Grass is always greener

As my readers know, I tend to be a pretty obsessive sports fan. Sometimes, I look at all the time, money, and effort invested in sports -- not to mention the lives ruined by injuries -- and wonder if it's an exercise in futility. On the other hand, sports provide me and many others with plenty of joy and entertainment. fn1. But even more importantly, I think sports can often be viewed as a microcosm of life -- almost like a sociological and psychological lab experiment conducted in view of the entire world. This means we can find mistakes in behavior and learn from them.

Here's the situation: last season, the Miami Heat basketball team had a great season. They signed Shaq as a free agent, who paired with rising star Dwayne Wade to form a super-star duo. With strong role players, they made the Eastern Conference finals, where they lost an extremely close series to the Pistons.

After that kind of performance, you would think they would be pretty satisfied. They needed to add some perimeter shooting to take pressure off of Wade, and Shaq's age and health could be a concern.

But what did the Heat do? They blew up the team, and signed point guards Jason Williams and Gary Payton and forward Antoine Walker. Big names. The "experts" loved it. Many of them made Miami the favorite to win the East. After all, how could you lose when you have added so many stars.

Of course, the season hasn't even started yet, so it's too early to say whether these moves will pay off. But here's the first measure: Detroit and Miami met in the preseason. Miami lost by 19. Obviously, it's the preseason. We can't draw any grand conclusions.

But no one should be surprised if Miami is worse this year. Look who they added:

Jason Williams, a turnover-prone, disruptive point guard who is a pain to coach. He's never really played defense in his life. Oh, and he's an on-the-ball player.

Gary Payton, who used to be brilliant. Anyone who saw Chauncy Billups break him down in the 2004 Finals knows that he's done.

Antoine Walker, a guy who never met a three-point shot he didn't like. He doesn't shoot well from the field (particularly given the number of shots he takes), and his three-point and free-throw shooting are terrible. He's another guy who has to have the ball in his hands to be effective.

These are precisely not the kind of players who were needed around Wade. The Heat didn't need gunners and guys who need the ball in their hands to be effective. They need spot-up shooters and team players who are happy to defer to Dwayne and Shaq.

Yet everyone was drooling over the changes. Why?

Here's where I think the lesson is. People are always wanting something new, and something exciting. They are particularly attracted to "brands" that they recognize. Walker, Payton, and Williams are guys who are regarded as stars. No one knew much about guys like Damon Jones, who they replaced. So whether it was Heat General Manager Pat Riley or Joe Analyst, they make a simple series of assumptions.
1. The Heat didn't win a title last year
2. Therefore, they need to make changes
3. The bigger the change, the better
4. Consequently, the Heat are in great shape because they made a bunch of "big" changes.

Maybe this will work out, and by the end of the season, the team will have gelled and they'll take the next step. I doubt it, however.

Whatever the case, I think it's a reminder to be careful -- don't think that the other side of the fence is always going to be better. Don't believe that a change is always necessarily. And most importantly, don't always believe the hype. Sometimes, what's at hand is the best option.

1. Or, in the case of being a Michigan State football fan, it brings plenty of disappointment and frustration.