Everything Needs A Sparkplug
Wednesday, January 4th, 2012
Messenger Sports
Look out on any championship winning team, and there will be a sparkplug, a catalyst that gets things going, and serves as a go-to man when things are flat. Its amazing how one guy can spark a team forward. A sparkplug isn’t a top tier, superstar type player. It is a guy that can just energize the people around them, and anyone that wants to win a title has to have one.
The Dallas Mavericks had superstars in Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowitzki, and Jason Terry, but it was JJ Barea that sparked the Mavericks title run. That is what kept the Miami Heat from winning the title. I don’t even know if Miami has that player now that can come in off the bench and serve as that person, but there is a full season to find out.
All of the great basketball, baseball, and football teams have that one guy that can get everyone amped up. When the Spurs were running high it was Robert Horry and Manu Ginobli (before he became a starter and a superstar). The Houston Rockets had Sam Cassell. The Los Angeles Lakers had James Worthy, even though those Showtime Lakers were obscenely loaded down with talent.
On baseball teams have their sparkplug players. Nijer Morgan helped lead the Milwaukee Brewers to a divisional title and a NLCS. David Freese won the World Series for the St. Louis Cardinals. Even the Rangers had a sparkplug in Mike Napoli. All of these guys turned their teams in to championship caliber squads. Now Milwaukee didn’t have the other pieces to get the championship, but St. Louis and Texas definitely did.
A sparkplug is just the guy that gets the whole thing running. A team can win without him, but they will be unable to bring home the championship without that one catalyst that can put their team over the top when facing a team with equal talent. These are the motivators.
Tim Tebow is a perfect example of a sparkplug. By no means is he the best player on his team, but when he stepped in at quarterback, the Broncos began to win. Tebow isn’t going to break any passing records, he may not even be the Broncos starting quarterback next year, but he did turn a team that seemed hopeless into AFC West champions, and they will host Pittsburg for a playoff game this weekend.
A sparkplug doesn’t have to be great. It’s a player that doesn’t have to win the game himself, but can motivate and amp up his teammates enough just by stepping onto the court or field. It remains to be seen if some of the top tier teams have the player needed to give that extra spark to win a title, but finding that one player is always special to watch.
Sparkplugs aren’t for cars only. Teams need their sparkplugs to make things happen, to fire up the team.
That is all I have for this week, check back in Thursday’s edition of The Messenger for more rants and ramblings. Remember to follow The Messenger on Facebook and check out our website at www.messenger-news.com. Chris Boothe can be reached at cboothe@messenger-news.com. Until next time, take it easy.
Look out on any championship winning team, and there will be a sparkplug, a catalyst that gets things going, and serves as a go-to man when things are flat. Its amazing how one guy can spark a team forward. A sparkplug isn’t a top tier, superstar type player. It is a guy that can just energize the people around them, and anyone that wants to win a title has to have one.
The Dallas Mavericks had superstars in Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowitzki, and Jason Terry, but it was JJ Barea that sparked the Mavericks title run. That is what kept the Miami Heat from winning the title. I don’t even know if Miami has that player now that can come in off the bench and serve as that person, but there is a full season to find out.
All of the great basketball, baseball, and football teams have that one guy that can get everyone amped up. When the Spurs were running high it was Robert Horry and Manu Ginobli (before he became a starter and a superstar). The Houston Rockets had Sam Cassell. The Los Angeles Lakers had James Worthy, even though those Showtime Lakers were obscenely loaded down with talent.
On baseball teams have their sparkplug players. Nijer Morgan helped lead the Milwaukee Brewers to a divisional title and a NLCS. David Freese won the World Series for the St. Louis Cardinals. Even the Rangers had a sparkplug in Mike Napoli. All of these guys turned their teams in to championship caliber squads. Now Milwaukee didn’t have the other pieces to get the championship, but St. Louis and Texas definitely did.
A sparkplug is just the guy that gets the whole thing running. A team can win without him, but they will be unable to bring home the championship without that one catalyst that can put their team over the top when facing a team with equal talent. These are the motivators.
Tim Tebow is a perfect example of a sparkplug. By no means is he the best player on his team, but when he stepped in at quarterback, the Broncos began to win. Tebow isn’t going to break any passing records, he may not even be the Broncos starting quarterback next year, but he did turn a team that seemed hopeless into AFC West champions, and they will host Pittsburg for a playoff game this weekend.
A sparkplug doesn’t have to be great. It’s a player that doesn’t have to win the game himself, but can motivate and amp up his teammates enough just by stepping onto the court or field. It remains to be seen if some of the top tier teams have the player needed to give that extra spark to win a title, but finding that one player is always special to watch.
Sparkplugs aren’t for cars only. Teams need their sparkplugs to make things happen, to fire up the team.
That is all I have for this week, check back in Thursday’s edition of The Messenger for more rants and ramblings. Remember to follow The Messenger on Facebook and check out our website at www.messenger-news.com. Chris Boothe can be reached at cboothe@messenger-news.com. Until next time, take it easy.
