The Window of Opportunity
@TerryLyons and @WhileYoungIdeas
WINDOWS: The open windows at a Fenway Park ticket booth (file photo)
BOSTON - The weather in Boston has been tremendous, especially this past weekend when temperatures rose to 72-73 degrees to allow suburbanites glorious time to hike, golf or welcome warm days for Fall clean-ups. At home, we all opened the windows for last gasps of clean, fresh air to cleanse the spirit. In New England, who knows when the weather will take a turn for the worse. After all, it was just a week or two ago, we had two inches of snow.
Opening the windows for that lovely breeze makes one think about cool, fresh air and more about that spirit of refreshing rejuvenation. Football weather! It made this reporter think about the window itself and the metaphors which flow through the screens.
In sports, we speak about “Windows of Opportunity,” or “Open Windows” when teams are in their prime and ready to win. We also write about teams and players with their “windows closing,” as careers near their end or when a once-winning franchise loses key players and marches to mediocrity or worse.
The expression “Window of Opportunity” became popular back when the arms race raged during the Cold War between Western and Communist powers. It referred to an ideal time to attack. Of course, references to war and its connected commentary is an NFL staple.
In the NFL these days, there’s a lot of talk about Tom Brady and his situation with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Some went to the extreme of calling the club, “Tompa Bay,” as the Bucs went all-in, signing Brady and his very own special connection in tight end and former New England Patriots teammate in Rob Gronkowski.
“Tompa” is going for a Super Bowl title within a relatively short window because of the fact they’re depending on aging veterans like newly signed WR Antonio Brown, or banged-up RB LeShawn McCoy. Those aging stars accompany the likes of RB Leonard Fournette and talented but oft-injured receivers such as Mike Evans and Chris Goodwin. On the defensive side of the ball, Tampa Bay depends on the likes of 33-year old defensive end Ndamukong Suh.
Tampa is peering through a two-year window with Brady.
Speaking of Tampa, the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning are within a huge picture window of opportunity. The 2020 NHL Stanley Cup champions bounced back from a disappointing playoff loss in 2019, swept by the Columbus Blue Jackets in four games after their record-tying 62-win regular season. The window is still open for the Bolts heading into 2021.
In the NBA, the LA Lakers have a wide-open window for success, proven a month ago when LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the Lakers defeated the upstart Miami Heat. While the Lakers succeeded with the never-aging James leading the club, the windows were shut down for the LA Clippers, Houston Rockets and maybe even the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Bucks, mainly because of league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, were supposed to be in their window of opportunity but have failed miserably in the last two NBA Playoffs. The Bucks’ window might be shut tight before it ever opened.
Up here in Boston, the New England winters beat our homes and windows so hard, they often need to be replaced. In some venues, like Foxboro and Fenway, where the winter was particularly harsh, the windows are nailed shut, or maybe they’re just stuck?
At the TD Garden, there were open windows for both the Boston Celtics and Bruins this summer, but the young Celtics couldn't solve the “Zone D” tossed at them by coach Eric Spoelstra and the Miami Heat and the C’s went down in the NBA bubble.
After defeating the Carolina Hurricanes soundly, the Bruins were shellacked (4-games-to-1) by the very Tampa Bay Lightning praised above. Both Boston teams would’a, could’a, should’a fared well this past spring if the pandemic never materialized and the boisterous Boston fans were in attendance to root their teams on. The Bs would’ve had home-ice advantage the whole way.
Boston goalkeeper Tuukka Rask, who made a very difficult decision to opt-out of the NHL bubble and playoffs for personal reasons, will be the deciding factor as to whether the Bruins’ window remains open or shut. Rask had to put family first as the COVID-19 pressures mounted this spring, and that was the right choice to make.
If or when the 2020-21 NHL season begins, Rask deserves another shot at the Stanley Cup as Boston’s No. 1 goaltender. After all, the eyes are the “Windows to the Soul” and ole’ Tuukk has some pretty good eyes.
This weekend, we’ll see if the window is “still” open for a major championship on the pro golf tour when Tiger Woods tees-it-up at The Masters. No one has ever tried the windows of the Butler Cabin in November, you know?
Seeking other connections for this column, the only other “must-see” metaphor was the discovery that there’s a website dedicated to sports windows, but it sells cricket gear. Go figure?
As we close and since this column is solely dedicated to windows, maybe, a little further into the season, we’ll consider examining doors, like the kind where “opportunity knocks” or the door slams shut.