I Guarantee….

By: Jerome Cusson

Guarantees aren’t what they used to mean. Back in the day before people like Chad Johnson routinely guaranteed Bengals’ victories, the guarantee used to mean something. It took some actual guts and moxy for Joe Namiath to guarantee victory over the heavily favored Baltimore Colts. The AFL (That’s American Football League) needed a shot in the arm. Namiath and his infamous guarantee certainly put the pressure on the Jets and may have given something a little extra to help beat the Colts.

My personal favorite guarantee is Pat Riley’s from 1987. At the Los Angeles Lakers championship parade, he guaranteed that they would be there the following year celebrating another title. No one had repeated in the NBA since the Celtics of the late 60s. With a team led Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and James Worthy, the Lakers did indeed repeat as champions. Maybe it was the bold guarantee that gave them the extra edge.

Now some 40 years after Namaith and 22 years after Riley, we have little Jameer Nelson. You might remember him as the inspirational leader of a St. Joseph’s team that came oh so close to getting to the Final Four. Now he’s on a team that couldn’t take advantage of a gift-wrapped victory and a 2-2 tie in a series with the Detroit Pistons.

No Chauncey Billups should have meant a blow-out for the Magic. There is no excuse for the Magic to have laid such an egg. I don’t want to hear about how they’ve had chances in previous games. It’s playoff time. Either take advantage of opportunities or go home. Nelson guaranteed a victory in game 5 at The Palace of Auburn Hills. How the heck are we supposed to take a guarantee like that seriously when Nelson and the rest of the Magic couldn’t even beat a Chauncey Billupsless Pistons team in their building.

No one enjoys watching the Pistons melt down in flames like I do. But this team showed an incredible amount of charavcter in their one point victory over Orlando. They could have easily thrown in the towel knowing they had two of the last three games at home. But they didn’t and could now be rewarded with a five game series and ample amount of rest if Boston continues to struggle with Cleveland.

I have no idea who will actually win the Magic/Pistons series. But I will guarantee Jameer Nelson will look awfully salty if the Pistons win game 5.

Tags: Detroit Pistons, Jameer Nelson, Orlando Magic, Pat Riley

Jerome Cusson is a proud graduate of Columbia College Chicago. Currently, he is a freelance writer and a contributer to such websites as 411mania and giveawaytheending.com. Check out his NSR blog as well.

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