At long last, there is enough of a slight gap in my other pursuits for me to weigh in on the whole LeBron James situation.  And by “other pursuits”, I mean my day job, P90X (I’m in Week #3) and writing some technical articles to help support my revenue-generating activities.

So, why did I wait so long?  There is certainly no lack of people giving their two cents on the subject, and almost all of them have better credentials than myself (note that I did not say that they are more qualified – anyone that has read my stuff before knows the deal).  So, you knew that it was coming (my two cents, that is), and you knew that it was probably going to be a slightly different take.

If you are used to the same old shit, sorry.  That is not what we do here.  Just like Brett Favre throwing the ball to the wrong team, Peyton Manning doing anything to avoid any physical contact whatsoever and costing his team dearly by doing so even when big games are on the line, Pau Gasol or any nimrod from Duke flopping around like Serie A soccer players instead of playing tough defense, the French surrendering, and politicians being crooked…we like to take a slightly different angle on the sports stories of the day.  It’s our signature move; it’s what we do.

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Dear Mr. James,

My name is Nathan, and I am 9 years old.  I live in Manhattan with my mom, dad and sister.  We all love the Knicks, but no one loves them more than my Dad.

Everyone around here is talking about where you are going to play basketball next season.  I am writing to tell you something that I think no other Knicks fan will ever tell you.  I think you should stay in Cleveland.

I do not fully understand exactly how difficult it is to do what you do on a nightly basis…I am just too young to get it.  Basically, I just know that you are better than all of the other players on the court, and you sometimes make them look so silly that my crazy dad gets up, runs around the room and does what my sister and I like to call “the LeBron dance”. We ask my dad why he gets so excited, and he tells us how difficult it is to do that against the guys you are doing it against.

My dad goes on to let us know how good those other players are, and how very difficult it is to even get the chance to play in the NBA.  “But LeBron plays at a different level,” he always says.  And without fail, he always ends every discussion about you with: “and he’s coming to the Knicks some day.”  Then, that changed to “and he’s coming to the Knicks next summer.” And last month, that became “and he’s coming to the Knicks next month.”

My dad, and most of his friends, have not slept for a few days now.  They are on the edge of their seats and will be devastated if you do not come to the Knicks.  Please, Mr. James, for the sake of myself and your young fans everywhere, stay in Cleveland.

Most of the points that I want to bring up have been told to you already.  Cleveland is your home.  Cleveland gave you your first chance.  Cleveland is the only place that will always love you, even if you never win an NBA Championship ring…and they will love you even more if you play your entire career there.  I was shocked when I found out that Cleveland is also the team that can pay you the most money.

Mr. James, I am going to love watching you over the remainder of your career.  I am going to love coming to appreciate your historically great skills on the basketball court more and more over time.  I am sure that I will be a great fan of basketball my whole life.  I am also sure that I will be a LeBron James fan my whole life.

If you come to play for the Knicks, I will probably love you even more.  If you stay in Cleveland, I will respect you forever, and I don’t think I need to tell you how much better respect is than love.  I will tell my grandchildren that I got to see the great LeBron James play basketball, and remind them, every time your name comes up, that you were one of the all-time greats, not just because you elevated your game and your league – there are lots of other players that can do that and HAVE done that and WILL do that – an even greater feat than that is to elevate your city.  You have already done that, and have a rare opportunity to continue doing it for your entire career, instead of chasing money and other less important things.

You have already had such a positive impact on Cleveland, perhaps giving thousands of children opportunities they never would have had without your influence.  Children like me.  Children my age, that will love you forever, just like I will.  But they are different – they are Cleveland’s children…and I think you know what they mean to you, and I also think you owe it to them, and all Cleveland fans, to finish what you started in your home town.

So Mr. James, I know you are busy this week, talking to all of these billionaires that want you to come play for them.  Please, don’t listen to any of them.  All they want to do is use your skills to make themselves more money.  Mr. Gilbert, while also running a business, represents all Cleveland fans, everything that was once not so good about your city, everything that you have already changed for the better, and everything that will continue to change as long as you stay there.  If you leave, no one is sure what will happen to your city and your team.  In fact, there are teams of accountants trying to calculate the potential negative financial impact if you leave.

I will continue to watch you and love you.  I hope that you make the right choice and do not go chasing something that is nowhere near as important as what you have done, are doing, and might do in Cleveland.  I hope that myself, and all the children, not only get to love you for your talent on the court, but also respect you for making the right decision for your team, your league and your city.  Please stay in Cleveland.

My dad will get over it.

Thank you,

Nathan

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Before the recent SI.com article, Alex Rodriguez was widely seen as baseball’s best hope to finally put the steroids mess in the rearview mirror once and for all.  The day that he broke Barry Bond’s tainted home run record was supposed to be a special day.

Well, I’m here to tell you that A-Rod is still baseball’s best hope, but there are several things that have just jumped out at me (some obvious, some not) over the past several days, and to me, those things, and how they are handled, will make all the difference.

