Excessive Inebriation

I was browsing through ESPN.com's news links when I came across a story I could not pass up.  Everyone knows that the Boston Bruins won the Stanley Cup this past year and I am under no illusion that these professionals don't party, but this seemed above and beyond what one should do.  If you haven't read the story yet click here, but Brad Marchand of the Bruins went on quite the tear just three days after winning the coveted Stanley Cup.  He was so inebriated he could not give his interview for the commemorative DVD made celebrating the team's championship.  In this article, he admits he took it too far, but sometimes these athletes need to use a little digression.  I know you want to celebrate your team's win, but let's not kill all your brain cells in one fell swoop, leaving you helpless to win another title.  This just seems a bit ridiculous, but is rampant in sports.  In fact the hangover seemed to last all the way to the start of the year, but Marchand has now picked it up.
Unfortunately Marchand is not the only one to let the hangover of winning a championship affect the way the next season starts.  Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks have started out really slow to start out their defense of the title.  I mean do these guys need babysitter's to just do what they are getting paid millions to do?  Don't let the postseason hangover continue, yeah it's great you won a title, but wouldn't you like to stay at the top of your sport?  For example, Michael Jordan won a title and then focused on the next.  He was such a competitor and because of that he demanded the same from his teammates.  Why do you think the Bulls were so dominant for so long, winning 6 titles in 8 years?  The only thing that kept them from winning more was Jordan's foray into the world of minor league baseball.
Many athletes from all sports should take Jordan's example more literally and apply it to their own respective games.  Don't let the hype and the celebration last too long that it ruins your opportunity to possibly become the best player in your game.  Party time can come when it is all said and done, when you have a great career to reflect back on, but don't let excessive inebriation through a flag on your career.

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