Let LeBron Live

Unless you've been under a rock you know that the Miami Heat did not win the NBA title.  

#respect

You also know that LeBron James has been taking the majority of the blame for it. Some might say he's just getting what he deserves. There were so many things from b4 the season (the Decision, the concert style intro) to the Finals (the way he celebrated with Wade, made fun of Dirk, the disappearing act he did in the 4th quarters of this series) even post finals (game 6 postgame interview) that provide justification in people's minds.

Ever since "The Decision" LeBron has arguably become the most hated person in the NBA. I've hated on him all year, consistently calling him LeBama and RTing nearly every insulting tweet about him that crosses my TL:

I'm done hating now though. I'm starting to feel bad for him. If you know me and how hard I hate things you're probably thinking "Wow Chris, really?" Yes, really. 

If there is one thing I can say about this whole LeBron thing is that he has had to deal with a ridiculous, unfair amount of pressure. I hate pressure, more than I hate LeBron, and so I think its time to let up and let them man live. 

Perhaps he made his own bed and now has to lie in it. Perhaps. I'm a little skeptical though.

I will be the first to tell you that LeBron disrespected the fans of Cleveland by announcing on national TV that he was "taking his talents to South Beach." That's the initial reason why I hated him. He could have went about that better for sure.

I also didn't like how he decided to join forces with another elite player (Top 5), rather than try to win it on his own and potentially becoming better than Jordan. I think these are the reasons why most people hate him. Everyone needs to chill.

LeBron carried a team a city on his back for 7 years. He played the best he could (back to back MVP awards) and took them as far as he could with what he had ('07Finals) for as long as he could. Truthfully, he had done everything he could as a Cavalier. They always say once you've done everything you can at a particular job its time to move on to a new challenge. And its not like he demanded a trade, he served out his contract and then moved on. Nothing wrong with that. The way he decided to say it, yea that was bad, but how long can we hate him for that?

Now going to the Heat to play alongside Dwanye Wade doesn't present much of challenge at all, but I think that's exactly what LeBron wanted.

We get on him for not being clutch and for crumbling under the pressure. What if its true and he doesn't like the pressure and having to perform under it. What if he knows he's simply not wired that way (very few people are). So he decided to go to a place with less pressure and that had a guy who is perfectly fine when the heat is on (see what I did there?). In LeBron's mind he was escaping the pressure of having to be the go to guy every night. There's nothing wrong with that either.

Think about anytime you were the go to guy/girl. You may have enjoyed it and may have even been good at it. Eventually I'm sure you got tired of the pressure and expectations. I'm sure that whatever it is that you were relied on to do wasn't being watched and counted on by millions of people. I'm sure that if you had a chance to step out of the pressure cooker you would. You did. LeBron did too.

At some point in the series Jeff Van Gundy said that all LeBron did was change his place of employment and decided to go work with his friends and that if we had the chance to we'd do the same thing. Its absolutely correct. We would. Nothing wrong with that.

Then we have the Jordan comparisons. Well Jordan wouldn't have done that, Jordan would have perform under pressure, la la la. True Jordan would have and did. That's why he's Jordan and LeBron is LeBron. JA Adande wrote that it's us who compare him and want him be the next Jordan or even better. That's what we want but clearly not what LeBron wants. We can't seem to appreciate his greatness as is because we want him to be the next Jordan. He's not. Guess what? Nothing wrong with that either.

LeBron has been under more media scrutiny than any other athlete (maybe person) ever. Everything he does get dissected and blow out of proportion. I mean in game 2 did he really celebrate more than any other player does at a timeout? More than Jet does? 

No. But it was made to seem that way. Even his post finals comments got blown up. If you listen to the whole statement you'd see he wasn't being malicious, he was just stating facts: we all will return to our normal lives. We have.

Its time to ease up on the man. Time to stop expecting him to be something or someone he's not. Let's pull the microscope back. Let's realize that at any given moment he can be the best player on earth. Lets also realize that the Heat are still the best team in the East and will probably represent the conference in the finals for the next few years. Lets let the man live.

Respecting Rose

22. Youngest to ever do it.

"I just play basetball"

That was the main point of the first Derrick Rose interview I had ever seen. It was after his playoff debut in which he dropped 36 points and 11 dimes and help his Bulls beat the Celtics. I wish I could find the whole interview but all I could get was this clip:



You've probably seen the rest. Dude sounded like a mix of Warren from Something about Mary and Boobie Miles and looked more dumbfounded than W and Eli put together. Every since then I have been making fun of his lack of intelligence, consistently calling him dumber than a box of rocks. Then of course there was that whole NCAA investigation thing which added fuel to my fire...

