As a little boy, all I dreamt of was being a great professional baseball player. I saw that as the fulfillment of talent and promise and hard work. That was long ago and that dream has long since been dashed, but that does not take away the joy of watching sports, especially at a high level. Last night I watched Lebron James (the brightest light in the NBA) and I could not help but feel sad for the young man because nothing he does is ever nor will ever be good enough.
For four years now, Lebron has been the beacon of hope the NBA has been wishing for. A dashingly handsome young face with excellent marketing potential that exudes superiority and god-given talent. Someone to fill the void left by Michael Jordan. Lebron is all of that and maybe a little bit more. Several weeks removed from his high school prom in northern Ohio, he was giving professional players some different types of moves.
We the fans have very distinct and vivid memories of the 90's Bulls crushing teams in their way of victory records and NBA title after title, but very few remember the tongue waging days of early Jordan when the Bulls didn't have a ice cube's chance in hell of beating the Pistons and Celtics. Even more rare is the memory of MJ being the 3rd or 4th scoring option on a loaded North Carolina team when he first stepped on the college campus.
Our heir apparent hero Lebron didn't even attempt to take his game to the NCAA level, yet he is in constant comparison with his draft class (Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, etc...) all of which at least went to college, some only for one year. Writers and commentators do their comparisons and Lebron compares favorably in every category, besides the category of public opinion.
ESPN's Mike Wilbon has found an excuse at every turn to why he can't anoint Lebron as an elite player. At first it was a lack of a body of work in the Playoffs. Then he was great in the playoffs, but Dwyane Wade won the championship, so Dwyane is better. If that was the criteria of greatness, Karl Malone and Charles Barkley would never be recognized as all-time greats, and Robert Horry would be on an equal plain with Michael Jordan, seeing that they both have six championships.
We live in an age of very high expectations. Not just our athletes, but all celebrities in general (sometimes going as far as calling them role models). And when you are dubbed the greatest thing since sliced bread, you better have a pretty shard knife. In his defense, Lebron's knife couldn't be sharp enough. With every dazzling dribble, dish, and dunk I like probably every other fan is more amazed by the great talent he possesses, but he wasn't blessed with a teammate like Scotty Pippen or Shaq, so no rings yet. He doesn't have the bitterness of witnessing a parent go through the troubles of stardom like Barry Bonds or Kobe Bryant. He just happens to be a kid with a kid's outlook on his beautiful game, and that will never be enough for his detractors. When he finally wins a championship, he won't have six. If he wins six, he won't have nine. Unless Lebron becomes the Tiger Woods of basketball and crushes every record imaginable he will have to face the fact that being great just isn't good enough for the chasm that is created by expectation. The way I see it, Lebron is learning slowly that being great just isn't that great all the time.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Friday, May 18, 2007
Cornerstone of Cheaters
In the past several years, in all mediums of media, I have seen and heard an assortment of comments about the state of baseball and the way Barry Bonds is ruining the Great American Pastime. Is it a racial issue? Is it a general mob mentality issue? Is it the nostalgic aspect of yesteryear invading our adult memories? I am going to answer those questions for you. Yes.
Yes to all of the concerns. Is Barry a generally good samaritan that is getting a bad rap? No he is not a charity case, and Barry doesn’t want to be, but he is on the other end of the stick when it comes to the courthouse of public opinion. I am not saying a black man cannot be treated fairly in the world of sports in the United States. I am saying that it just doesn’t help.
Everything in sports that we read, listen to and watch is commented on by sports media on a daily basis. Whether it is whatever medium (TV, radio, print, internet) and the media personnel want insight. Everyone wants to break the story. Barry has been the guy to never give the media that glimpse into his life, his story. Now, being that closed off has brought us to this. A public Barry Bonds vendetta killing in full display with the guise of it being all about integrity of the game instead of what it really is… displaced anger towards a guy they (media) think is a jerk.
There have been polls and votes to tabulate who wants to see Barry Bonds break the most significant record in sports, Hank Aaron’s career homerun mark. The findings prove that very few people, if any, want to see this accomplishment get achieved. Need we not forget that there was an even more vigorous display of hatred for Hank Aaron to pass Babe Ruth. The people tend to simply forget that the 60s and 70s wasn’t so long ago and things have changed, but not to the extent we want to celebrate.
The players in the 60s, 70s, or 80s were not saints, they were just ballplayers. So why can’t people move on from the fact that Barry is not alone. Did he use steroids? He probably did. So what? He definitely doesn’t stand alone in that category. Why hasn’t anyone come out to say “put an asterisk on the MVP Ken Caminiti won in 1996”? He admitted to being a steroid and cocaine abuser. This proved to catch up to him when he died suddenly a few years ago. So if Barry has been convicted by the court of public opinion of his doing why can’t the public acknowledge that he is one of many and there is no way to single him out as the cornerstone of cheaters? What about all the pitchers that were juiced that he hit homeruns off of? What about all the base stealers that stole more bases? What about all the hits that were robbed by juiced infielders that got more range up the middle? Where does it end? It ends with the realization that Barry Bonds is the greatest player of his era. His era just might have happened to be juiced.
Yes to all of the concerns. Is Barry a generally good samaritan that is getting a bad rap? No he is not a charity case, and Barry doesn’t want to be, but he is on the other end of the stick when it comes to the courthouse of public opinion. I am not saying a black man cannot be treated fairly in the world of sports in the United States. I am saying that it just doesn’t help.
Everything in sports that we read, listen to and watch is commented on by sports media on a daily basis. Whether it is whatever medium (TV, radio, print, internet) and the media personnel want insight. Everyone wants to break the story. Barry has been the guy to never give the media that glimpse into his life, his story. Now, being that closed off has brought us to this. A public Barry Bonds vendetta killing in full display with the guise of it being all about integrity of the game instead of what it really is… displaced anger towards a guy they (media) think is a jerk.
There have been polls and votes to tabulate who wants to see Barry Bonds break the most significant record in sports, Hank Aaron’s career homerun mark. The findings prove that very few people, if any, want to see this accomplishment get achieved. Need we not forget that there was an even more vigorous display of hatred for Hank Aaron to pass Babe Ruth. The people tend to simply forget that the 60s and 70s wasn’t so long ago and things have changed, but not to the extent we want to celebrate.
The players in the 60s, 70s, or 80s were not saints, they were just ballplayers. So why can’t people move on from the fact that Barry is not alone. Did he use steroids? He probably did. So what? He definitely doesn’t stand alone in that category. Why hasn’t anyone come out to say “put an asterisk on the MVP Ken Caminiti won in 1996”? He admitted to being a steroid and cocaine abuser. This proved to catch up to him when he died suddenly a few years ago. So if Barry has been convicted by the court of public opinion of his doing why can’t the public acknowledge that he is one of many and there is no way to single him out as the cornerstone of cheaters? What about all the pitchers that were juiced that he hit homeruns off of? What about all the base stealers that stole more bases? What about all the hits that were robbed by juiced infielders that got more range up the middle? Where does it end? It ends with the realization that Barry Bonds is the greatest player of his era. His era just might have happened to be juiced.
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