Thursday, May 17, 2007

A Disney-esque Story


I frequently find myself hoping for the impossible. When Michael Jordan came back for the second time with the Washington Wizards I was hoping his team would make a run, make the playoffs, and beat Kobe and Shaq in the Finals. Realistic, right? Wrong. MJ and Co. did not even make it to the playoffs for that matter.

Okay so that was off-the-wall, silly to even imagine. But my latest "fantasy" makes the improbable Wizards run look like nothing. If anything this "fantasy" will have the movie producers at Disney drooling.

The Utah Jazz are in the Western Conference Finals for the first time in 9 years. The team seems to be doing pretty well, but when they go against the San Antonio Spurs some help will be needed.

Who better than Karl Malone? (Courtesy of Wikipedia I was able to find out that Mr. Malone now lives in Choudrant, Louisiana.)


Yes, I understand Malone is retired, but The Mailman never did get his ring. His Jazz lost back-to-back years against the Chicago Bulls and right at the end of his career he darted to the Lakers where again his team lost in the NBA Finals. If anything, Malone left the state of Utah on a sour note. That was surely something none of us wanted to witness.


I can see it now the Jazz are in difficult Game 3 against the Spurs. Andrei Kirilenko sprains his leg and the Jazz are forced to call a timeout. Coach Jerry Sloan's team is down by 4 with 3 minutes left and with AK-47 injured things are not looking good.


That's when it happens.


His body building frame comes walking out of the Utah Jazz locker room flaunting his old shooting jersey. Karl Malone has returned to the Delta Center. Malone rips off his shooting jersey and underneath is his rookie uniform.


The noise in the Delta Center is so loud Coach Popovich is unable to calm his team down. Without any hesitation, almost like a reflex, Sloan puts Malone in the game.


In the final 3 minutes, The Mailman has 7 points and 4 rebounds, clearly showing he can still play.


Utah wins Game 3 and the series is now 2-1 San Antonio, though with Malone in the scene the Spurs panic. Jazz end up winning the series in 7 games. The magical story is not over as Utah beats the Pistons in 6 games.


...and finally Karl Malone has his title in the most unlikely of circumstances, but honestly should it really have been a surprise? After all The Mailman always delivers.


Always.