Rarely do pro athletes save their best for last

Beginnings, in sports, are easy as tap-in putts. The celebratory news conference for a coach who is likely to be fired within two years. The draft party for unproven players. The marketing campaigns built around promises unlikely to be fulfilled and championships unlikely to be won.

Endings are harder, as we've been reminded frequently of late.

John Elway might have created the prototype for glamorous endings. He won Super Bowls in his last two seasons, retired after the second, and wound up running the Broncos team that won Super Bowl 50. For every Elway, there is Babe Ruth wearing a Boston Braves jersey, Pete Rose dogged by scandal.

Mike Yeo spent his entire adult life striving to become an NHL head coach. Known for his work ethic and intensity, he won two playoff series with an unproven team. Less than 10 months after beating the St. Louis Blues in the playoffs, he is unemployed.

Kirby Puckett died 10 years ago March 6. He became perhaps the most popular Minnesota athlete ever, then lost sight in one eye, retired prematurely, and was beset with scandal before dying prematurely.

Kevin Garnett became the most dominant and popular athlete in the Twin Cities during the 2000s. He had to accept a trade to Boston to win a title and now he's back, playing only occasionally on sore knees, serving as player/coach on a losing team.

Flip Saunders, the lovable Gophers point guard, got fired by the Wolves, returned to build a talented young roster, then passed away before he could see Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns play together in a real game.

Kobe Bryant is curating a farewell tour that would be more poignant if his revered franchise was trying to actually win games or build a future instead of ceding 82 games to honoring a player well past his prime.

Justin Morneau became one of baseball's best hitters, then suffered a concussion that would precipitate his departure from the Twins.

Joe Mauer, once the quintessential homegrown Minnesota athlete made good, might be dealing with concussion issues of his own and has posted the two lowest batting averages of his career the past two seasons.

Kent Hrbek won two World Series for his hometown team but retired early because of physical ailments.

Dave Winfield's Hall of Fame career ended with him hitting .191 for Cleveland. Paul Molitor's ended with him hitting .281 — 25 points below his career average — for a terrible Twins team. Jack Morris' career ended with a 5.60 ERA in Cleveland.

Willie Mays stumbled around in a Mets uniform, Johnny Unitas in a Chargers jersey, Joe Namath in Rams horns. Michael Jordan played his last two seasons for the Washington Wizards, winning 37 games his last year.

Brett Favre came within one pass of taking the Vikings to the Super Bowl, then returned for one final, futile season in purple that ended with his head being smashed into the frozen turf, not tundra, at TCF Bank Stadium.

It is natural to cheer for the friendly and familiar. In Minnesota, it's easy to want Torii Hunter or Chad Greenway to play one more season, to hope that Garnett can make a difference.

The sports world rarely writes triumphant endings.

Elway could have played another year or two, but then he would have risked being another faded athlete in an unfamiliar uniform, limping toward the finish line.