Let It Go

Ok Coco, take some Alieve, a glass of water and a down-pillow and go lay on the couch; it’s going to be OK. Truth is, I’m tired of hearing about these guys too; however, I won’t get my wish and neither will you if you don’t stop hating on them.
Think about it, if everyone loves you, you probably won’t make headlines, let alone the cover of SI (i.e. Joe Mauer, Albert Pujols, Tim Duncan, and Chase Utley). Now most of these guys have been on the cover of SI, but they like to stay out of the media’s watchful eye for the most part.

Now let’s examine why people hate the threesome in the first place: they held a summit in the off-season, and eventually all signed together in one of the biggest stories in sports history, they’ve made the 2010 Heat look like Steinbrenner’s Yankees (R.I.P.), and two of the three – Bosh and James – seemingly alienated their old teams as well as fans to go down to South Beach.

Can you really blame them though? Miami is a beautiful city with even more beautiful women and Pat Riley has got to be about the most swagged out President of any NBA franchise in history. Everyone is jumping down LeBron’s throat for going to Miami; but, if you take out his pompous, 1-hour primetime TV special, you can see that he made the best move for himself. When a team releases a player or gets rid of a beloved player like the Lakers dumped Shaq in ’04 – you don’t see nearly as much fallout or hatred for an owner. Where were the fans burning season tickets or pictures of Jerry Buss? Why didn’t Shaq release a spiteful, barbed letter in crayon like Dan Gilbert? Because the NBA is a business, and that business is all about winning.

LeBron’s best option to win immediately was to join Bosh and Wade on the Heat and hope that ‘A Pimp Named Slick-Pat’ (Boondocks reference) could put together the right pieces to make the team a champion. I mean if the Fonz walked up to you in an Armani suit, puffing a Cuban cigar, leaning back in a chair made from imported Italian leather proposed that you join the top two free agents in one of the most perfect cities for a 25-year-old celebrity, would be able to say no? Me neither, and that’s what Bron-Bron and Bosh did. Now, I’m not saying that what he did to Cleveland or what Bosh did to Toronto is right – it was a low move on each of their parts – but I cannot say that I blame them for wanting to win an NBA ring.

So, I implore everyone who hates on Miami, LeBron, Pat Riley or anyone else involved to just stop talking about it like they wouldn’t have done the same thing in any of their shoes. When it comes down to it, they really had no choice anyways.

What was the last team to take the top-3 free agents during the offseason? The New York Yankees, right before the '09 season; nobody liked them either. Their results: the best record in baseball (103 - 59) and a World Series Ring. The ace of that team, not so ironically, was C.C. Sabathia - formerly of the Cleveland Indians and Milwalkee Brewers. That is to say, LeBron isn't the first player to leave Cleveland for greener pastures and he likely won't be the last.


If he wins a championship this year, it justifies him leaving and makes his "decision" much more understandable; however, we'll have to reserve all judgment until next April. For now, everyone should give it a rest and go back to talking about Brett Favre's 'annual' un-retirement.

By Aaron Hilton
Follow me on twitter @Way_2_Tall401

Way Out of Line: Jesse Jackson

Sometimes I really wonder why people like Jesse Jackson make headlines every couple of weeks…and then I remember the “I want to cut his nuts off” comment and think ‘Yep, now I remember.’

In this week’s episode of Way Out of Line, Jesse Jackson likened Cleveland Cavaliers majority owner, Dan Gilbert, to a slave owner who has just lost his slave, LeBron James.

In the words of Ed Lover, “C’mon Son! Get da fuck outta here wit dat shit!” That has to be the most foolish thing I’ve ever heard, and I’ve listened to just about every song put out by Soulja Boy and Wacka Flocka, so I know what I’m talking about. Last time I checked, slave owners didn’t sign their workers to multi-million dollar contracts and put up posters around the plantation in their honor.

I agreed with everything Rev. Jackson had said about the whole LeBron vs. Gilbert saga up until he threw the lost episode of Roots comparison at me. Did Gilbert go too far and drum up a lot of hostility towards King James, yes. Did he come off like a little kid who doesn’t want to share his toys, yes. But I don’t think you can liken any of that to slavery, that’s just ridiculous. Gilbert didn’t come off as if he owned the King, he was upset that the crowned ‘King’ of Ohio, who had been so loyal to the city, would just turn his back on the fans that supported him his whole life. He didn’t just think LeBron turned his back on the Cavs or Cleveland; he thought James turned his back on the whole state of Ohio.

When you’re a figurehead that’s as influential and iconic as Jesse Jackson, you have to choose your words carefully. There are people that read these things and will follow suit and agree with him, just based on the fact that it’s Jesse Jackson and ‘he must know what he’s talking about.’

Politics and Civil Rights play a significant part in sports and I appreciate the fact that he sounded off on Gilbert. It needed to be done with James doing what he does best, nothing. But I think we went a little too far with his comments, yet again.

I just want to know why black people have to turn everything into a matter of race as a self defense mechanism. Just because Gilbert is white and James is black doesn’t mean that he felt like he owned LeBron; he just felt attached to the man who put Ohio and the Cleveland Cavaliers back on the map. The guy is allowed to be upset when the player that he’s invested so much money into just up and leaves his ‘home’; and he shouldn’t have to hear talk about being a slave master when he does it.

I have the utmost respect for Rev. Jackson and everything he does for the community, but he took it too far this time. Some thoughts are just better when kept to yourself; you have to know when to put down the mic.

By Aaron Hilton
You can follow me on twitter @Way_2_Tall401