On LeBron...

~ Anthony Constantino

Two full NBA seasons have passed since LeBron made his infamous "Decision" on national television. Nobody could have known just how much grief, criticism, and hate he would receive for that hour long special on ESPN.

To be fair, there are different "sects" of people who dislike LeBron. There are people who cannot stand him because he left Cleveland, citing that he turned his back on his hometown. Another group is simply fueled by his show on ESPN alone; these people found the special to be an arrogant and selfish move on LeBron's part. A third group has derived their anger from LeBron teaming up with fellow all-stars Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. The last group of people could not stand the Heat "Pep-rally" in which James famously said, "Not 1...not 2... not 3..." and so on. This declaration was referring to how many championships he thought the Heat were going to bring to Miami. There are also people out there who belong to several of these groups or even all of them in some cases. I think that covers just about every reason to dislike James outside of same division hatred, which is unavoidable.

During his 2 year term in South Beach, LBJ has been to the NBA Finals in both seasons. The Miami Heat have one NBA title to show for their most recent efforts. I find it difficult to root against this man after going through all that he has. He was the crown jewel of the NBA in Cleveland. Fans of all teams seemed to love him and he could do no wrong. Upon his departure, most of his supporters jumped ship and turned their back on him for any assortment of the reasons I provided above. Seemingly overnight LeBron became the villian of the NBA and one of the most hated people in sports without any type of criminal activity or social wrongdoing. This irrational hatred needs to be quelled. I'm looking to help dispel the unchecked hatred I see.

Before you read any further, there are two things you must know: 1) I am by no means a LeBron apologist. I am not making excuases for him, nor am I agreeing with every decision he has made. I am simply presenting the facts and working with those facts. 2) I am not a fan of the Miami Heat, so there is no bias to call me out on here. That being said, I see no reason for such a negative outburst against James given all the facts surrounding his time in South Beach.

First, for those of you who don't know LeBron is from Akron, Ohio. Akron and Cleveland are nearly an hour apart. Simply put, how would you react if I referred to your hometown as Rochester, when you knew your hometown is Buffalo? James did not turn his back on his hometown at all. He played out his contract and gave Cleveland 7 of his best years of basketball. The Cavaliers gave James very little supporting cast to work with during his time in Cleveland. LeBron played with Antawn Jamison, who has arguably never been among the 50 best active players in the NBA during his career. LeBron also had the "pleasure" of working with Shaq, who was nothing more than the "Big Has-Been" by the time he arrived in Cleveland. Was LeBron supposed to carry the Cavs for his entire career? I don't think so. He owed nothing more to that city and quite honestly gave too much to them. Need I remind fans he took less money to play on the Miami Heat?

The next big problem people have with James is that he went on ESPN with a one hour special entitled, "The Decision" in order to announce to the world where he would be playing basketball in 2010. LeBron has admitted that he wishes he would not have announced his decision on national television. However, the money generated by "The Decision" was donated to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Knowing that information, I do not care what LeBron went on-air to say. Using that stage to donate to charity does not come off as selfish to me. James used his popularity to do something good for communities across the country. If that was the result of his biggest mistake as a professional to date, I would say he is a pretty innocent man and doesn't deserve such harsh criticism for it.

Another issue people have is that LeBron teamed up with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh to form the most talented trio of superstars in the NBA. I would argue that teams with stars are what drives the NBA. Larry Bird had McHale and Parish. Magic had Kareem and Worthy. Jordan had Pippen. Shaq had Kobe. Duncan had Ginobili and Parker. These are just a few examples. Stars do not win titles on their own, they need some talent around them. If you criticize LeBron for not winning on his own, realize that you are discrediting all the NBA legends that won within the same model. Kareem left Milwaukee for L.A., Shaq joined Bryant, and Parish headed for the Celtics. Some players choose where they are traded, others move via free agency. I would also like to emphasize the presence of the word "free" in free agency. Players have the freedom to go where they want after they play out a given contract. That doesn't make James any worse than the next superstar free agent to leave the first team he played for.

The last issue fans have with LeBron is that he participated in a Heat "Pep-rally" before his first season with the team. In the Pep-rally, the new "Big Three" in Miami attempted to generate some excitement for the upcoming season. Bosh, Wade, and James rose up from beneath the stage with smoke all around them. Bright lights flashed as they ambled across the stage defiantly. The Heat had risen in Miami and were poised to make a deep run into the playoffs for years to come. LeBron spoke confidently that the Heat would win, "Not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, not 5, not 6, not 7... [championships]." He said he truly believed in that. This turned many people away from James as well as the Heat. What so many don't know, is that the Pep-rally stunt was orchestrated by Pat Riley and the higher-ups in the Heat organization. As if signing James and Bosh wouldn't increase ticket sales enough, Heat management decided to stir the pot a little more and have the three stars parade around the stage to create more hype around the Heat. This greatly damaged LeBron's image, which he has still been unable to repair.

