Super Bowl title in 7 years, making them arguably the best QB-Coach combo in league history.
Call it bad luck, call it a curse, call it whatever you wish. In any case, the Patriots missed out on perfection.
