Yes, I confess to succumbing to the hype and watching the LeBron / ESPN extravaganza last night. This was after watching "Wipeout" at 8:00 on ABC. Now THAT is pure athletic competition! Anyway, a couple of thoughts on the entire affair:
* James had a contract with the Cavaliers that took him through the 2010 season. He fulfilled that contract. He had every right to play the field and accept what he feels to be the best offer for him. He owed the city of Cleveland and the Cavaliers nothing.
* That said, after making a big deal for seven years about being a hometown guy and a team guy, he really shit on Cleveland by making this announcement in the manner that he did. A simple, non-sponsored press conference would have been better.
* I take back one thing I said above, he did owe the Cavaliers the courtesy of letting them know ahead of time that he has chosen another team.
* One interesting thing is that, apparently, James will be getting less money in Miami than he could have gotten elsewhere. There is something to be said for that.
* Of course, zillions of dollars in endorsements can make up for a lower salary.
* Sports teams owners are forbidden, rightfully so, from colluding when negotiating with players, but isn't what James, Wade, and Bosch did in engineering these signings also a form of collusion? Just wondering.
* In case you are wondering, I turned off ESPN right after James made his announcement. I didn't watch the entire hour.
In a way, this Dog and Pony show was just another form of Reality Television, which has been moving into sports as well (HBO's Hard Knocks, etc). But the big news that came out of it for me was that...... JIM GRAY IS BACK, BABY!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWow! The GSer has lowered his language and thus the tone of the report by employing a vulgarity.
ReplyDeleteYou must have let empathy for Bob Gove override your keyboard.
Shame on you. That was a piss-poor choice of words.