I've always respect Rose as a player but throughout the course of this season I've grown to respect him more and more as a person. He hasn't gotten any smarter in the traditional sense but I realized that he hasn't needed to. He's a ball player and he's done the one thing he's had to: continue to get better and smarter at being that. And boy did it show. As he dominated opponents and carried his team to the top record in the league many people consistently pronounced him as the MVP. Rather than let his ego inflate he stayed humble.When he was voted in as an All-Star starter and people suggested it was his chance to shine he deferred to the All-Star elders. And even once he was formally announced as the MVP all he could do was thank his teammates and #shoutout his mom:

If anyone deserves a moment to brag it would be Rose. He made it through the slums of the Chi to the league. He got drafted by his hometown team number 1 overall. He was asked to bring the Bulls back to a place they haven't been since That Guy left. Many would have wilted under such pressure but Rose has risen to the challenge gracefully.

I used to think his subdued and humble demeanor was moreso an side effect of his ignorance but now I realize that he is just a respectful youngster doing what he's been blessed to do. He's just a kid honing his craft, humbly accepting his accolades and being a great representation of his family and his city. It's refreshing and I respect it. Go on young brotha...

#Respect

There Are Still Good People Out There

Friday night I was out with the #NYcrew having a good time drinking, laughing and joking. After while I left the crew to link up with some of my coworkers to celebrate a supervisor's birthday. Jumped in a taxi and headed downtown. Paid, got out and started looking for the spot. As I got closer I reached in my pocket looking for my ID when I realized I had left my wallet in the taxi. #Jealoused. I still had my phone and my debit card (miraculously) so I wasn't completely helpless, still #blown though.

The next day when I woke up I searched through my pockets to see if I had really lost it. Yea I did. The search did turn up the taxi receipt which had the taxi id number on it. I called 311 to see if I would be able to track down that taxi. I got the phone number to the taxi company and was told to call when they open. As blown as I had been I started to think all wasn't lost. Little did I know.

As I was getting ready for the day I got a Facebook message from a man who had found my wallet. He wanted to meet up with me and return it. #UNjealous. I was so amped. After a brief conversation with  my parents about how much to reward the man I called him and arranged the meeting. When I got there he returned my wallet and didnt even accept my reward money. After I offered again he still refused it and simply said "Pass the good karma forward." #Respect

Giants World Series Champs

Congrats to the San Francisco Giants who won the World Series on Monday night.

They defeated the Texas Rangers 3-1 in game 5 to win the series in 5 games (4-1). They defeated soon to be Yankee Cliff Lee on Monday (for the second time in the series) courtesy a Edgar Renteria 3-Run Home Run in the 7th inning. Renteria went on to be named World Series MVP. He's no stranger to World Series heroics though, he had the series winning hit in 1997 for the Marlins. He's been one of my favorite players every since, I pick his batting stance whenever I create myself in any baseball game.

I'm very happy for the Giants, as I was rooting for them. The main reason was because I owe them. Their departure from New York after the 1957 season led to the founding of my NY Mets. Our cap logo and the orange we wear comes from them. Guess I should say thank you.

I had other reasons too though. They're from the National League, where my allegiance lies. They play in one of the most beautiful stadiums in baseball (NL has all the best looking stadiums). Of course they also have Cody Ross (#sayitlikeross) who had a ridiculous postseason (.294 5 HRs 10 RBIs). It was probably because of his beard:

Speaking of #bawse beards, there was Brian Wilson who dyed his joint black:

Fear the Beard

They really represented the team concept: a group of low ego guys working together for the good of the team. They relied on mostly home grown talent,a bunch of cast-offs and journey men, and a rookie sensation: Catcher Buster Posey. They won games with great defense, timely hitting from unlikely sources (Renteria, Ross, Jaun Uribe, Aubrey Huff) and outrageous pitching. 2 time Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum (also known as Big Time Timmy Jim) defeated Cliff Lee twice, Matt Cain didn't allow an Earned Run in the postseason and Madison Bumgarner threw 8 shoutout innings in game 4, dude is 21.

Congrats again Giants, you earned it. #Respect

Mets, hope you took notes.

Durant, B-Team Earn Gold

Francis Scott Key and James Naismith would be proud

The so called "B-Team" finished on top at the Worlds.

