Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Witnessed

Wow! What a crazy sports summer. We saw USA soccer win their group through an assortment of highly intense, frustrating and exhilarating games only to lose in equally dramatic fashion in overtime to Ghana in the sweet 16. We also saw the National League finally defeat the American League in the all-star game, winning their first one since 1996. We also saw the end of the George Steinbrenner era in New York after his passing. And the one that hit closest to home, I watched the heart and soul of the Arizona Cardinals (Anquan Boldin, Antrel Rolle, Kurt Warner, Karlos Dansby, Jerheme Urban) disperse the roster for many different reasons.

The one that caught my eye the most had to have been the Lebron James Sweepstakes aka The LeBachelor and the rest of the NBA’s insane free agency. I fell in love with all the charades because it was so original and unpredictable. Everyone had an opinion but no one knew anything, especially Chris Broussard.

My prediction had Lebron and Bosh going to New Jersey and Wade and Amare play together in the Miami.

I was close, right?

After the dust settled and Cleveland began to lick their self inflicted wounds, I started hearing all the negative rumblings about all the decisions made. Specifically that Lebron was letting down Cleveland since he was a local boy who made their team relevant. His critics also said he ‘took the easy way out’ and Cavs owner Dan Gilbert said he felt “betrayed” by King James.

How could you feel disrespected or betrayed? What does Lebron owe to Cleveland? Did the entire city raise him to be the great basketball player he is today? Did Lebron ever go out of his way to promote Cleveland other than when he wore a home uniform? Lebron was drafted by the Cavs, who just happened to be in Cleveland, and undoubtedly would have never chosen then in a free agency. Dan Gilbert needs to take a deep breath and realize that he’s in CLEVELAND! I know Drew Carey would like to say the Cleveland rocks but it really doesn’t. It’s a boring, cold town in the middle of the worst part of American. Cleveland, in a nutshell, is the butthole of America.

As for the people saying Kobe, Jordan, Magic and Bird never left their cities for greener grass, did you take a look at the cities those guys played for? First of all, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston are three of the biggest markets in the United States. Money, a fan base and adequate living conditions exist all over. Cleveland doesn’t qualify for any of that. Of course those superstars never left, they were always surrounds by fantastic, even hall of fame caliber players and owners who would and could spend money to bring in talent. I’m not saying Dan Gilbert didn’t bring in talent but I would pick Derek Fisher and Pau Gasol or Shaq and Rick Fox or Robert Parish and Kevin McHale over Mo Williams and Antwan Jameson any day of the week.

Another thing is that players don’t want to go play in Cleveland. Look now at all the players willing to sacrifice money and playing time to go play with the Miami Thrice (Lebron, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh). Did you see guys lining up to play in Cleveland during the Lebron era? Seth Meyers said in perfectly in the 2010 ESPY’s, Cleveland has the word leave in it. (I know it’s not as funny when it’s spelled because it’s wrong but have an imagination people!)

I hope Lebron goes on to win four of the next five titles (the other title winner will be the Phoenix Suns in 2012.). And in the process, I hope he has career nights every night he plays in Cleveland just to stick it to Cleveland fans.

Now on to Cleveland fans. Who do you think you are? Why do you matter on the national level? You’re no different than a Kansas City or Nashville to me. Just a boring, crappy city with a few sports teams in it. You aren’t even a capitol! You don’t hear Cincinnati complaining about their unfortunate bounces they been dealt in their history. (Yeah, Cleveland had John Elway’s Drive and also experienced the Fumble but Cincy was burned twice in the Superbowl by Joe Montana.)

And what about Phoenix? We have just as much right to be babies like you and we don’t shed a tear, we just get ready for the next great disappointment. Oh, you think you’ve had it worse Cleveland? Is that so? Let’s compare, shall we?

Cleveland Browns: The Browns have a respectable .553 win percentage over their 60 year span than included 8 NFL Championships (The title game before the Superbowl) and 28 playoff appearances. The Browns also got to watch firsthand what many believe to be the greatest running back in NFL history in Jim Brown.

Arizona Cardinals: The Cards come in with the fourth worst winning percentage in NFL history at .416 and only have made the playoffs eight times in 90 years! The Cardinals also have no marquee player to hang their history hats on. In fact, players that Arizona draft tend to go on to have far more successful careers after leaving Arizona (Simeon Rice and Michael Pittman both played at least four years for the Cards and both went on to win a Superbowl with the Tampa Bay. And Jake Plummer who only managed one wild card trip to the playoffs in his six years at the helm of the Cards offense, took the Broncos to the AFC Championship game where they lost to the eventual Superbowl champ Pittsburgh Steelers.).

Cleveland Cavaliers: You had Lebron James for seven years and never won a title. Oh, and Jordan hit a shot over Craig Ehlo. That’s the extent of Cleveland basketball. They’ve always been a subpar team and your only chance of winning a title just took his skills to South Beach.

Phoenix Suns: The Suns, on the other hand, have always remained relevant. They hold the fourth best win percentage of all time, they’ve also only missed the playoffs three times in the last 22 years, and they’ve had three MVP’s. Problem with those incredible stats is that there is a very dark side. The Suns have won zero titles, lost in the finals twice and in the conference finals seven times and the two players who have won the MVP’s, Steve Nash and Charles Barkley, might go down as the greatest players at their position to never win a title. The Suns also were a coin flip away from getting Lew Alcindor aka Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Losing Lebron doesn’t seem so bad now, does it?

Cleveland Indians: Indians have won two titles.

Arizona Diamondbacks: D’Backs have won one title.

Just because you live in a crappier town doesn’t mean you’ve had a tougher sports life. Have Ben Roethlisberger throw a game winning touchdown pass in the final minute of a Superbowl against you and tell me you’ve have it bad.