The Fall of King James
For those of you who follow sports much you probably know who King James is, for those who may not, he is LeBron James a professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA. Now I must caveat that I have never been a fan of his, I don’t hate him or anything, just not a fan. I thought it was grossly inappropriate for ESPN to be covering him while he was still in High School to the point that he had his own show. Dubbing him the next Jordan before he had even put on an NBA jersey was also inappropriate. And of course, Nike’s $90 million endorsement deal before the kid even graduated High School was ridiculously inappropriate. But anyway…
Over the last several years that he has been in the NBA I have watched highlight reel after highlight reel of King James doing his thing. Many times I have been greatly impressed with amazing shots and dunks. Did you see the commercial where he was draining full-court shot after full-court shot? Or when he hit the half-court shot during pre-game warmups while sitting on his butt on the floor next to the scorers table? Those are just amazing displays of his tremendous talent. Unfortunately for LeBron, with that talent comes his tremendous ego.
I have previously made several posts regarding sportsmanship or the lack of it in many professional sports and athletes. King James made his own display of poor sportsmanship just the other night. The Cleveland Cavaliers had been a top team all year and finished the regular season with the best record in the league. They were favored to advance to the NBA Finals and most felt they would win it all. More jumped on the bandwagon as the Cavs steamrolled to the Eastern Conference Finals with sweeps of the Detroit Pistons and the Atlanta Hawks. Then they met the Orlando Magic, who had played well all year but had recently gotten really hot in the playoffs and even eliminated the defending champion Celtics in Boston with a blowout win. Were it not for a last-second 3-pointer in Game 2, King James’ Cavaliers would have been swept out of the playoffs as the Magic won Games 1, 3, and 4. The Cavaliers won Game 5 to stay alive but came up short in Game 6 and were eliminated 4 games to 2. That was when Lebron made his move.
Instead of doing the classy, respectful, and respectable thing by shaking the hands of the Magic, he instead walked off the floor without even looking back. Instantly, one of the greatest players in the NBA showed everyone that he was a big baby and a poor sport. The Magic went on celebrating (as they should) but the damage was done. Lebron James, who is considered by many to be the face of the NBA and a role model to hundreds upon hundreds of millions of kids and aspiring athletes showed us that poor sportsmanship is okay when you are “the best player in the world.” You don’t need to show respect to anyone but yourself. He continued his pouting by refusing to participate in the post-game interviews.
I, for one, strongly disapprove of his actions. I feel that he has brought shame and embarrassment to himself, his family, his team, and his fans. For me, it got even better as they showed clips on SportsCenter of other times his team has been eliminated in the playoffs and he has done the same thing, walking off the court without acknowledging those who bested him. The one exception was in the NBA Finals when the Spurs beat him and one of them stood between him and his exit and held out a hand. He gave a low-5 and brushed past.
What kind of an example is this to everyone? I am simply appalled that he did this so many times and nobody has done anything about it. I was further appalled as one of the anchors on SportsCenter then justified LeBron’s behavior! Unbelievable you might say, but it really happened! I am so disgusted that one of “the best players in the world” is happy and jovial and friends with everyone when he wins, but when he loses we see his true colors, the poor sport, the baby, the coward.
This is proof of why LeBron James will never be better than Michael Jordan or a host of other NBA greats, who even in the face of defeat were man enough to reach out a hand and congratulate those who have beaten them. They showed up at the press conferences and congratulated their opponents again and used phrases like, “they outplayed us”, “they beat us”, and “they played better than us.” But not LeBron, he didn’t even show up.
I am totally done with LeBron James. I am sick of people like him and the fact that they get applauded for, and justified in, their bad behavior. You lost, deal with it and be a man about it. If I were in a position to do something about it, I would see to it that he was benched or suspended for a few games as an example to others that this behavior is inappropriate and will not be tolerated. If James was in the NFL, Commissioner Roger Goodell likely would have done something like that.
I’ll end with a wise and as far as I know anonymous quote, “Be humble in victory and gracious in defeat.” His Highness could learn a lot from that.
01 June 2009
31 March 2009
Moving Again...
This will be a short informational post. For those who don't already know, I have moved back to Utah. Amy, the kids, and I live in an apartment in South Provo a few blocks north of the mall.
