Finally A Good Comment

Today, as I typically do, I started the day off by reading a few articles on ESPN.com. I came across anarticle about the sting Kevin Durant is feeling having to be teammates with theLeBron, the man who beat him in the finals. Didn't think it was an overly good article or anything but I enjoyed it. What I enjoyed more was the comments section. Most comments sections are better than whatever is being commented on. This is mostly because of the trolling that goes on. On ESPN that takes the form of outrageously stupid opinions from irrational fans usually with ridiculously handles: "NatsDukesSkins," "Lebron - The Greatest Of All Time - James," "FeartheOlympicBeard" (which I actually like lol) being a few examples. Comments are also great because occasionally you will come across a fan that really knows what they are talking about or at the very least makes a compelling, logical comment. 

Today that came from a guy named "MyWordsSpeakTruthAllDay" (heavy burden to bear). He came up with a top 10 list of players and provided some pretty good info to back it up:

1) Jordan: No explanation needed... 6 Rings, 6 Finals MVP’s, 5 MVP’s, Only Player In History Other Than Wilt To Go For More Than 3,000 Points In A Season (3,041 in 86-87), All-Star every year played (14), 10 Scoring Champ, Scoring Titles 10, DPOY 1, Steals Titles 3, All NBA 1st Team, NBA All Defensive 1st Team 9, ROY

2) Magic: Finals MVP As A Rookie... 3 X Finals MVP, 3 MVP’s, 5 Rings (9 Finals), All Time Leader In Avg Apg 11.2, All-Star 12 X’s, All NBA 1st Team 9 X’s, All-Star MVP 2 X’s, ROY

3) Kareem: 6 Rings, 2 Finals MVP’s, 6 MVP’s, NBA All Time Leading Scorer, 19 X All-Star, All NBA 1st Team 10 X’s, All NBA Defensive 1st Team 5 X’s, NBA Scoring Champ 2 X’s, ROY

4) Russell: 11 Rings, 5 MVP’s, All-Star 12 X’s, All Star MVP 1 X, NBA Rebounding Champ 5 X’s, All NBA 1st Team 3 X’s, All NBA Defensive Team 1 X

5) Wilt: 2 Rings, 4 MVP’s, 1 Finals MVP, In 1962 He Avg 50.4 PPG & 25.7 RPG & Scored 100 Pts In A Game... Next Season He Avg 44.8 PPG & 24.3 RPG, All-Star 13 X’s, All Star MVP 1 X, Averaged 50 Points One Season, All NBA 1st Team 7 X’s, All NBA Defensive 1st Team 2 X’s, NBA Scoring Champ 7 X’s, NBA Rebounding Champ 11 X’s, ROY

6) Bird: 3 Rings, 3 MVP’s, 2 Finals MVP’s, All-Star 12 X’s, All NBA 1st Team 9 X’s, 3 Point Champ 3 X’s, 3 X’s All NBA 2nd Team Defensive, ROY

7) Shaq: 4 Rings, 3 Finals MVP’s, 1 MVP, All-Star 15 X’s, All Star MVP 3 X’s, NBA Scoring Champ 2 X’s, All NBA 1st Team 8 X’s, ROY

8) Duncan: 4 Rings, 3 Finals MVP’s, 2 MVP’s, All-Star 13 X’s, All NBA 1st Team 9 X’s, All NBA Defense 1st Team 8 X’s ROY

9) Kobe: 5 Rings, 1 MVP, 2 Finals MVP’s, Scored 81 Points In A Game, All-Star 14 X’s, All Star MVP 4 X’s. NBA Scoring Champ 2 X’s, All NBA 1st Team 10 X’s, All NBA Defensive 9 X’s... Why so low? NBA records: 1) most missed shots in a game 2) most missed shots in a regular season 3) most missed game winners 4) only finals MVP to not shoot above 50% in a single finals game (9 & 10) 5) worst shooting performance by a finals MVP in history (40% shooting) 6) of the top 10 scorers of all-time Kobe has lowest shooting % 7) there are only 13 games in history where someone shot below 50% to reach 50 points, Kobe is responsible for 7 of those 13 games 8) most missed shots in a series 9) most missed shots in a finals

10) Lebron: 1 Ring, 3 MVP’s, 1 Finals MVP, All-Star 8 X’s, NBA Scoring Champ 1 X, All NBA 1st Team 6 X’s, All NBA Defensive 4 X’s, ROY

  

That's pretty well done if you ask me. It’s kind of hard to argue with his list. What do you think?

NBA Finals Preview

So the NBA Finals kick off tonight, finally.

