Word: ripkens
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...Instead, Ripken said in the post-game press conference that he just felt the time was right for The Streak to end. He said he had thought of taking the last day of the season off in Boston, but he ultimately felt that The Streak should end where it began and where Ripken has spent his entire career...
...Ripken also said that he chose to bench himself now, specifically, because the Orioles no longer had a chance to make the playoffs. That statement implies that Ripken feels his team is worse when he is not in the lineup, so he definitely did not sit out for the good of the team. Ripken basically said that he decided not to play because it was the right time to bring The Streak to a close...
...appears that Ripken, the man who has always said that The Streak did not influence his decision to play every day, based his decision not to play on the very existence of The Streak...
This reality raises a troubling question: how many times during the last 2,632 games did Ripken keep himself in the lineup only because The Streak existed? I don't know. Does it matter? I think...
Part of the reason that professional sports records are so coveted is because they occur in the natural course of a game or a season or a career. The Streak should not have dictated Ripken's decision to play or not to play. Motivation should be as important as the action it produces...