Just some chatting about the pukey Lebron sideshow last night:

me:

Such an embarrassing spectacle. such a BAD decision. If he wins, it’s because the deck was stacked. The pressure is huge. And not nearly enough basketballs for him and d wade to dribble and shoot. Not nearly enough. Cop-out decision. Pathetic. And disgusting TV. Do you want to know how I really feel?

pal:

Ah, hang in there Jamie. Embarrassment is a big part of being a sports fan these days.

another pal, paul:

Used to be only the owners got to manipulate things for their own enrichment and egos. Now, thanks to free agency and salary caps, the players are calling more of the shots. Only difference is, since they’re stars, they can’t hide in the shadows like the owners did in the old days. In ’07 the Celtics traded their entire team for Garnett and Allen to play with Pierce. It worked. So now James, Wade, & Bosh want to pull the same thing off. Outside of the James circus event, what’s the big deal? I’m sniffing a little Celtic-fan sour grapes. And fear.

me again:

neither sour grapes nor fear in the slightest. don’t like lbj the person very much and glad not to have him on a team I might root for. if I’m wrong I’m wrong, but I think it’s a lousy fit. both lj and wade need the dribble too much for this to work well. and the spectacle was just hideous. he shouldn’t have agreed to it. makes him look like a self centered brat and puts the most pressure on possible. yucky to the max. I’m more concerned about out old men and other teams’ like chicago’s improvement until Miami vice show me something. finally, this has nothing to do w players v. owners for me. I’m all for the players, but hecka anti the lbj-espn show

pal paul again:

The “show” idea was a farce, but so is SO MUCH of what passes for sports coverage on TV. Can’t even watch the Olympics anymore because the coverage is all about the cult of personality and the personal dramas of the players. This just took it to a new level. I could actually see this morphing into a regular thing cooked up between the networks and the players union. An annual Free Agent Announcement show like the Draft Selection bullshit that passes for “entertainment” or “news”. TV shows what their ‘average’ viewer wants to see (that being a 14 year old boy or anyone of any age whose idea of what to watch is like a 14 year old boy’s).
As for the Heat chemistry on- court, I guess time will tell. Worked pretty well at the Olympics, didn’t it. Least that’s what I’ve read. Didn’t watch (naturally). also this: I recall the media anointing this kid “the next coming of Christ” while he was still an underclassman in high school. I guess it’s gotten to him. I’m just saying, it probably would get to me too. We (Americans? Westerners?) love to find people we can put up on pedestals and then build them up high as we can, and then we reallyLOVE to watch them crash and burn. It is the rare, rare human who can be the subject of such admiration, devotion, and promotion and not succumb to it. So many examples.

me:

tru tru. hadn’t heard about their Olympic success. we shall see. love wade n bosh