Unless you live under a rock you know that its the Oklahoma City Thunder going up against the Miami Heat and LeBron v. Durant. It's going to be a very interesting and entertaining series. The battles of two prolific big 3s. The young, full of energy Thunder are high octane. The Heat, with LeBron and Wade can be equally as exciting. LeBron v Durant matchup will be epic.

For the Heat to Win:

It will mostly come down to how much the big three will do. I think LeBron will bounce back after a horrible finals last year. He is on a roll right now and I don't see that stopping. I can see him averaging 30-11-7 for the series and playing strong defense on Durant at times throughout the series. He must play well in the 4th though for them to win. Wade will play well offensively as he typically does in Finals. Defensively, he will draw Westbrook at times and Harden in the closing minutes of the 4th. He will have to play strong defense against those two when he gets matched up with them. Bosh was the difference in the series against Boston. He may not be fully healthy and whether he is or not he will be facing a tougher defensive matchup then he did against Boston: Serge Ibaka and/or Nick Collison. He will have to play as well as he can for Mia to be succesful.

The big three alone won't be able to beat OKC, someone from the rest of the roster will have to step up. For me this really means Chalmers, Battier or Haslem. I don't see any of them performing well for the duration of the series, but if each of them can have a good to great game at any point during the series they could be the difference in a few games. Mike Miller and James Jones may see some action this series and they have to hit the threes they will get. The Heat "big" men: Bosh, Haslem, and Anthony must do a good job rebounding. The Thunder are a jump shooting team. They can't make all your jumps shots. If the Heat can pull down some of those rebounds and turn them to points on the other end they can win.

As a team the Heat must capitalize on turnovers, which they do pretty well. OKC isn't the strongest defensive team and are prone to lapses, especially on the perimeter. Miami needs to be ready to take advantage of those lapses and knock down open jumpers. I'd like to see Miami run some pick and roll, which San Antonio used effectively at times. Miami needs to play with some fire in their eyes. After reaching the Finals and not playing well last year, this shouldn't be a problem. They must stay focused and hungry throughout the series. Obviously for Miami to win the series they will have to win at least one game on the road. The best chance might be in game 1 if the catch the Thunder overly excited. If they win one of those 1st two game on the road they have a great chance to win the series.

For the Thunder to Win:

They have to do what they've been doing which is getting great production from their big three and steady production from their role players. Durant has to be ready to put in work this series, some of which will match him against the best defender he will face this playoffs: LeBron. He can't be timid, as he sometimes is, this series. When the game is in the balance he needs to step up and demand the ball and rise to the occasion. Westbrook has to make good decisions and limit his turnovers. Plain and simple. Harden must do what he has been doing, coming off the bench playing solid on both ends. He may have to play more minutes this series so he needs to play at the same high level throughout.

Serge Ibaka has to play big this series, all series. On the defensive end he will have to guard Bosh but also have a presence in the paint when Wade and LeBron drive. Offensively, he has to be ready to knock down some jumpers and/or get some easy buckets in the paint. Not really sure we will be seeing a great deal of Kendrick Perkins because of the Heat's lack of big men but when he plays he needs to patrol the paint as he does, and pick up a few of his patented "Who me fouls" to put some fear in Heat players. Former Bulls great Sefolosha must play great defense throughout the series, mostly on Wade but at times on LeBron. He also has to be ready to knock down a few threes when his number is called. Collison and Fisher will be the main people coming off the bench with Harden. Fisher must play decent defense when he is in the game. While with the Lakers he was weak against younger, quicker PGs so he can't let Chalmers get going.

As a team, the Thunder have to remain poised. This is their first finals appearance since relocating. The crowd will be super hype. The players must stay calm and under control especially early. Avoid poor decisions and bad shots which Miami can flip into easy buckets and get going. They also have to remain confident. They have played so well throughout the playoffs mainly because they haven't been scared of anything, knocking off the Mavs, Lakers and Spurs. Finally, the Thunder must continue to play well at home (8-0). Obviously, if they win out at home they will be champions, but if they can have a strong first 2 games and win convincingly they will will put all the pressure on Mia, which they don't typically play well under.

Prediction:

My head is telling me that the Thunder will win, almost rather easily. They are a better team and have depth. They have home court advantage and they are playing with such confidence. Mia doesn't have much depth and hasn't played typically well under pressure. LeBron will be great but he will be tired, especially mentally, when it may count. My heart also leans with the Thunder simply because I like them more than I like the Heat. They have 4 of my favorite players and one of my favorite beards: Westbrook, Durant, Perk and Harden and his beard. I'm getting a gut feeling that the Heat can pull this thing out. They are in their second consecutive Finals. Do we really expect them to lose two in a row? They might be a little more hungrier than the Thunder because of all the pressure that is on them. On top of that I really think the Heat can get one of the 1st two games in OKC. I wouldn't be surprised if they won game 1. If that's the case, they can go home and win 2 of 3 and come back for games 6 and 7 up 3-2.