I look at many of the reasons people hate LeBron James and shake my head. This article puts many of those reasons to bed. Many people do not like the business side of sports or choose not to come to terms with that reality. With each passing season, sports become more about what happens off the playing surface and less about what happens on it. That does not make it sensible to display unconditional hatred toward an athlete throughout his career. This is something we all need to understand. James might be the most unselfish superstar I've observed in my lifetime. He is the most gifted player since Jordan and is already one of the 10 or 15 best players the NBA has ever seen. Hate him if you want since it is indeed your perrogative as a fan, but now you know the whole story. King James finally has his crown and he deserves it. I hope he wins 10 more before he calls it a career.

NFL Bounties: How Far Does it Go?

Written by Guest Contributor:  James Wolcott


     The surfacing of the NFL bounty scandal has made me seriously contemplate the
brutality of the game. That, accompanied with the emergence of hard science providing
evidence for permanent brain damage caused by routine participation in the game, had
me somewhat soured on the idea of pro football and even more on youth football. I
continued down this path of negative feelings about the game, when considering if the
NFL has a real interest in protecting the players, or, if the league merely had an interest
in maximizing revenue.

     My thoughts on the matter progressed even further, to a realization that; the NFL is
driven solely by money, every move it makes it based entirely on profit seeking. It was
at this point that the idea hit me. We know the NFL does not care about the health of its
players, we know the players will still play the game, we know the NFL will do anything
to earn a little extra cash, so, why not operate under an open bounty system. The
system would involve a section of the scoreboard dedicated to the sole purpose of
displaying the bounty on the head of any given player. The bounty pledged could be
delivered over the Internet and could come from anyone in the world, and eventually,
even from those of us who will be living on Newt Gingrich’s moon base.

     So, lend me your imagination, the Patriots and Giants are set to do battle in the Super
Bowl, the Tuesday before the game would mark the beginning of the period to place a
bounty. The period would end at the terminus of the game. On this particular Tuesday,
Stephen King decides he has seen one too many Giants Super Bowl victories over his
beloved Patriots and places a $50,000 bounty on the head of one Eli Manning. Mayor
of New City, Michael Bloomberg, takes offense to this and wagers $75,000 on his least
favorite Patriot, Logan Mankins. These types of exchanges would continue until the
game was decided, all in plain view of the players and the fans. Also, the bounties
would be cumulative, meaning that if, Joe Sports fan decided that $50,000 was not
nearly enough on Eli Manning’s he could add $50 to the current bounty.
Now, I see the concern, how does the NFL make any money on the deal? Well, the NFL
would build and IPhone and Android application for the purpose of placing these
bounties, that application would cost $5.99 (or 10.99 if you choose to add customized
name and number to the application.) Also, a 10% service fee would be attached to
each bounty, netting some serious revenue for the league. As for the players, they
would have the opportunity to earn hefty bonuses for doing roughly what they had been
doing their entire careers. It seems like a perfect scenario for each side. Theoretically,
half of any bounty earnings could be placed into a fund for retired players needing
medical assistance or could be donated to researchers.

     The idea also makes sense from a marketing standpoint. Opening the NFL to bounties
could serve as a huge surge in popularity. The wagering of money of the lives of men
seems like something that could really tickle the fancy of the hugely wealthy, in both
America and abroad, which would in turn pique the interest of the middle and lower
classes as it would become the chic thing to do. Another scenario to imagine, you are
an exorbitantly wealthy Saudi Prince, normal displays of wealth no longer impress you.
You happen to hear that the NFL is allowing wagers on the well being of humans. All of
a sudden the Prince is hooked and his underlings follow his lead. The NFL would
become a truly global spectacle.
    
     This may be an entirely ridiculous extrapolation of NFL tendencies, but is meant to
provoke some thought about player safety, the further development of the NFL brand
and maybe ourselves a little as humans. However, if it does come to be, you heard it
here first.

A Very Brady Blog Entry

~Mike Wolcott

**This entry is dedicated to Karen Brady, a dedicated A&M blog reader

    
     It was fall of 2001 and I was thirteen years old. My neighbor Ben and I were in my living room watching The Brady Bunch. My father was also in the room, partially watching from his recliner chair. I know what many of you are thinking, "The Brady Bunch? Really Mick? What the hell is this blog coming to?" Well as cheesy as the show was, I loved The Brady Bunch as a kid. The Bradys had a certain charm about them, and every episode seemed to provide a great life lesson. I can honestly say that if wasn’t for The Brady Bunch in my childhood years, I wouldn’t have turned into the fine upstanding man that I am now. Anyway, I can’t remember exactly what episode we were watching that day, but I do remember that the storyline centered on Greg Brady.

     Unlike yours truly, my father is not a fan of The Brady Bunch. As the episode went along, he began to voice his disdain. "I’ve always hated this show, and I hate that fucking Greg Brady" he said angrily during a scene involving Greg, "What a fucking goofball he is." Ben and I found my Dad’s outburst extremely funny, which inspired him to continue his attacks. For the next 20 minutes, my father ripped Greg Brady for his hair, his pants ("bellbottomed fuck!"), and his overall goofy demeanor. Leave it to my father to make a boring fall afternoon funny.

