London 2012: The Dream Team Is Dead

Yesterday, a White Cover post from December inexplicably became the most-read article of all-time, on this website. Well, it is explicable, actually.

The post was titled, “The Dream Team Ain’t Dead Yet”. That’s how Google works. It no doubt got a heaping of page views because of the words “Dream Team,” and somewhere in South Chicago that title must have taken root.

The post, though, wasn’t even about basketball. It was about the Miami Marlins, and the Philadelphia Eagles, and the belief that the Dream Team formula could possibly be copied, stenciled, and translated into 2011.

Well, in 2012, I just have to say it: the Dream Team is dead.

Could this year’s Team USA beat the now-historic squad of 1992? Who cares. It doesn’t matter. Everyone knows that was 20 years ago, and a continent away. Nobody remembers it. Even Michael Jordan’s greatness is slowly fading into the dossier category. Believe it, because it’s possible. Magic and Bird entered that zone a long time ago.

Kids around the planet are wondering who Chris Mullin or Clyde Drexler even were. They only know Scottie Pippen because Jennifer Aniston slept with him on 30 Rock.

In 2012, while GQ does its best to remind us of how great that masterpiece of a roster was, the new Team USA has taken over.

On Friday, against Argentina, the Americans rained 18 threes. The States won by 26 points. In the semi-final.

On Sunday, they’ll meet Team Spain, who they’ve already dummied. If the Americans get that gold, you can forget about 1992.

In memory alone, the Dream Team is dead.