There’s No Crying in Baseball, Only in Basketball

If you are anything like me you cringed a little when Miami Heat coach Eric Spoelstra outed members of his team for crying in the locker room after yesterdays loss to the Bulls. The Heat lost another game in the waning seconds, their fourth straight loss.  Despite their wealth of talent they still have issues closing out games against the NBA's elite.  Bosh usually goes m.i.a., Wade stands around, and King James invents all kinds of ways to miss last second shots.

Back to the issue of crying in the locker room.  I cringed because I knew there would be a backlash coming.  The late night hosts might take cheap shots, while the sports talking heads will call them soft.  I have a different take all together.  The fact that multiple players were crying after a tough loss means they care.  Athletes, especially NBA players, have long held the reputation of not caring about wins and losses as much as the fans.  This wasn't even a playoff game.  The Miami Heat are so emotionally invested in being good and hushing the critics that players cried after a regular season loss to the Bulls.

Some unevolved males still look down at men who cry, but most psychologists will tell you a good cry helps people recover mentally after a loss.  I've found that to be true.  Shedding a few tears is a healthy and natural response to adversity, anguish, or loss.  I'm still waiting for the old timers to come out of the woodwork to call the Heat soft, and tell us how when they lost they just got angry and more determined to win the next time they played.  I say cry on Miami, cry on!