• You Can’t Have it Both Ways, Alex.  After watching the Gammons interview, the first thing I noticed was the glaring contradiction whereby A-Rod starts by implying that it was a conscious effort on his part to take an active role in using performance enhancing drugs to “earn” his big fat new contract and cement his legacy as one of the greatest players of all time.  Then, later in the interview, he mentions that the “loosey-goosey” culture around baseball at the time was such that he just went with the flow, tried a few things, and could not even begin to tell you what he was on.  Well, which one is it?  I believe the scientific facts point to choice A, the one where he is a little less innocent.  He had the specific steroids and testosterone in his system, “stacked” in the specific proportions that would lead me to believe he was a habitual user, and knew exactly what he put into his system and when.  The sooner he admits this, the better off he will be…especially once the Feds come calling.  Bonds and Clemens and Tejada are going to jail.  A-Rod does not want to explore those kind of pinstripes.
• A-Rod’s Arrogance is the Most Damning Thing of All.  The first example of his arrogance here was during the Katie Couric interview.  I have included it below for easy reference.  After he says that he never used steroids and was never even tempted to do so, he goes on to say that it was because he has never felt overmatched on the baseball field and he is basically better than anyone else, not only because of how he plays, but because he did not take steroids.  I think perhaps a less egotistical answer may have served him well there.  Then, during the Gammons interview this week, he is trying to tell us that he thinks that the interview with Gammons is all that is required of him and he is ready to move on, so we should all move on as well.  In my opinion, he deserves everything that happens to him as a result of this…not because he used steroids when everyone else was using steroids, but because he was such an arrogant prick about it every step of the way.

• The New York Headline Question.  All in all, I think A-Rod did an excellent job during the Gammons interview.  Before piling on me for that last sentence, let’s remember that this is a guy that has seemed slick and coached during just about every interview I have ever seen…probably because he has 2 or 3 people on staff that coach him in those situations.  But not this time.  At least, it did not look that way.  It looked like he was genuinely not expecting any of the questions specifically, and he made an honest effort to be truthful without giving away the farm.  Let’s also remember that this dude is a ballplayer, not a Rhodes scholar.  I think he did well…except for the question about what he would like to be the headline in New York the following day.  I am trying to find it on YouTube and will change this text slightly once I do…but he basically dropped the ball and implied that the New York media was less than friendly.  The first time I saw it, as soon as the question was asked, I blurted out “A-Rod Apologizes to Fans”…think anyone might be thinking a little better of him if he had said that?
• Barack Obama is The Man.  I don’t care if you are the biggest racist redneck in the country, if you are a baseball fan, you have to know that we, as sports fans, finally have our President.  Sure, you could say it’s window dressing and he is just a brilliant orator, but take a quick look and listen below and let me know if you can think of another President since Lincoln that would have presented not only his feelings, but the feelings of an entire nation of baseball fans in such a nearly perfect manner.

• Tom Hicks Should Go Away.  For some reason, this rich guy that should have known better is on my TV talking about how he felt betrayed that A-Rod juiced up when he was with the Rangers.  Tom Hicks is way too smart to not know that at least half of his team, and every other team, was on the juice during that time.  I just wish he would go away…he has no dog in this fight, when you really look at it.  In fact, I think that A-Rod himself, or at least all Rangers fans, have been the ones that have been betrayed by Hicks.  So, let me get this straight…you had enough balls to give A-Rod the biggest deal in sports history, but not enough balls to extend yourself a little bit further and get him some teammates that didn’t suck?  How can some of these guys be so damn smart in their pre-baseball endeavors and so damn stupid once they own a team?
• Where the Eff is the Commissioner Hiding?  Speaking of stupid baseball owners, how come we have yet to hear from the Commissioner himself?  He is the single person in all of this that bears more responsibility for every inflated stat, wasted taxpayer dollar and dead-too-early-of-a-heart-attack former major leaguer that has happened and will happen in the future.  The blood is on his hands, and it always has been.  And how has he handled it?  Ignoring Barry Bonds during his run at Hank Aaron’s record.  Way to go, Mr. Commissioner.  What are you going to do now that your Ace in the Hole is dirty, too?  So far, to the surprise of no one, you have been absent from the public eye.  Every day that you have been commissioner has been an indictment against the entire league, but you are somehow getting worse at the time your game needs you to get better.  I am begging you as a baseball fan…can you please just have enough integrity and respect for the game you have destroyed to buy the Brewers back from your daughter and just run one franchise into the ground instead of the entire league?
• Conspiracy Theorists, The Line Forms Here. OK…I have no evidence of any of this whatsoever, but what if the “source” that leaked A-Rod’s name to Sports Illustrated was someone from the A-Rod camp?  Bear with me here, but A-Rod will forever be known as the first guy to come clean (Pettitte does not count) and has the potential to be known as the guy who brought baseball out of the steroid era…instead of Jose Canseco.  In fact, would you put it outside the realm of possibilities that this is all a creation of the Commissioner’s office, who would rather have A-Rod be known as the face of the steroid era and not Bonds and definitely not Ozzie’s brother…OK, probably a bad example when you have a commissioner that would have extreme difficulty pouring piss out of a boot, even if the instructions were written on the heel.  But, at this point, nothing would surprise me.  Let’s also not forget that A-Rod’s agent is the devil incarnate…anything is possible.
• Let’s Get ‘Em All.  The Feds have been talking about some crazy stuff lately, like not only dealing with the 104 positive tests, but also re-testing the 500+ negative samples they seized back in 2003, to determine if they were using, but were just further ahead of the testing technology of the day than A-Rod and the other 103 guys with hot samples.  I’m all in favor of it, but only because I think that the only way to actually quantify the Steroids Era is to get as much information about as many players as possible, and what they were using and what they were not.  There is a very easy way to accomplish this…an amnesty period, monitored by MLB.  Any player can come clean between now and March 31.  After that, if we or the Feds have to come to you, then you will be subject to a one-year suspension without pay.
• Statistical Relevance – Welcome to MLB Geeks.com.  I have purchased a domain name, started to gather my fellow geeks that love baseball, and hope to be launching an actual company soon that is dedicated to using cutting-edge technology to provide net positive value to our national pastime.  Watch our blog for more on this one later.

So, in conclusion, the only thing this blog entry has taught us is that I have had something to say regarding A-Rod and the steroids mess, and I have done so with my usual focus on conjecture and a total lack of sound journalistic research.  I hope you enjoyed my take on it and found something here that not every other idiot is saying about it.

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