Lebron the Fake

                                                 


Dear Lebron James,
  Get over yourself!! If you wonder why you will never be like MJ, this is why!! MJ never took his case to the media about how bad he thought his team was that season. You are the defending champs, number 1 team in the East and have a very good shot to repeat. Why are you calling out management? By calling out management, you are also publicly embarrassing your own teammates by telling them they are bad. You are the one who lobbied for Tristen Thompson to resign with the Cavs. You are the one who wanted Kevin Love on your team, another big 3.
   Do you think Steph Curry would call out management and his teammates(publicly) saying that they are not good? You lost 5 of your last 7, it happens!!! Why do you think a team like the Cowboys lost in the playoffs, they lost a total of 3 teams over the season, they had an ego. Maybe you should learn from Dirk and take a pay cut to sign better teams. Dan Gilbert should not have to shell out more money over the luxury tax because Lebron  wants to be the highest paid player. You have enough endorsements to reach your great grandchildren. If you are such a great teammate, such a great leader, you should look at Dirk and see what it takes to build a team. You need superstars to make it to 6 straight finals, he need role players to win 1 championship, something you couldn't do.
  LeBron James, you do not run the Cavs, upper management runs the Cavs. Michael Jordan may have gotten Doug Collins fired, but he did it behind the scenes. He didn't call his team bad. If you are going to tell me that you did not call your team bad, I will tell you now that is not true. Just because you are the greatest player of your generation does not give you a pass at of any of this hear say.
   Lastly, please learn that just because you are selfless on the court, does not mean you are selfless off the court. In order to be a true leader for your team, you need to show your leadership skills on an off the court for your team and not humiliate them. Look at Derek Jeter, do you think he did this off the court? He never called his teammates bad or talked to upper management the way you appear to be doing. Learn from the true greats of their generation, then maybe you you will be one of the greats.
  Sincerely,
Angered Sports Fan(Abe Ades)

Lebron Squatting

                                                       

   When you hear that an athlete is scratched from the starting lineup/game, what is your first thought? What is their injury? When did they get injured? Most importantly, how long will they be out? Last night, against the Indiana Pacers, in Indiana, Lebron James was a “healthy scratch.” We’re about 35  games into this relatively young season, the almighty great LeBron James is has sat a few times already.  Forget the fact that people paid to go see him because I disagree that fans of opposing teams go to the game just because of LeBron. My question is if this going to happen in his age 31 season, will he retire early?

    At the beginning of the 2003 baseball season, Derek Jeter dislocated his shoulder against the Toronto Blue Jays. I was a junior in high school and I remember someone telling me that Jeter will come back and the Yankees will win the World Series. That person was awfully close, he came back and the Yankees lost the Marlins in the Series. What’s my point? Jeter did everything possible to get himself bac on the field that season and stay healthy. Wouldn’t you think that LeBron would condition himself to be healthy enough to play all (or almost all) the seasons games? Baseball is a longer season than basketball and just as grueling of a schedule.

     LeBron does have 11 plus years of basketball seasons on him. There were 5 of them in which he did not make the NBA Finals, which means he has had extended rest on his body. Something I have learned this week is that you need to take care of yourself. The former superstar wrestler, Vader, announced he has 2 years to live because of a heart condition. He is someone who is over 300 pounds. Don’t you think if he took care of himself and conditioned himself better that maybe he would not be in this situation? Now LeBron is not the only one who is guilty of this issue. Greg Popovich has done this with his superstars of Parker, GInobili and Duncan towards the end of the season to get them ready for the playoffs. Wouldn’t you let the players build up the momentum going into the playoffs? You may only be resting them to play 4 games in the playoffs(if they get swept). 

     Michael Jordan, Cal Ripken, Jr., and Bret Favre never asked for games off(unless obviously they were hurt). Are those days over? To me, I feel that players from that era just wanted it more than they do now. Lebron has been to 6 straight finals and has won 3 of them, if he does not win another one I believe he could care less. Many people put in over 40 hours a week for a work week for a job they don’t even enjoy, but these athletes enjoy what they do and people come to see them, shouldn’t they think this through?  Michael Kay brought up a point about this and maybe they should come up with an injury. Should they? Maybe. All I know is that once these players retire, they will rest then until then take care of  yourself and play the game.

NFL Midpoint

  We are half through the NFL season and there are so many story lines throught the first  9, 10, or 11 games (12 weeks) of the season.  The Browns are winless, Tom Brady being considered for MVP(suspended first 4 games), 2 ties in one season, and rookies galore. Every year there are questions to be answered, stories being developed, and a lot of “What If’s.” The question is where do we start.

    What about Cleveland? For the most part, this year seems to be the year of Cleveland, The Cavs won the NBA Title, the Indians were on the verge of winning the World Series, and then there’s the Browns. The Browns. . . WOW. Honestly, sometimes I don’t know what to say when it comes to them. I am always one to route for the struggling team to break through, including the Browns. When they hired a new coach and new front office, sandwiches by the signing of a healthy RG3 and 2^nd pick of the draft, my first thought was “Ok let’s see how they draft.” Draft night comes and they trade out of the 2^nd pick for multiple picks and they attempt to work their magic. Now I know it takes some time to develop, but for a team that “won the draft” to not even have 1 win through 11 games is pathetic. If the Browns were smart next year, they will not trade the 1^st overall pick of the draft. I certainly thought Hue Jackson would be able to get through to some of these young players. It feels like the Browns have been through has much personnel as they have quarterbacks.

