My First Sports Blog: King James

Ok, so I have to admit I haven’t always been as into sports as I am now. I guess if you look at the big picture you can kinda see a trend leading to the place I am now, not just a sports fan, but a sports fanatic. I not only watch the games, I read articles, listen to sports radio, and watch hours of Sports Center, and other sports shows. Now that my brain is filled with so much sports knowledge, like Zack Greinke’s bloated ERA after his last outing (1.10 by the way), I have to let it out… So here are some of my ramblings on some of the biggest sports topics right now…

NBA:
Ok so i think most people know that the dream match up that David Stern, Nike, and even Justin Timberlake have been pushing for is not going to happen. Kobe will not face LeBron in the NBA Finals. I mean its not as bad as what it could have been, Carmelo Anthony v.s. Dwight Howard, but that’s neither here nor there, the point is the star studded Finals of Lakers v.s. Cavs just isn’t going to happen.

As Dwight Howard and his teammates were celebrating their victory over the Cavs, one man walked out, went to his locker, changed, and left. He did not speak to anyone, including the media, and everyone freaked. This man was the one person on the Cavs that seemed like he belonged in the Conference Finals. He had done everything right all playoffs long. There wasn’t much more he could have done. But because he snubbed the handshake at the end of the game, and he didn’t show up to answer questions from the media, he is all of a sudden a bad sport, and ungentlemanly. Well that’s what everyone in the media is saying. Its actually quite funny, they say its ok that he snubbed the media, but its almost unforgivable that he didn’t shake hands with Dwight Howard and congratulate him. I actually think the media is upset they got snubbed but to avoid sounding whinny, they just act like they’re upset about his actions towards Howard.

Anyway, besides the media and their feelings and their loyalty, I mean its really cute how they all stick up for each other, I think they are completely missing the point. LeBron was not trying to be rude to Howard, or even snub the media, I don’t think he was trying to be ungentlemanly, in fact i think not speaking to the media was the most gentleman-like thing he could have done. How could he sit up there and answer questions to the media about losing the game, when he wasn’t the one that lost it? How is he supposed to sit there and say, “well I averaged 35.3 points, 9.1 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game during this years playoffs, and it still wasn’t enough” Is he supposed to sit there and blame his supporting cast, or lack there of, for losing the playoffs despite his efforts? The way I see it is they lost the game, let them answer to the media. He already had to stand up for and support Mo Williams for his comments, guaranteeing a series win. He wasn’t going to sit up there and speak poorly about his team. I think he was so affected by the loss that holding his tongue so soon after may have proved harder than getting to the NBA Finals with the Cavs.

Avoiding the handshake with Howard and other members of the Magic, well i think that was LeBron trying to get out of the building as soon as he could, not an attempt to be a sore loser, but to let his emotions settle and get to a point where he could think clearly. If I were a pro athlete, I would want my star to be so affected by a loss. The drive he has to win, has to affect him when he loses, well not when he loses, but when other people lose for him. It shouldn’t even be an issue. After a baseball game who shakes hands or gives high-fives? The team high-fives each other, not the other team. In football do they go and get all buddy-buddy with the opposition? No, they headbutt each other, slap each other on the butt, high-five, well in other words they celebrate with their own team. LeBron going on and getting alone after a loss and giving himself some time before addressing the media is no problem at all, when he starts averaging 10 points a game, then start to complain. Until then LeBron is still King, maybe after he becomes a free agent he’ll get signed to a team that can help him out a bit.

Next time: My MLB Power Rankings