The Three Headed Heat Monster... Taking bets on when this is gonna break bad...
I'm actually talking about the most recent developments in NBA free agency. Maybe it's nostalgia or my naivety in looking for "superstars" to stay where they were drafted.
Of course I'm talking about Lebron James leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers for "greener" pastures in Miami joining Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh as members of the Miami Heat.
First things first, I'm not a particular fan of LBJ, I personally have more respect for Kobe Bryant's talent, drive and ability more than 'Bron. And he's stayed loyal to the Lake Show, so my respect for KB goes up on that fact alone...
With that said, Lebron was quite entertaining in Cleveland when he WAS the show...
Of course he used the standard athlete's answer in saying that it was about winning hence why he chose Miami. Which he felt he could be a championship contender with Wade, and Bosh on the roster with him.
I guess I can understand that, in all reality he will be taking less money in order to play with Wade and Bosh. With that said I don't know how he plans on winning with a roster full of 2nd tier players outside of the aforementioned Wade and Bosh. Michael Beasley has shown flashes but with the new three headed monster coming in I can't imagine he'll develop much more since a good portion of touches will be going to James, Wade, and Bosh. The rest of the roster has been projected to be a motley crew of minimum wage players who would most likely be the 9th or 10th men on other rosters.
So... I can't wait to see how this pans out next year.
Aaaaand there's of course Cleveland... The jilted lover in this debacle...
I genuinely feel bad for the people of Cleveland, the "hometown" boy who made good turned his back on them and bolted for warmer weather when they could've offered him the most financial gain out of all the offers on the table.
So with that said, how bad is the situation in the Cavaliers' organization that their ONLY star had to sprint away ala Usain Bolt from them?
Lebron made the announcement and the reaction from both Cleveland and Miami was pretty predictable. I can't say I was surprised over the decision, there was a ton of speculation that at least Wade and James wanted to play together... But I didn't think that they'd end up together in Miami.
So on to the soapbox and making myself sound waaaay older than I am...
One thing that disappointed me was the fact that considering the fact that James was truly "The King" in Cleveland the fact that he went for Miami tells me that he doesn't want that anymore... Kinda funny when you're trying to "grow your brand"...
But the fact that in today's sports culture there are really no more "homegrown" stars anymore kind of feels like the girlfriend that cheats on you with your best friend... It kind of hurts as a fan of sports... I know I don't root for teams as much as I used to and I along with many have made a shift to rooting for favorite players no matter where they land...
I kind of miss the old days when it was okay to root for a team because you knew that for the most part the roster was going to stay together for the long haul and people would leave mainly from retirement or injury...
Today's sports culture seems to make it okay for athletes to just sell their way to a championship. Which I guess I understand, but I yearn for the days of the "lovable losers" where people would just grind and try to get better even though they've had bad rosters or bad luck...
There is of course the parity in sports that was pioneered by the NFL, people want to see their teams in the win column which has turned the professional leagues into little league where everyone's a winner... Somewhat absurd...
The first team I loved was the Houston Oilers which they won but they were never in that elite class, but they had a great roster that I loved to watch and I still watch them as the Tennessee Titans (although they've lost some key folks to free agency...). I also loved the New York Knicks back in the day when Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley, Anthony Mason, Derek Harper, and John Starks were ruling New York... They've fallen on hard times and I see that they are still in that boat despite the fact they just signed Amare Stoudemire... Aaaand of course there's baseball... Oh baseball... The Cleveland Indians were my favorite and still is to this day, albeit they are horrible now...
Of course allegiances do change, that happened to me when I moved to Arizona. I followed the Suns, Diamond Backs and the Cardinals... Do I share the same love for these teams as I did my originals? Maybe with the exception of the D-Backs of course not, but at the same time when that's the show in town, you gotta buy a ticket sometimes... What it came down to was I tried to love the teams we had even though the heros we cheer for left for greener pastures elsewhere...
With that said, I really do yearn for those days when our beloved athletes stayed with one team their whole careers. Is it practical in today's sports world of course not! But a man can have some nostalgia can't he???
UPDATE: Never mind... Michael Beasley just got traded to the Timberwolves forget that I mentioned him... lol
