It will never be that way again for this group of Giants, and in a way that’s a good thing. Whatever happens this Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, or wherever January (and dare we say it, February) brings them, these Giants – the Joe Schoen/Brian Daboll Giants, and what’s left is of the core in the future – will never have a season like this.
Pat Riley named a season like this almost 30 years ago.
He called it ‘The Innocent Climb’.
“A team of selfless members, without any impressive success, embarks on an innocent ascent to greatness when the team begins to accomplish something dramatic,” Riley wrote in his 1994 book “The Winner Within.” acting, trusting each other and combining instinct with daring, it’s ready to achieve something spectacular.”
Riley was referring specifically to his first Knicks team in 1991-92, a team that went from 39 wins to 51 and tied the Celtics for the Atlantic Division title, marking the first time in 21 years that a Knicks team had finished first. place ended. After defeating the Pistons in five, the Knicks pushed Chicago to a Game 7 – the first of only two times the Bulls ever went the distance in the 24 series wins that spanned their six titles between 1991-98.
Riley’s Knicks went on to other successes, but those triumphs came with something else: expectations. And so the 60-win season in 1992-1993 and the lead up to Game 7 of the NBA Finals, while thrilling, were nowhere near the same. They can’t be. As a group, you only taste the first success once.
“Innocence is a state of mind that if you give your best to the team effort, you’ll get your fair share of happiness in the long run,” Riley wrote.
“There is a world of difference between innocence and being naive. Being naive means not understanding what it takes to succeed. Being innocent, on the other hand, means understanding that everyone needs their own space, but being personally willing to put those personal feelings aside for the good of the team as a whole.”
Sounds familiar? It should, if you’ve been watching the Giants a lot this year.
And while Riley absorbed a lot of backlash for that book and some of his other clever phrases – “The Disease of Me” was another popular one (and the immediate pothole in anticipation of the descent of the innocent climb); “The Core Covenant” was another – coaches lapped it up.
And good. The man has won nine rings as a player, assistant coach, head coach and GM, and has given the Knicks a unique source of wealth in a 50+ year desert stretching back to 1973. He knows the subject more or less well.
Fact is, this has been as enjoyable a season as any Giants fan has ever had. Not even the seasons leading up to their most recent Super Bowl wins had a season like this, as they were tinged with disappointment and failed expectations and the near firing of Tom Coughlin. Really, you have to go back to 1997, Jim Fassel’s first season, to experience a true innocent climb for Big Blue, a 10-5-1 stunner (and no, this is not the time to remind you against who ended that season).
There have been others. The ’84 Mets, sure. The ’93 Yankees. Last year’s Rangers were typical. The ’97 Jets, Bill Parcells first there, who went from 1-15 to 9-7 and was on the brink of the playoffs. The ’94 Devils. The Nets from 2001-2002, as Jason Kidd slowly brought the biggest show in the league to North Jersey.
Some of those teams reached the highest level of their sport soon after. Some fell short. But even the years that ended with a parade weren’t as carefree as the climb that preceded them.
There’s good reason to believe that these Giants, the Schoen & Daboll Giants – (Has that been used yet? That should be something, Schoen & Daboll.) – are on their way to great things in the next few years. They had a similar season four years ago in Buffalo, Josh Allen’s sophomore season, when the Bills won 10 games and first began to understand just how good they could be. Both were assistants at the time, Schoen in the front office, Daboll as Sean McDermott’s offensive coordinator.
Fans of Bills have mostly had a good time in recent years. But it was just a little different that first time. That can only happen once.
“Innocence,” wrote Pat Riley 29 years ago, “is a positive choice made in the belief that the team can achieve something great.”
It’s great to see, the start of something potentially great. And always so fleeting.