All that being said, I'm going Thunder in 6. I'm going with my head and heart. Going to be a great series though.

Ya boy turns 24 today....

Today I go from left to right

 

Reason #1 I wore it in HS

Reason #2

24 Carat Gold Standard

Say Hey...

..to The Kid

Just like this guy I'm the best in the League

Oh Yea...

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.

Give Me My Damn Points!

A couple weeks ago a friend of mine (G) asked could he write a post for my blog...I said no doubt man just let me know. Well here it is:

Give Me My Damn Points!: America’s Selfish Attitude Towards Sports

It’s July 8, 2010. Millions of basketball fans and outsiders tune into ESPN to view Lebron James inevitable decision on what team he will join the following season. The anticipation has been building more than Dr. Dre dropping Detox as fans and "experts" alike have debated with their friends for months as to where Lebron would end up and why he’ll choose to play there.

Now the moment of truth has arrived, people are on the edge of their seats and Lebron makes his well-awaited announcement.

"In this fall, this is very tough I will be taking my talents to South Beach and joining the Miami Heat"

WHAT THE F***!!!!! This is probably what you yelled at your television screen. Unless you were this gentleman:

#bawse

In one horribly articulated moment basketball's golden child turned into America’s public enemy number one. (It has also been documented that at this very moment Tiger Woods hit the dougie for the first time...performing the popular dance number in celebration of him no longer being the most hated figure in sports.)

Every different geographical location in the nation had a different reason for hating Lebron. Chicago scoffed at Lebron who looked to provide the key to a championship with an already well assembled squad, New York fans could not seem to understand how Lebron could ignore the bright lights, big city, and Amare Stoudemire’s proposal to Lebron to "Do something special" and Cleveland...well their anger cannot be articulated with mere words.

Why was everyone so mad? I mean this is about Lebron’s family right, his friends, making the best decision to win a championship right? Right?...WRONG! 

This is about America’s selfish fascination and relationship with athletes. Every player who competes in a sport owes us something. If you get traded to a team in our hometown you better be ready to win a championship, because we need a reason to rock team apparel and brag to all of our friends about how our team won the NBA Finals, Superbowl, or World Series.

Team sports put extreme pressure on athletes to perform already, but then came the creation of Fantasy Football (and for some Basketball). The widely popular virtual competition puts friends against each other as they compete for bragging rights on who makes the better GM.

These matchups for ego, bragging rights, and sometimes cash have turned all who participate into unforgiving psychopaths with outlandish expectations. Each week we take our team of virtual soldiers onto the field, and hope and pray that they will produce enough to beat our friends so we can talk smack throughout the whole week. We yell at the TV screen, we slam our computer keyboards, often times yelling "GIVE ME MY DAMN POINTS!"

ESPN Alert: Michael Vick leaves the second quarter of his matchup with the Washington Redskins with a severe injury to his ribs. "WTF MAN, GET UP, GIVE ME MY POINTS!"

ESPN Alert: Austin Collie leaves his matchup against the Eagles with a concussion after taking a vicious blow to the head. "MAN GET YO ASS UP OFF THAT STRETCHER...GIVE ME MY DAMN POINTS!"

ESPN Alert: Detroit Lions lead the NY giants by 7 with 1:00 left in gametime. Looks like they’ll take a knee for the rest of the game to solidify their first road victory since 2008. "MAN F** YOUR FIRST ROAD VICTORY THROW A HAIL MARY TO CALVIN JOHNSON...GIVE ME MY DAMN POINTS!"

Sometimes I feel like the doctor:

 

 

Each and every week we put all consideration and empathy to the side, as we selfishly hope that athletes will give US a victory. It’s not about their families, it’s not about them being stand up guys, it’s not about their emotional and physical health, it’s about them producing enough so we can prove to our friends that we are smarter than them, and know more about sports than the Average Joes.

This is not just limited to Sports. We do this in most vehicles of entertainment. Look at when Kanye produced "808’s and Heartbreaks", or Common produced "Electric Circus" (although those two albums should never be mentioned in the same sentence). I’m sure when they were making the music on those albums it felt good to them. It was an emotional outlet, that helped them express how they felt at the time they recorded it. But because it was against the grain of what we are used to hearing, or what we’re used to them "producing" we felt disrespected and upset with them for their choice of self-expression musically.

