Alexander Natividad - Week 16 - Shower Thoughts, Ball Knowledge Edition

We all have those random facts that sit in our heads and come out periodically in thought, ranging from events to certain people. Sometimes when I’m casually on social media or even in the middle of relaxing, I start to recall different events and sports while connecting the dots on how they could have possibly started a butterfly effect on the future of their respective leagues.

In football, the Chicago Bears are often seen as a team on the lower level of the league. Many fans often forget that they were a field goal away from advancing to the conference championship, though. They would have had a pretty good chance in that game and could have gone all the way to play in the Super Bowl. Instead of going to the Bowl, the failed field goal kick became the iconic “Double-Doink” as the ball hit two of the posts before bouncing out of the goal. 


If they would have had a reliable kicker at this time, then they would not have all this talk about being a lesser recognized team in the league. However, this period of underachievement from 2019-2024 has led to a boost in their chances of winning as they received their future leader in quarterback Caleb Williams paired with an offensive-minded head coach to help him succeed.


In basketball, the Warriors had the greatest, if not one of the greatest, teams of all time in the late 2010s in addition to securing another championship ring in 2022. Everyone knows the big three with Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green, who would receive the 2018-19 help of the “slim shady” scorer Kevin Durant; a few vital role players in these teams that helped this dynasty succeed were Andrew Bogut, Zaza Pachulia, Mo Speights, Shaun Livingston, and Jordan Poole.


The first three played for the earlier parts of the dynasty. Bogut and Speights were critical for the team’s inside help and rebounding during the 2015 championship season, and Pachulia filled that same role for the 2017 and 2018 seasons. During the 2010s seasons, Livingston was a bench shooting guard who has practically never missed a mid-range jumpshot. Jordan Poole, a childish media presence famously paired with the song “I Know What You Want” by amping up his energy and play once “powered up” by a certain courtside audience, was a great bench player and shooter that allowed Curry to gain rest in the 2022 championship. 


The niches brought by these players created pathways for the main stars to shine. Any missed shots would be a rebound for a second chance, and opposing teams would have tough times scoring close to the basket. If the Warriors never had these players and the mastermind coach Steve Kerr to run the operation, this dynasty run might have never started. 


These were two of the more recent and important occurrences I could think about, but there will always be endless shower thoughts about other small yet impactful moments throughout sports.

themichiganpage. “Jordan Poole Continues to Be a Walking Meme.” Instagram, 7 Oct. 2021, Web. Accessed 14 May 2025.


Comments

  1. Sara SanthoshMay 21, 2025 at 7:27 PM

    Hello Alex,
    I loved how you broke down those turning points in basketball and football. The Double-Doink really was one, and it's incredible how a moment so small changed the direction of the Bears for decades. Your point about the Warriors' bench guys was also pretty solid—no one thinks about how much all those plays on the bench meant to the crazy dynasty. The way you connect small things with big changes in sports history made this blog really engaging.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ruhika GoelMay 21, 2025 at 8:21 PM

    Hi Alex,

    This is a fun read! Not going to lie, the title caught be off-guard for a second but then I realized when I saw Jordan Poole's face. I have played basketball for years, but am embarrasingly ill-versed in things like the NBA or NCAA basketball. Hearing about the "Double-Doink," I can understand why that must be a moment that lives in infamy for Bears fans. It's crazy to think how a single missed field goal could have completely altered the trajectory of the franchise. It just goes to show how powerful the butterfly effect really is. Overall, your blog was very engaging and interesting, and I loved reading it. I hope we have classes again next year!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ruhika, Week 16 - Memories Bring Back, Memories Bring Back You

Image
As this is the last blog I will ever write, I wanted to share one memory I will remember with all of the people in my class. AP Lang was a rollercoaster of a class… the amount of stress it caused me is immeasurable. However, I am so grateful that I got this experience since I think this class is the one which has the most tightly connected community. Suhas Bathini: I will not forget how terrible of a dancer you are. I am glad that the Gartic telephone allowed me to become friends with you. Ananya Bhardwaj: Your Michael Jackson impression is amazing. I will need a full length cover. Yuhaendan Bhaskaran: You are a bad mafia, letting your hands give you away.  James Chan: Your stage presence is amazing, which was evident in your POAS. I have had the pleasure of having English with you twice and getting to witness incredible performances more than twice. Devyani Choudhury: You whispering under your breath, “[A 3] is not the same to me,” will always make me giggle. Ritwik Deshpande: I a...
Read more

Michelle Li, 3/19 Week 13 - Person of American Significance

Image
David Koresh, my Person of American Significance. Image source: Financial Times You might have noticed my face turning a little red after my POAS presentation this Monday; I was embarrassed. I genuinely thought my performance was awkward and that my memory lapses were too obvious. But my tablemates and friends quickly reassured me that I did well, which I was grateful for, but didn’t truly believe. I think it’s because I don’t notice how I deliver my speeches. When I’m presenting, I switch into a different mindset where I cut out filler words, enunciate things for emphasis, and use hand gestures. It happens near automatically now through a phenomenon called implicit memory ---a type of long-term memory that causes us to unconsciously recall behavior or skills, typically through repeating these habits in the past. Since delivery has become second nature, I only focus on the content of what I’m speaking about—which I’ll admit was lackluster and cut out important information I wanted to ...
Read more

2025- Abdul Muhaimin-Week 16

Image
  This year might have been the most memorable bout of time in my recent history; even after excluding the mind bending outwardly world events, this year was still filled with the highest highs and lowest lows of my life. This blog seems like a farewell letter, partly because this is, after the end of this year I am leaving American High to join Ohlone Connections . It seems strange how I will not be seeing the wonderful friends I made during APeng, and largely in American High. So as we close this year I ask you to think about some of the memorable parts of this year, some lenses tell a more interesting tale. One lens to view the year through, could be the “WAR AGAINST COLLEGE BOARD.” It started with a training montage where we met are lieutenant, Mrs. Smith,  and as the year progresses so did our skills. Who doesn’t remember the sleepless nights spent doing annotations, or mental connections forged through rhetorical analysis. In the middle of this epic we face off against...
Read more