Twas a day of sports ball. First, I woke up pretty early to see if it was possible to watch the Wycombe game, but alas, it had not been selected to show here in the States, so I just looked up what the final score was. Wycombe had lost. Which meant, with a win, Wrexham could secure promotion today. That sent the blood pressure rising.
I watched the Wrexham game. They came out guns blazing. Two goals within two minutes of each other, all before the 20 minute mark. And then it was ‘squeaky bum’ time to see if they could hold onto that lead. They did. They won 3-0. And secured promotion to the Championship League. Three promotion seasons in a row, which has never happened before. Ever. It was spectacular to watch. I really was nervous about this game because Carlton, the team they played, have been on fire for the past few months. The best team in the league, in fact, and they’d just last weekend trounced Wycombe 4-0. But we had another gear in us. Truly, the team that played today was the best I’ve seen all season. They were killers out there. All the edge. All the aggression. All the poise. It was *magnificent* to see, and they’ve done it. They’re automatically up to the next league, which is a massive, massive deal. The Championship is legit. Like, TV deals have been in place for that league here in the US for decades, now. You’re a serious football club if you’re playing in the Championship. Amazing. And I watched every game this entire season.
As a little bookend, I really hope they play Mullin, Palmer and Lee for the final game. I think they will. Pretty sure all three of those players will depart in the offseason…but one last hurrah will be nice. They all helped us get this far, even this season, despite not making the squad for the past few months. Oh, I was buzzing when we got that second quick goal. Teared up. I genuinely didn’t think we had that in us, and that today was going to be a dog fight to the very end, and like, a draw or something, setting up the final weekend. But nope. They had some reserves in them, and it was more than enough. We crushed Charlton.
AND THEN…it was disappointing news from the Bay as it was announced Jimmy Butler would not be playing tonight for the Dubs. I figured, immediately, that meant a loss. Houston is a good team. Not great, but great in parts of their game. Great athleticism and size. Great defense. And we’re a trash team without Jimmy.
Or so I thought.
This team tonight showed some stones. Legit, real, playoff stones. I’m flabbergasted. Granted, Houston is a flawed opponent. They do not have a playoff offense. They just don’t. They have no superstar who can take over the game on the offensive end and just grind out bucket after bucket. They’re either too young/inexperienced or under-talented. Or both, which is the truth. BUT…outside of Steph and Jimmy, the Warriors don’t have a playoff offense either, so with Jimmy out, our flaw is almost as big as theirs. Almost. Because we still have Steph, and Steph was enough tonight. He caught fire, the Rockets panicked, and we finally, finally found some space for our other under-talented offensive players to get some room to cook, most notably Gary Payton II down the stretch, who just absolutely KILLED the Rockets for putting so much attention on Steph. It turned a guaranteed L into a massive, series-ending win. Yes. I will call it right now: the Warriors are beating the Rockets. Houston is cooked. Toast. Done.
Sandwiched in between all the sports ball was a really lovely hang with Stephen and Thida. They brought Tommen, of course, and we sat outside and had In-N-Out together. It POURED in the morning, far harder of a rain than I was expected, but then it stopped and suddenly the sun was out, drying everything up and making it lovely to sit in the cool air and soak up the warmth.
Now…I’m wiped. Playoff sports are just super duper stressful. I don’t know how much the Warriors have in them to go deep, nor do I know how Wrexham will fare in a league that is definitely going to be more challenging than League One was this year. But…as a sports fan, you also live for meaningful games, and in that regard, my cup overfloweth.
Night night.