Burning jerseys??!! Foul? Hardly. In the real world of sports, such is life writes the Black Man. Pop the top to read Part 2 of his Random Thoughts on LeBron James.
5. Cleveland burning jerseys? Isn’t that a bit harsh? –
Actually, no. What people don’t understand is that it’s more than just watching LeBron on television dunking a basketball. It’s the Cleveland residents that decide, “hey let’s go to a restaurant and sit at the bar and spend $40 watching LeBron on television.” It’s the Ohio family that says, “LeBron is playing the Lakers, let’s order two pizzas from the Cleveland pizzeria. Indirectly, James was a huge sell for the Cleveland economy. The NY Times estimated that within the next five to six years, LeBron can generate anywhere between $2 and $2.5 billion dollars for his chosen city. When LeBron decided to have his news conference in Greenwich, Connecticut, which was nine miles away from the Knick’s practice facility, people started assuming he was going to the Knicks. You know what happened? MSG (Madison Square Garden), the company that owns the Knicks had a sharp rise in stocks for the day.
He’s not just a player, but he’s a walking, living economy. He’s equivalent to a big business coming to town and supplying jobs and pumping money. So, there’s that.
Also, any real sports fan would totally understand the jersey burning situation. Look, I’m from Philadelphia. I remember T.O.’s jersey being burned when he betrayed the Eagles. It’s just part of the culture of sports. And the point is: it’s more than just a game. If it were just a game, there would have been no salaries, no money; nothing. It’s about significance.
When the Phillies won the World Series back in 2008, I took the subway down to Center City to celebrate.
I hugged strangers, I danced in the street, I drank things I was not supposed to drink, and I even hung on a pole. There were thousands upon thousands upon thousands of others there, reveling in victory. There were illegal fireworks, looting, broken glass and turned over cars. There were more drunken people than I could have imagined.
And I would totally do it all over again. Being born and raised in Philadelphia, that’s how it should have been. No major sports team won any sort of championship since I was born. And now, that the city’s baseball team won, we were … released in some sort of way. Released from embarrassment and being ignored. The national and world media had to pay attention to us. We were the champions. Our city was the spotlight. For a town that harbors 2 million people, that meant a lot. Because we are sandwiched between the city that never sleeps in NYC, and Obama’s house in D.C. We NEVER get any shine even though we have 2 million people and we’re the sixth largest city in the United States. And for 25 years, we had nothing. And now all those years of frustration were let out in joy when we were recognized.
The next year, when the Phillies reached the World Series again, it was against the hated New York Yankees. Why do I hate them? Because they’re from New York, the city that gets all the shine and the praise and the reputation as the greatest city on earth where everyone wants to be. The biggest metropolis, the city that never sleeps, bla bla bla. They also have more money, they can buy the best players. When the Yankees beat the Phillies for the title, I was so out of character I cursed out every Yankee fan and whipped my remote into 1000 little pieces against my wall for the final out. As crazy as that sounds, I knew I wasn’t alone. Sports.
Hard to believe, but Cleveland is worse. They have had no championships… ever I think. And on top of that, it’s Cleveland. Who wants to go to Cleveland, for anything? It’s type casted as a cold, poor city in the middle of nowhere that is totally boring and has no life. Now, LeBron, the one guy who brings hope to the city, the guy that brings the spotlight on Cleveland, the guy that makes news for your town, goes on national television and says he’s going to South Beach?!! Miami?!
You know that Miami is the better city. It’s warmer, rappers rap about it, there are shows about it. When is there ever going to be a CSI Cleveland? Never! NBA Wives? In Akron, Ohio?? No sir. It’s a slap in the face. A MAJOR slap in the face.
So when the Cleveland owner became a gypsy and started proclaiming curses on LeBron and fans started burning jerseys and all that, I totally understood. It’s not so much people wanting control of LeBron. It’s the feeling of significance that LeBron gave them. Like it or not, LeBron James and his spectacular basketball acumen forced the world to pay attention to Cleveland. Now it’s gone. And people are pissed. They should be.
4. Will the eventually NBA lock out? –
I think that the collective nature of the agreement is bad for the NBA. As much as I hate the Knicks, I think he would have been better off going there. I’d rather see LeBron and Amar’e vs. Wade and Bosh than half the Olympic team on one Heat squad. This buddy-buddy friendly competition thing will be the reason why people get turned off by professional sports. Frankly, I’m a bit afraid for the NBA. And trust me, I love the NBA. As a fan. I want to see it succeed. But if you have guys dancing around, and acting silly and every play is alley-oop and all that, people get tired of it. Just let me know when the playoffs are on.
3. Will Dwayne Wade will get mad at some point? –
So now who is the alpha male? Who takes the big shot in crunch time? Who scores the points and gets the glory? Who will be the Finals MVP? Will it be LeBron? Because the Heat, is/was DWade’s team. But even HE had to wait and watch LeBron tape a special to come to town. So now what? Who gets the billboard? If it’s LeBron, watch out. I can tell you, ego is going to start creeping in.
2. Is Kobe Bryant laughing? –
Of course he is. Really, as if they’re going to beat his/my Lakers. (And for those scratching their heads as to why I’m a Lakers’ fan, I will tell you this. I am so disgusted/angry/bitter/mad
1. Professional Sports. What is the Future? –
I think people just get turned off by this whole grandstanding thing. Honestly, with every year that passes, I get slightly less interested in pro sports. The business side of it is just hard to swallow. In the NBA, the players have too much control and make too much money. And I’m not a hater, but anytime someone like Joe Johnson, the franchise guy for the Atlanta Hawks who averaged 12 points per game in a playoff series where his team was blown out by 25 points per game gets a new contract for ONE HUNDRED AND NINETEEN MILLION DOLLARS, it’s just ridiculous.
Yet, in the NFL, I’m disgusted because the ownership treats their players like slaves. They refuse to renew contracts, they can cut players anytime they want – and they do, they don’t insure the players the way they should, they fire players a day before their bonus check arrives so they don’t get it. It’s just disgusting. And these guys give their body up and leave the game mangled, with very little money.
In baseball, guys are getting $180 million to hit a ball three out of 10 times. What’s left? All I want is to live in a world where guys are getting paid fairly and according to what they’re worth. A system where there is control on the professional player side and the front office side. I just want to see high competition on a regular basis, and not spoiled brats who are playing at 60% on the field because I saw them at the club last night with other women.
This is why I’ve transitioned to pro soccer. I’ve purchased the soccer channels and activated the sports packaged so I can watch The English Premiere League, La Liga and Italian Serie A. Somehow, somewhere, there’s just more passion for the game.
So now, I spend more time watching soccer than anything else. I’ve been glued to the World Cup screen. For some reason, the game isn’t totally tainted yet. There’s a high level of competition and accountability. The players are paid fairly well, but it’s not ridiculously exorbitant. So that’s where I am. Watching pro soccer all summer. My fiancé will now cut all her hair off.
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