Famous 72: Blood, sweat, Golden State Warriors, and steaks

If you google "famous 72," the first thing that pops up is a giant steak in Texas. I kid you not. You'd think perhaps Michael Jordan and the Bulls would pop up first. Or maybe Frank Sinatra Jr, who recently died at the age of 72 while on tour.

But, nope. It's a steak.

That's four and a half pounds of steak, roughly the equivalent of a small pomeranian.

There are so many varied ways of progressing through a day. You eat, you revel, you enjoy what is put before you. Hey man, if you wanna go to Amarillo, TX, and eat a 72oz steak, that's your prerogative.

What is a number? All year, we've been circling back to this funny number. 72.

The Bulls, the Bulls, the Bulls. 72, 73, 72. That's all there was in some people's worlds. And now, miraculously, the event itself has snuck up and overtaken the present. Here we are, right smack dab in the middle of 72.

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I've been in California for the past week. I flew out to visit family and, specifically, to attend my grandfather's 95th birthday party. Yesterday, we all assembled at the home where he is living out his final years, and threw him a party. He was so pleased, smiling from ear to ear. He sat in his wheelchair, surrounded by sons, daughters, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and even a few great-great grandchildren. Tomorrow, he may not remember the event even a little.

History is retold by the descendants. A story is only as true as its ability to live on. Even if my grandfather won't remember his party, the whole family will carry on those happy memories for years and generations to come. His little great-great grandkids will look up one day, perhaps in 2046, and say, "Oh, man! Do you remember that day way back in, what... 2015 or 2016 or something when we met our great great granddad?!" What is more real than that?

And, as sappy as it sounds, now the Warriors have a slice of that memory pie. Come what may, this year will live on in our hearts and in our minds. 72 may be simply a number, but it is also a watermark of human achievement. It is that point past which no single NBA team has yet ventured.

The Warriors will have a shot to surpass that number. Have a chance to set the new benchmark.

I gotta imagine they'll approach the last game of the season much like this woman approached her own 72-themed challenge: courageously. To rise to the top -- to slay the barrier of 72 -- you gotta get some blood on yr face.