I arrived March 3rd much to my wife's surprise. I pranked her good. Everytime we spoke while I was driving the 2,000 miles between Buffalo, NY and Provo, UT I would fib a little about my location by providing info about cities and places I had already passed. As an example, during the first day of driving I spoke to Amy around 8pm and told her I was between South Bend, IN and Chicago when I was really 50 miles past Chicago. Later I told her that I had stopped for the night in Quad Cities when I really stopped in Des Moines, IA (For the geographically challenged this is all along I-80).
This all added up over the two and a half days and was helped by real weather problems. I actually spent the second night in Rawlins, WY stopping due to dangerous high winds, but told Amy that I was still in Nebraska, and the next day I told her that the winds had caused the highway to be shut down and that I had to stop in Rawlins, WY for the night. However, I told her this while I was actually driving through Heber City, UT. I called her when I arrived but didn't tell her that I was here, I walked up and knocked on the door. She told me there was someone at the door (he he he), she answered it and saw me standing there. She burst into tears and gave me a big long hug. Some will probably think it was mean of me to do this, but Amy was happy with the surprise of an "early" arrival and not at all upset by the deception.
We took over someone's contract for this apt so it expires in August. We are looking for somewhere else because we don't really like this place for more than a temporary situation. I am hoping that we can find a good place in our old ward. Our current ward has like 500+ at Sacrament meeting so I feel like a name on a list instead of a person. Our old ward was much smaller and more closeknit among the longterm residents (which we were). We will see what happens.
I arrived March 3rd much to my wife's surprise. I pranked her good. Everytime we spoke while I was driving the 2,000 miles between Buffalo, NY and Provo, UT I would fib a little about my location by providing info about cities and places I had already passed. As an example, during the first day of driving I spoke to Amy around 8pm and told her I was between South Bend, IN and Chicago when I was really 50 miles past Chicago. Later I told her that I had stopped for the night in Quad Cities when I really stopped in Des Moines, IA (For the geographically challenged this is all along I-80).
This all added up over the two and a half days and was helped by real weather problems. I actually spent the second night in Rawlins, WY stopping due to dangerous high winds, but told Amy that I was still in Nebraska, and the next day I told her that the winds had caused the highway to be shut down and that I had to stop in Rawlins, WY for the night. However, I told her this while I was actually driving through Heber City, UT. I called her when I arrived but didn't tell her that I was here, I walked up and knocked on the door. She told me there was someone at the door (he he he), she answered it and saw me standing there. She burst into tears and gave me a big long hug. Some will probably think it was mean of me to do this, but Amy was happy with the surprise of an "early" arrival and not at all upset by the deception.
We took over someone's contract for this apt so it expires in August. We are looking for somewhere else because we don't really like this place for more than a temporary situation. I am hoping that we can find a good place in our old ward. Our current ward has like 500+ at Sacrament meeting so I feel like a name on a list instead of a person. Our old ward was much smaller and more closeknit among the longterm residents (which we were). We will see what happens.
09 February 2009
#1- Softball Sportsmanship
#1- Softball Sportsmanship
First of all, oops about the length of time between posts. It wasn’t intentional, I just let other things get in the way.
In my opinion, the greatest sports moment of all time involved three college women. Of my Top 4, this also happens to be the most recent as it only happened last year. By now, hopefully everyone had heard the story and/or seen the clip, if not here is the youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVlKtI7yd_s
On Saturday April 26, 2008, Western Oregon University senior Sara Tucholsky came up to bat in the 2nd inning of an elimination game in the Conference playoffs versus Central Washington University. With two runners on, and an 0-1 count Sara connected with the next pitch and sent it over the fence for her first career home run. In her excitement at having hit her first-ever home run she missed first base. When she turned back to tag it before continuing on to second, she collapsed to the ground in agony. Her ACL in her right knee had torn completely through. Sara managed to crawl back to first and upon arriving she laid on the ground, hugged the base and cried.
Her coach, Pam Knox rushed onto the field and began discussing options with the umpires. The umpires made it clear that if any of Sara’s coaches or teammates helped her, she would be ruled out. Coach Knox was given the choice to substitute for Sara but that doing so would erase her 3-run home run and replace it with a 2-run single. That is when Moment #1 occurred.
Mallory Holtman, argued by some as the greatest softball player in Central Washington history, as well as school home run record-holder stepped in and said, “What if some of the Central Washington players carry her around the bases?” The umpires, obviously taken aback at such a suggestion, stated that no rule precluded the opposing team from doing so. Mallory grabbed her teammate, Liz Wallace and they walked over to Sara, picked her up off the ground and carried her around the bases. They stopped at each base and helped Sara touch the bag with her uninjured leg. When they reached home plate, Mallory and Liz set Sara down and let her teammates take over while they quietly excused themselves and returned to their own teammates.