     Later that same day, I was in attendance for a Buffalo Sabres game. My family and I were sitting in the Box Suites, courtesy of my Uncle Paul. While listening to the national anthem, I noticed that the guy singing looked familiar. I couldn’t put my finger on who he was until my cousin spoke. "Is that Greg Brady?!!" he asked. I looked up at the Jumbotron and realized that it was him. Barry Williams, a.k.a. Greg Brady, was singing the national anthem at the Buffalo Sabres game. Apparently he was in town to promote the World’s Largest Disco, an event that was taking place in Buffalo that weekend. I looked over at my father and laughed. It was a strange coincidence.

     Approximately 3 hours later, the game ended. On our way towards the exits of HSBC arena, I heard a couple of drunken guys yelling. "Hey it’s Greg Brady! Hey Greg!!" I looked over to my left, and there he was. The one and only Greg Brady was standing outside the door of his suite. I walked up to him timidly with my Sabres program, "Can I have your autograph Mr. Brady?" I asked in a nervous voice. He looked down at me with a smile and asked me what my name was. When I told him it was Mike, he grabbed my program and said "Well you sure can Mike."

     On the ride home from the game, I sat in the backseat of the car with my signed Sabres program. I thought about earlier that day and how funny it was to listen to my father rant about how much he hated "that fucking" Greg Brady. I never expected that I would be meeting Greg Brady that same day. At one point, my father turned to look at me from the driver’s seat as I was admiring the autograph. "I can't believe you got Greg Brady's autograph" he said, "He seems like a really good guy."

Something Refreshing I've Found

~Anthony Constantino

There are some things in life that have been taught to us, and other things we have to figure out for ourselves. There are many things I have figured out on my own in life. For example (I will stick to sports examples because I am primarily a sports writer), I have learned that Dan Marino is the greatest quarterback without a Super Bowl win to his credit. I know that Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky are the greatest players ever in their respective sports. I can also say I've learned that Tom Brady is not the best quarterback ever, nor is he the best quarterback of his era. Of course these are all topics for other blogs, but you get the idea.

I've learned a lot in my life, but I cannot figure out why the Scripps National Spelling Bee is on ESPN every year.

For as long as I can remember, there has been an annual spelling bee on ESPN. The early rounds are televised in the morning and later that day the finals air. The contestants must be under 16 years old and in 8th grade or lower. Year after year I find myself land on this channel, not knowing that the Spelling Bee is on that day, and I end up watching it. I don't always watch it until the end, but I am good for at least an hour of viewing. What makes this even more bizarre is that these children are spelling words I've never even heard of. However, I still continue to watch.

Even though it doesn't make sense, I am so glad that it has a home on ESPN. From a young age, most of us idolize athletes or actors or musicians. For those of us who idolize athletes, we are taught or we choose to learn certain things about idolizing athletes. The first thing we learn is that intelligence means nothing. If an athlete can't correctly spell "potato" or cannot say the word "ask" the way it is supposed to be said, who cares? That takes a backseat to their athletic ability or knowledge of the sport they play. We idolize the select few that are fortunate enough to play a game and get paid for it. These athletes are often paid gross amounts of money because we watch, day after day.

Some athletes that we idolize just happen to be the right size to play their sport. In a sense, we give praise to someone that just happens to have a physical gift. For example, Hasheem Thabeet plays Center in the NBA. He cannot shoot a basketball to save his life. He cannot defend, he cannot run, he has no real talent. Thabeet was a Top-5 draft pick in the NBA for 3 reasons: he can rebound, he can block the occasional shot, and he is 7 foot 3 inches tall. The last reason is the biggest reason that he was drafted. I guarantee that he is the most popular man in his native country of Tanzania. Thabeet has done nothing more than grow to become an NBA player, and still he is idolized. This is what makes the Scripps National Spelling Bee so refreshing.

In this world we never pay homage to those who are gifted with inteligence or the ability to learn things easily. We look at those who can play a sport at an extremely high level as god-like figures at times. We call them "saviors" or argue about who is the greatest ever. When is the last time you overheard a conversation about the greatest doctor of all time or the greatest bio-engineer ever? We place high value on skating ability over SAT scores, batting titles over bachelors degrees, and jump shots over GPA. These children are gifted and work as hard as any athlete to learn how to spell a word like "appoggiatura" or "smaragdine" or "guetapens" in order to win the National Spelling Bee. It is as grueling a competition as any. There is little physical demand involved in the competition, but the mental challenge is unparalleled.

For me I find the Spelling Bee to be the most refreshing program on ESPN. Praising education and a thirst for knowledge sets the best example possible. I applaud ESPN for televising the Bee and I think that I may have outlined the main purpose for airing it on the channel. This program is an excellent change of pace that gives education the spotlight on a channel that often inadvertantly sways the youth away from the classroom to pursue a career in athletics.