The King Sits on a Throne of Lies

In the interview following "THE DECISION", LeBron James said that some of his family members might be surprised at his decision to leave Cleveland, due to the fact that he is "such a loyal person". Call me crazy, but seeing an Akron born-and-raised boy who cheers for the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Yankees jump on the first train out of his home town isn't exactly shocking to me.

Going to the Heat may give LeBron the best chance to win a championship, which seems to be the #1 reason for his decision (or should I say, his DECISION), but it speaks volumes about his character. We can now once and for all remove LeBron from the tier of Jordan and Kobe; can you imagine either of those players (or anyone else of that caliber in any sport) jumping ship like LeBron just did? Gretzky cried when he was traded from the Oilers. LeBron spent a whole month stringing his home town fans out and then stabbed them in the back.

LeBron may have talent, but over the last month or so it's become evident that he doesn't have an ounce of leadership in his body. A generational player like LeBron is going to be "the guy" wherever he goes; therefore it's his job to step up and act like "the guy". Take a team, put them on your back, and instill the confidence that as long as I'm on the team, we are going to win no matter what. Say what you will about his supporting cast in Cleveland, but LeBron never exuded that confidence.

Did the Cavs have a good enough roster to win a championship last year? Probably not. Before Dwayne Wade made his decision to stick with the Heat this summer, did THEY have a good enough roster to win a championship? No. The difference between the two players is that Wade had the leadership and the loyalty to say I'm staying in Miami; if you want to win a championship with me, come get it. James did the exact opposite; he sat back and waited for other teams to assemble all the other pieces of the puzzle, then slipped in at the last minute. Wade is a team leader who is acting like "the guy", while LeBron is acting like the final piece of the puzzle. Will it get him a ring? Probably. Will it tarnish his legacy and his image? Absolutely.

LeBron can complain all he wants about the rest of the team in Cleveland, but this summer he had a chance to do something about it, and he took the easy way out. If he renewed his contract with Cleveland before free agency started, how many free agents would be kicking down the door to come to Cleveland? Think about that; people would actually WANT to come to Cleveland (OK this is an inappropriate time for Cleveland jokes... my apologies). Joking aside, there was nothing keeping LeBron from doing exactly what Dwayne Wade did; making an early promise to return to his team and thus make it more attractive for the vast free agent market. The only thing needed to make that decision is a spine... which apparently is a problem for LeBron.

"The King" spent the last 3-4 years waiting for Danny Ferry, GM of the Cavs, to win him a championship. This summer, he had the chance to help his own cause and build his own championship roster by making an early commitment to his team, and he took the easy way out. Most professional athletes dream of playing for their hometown team. LeBron held a one hour event on national television to twist the knife he just put in the back of his team. (Although, to give credit where credit is due, giving the proceeds of the show to the Boys and Girls Club is a nice move.)

The kicker in all of this is that people are actually giving LeBron credit for being 'unselfish' by choosing the Heat. Unselfish? Really? I understand that he left a little bit of money on the table by leaving Cleveland (of course, 'a little' is in relative terms), but he chose to leave his friends and family behind to go win a championship on his own. LeBron did what is best for LeBron and put everyone else on the back burner; that is the opposite of unselfish.

Actions speak louder than words; LeBron can say that he wants to win a championship all he wants, but his actions say that he's waiting for someone else to win it for him.

Pens in another Winter Classic

There are only a handful of people who are happy about the Penguins making another Winter Classic appearance. Most of them either reside in Pittsburgh, or are named Gary Bettman. But personal bias aside, putting the Pens in another Winter Classic was a business decision, and the right one at that.
 
First of all, the Winter Classic takes place on January 1, a day on which you don't have to do too much channel surfing to find sports to watch. In order to garner any attention, the NHL needs to put its best foot forward and let its stars shine. Yes, there are plenty of "hockey people" who are tired of having Crosby vs. Ovechkin drilled into their heads, but the Winter Classic isn't about "hockey people". The main goal of the Winter Classic is for the NHL to spread its popularity, and for NBC to get ratings. In order to achieve both of those objectives, the NHL and NBC need to compete for the attention of the casual viewer. The aforementioned "hockey people" are going to watch the Winter Classic regardless of who plays.
 
