Although I'm not a huge fan of the NBA, I am a sports fan. I'm a regular viewer / listener to ESPN television and radio. One of my favorite segments of ESPN's Mike and Mike in the Morning is What People Are Talking About. This is where they give the 'headlines' of the sports world. If you want to know what the hot topics are for that morning around the water cooler at work, they can summarize them for you in five minutes or less.
The Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics are playing a playoff series. The Cleveland star is a native-son of Ohio, Lebron James. With the best of seven series tied at two games apiece, playing on their home floor, Mr. James and Cavs just didn't play to their level of ability. The Celtics dominated and travel home to Boston and need to only win one of the next two games to advance to the next round.
What's the big deal, you may ask? The city of Cleveland hasn't had a championship for their city in a long, long time. This is their best chance in the minds of many. What's even more antsy is the contract of Lebron James expires this year. Will he be back next year? After all, without him, there is absolutely NO CHANCE of Cleveland winning.
James didn't give his best effort. The team didn't rally around him while he was having a bad night. I even heard some say he did this on purpose. People are beginning to question the legacy he will leave behind. His response to that last line actually impressed me. Summarizing what he said, I'm only 25 years old. I've got plenty of playing time left. It's too early to think of my legacy as a basketball player.
Everyone will have a bad day. It is physically and humanly impossible to be on top of your game every night. Cleveland fans, be thankful this is the NBA and not the NCAA. One bad game in the NCAA tournament of March Madness and your toast! So, if this were the NCAA, the Cavs would be done. Finished. Packing up their lockers. If the Celtics win the series, that means they're probably the better team.
The overall point of this is to remind you that Lebron James is not the only person on the Cleveland Cavaliers team. If the Celtics win the series, chances are they are the better team. And Cleveland, there is life after getting so close ~ again. Let's face it, I'm a fan of all teams Georgia. I know plenty about waiting til next year. The best thing about being a Braves, Falcons, Hawks, and DAWGS fan is not being a Mets/Yankees, Patriots, Lakers, and Gators/Jackets fan. OK that last line is just in jest, but seriously, as much as I want my favorite teams to win, life does go on. There's winning, and there's character-building. Sometimes, our character needs just a little fine-tuning.
No comments:
Post a Comment