Although we have extremely high expectations for all those who participate in these high-pressured forms of entertainment one can argue that they are in fact in the "Entertainment business." Their job day in and day out is to produce a product that is satisfying to the eyes, and pleasing to the ears no matter what personal hardships they have to go through to get there.

This is how we easily justify expecting the most out of these people. We don’t have to be concerned about their personal lives, and well-being, they just need to do their job and consistently achieve greatness the way each and every one of us individually defines it.

But who am I kidding? This is America! We can have whatever we want, whenever we want, our needs consistently being catered to is just part of the game. Because the customer's always right....right?

If you have a question or comment for G email him.

Getting by on Talent

How far does it go?

I was talking with my LB @KingovNY85 this weekend about football like we typically do every week. We talk about a lot of different things but one of the things we always get to is how overrated players are...especially corners. 2 in particular stand out: Antonio Cromartie and DeAngelo Hall. You're probably thinking what am I talking about, they both get mad picks. True they do, Cromartie 10 in '07, Hall 4 in one game a couple weeks ago, but it rarely has to do with their skill levels. 

 

Out of position but talent makes it up

Its mostly talent, supreme talent indeed: they're both freakishly athletic, lightning fast, and have ridiculously hops. A lot of their picks are a result of their talent but they're techniques as cornerbacks are not good. They both spend a lot of time gambling and trying to bait QBs into throwing their way and so they're out of position a lot. Sometimes they're able to pull down a ridiculous pick but most times they're getting picked on and beat. Many people think they are great corners but I think they just get by on talent. 

The risk paid off this time

Corners are the most overrated players in the NFL because people let them get by on talent. Of course talent is a necessity in the league but by itself it can't make you great. The superior corners, the ones who are really great combine technique & skill with their talent to create greatness. Think about Darrelle Revis, whom many consider the best corner in the league. His technique is impeccable, he's very skilled at covering guys. He rarely ever is out of position and rarely leaves his guy with enough space for a QB to throw it his way. If a QB then dares to throw he then uses his talent to make ridiculous picks.

Talent + Skill = Insane

Life operates the same way. There are tons of people who get by on talent, some of which are even confused as great. They can afford to just "show up" and do well and in some cases exceedingly well. They're in the minority though. Most of us won't become great on our talent alone. We'll try though. We'll see how far it will take us. This is how we are, we'll ride our talent because it does just enough for us, its taken us to a "pretty good" place. But what about becoming great? We hear more of people with the potential to be great then we do of people who are great. Few people match their talent with skill. People aren't interested in working hard and developing skill. They're perfectly fine getting by on talent, and we're perfectly fine with it too.

See how talent is doing on South Beach, 8-6

I don't want to be Hall or Cromartie. I don't want to ride my talent because I know it will blindly lead to people calling me great. I'll admit that I've done so thus far, and I've done pretty well. however, I know I won't get far if I keep doing so, I'll never reach my potential. As I get older and think about Real Life I realize that as talented as I might be its not enough to do what I want to do and become who I want to become. I'm trying to be great and I don't want it to be any doubts concerning my greatness. I want to be Revis, who might not be as talented as some of the other "great" corners but is so skilled that everyone agrees hes great. The only way to get there is to get skilled and combine it with my talents. I'm making a commitment to stop getting by on talent, what about you?

Oh almost forgot to say F*** my LB....he beat me in fantasy this weekend ending my playoff hopes. My talent never showed up lol.

The Return of the NBA

End of October mean NFL is in the swing of things, the BCS starts wrecking havoc, Baseball is preparing to crown their champ via the World Series and the NBA starts up, oh yea Hockey is back too.

Anyway tonight the NBA season begins. You might have heard that a few things happened this offseason. Talents went to South Beach, Boston brings in 2 O'Neals, Knicks land Stat and some new playoff hopes, CP3 requesting to be traded have a better team put around him, the continuous Melo Trade rumors, Kevin Durant's continued emergence as US grabbed Gold, the John Wall dance finds a home in DC, Lakers quietly re-arming....so many stories. (List of Free Agency Moves).

Experts are torn between crowning the Lakers or Heat as champs but most agree that Durant will notch the MVP ending LeBron's run. They are split about the Rookie of the Year battle between John Wall and Blake Griffin but solid on the Defensive Player of the Year. Who really cares about the coach of the year, most improved and 6th man? If you do go to ESPN it aint touching my blog lol.

Nonetheless the season starts tonight with Miami Thrice and suspects taking on the Boston Three Party plus the Sliding punch and the Big Shamrock.