Witnesses state that everyone on the field and in the stands was in tears. When asked why she carried her opponent around the bases Mallory replied, “She hit it over the fence and was in pain and she deserved a home run.” Mallory didn’t know that Sara had never before hit a home run in her career. She also didn’t know that she and Liz’s act of sportsmanship would eliminate their team from the conference playoffs and a chance at the NCAA tournament as Sara’s home run proved a deciding factor in Western Oregon’s 4-2 victory.
That ended up being the final game of both Sara Tucholsky’s and Mallory Holtman’s playing careers.
Incredible doesn’t even begin to describe this act of sportsmanship. In an age where player misbehavior both on and off the field is reported non-stop (see previous posts on my blog regarding the NFL), it was very inspiring and refreshing to see such a simple act that carried so much power and meaning. Mallory and her teammates may not have won the game that day, but they won something much more. They taught us all that doing what is good and right even when it doesn’t benefit you, is what is most important. I hope that we all can take that to heart so that when we are presented with our own moral dilemmas we can make the right choice.
Several months later, Mallory, Liz, and Sara were honored by teary-eyed amateur and professional athletes, sportscasters, sportswriters, and notable celebrities, as they were presented with the ESPY Award for Best Sports Moment and received a 30-second standing ovation.
First of all, oops about the length of time between posts. It wasn’t intentional, I just let other things get in the way.
In my opinion, the greatest sports moment of all time involved three college women. Of my Top 4, this also happens to be the most recent as it only happened last year. By now, hopefully everyone had heard the story and/or seen the clip, if not here is the youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVlKtI7yd_s
On Saturday April 26, 2008, Western Oregon University senior Sara Tucholsky came up to bat in the 2nd inning of an elimination game in the Conference playoffs versus Central Washington University. With two runners on, and an 0-1 count Sara connected with the next pitch and sent it over the fence for her first career home run. In her excitement at having hit her first-ever home run she missed first base. When she turned back to tag it before continuing on to second, she collapsed to the ground in agony. Her ACL in her right knee had torn completely through. Sara managed to crawl back to first and upon arriving she laid on the ground, hugged the base and cried.
Her coach, Pam Knox rushed onto the field and began discussing options with the umpires. The umpires made it clear that if any of Sara’s coaches or teammates helped her, she would be ruled out. Coach Knox was given the choice to substitute for Sara but that doing so would erase her 3-run home run and replace it with a 2-run single. That is when Moment #1 occurred.
Mallory Holtman, argued by some as the greatest softball player in Central Washington history, as well as school home run record-holder stepped in and said, “What if some of the Central Washington players carry her around the bases?” The umpires, obviously taken aback at such a suggestion, stated that no rule precluded the opposing team from doing so. Mallory grabbed her teammate, Liz Wallace and they walked over to Sara, picked her up off the ground and carried her around the bases. They stopped at each base and helped Sara touch the bag with her uninjured leg. When they reached home plate, Mallory and Liz set Sara down and let her teammates take over while they quietly excused themselves and returned to their own teammates.
Witnesses state that everyone on the field and in the stands was in tears. When asked why she carried her opponent around the bases Mallory replied, “She hit it over the fence and was in pain and she deserved a home run.” Mallory didn’t know that Sara had never before hit a home run in her career. She also didn’t know that she and Liz’s act of sportsmanship would eliminate their team from the conference playoffs and a chance at the NCAA tournament as Sara’s home run proved a deciding factor in Western Oregon’s 4-2 victory.
That ended up being the final game of both Sara Tucholsky’s and Mallory Holtman’s playing careers.
Incredible doesn’t even begin to describe this act of sportsmanship. In an age where player misbehavior both on and off the field is reported non-stop (see previous posts on my blog regarding the NFL), it was very inspiring and refreshing to see such a simple act that carried so much power and meaning. Mallory and her teammates may not have won the game that day, but they won something much more. They taught us all that doing what is good and right even when it doesn’t benefit you, is what is most important. I hope that we all can take that to heart so that when we are presented with our own moral dilemmas we can make the right choice.
Several months later, Mallory, Liz, and Sara were honored by teary-eyed amateur and professional athletes, sportscasters, sportswriters, and notable celebrities, as they were presented with the ESPY Award for Best Sports Moment and received a 30-second standing ovation.
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