A pro sports team is what it is today and what it was for a string of yesterdays. Today's Green Bay Packers carry with them more than a whiff of the Lombardi days. The 2022 Chicago Bulls of 2022 cast a shadow of the 1990's. The New York Mets . . . well, the New York Mets are the New York Mets, right?
And yet, what is a pro team? Over a period of, say, 30 years, not a single player or coach is the same. The uniforms may be different. The team may have even changed cities. Not even the name of the team is inviolate. The New York Jets were, when I first knew them, the Titans. Yet, there is a something -- an essence -- that is surprisingly permanent.
And so it goes . . . [A tip-o-the-hat to the late Mr. Kurt Vonnegut.]
Go, Gang Green!