   Speaking of quarterbacks, Tom Brady is playing at a MVP caliber level. The question is does he deserve to win it after being suspended after the first 4 games? Most people would say no.  I believe that it is in “It depends” category. The question you may be thinking “What does it depend on?” Well it depends on quite a few things. The first “it depends” is if he can keep up this level of play for the remainder of the season. If he plays like his 2007 form then hands down he deserves it. The second “it depends” is on who else is performing well and if they keep it up. Oakland has Derrick Carr, Cowboys Ezekiel Elliott, Falcons Matt Ryan and Cincinnati’s AJ Green. Everyone is playing at such high levels; voters will consider who is the most valuable to their team. 

  When it comes to value to a team, whoever thought that Dak Presscott was every going to play at such a high level. He took over for perennial MVP candidate Tony Romo. Between Presscott and Elliott, it finally shows that Jerry Jones finally has some patience. Granted the only reason the Presscott is playing is because of Tony Romo’s injury. If want my honest opinion, I believe that the most valuable player(s) for the Cowboys is the offensive line. Without them, Elliott and Preskcott would not be playing at such a high level. Derrick Carr has finally blossomed. He is playing at such a high level, not only are the Raiders playing .500 ball, but they are tied for the division lead! He went from relative unknown to MVP caliber quarterback. Carr is reaching his receivers and has the help of his running game. Matt Ryan has the Falcons on top again. He always has played at such a nice level, but he maybe going as one of the more underrated players on the team because of Julio Jones.

    The NFL, like most of the major leagues, is fairly in unpredictable in most scenarios. Could anyone have predicted the Browns to be this bad? Ok yes most people could have said they would be horrid. Can anyone tell you that the Raiders are tied for Division lead with the Chiefs? What about the way Preskcott is playing for the Cowboys? The Dolphins and Titans playing .500 ball? The most unpredictable thing to happen so far is Tony Romo’s concession speech to Dak Prescott. Many people, including myself, are completely shocked. NFL ratings have been a record low this season, but its bound to turn around. Let’s see what happens. Enjoy the stretch run everyone!

Wonderful Winners

                                                            
                                           

    I know it’s been a week since the Cubs won the World Series, so this is long overdue. I am a big Yankee fan, but I was certainly routing for the Cubbies. Throughout the whole postseason, I kept waiting for the “Steve Bartman” moment. As we all know, the Cubs had not won in 107 years before this year. They have been “Cursed” since 1945. When you the Red Sox had their “Curse” it was just about not winning a World Series. The Sox had been there before 2004 but just lost the Series like 1986, 1975, and 1967. Before this season, the last pennant winning team for the Cubs was just after the end of World War 2. 

   When the Cubs finished the season with a Major League best 103 wins, my first thoughts were “Ok, they will make it to the NLCS and maybe win a few games in that round.” They certainly exceeded my expectations this season. There are so many people that deserve credit for this World Series title, but the question is where do we start? Theo Epstein, Joe Maddon, the players all of them deserve credit. If you want my honest opinion, I feel that the Cubs owner, Tom Rickkets, deserves the most credit. You must thinking “What are you thinking?!?! Theo Epstein built this team!” Yes, you couldn’t be more right about that issue. If it was not for Rickkets pushing to get Epstein, would they have even been in this position? He pushed to obtain him, even gave the Red Sox compensation for breaking his contract with them. After Ricketts, it is then Epstein that deserves the most credit.

    The last time the Cubs won a World Series, Teddy Roosevelt was president, we did not fight in World War 1 yet, and Babe Ruth had yet to play in Major League Baseball. The last time they actually played in a World Series, we just finished World War 2, Harry Truman was president, and we had the beginning of thE “Baby Boomer” generation.  Everyone knows the Cubs as the “Lovable Losers”, but something I do not quite understand is that how losers if they have had a multitude of winning seasons? Granted they did not win a pennant in 71 years, it does not mean that have lost. Now they are the “Wonderful Winners.”

  The Chicago Cubs were similar to the ’98 Yankees. What do I mean by that comparison? They were the best in the league in every category. The 98 Yankees were by far the better team, but the 2016 Cubs had the best pitching, offense, and defense this season. The Cubs are the current model on how to build a team through trade and drafts and only some free agent signings. Theo Epstein has done for Chicago what he did for Boston. He is building from the bottom up. The have the likes of Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, and Addisson Russell mixed in with the leadership of Ben Zobrist, Jon Lester, and Jason Heyward. It is the perfect mix they had to put a winning formula together.

   Unless you are a Cardinals fan or your team was in the playoffs, I believe everyone was routing for the Cubs. Even President Obama, a White Sox fan, was routing for the Cubs to win it all. The Cubs are more just like a Lovable team not lovable losers. I remember just talking to friends and family about what was going on during their playoff games. Joe Maddon was making some questionable calls at best, but it didn’t matter because it was fun to watch. The World Series storylines were just intriguing. Terry Francona vs Theo Epstein, 176 combined years of a World Series drought, or 2 championships for the City of Cleveland, all of this make this a classic 7 game World Series,

   Chicago got the thrill of a lifetime when Kris Bryant fielded the last out of Game 7. Do I believe that suspense is over for the Cubs? It maybe, but the thrill will be there for years to come. Maybe we have round 2 next year and now Cleveland breaks their drought. The great thing about baseball is uncertainty. The uncertainty of which team will win a World Series, surprise with a division title, or which players will breakout. Baseball surely knows how to surprise us every year. Who knows, maybe next year Vin Scully unretires?! Like Tom Hanks once said “There’s no crying in baseball!!” He’s right! There’s only enjoying it!