If the NHL’s players association had the ability to go back and fix a bad decision, we would have had a hockey season in 2004-2005. Same thing for major league baseball had the players had the ability to say, “oopsie,” and ask for another shot at getting it right in 1994.

I know that 22 years later, Portland still wants to throw Sam Bowie back into the NBA draft pool and take that Michael Jordan fellow who went third to the Bulls.

There’s probably not a team in any sport, for that matter, that wouldn’t dearly like to pull a Stern and take a do-over on at least one draft: Do the names Ryan Leaf, Todd Marinovich and Tony Mandarich mean anything to anyone?

Back in 1979, the entire National Football League ignored a pretty good college quarterback because of what they thought was certain knowledge that the kid was a little too small and didn’t have a strong enough arm for the big time. Finally, in the third round, the 49ers wasted a pick on Joe Montana, who worked out all right in the end.

Tom Brady, like Montana, was passed up repeatedly before going in the sixth round to the Patriots. And remember 1983, when Todd Blackledge, Tony Eason and Ken O’Brien all were picked ahead of Dan Marino? And if you really want to go way, way back, there are teams still wishing that a half century ago, they’d have been bright enough to sign a skinny sandlot player out of Pennsylvania who answered to the name Johnny Unitas.

If life came with do-overs, Grady Little could go back and pull Pedro Martinez before the Yankees could come back and win the 2003 ALCS. Leon Lett could run across the goal line in the Super Bowl with his fumble recovery before holding the ball out for Don Beebe to knock loose. Ara Parseghian could have gone for the win against Michigan State in 1966. Ralph Branca could throw a different pitch to Bobby Thomson. John McNamara could have put in a late-game defensive replacement for Bill Buckner. Dennis Eckersley could have pitched around Kirk Gibson. Mike Tyson could decide to find a protein source that wasn’t attached to Evander Holyfield’s head.

If only it were as easy for all of us as it was for David Stern.

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