I'll be at the Wagon with the #NYcrew enjoying brews and sending boos.

 

I'll be posting my NBA preview/thoughts/predictions later this week, I'll let you know...

#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.

The Free Agents

Thursday night at 12:01am the NBA Free Agency season begins. Finally. This free agent season has been discussed for at least 2 years and rightfully so. LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Dirk Nowitzki, Joe Johnson, Amar'e Stoudemire and Carlos Boozer hit the market. (Other players are becoming free agents as well, but they aren't the headliners lol).

They've all said that the quest is to win (multiple) rings. If that is indeed the quest then some combination of (if not all 3) LBJ,Wade and Bosh should unite. They are no fools and have already had a "summit" to discuss the possibilities. If they did so with Wade in Miami it would be crazy and look like this. Bosh would have to cut his hair of course, but who wouldn't for a ring? Even though I don't like the idea of LeBron in Chicago, if he and Bosh joined that team they become championship contender as well and then maybe LeBron and Joakim Noah can dance together:



Of course everything centers around LeBron and where he'll go. Initially the speculation was New York Knicks or New Jersey Nets (soon to be Brooklyn). They both have plans to meet with him on Thursday night. The Knicks had bigger plans for wooing LeBron but had to cancel. Of late Miami and Chicago have become the front runners. Mark Cuban and Dallas have even made a push. Unfortunately for some we haven't heard much from Cleveland. They tried to woo Tom Izzo from Michigan State to try to keep LeBron, didn't workout. Now they're trying Byron Scott or Brian Shaw, both of whom were former players (and have rings) something LeBron has asked for. We'll see what happens.

I'm excited to see whatever does eventually happen. There are a lot of moves to be made. I hope some big things happen, and teams add pieces to push them over the top. Something needs to happen to prevent the #Fakers from a 3peat lol.

Success = Pressure = ?

Last week we watched 3 premiere athletes crumble under pressure. Tiger Woods, Sidney Crosby, then of course LeBron James in game 5. He posted a triple double in game 6 but still had the apathetic/defeatist attitude of game 5 and his team was eliminated.

Its shocking that these guys weren't able to deliver under pressure. They're arguably the best at their respective sports, have built successful track records and have succeeded under pressure many times. Perhaps more shocking then them not succeeding was they way way they were vilified for it. Fans and media people consistently blasted them out, with LeBron getting the worst of it. A little uncalled for if you ask me. What people fail to realize/acknowledge is that there is a such thing as Too Much Pressure.

This was certainly the case for LeBron. He's been a phenom since age 13. Back then up to now he has dealt with Jordan comparisons (this doesn't help). He was drafted by his hometown team and expected to be the savior of a city with no championships since 1964 and several sports heartbreak since then. Then there's the media fueled duel with Kobe. This was the year, his 7th season (just like MJ,) he has the best team of his his career, a team many felt was the "best" in the league, the overwhelming favorite to win it all. The back to back MVPs Awards. His pending free agency. A lot of pressure.

Perhaps the most pressure causing thing for LeBron, as well as the other two, was their Success. Their success led to our expectations, adding more pressure. That's how its goes though. If you are successful at something people then expect you to continue to be successful at it. However its never enough to simply be successful. When your successful the exceptions become greater: greater success. The result of these greater expectations are sometimes greater success but always more pressure for the individual expected to perform. What happens if they don't?

We saw last week with these guys that failure under pressure is not taken lightly. As I mentioned earlier they were vilified by media and fans. This worries me, because in all actuality they are just athletes. Their successes or lack there of are not matters of life and death. If they were treated so badly how does that translate to us? I have career aspirations that will indirectly and in some case directly impact people's lives (or deaths). The same can be said for almost all of my friends. In addition to that pressure we also have to deal with several other levels. Were black. We may be the only ones from our families/communities to have gone to school. We are being counted on to make a difference, to change the world. That's a lot of pressure.

Is all funny because one of my favorite songs is "Pressure" by Lupe Fiasco (ft Jay-Z). The chorus talks about doing everything for someone else to take the pressure of of them. This is certainly how I live my life, which as you can read is problematic, but I do nonetheless. Another one of my favorite songs is "Success" by Jay-Z (ft Nas.) This song is all about the pressures that comes with certain levels of success. These two tracks (featuring 3 of my favorite artists) really help put this idea of Success = Pressure into perspective for me. Of course I plan to be successful despite the pressure, very successful in fact. As do all of my friends. My only worry is will it be enough? How much success is needed to eliminate pressure? The truth is that at some point there will be Too Much Pressure. So what do we do? What will go in the equation in place of the question mark: SUCCESS = PRESSURE = ?