Let me preface this blog by saying that I am not a Cavaliers fan. I am a Pistons fan and will never root for a Cleveland team in any sport. Don't get me wrong, Cleveland has had some serious sport legends play in the city. Bob Feller and LeBron James come to mind. Bob Feller's domination is undeniable. Even with his service to the military in WWII taking him out of the game for awhile, he still put up ridiculous statistics.
Speaking of the military, I was at Fort Bragg when "The Decision" happened. We had just gotten back from a 30 day field training exercise in Louisiana a few days prior to the actual program. I wasn't exactly aware that LeBron James might have been leaving Cleveland, much less that it was that big of a spectacle. As Marc posted earlier, it was a brilliant marketing move. This is one of the most prolific basketball players that will ever play in the NBA. He was on the cover of Sports Illustrated prior to even graduating high school. Nevertheless, the way that I found out about LeBron going to the Miami Heat was through a replay of "The Decision" a couple days later while I was eating breakfast at the "lovely" chow hall about 300 meters from the barracks. I didn't feel anything but excitement that he was leaving the division.
At the same time though, I started to think about how classless the whole thing was. It's really insulting to tell everyone who has supported you for so long that you are leaving for nothing more than glory. After you do that, what happens? Every day people, who will never pick up a basketball for an NBA team, are burning your jersey and images of you as if you had just committed the worst crime in history. The owner of the team you just left submits an open letter that is highly insulting.
The whole situation turned ugly fast and from an outsiders point of view, I can see why. I have always grown up with an appreciation for class acts in sports. This whole situation was classless for everyone involved, LeBron, Dan Gilbert, the fans, and ESPN alike.
I agree that it was a slap in the face to the city of Cleveland, the fans, and the team. He put the city of Cleveland on the map, and could have been the reason to keep it on the map. Cleveland has been dissapointed by so many athletes who start there careers in Cleveland and go on to be some of the best athletes and coaches. It's actually sickening to think of how many there are. But what Lebron didn't understand is that he created a buzz in Cleveland and gave people hope as far as sports go in Cleveland. If you make a statement to stay in Cleveland everyone will buy in even more, especially the front office by bringing in people to help him win championships. Other sports would also benefit from a commitment like that too. All he did was help to ruin the NBA because now all of the players want to gang up together on teams with a lot of money and dominate the NBA. It's ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteMatt Pitzulo
I agree that LeBron went about his transferring of team in the wrong manner. I felt as if he was disrespectful in his response and he could have gone about his decision differently. He did not seem very sincere when talked about his fans and how he was leaving the city of Cleveland. I feel as if more of his fan base would have followed him and the city of Cleveland would more so continue to support him in the long if he were more sympathetic. He instead appeared selfish, which he can leave the Cavaliers if he wishes, but he should have been more apologetic to his fans rather than justifying his leaving how he did. I personally am a Cavaliers fan and I was irate at his leaving because of how he acted during his decision. I would have supported his leaving if he appeared as if he actually cared he was leaving a fan base that watched him grow and showed him a high level of support.
ReplyDeleteCasey Daulbaugh