Admittedly, it does seem a little unfair at first that the Penguins will now have appeared in two of the NHL's four Winter Classics. After all, there are plenty of other cities which would make great Winter Classic hosts; Minnesota, New York, Denver, and just about anywhere in Canada, to name a few. The problem is this; in this case, it's not Gary Bettman's job to be fair. It's Gary Bettman's job to spread the popularity of the NHL and capture the attention of the casual viewer.
 
Would the Rangers hosting the Maple Leafs at the new Yankee Stadium make for a great spectacle for "hockey people?" Sure. But on January 2^nd, nobody in the Midwest is walking up to the water cooler saying, "hey did you guys see Marion Gaborik and Phil Kessel go at it yesterday?!" For casual fans, those aren't household names. Maybe they will be some day, but they're not now. And in fact, I would estimate that a majority of Americans in the NHL's key demographic (male, 18-49) could not name a single player on the Rangers or Maple Leafs. So putting those two teams on a national stage is like a tree falling in the forest with no one around to hear it.
 
Like it or not, the NHL has two household names: Crosby and Ovechkin. Maybe Jean Girard said it best in Talladega Nights: "God needs the Devil. The Beatles needed The Rolling Stones. Even Diane Sawyer needed Katie Couric." Alex Ovechkin is Sidney Crosby's Kate Couric. The repeated marketing of these two stars might get on the nerves of some "hockey people," but they're not going to stop watching because of it. And if putting those two players on the ice is the only way to get the NHL to jump to the front page of the paper, or to the beginning of all of the ESPN shows, then Gary Bettman isn't doing his job unless he calls the Spaceballs marketing department. Sidney Crosby the t-shirt... Sidney Crosby the breakfast cereal... Sidney Crosby the flamethrower... call it unfair, call it annoying, but don't call it ineffective.
 
The people who are chastising Bettman for putting Crosby and the Penguins in another Winter Classic are probably the same people who are blasting him for not getting the league on a major cable network. Those people fail to understand that major cable networks don't want the NHL until it has an established audience; and the only way to establish that audience is to use the two NHL names that people know. A look at the NHL and its oft-compared, "niche market" counterpart, the NBA, reveals that maybe Bettman deserves a little credit; NHL revenues and TV ratings are up, while the NBA is seeing a decrease in both revenues and viewership.


The bottom line is this; if you're tired of hearing about Sidney Crosby and/or Alex Ovechkin, then you might want to take a break from the NHL for 20 years or so. Gary Bettman and the NHL will be marketing these two stars for their entire careers, and rightly so. Some people may not like the decision to put the Pens in another Winter Classic so soon, but safe money says that this year's Winter Classic will be the most viewed, most talked about Winter Classic yet. And if that's the case, then isn't it a good decision?

First Post

René Descartes once said, "I think, therefore I am." If he were alive today, that quote would probably read, "I think, therefore I blog." Don't worry, though; this isn't just another website full of amateur writing about over-discussed or awkwardly personal material. Instead, I've decided to devote an entire blog to something wildly entertaining and original:
Sports.

I figured... I enjoy sports. I have a lot of friends who enjoy sports. I find myself talking about sports with those friends, and with other people, many of whom are total strangers (after all, what good is the internet if you're not using it to interact with strangers?) And although it may seem unnecessary to start a blog about sports when there are an endless supply of them already out there, I'm hoping to put just enough of my own personal touch on things to make them readable and entertaining.

For instance: 3 of my favorite sports are hockey, soccer, and lacrosse. ESPN spends more time reporting from Brett Favre's yard in Mississippi than they do covering those three sports... combined.

Ultimately, my goal is for this site to be part opinion, part analysis, and with a little luck and persistence, perhaps even part discussion... so feel free to leave, read, and respond to comments.

I'll conclude the inaugural post with a solemn promise to never mention Brett Favre's name on this site again.