Team USA cruise to gold with an 81-64 win against Turkey in the Gold medal game of the World Championships. Kevin Durant led this version of Team USA to the 1st USA Gold in the World Championships since 1994 (when he was 5). Durant was an offensive force, scoring 33, 38 (USA Record) and 28 in the tournaments final 3 games. He averaged 22.8 ppg during the tournament and was named the MVP.

This team was a reluctant favorite to win. They were young (6 players under the age of 22), inexperienced (only 3 played on an international team), undersized (one true center on the roster) and lacked star power (only 8 all-star game appearances). However. they did have talent, freakish athleticism and that guy Durant.

Throughout the tournament the team used their speed, length and athleticism to play impeccable defense, limiting opponents to 68 points per game. Durant, who some feared may not be ready to take the national team on his shoulders (myself included), rose to the occasion and was for the most part unstoppable scoring at will and not having any off nights (another thing people feared). He's not even 22 yet...

The Gold ensures Team USA a spot in the 2012 Olympics, meaning the team won't be under pressure next summer. The only question is what the 2012 roster will look like, and who from this team might make that one...Durant for sure.

My vote:
Starting 5: CP3, Wade, Kobe, LBJ, Dwight
Bench: D-Will, Durant, Melo, Bosh, Rose Iguodala, Some additional big man (Boozer, Odom, Love, Chandler, Amare, B. Lopez,  Bynum).

We'll see...anyway #Respect to this team...coming home with Gold.

Are you ready for some football?

So a few things happened over the weekend that let me know that Football is almost back.

I got an email invitation to join a Fantasy Football league. I'm excited. Last year I won the championship game by 2 points. Looking forward to this fantasy season, the draft is on the 24th, I let you know what my team looks like.

In the College Football world USA Today dropped its preseason Top 25 Coaches Poll. Even though I hate preseason polls (near future post) they are a sign that the season is on the horizon, approximately 3 weeks away. Can't wait!

The National Football League, also known as the big boys lol, got under way. On Saturday the NFL Hall of Fame inducted perhaps the greatest class ever: Emmitt Smith, Jerry Rice, Dick LeBeau (as a player), John Randle, Rickey Jackson, Floyd Little and Russ Grimm. #Respect. Special #Shoutout to Smith and Rice my frat brothers. #BluPhi! 

Then of course on Sunday the Preseason Schedule got under way with the Hall of Fame Game between the Bengals and the Cowboys. The Cowboys were victorious 16-7. The game also marked the beginning of the Chad Ochocinco-TO era, better known as the Batman and Robin era:

Breaking sports news video. MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL highlights and more.

You see how reluctant Ochocinco was? Yea...we'll see how that works lol. Anyway I'm ready for some football, were close but not there. Can it hurry up and get here already?

#Respect Chris Duhon

So last night I'm chilling with my boys at our usual spot Off The Wagon discussing the NBA Free Agency season. We were offering our opinions on where LeBron should go (we'll know tomorrow), how we felt about Stoudemire coming to the Knicks, and the worst signings thus far: Amir Johnson, Channing Frye. Another contract that we felt was bloated was that of Chris Duhon. The former Bulls, and recently, Knicks point guard reached a deal with Orlando for 4 years and 15 Mil. So here we are talking all types of shit about him and that contract, when one of my boys says "Dude who just walked in the bathroom look just like Chris Duhon." Jokingly we all say "well lets ask him how he got that 15 mil lol." We quickly realized that the dude was actually Duhon himself. The moment of truth: were we going to ask him?

So I shake his hand and say congrats on the new deal and ask him how'd he pulled it off? One of my boys then says "What did you say to get that 15 mil?" and another follows with "right, let us know." Duhon responded "What? Ya tryin to say I'm not worth it? Thats exactly what we were trying to say, but none of us said it lol. We proceeded to ask him all types of questions about the league. He was actually real cool, answered all our questions, told us funny ass stories, told us about Coach K and why the Knicks sucked so bad. We even talked about Tiger Woods and comedy movies lol. Dude was real cool and funny and even shared his 2 pitchers of brew with us, #respect. Speaking of #respect we even got him saying that joint. We told him that if we hear it on a press conference he better shout us out or we goin put him on blast lol.

Is Chris Duhon worth 15 mil? We can't say. Is he a cool as hell? Yea he is, we all have a new found #respect for him.Good luck in Orlando man.