LeBron helps editor see big picture
December 8, 2010
I’m a curmudgeon – kind of. I enjoy the company of people – on a good day. But when it comes to the general populace and societal institutions, I am ye of little faith.
Friedrich Nietzsche had a stronger belief in God than I do in civilization.
Insult was added to injury as I watched, in horror, how the Cleveland Cavalier fans treated LeBron James in his return to the mistake on the lake.
I dislike LeBron as much as Cavs’ owner Dan Gilbert, but the way Cleveland fans – er, excuse me, soulless and whiney maniacs – treated the No-Ring King was pathetic.
Watching these haters morph from a blood-crazed mob to brokenhearted teenage girls with derogatory signs and shirts was enough for me to blush for them.
Instead of hiring security guards, the Quicken Loans Arena should have employed hundreds of mothers with wooden spoons to beat some life lessons into those jokes.
The fanatics who spent their hard-earned money to burn a jersey or condescendingly taunt James on Thursday night, have a warped sense of reality – that is, if they haven’t lost touch with the real world altogether.
I quite frankly don’t care how he left the Cavalier organization.
He could’ve said how he actually felt – that he was tired of playing in a rust-belt city with a cast of characters that couldn’t hold a candle to his abilities – and I couldn’t have cared less.
Why? Because basketball is a friggin’ sport – that’s it.
James spends his days putting an orange ball through a hoop, and I’m going to let this guy influence how I think and feel?
C’mon people, get your priorities in order.
The Miami Heat could rattle off more than 50 straight wins and LeBron might finally get his ring.
But with all things considered, who cares?
The sun will come up in the morning and I should still wake up for class the next day.
I stand to experience no gain, no loss for anything he does. It’s nice to cheer, but there’s a problem when the team’s personnel becomes personal.
Instead of weeping because James dropped 38 on the Clueless Cavs in his return, use that emotion to weep for those dying every day in Afghanistan.
Want to get angry about something? Ditch hating on James’ antics and get infuriated that millions of Americans are still without basic health care.
I’ll give you a sign to carry around. It says “‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ Discriminates.”
It’s time to get excited about something real – not about which team gets the shiny golden trophy at the end of the season.
There are plenty of things to get riled up about, but sports are not one of them.
That is, unless you’re a Cleveland Cavalier fan.
Carly • Dec 8, 2010 at 9:17 pm
I am incredibly insulted that you would have the audacity to insult my hometown of Cleveland. I fully understand that this is an opinion column, and while I don’t agree with your opinion, I respect that you are free to express your dislike of the Cavs and of LeBron James. I even agree with your point that society should care more about the important things in life, like the war in Iraq, and the rights of homosexuals. But what I do not agree with, and am greatly insulted at, is your blatant disregard for the city you careless refer to as the “rust belt,” which happens to be my hometown, as well as many others. Instead of staying classy, and not dragging down what I consider to be a beautiful city, full of culture and passionate, hardworking individuals, you took the liberty of assuming that my city is a joke, which was uncalled for. Say how you feel about LeBron, the Cavs and the crazy fans who insulted LeBron and the Miami Heat. But don’t be so asinine to assume that all Clevelanders are the same—contrary to your warped beliefs, we are more than ‘soulless and whiney maniacs.”