Lebronification

(photo from ihatelebronjames.com...yes there is such a website)

All of America outside of SoFla is rejoicing as the Miami Heat lose their shot at a title in the first year of the experiment that is the Heatles. The hatred towards the Heat, and especially Lebron, has reached levels not seen in sports since well...maybe ever. At least for a guy who has done nothing criminal and a team that has played by the rules that free agency provide all of the NBA teams equally.

Its true that Lebron has not scored or performed well in the 4th quarter of these Finals. However, the vitriol spewed his way by fans and the media nationwide in the last year is laughable and easy, but not fair or right if you look at the whole picture. We always look at history and make it bigger and better than it really was. Historical stories and greatness often get stretched as time passes. In today's Twitter society, that time is even as short as minutes, days, and weeks.

But stats don't lie. We don't even have to look too far back. Anyone remember how LeBron was the Heat's savior against Chicago and Boston when D-Wade was struggling?

Jordan is the best ever in my generation. No doubt in my mind. But let's take a look at some career playoff stats to clarify LeBron's greatness comparing him to other championship great PG/SG/SF's over the last 30 years...before he's even won a single title:

Player PPG RPG APG SPG BPG

Jordan 33.4 6.2 5.3 2.35 0.83

Lebron 28.2 8.4 7.0 1.70 1.0

D-Wade 26.0 5.8 5.6 1.65 1.0

Kobe 25.4 5.1 4.8 1.41 0.68

Bird 23.8 10.3 6.5 1.80 0.88

Magic 19.5 7.7 12.3 1.88 0.34

2nd in PPG. 2nd in RPG. 2nd in APG. 4th in SPG. 1st in BPG. That's compared to five playoff LEGENDS. Tell me that's not GREATNESS.

The Decision was horrible. Easy to hate. But LeBron raised MILLIONS of dollars for charity from it. Sure he didn't let crazy person owner of the Cavs know where he was going, but how many owners cut, trade, or otherwise get rid of players without telling them a thing before it happens? How many players force their teams into trading or getting rid of someone by holding out, complaining, or otherwise (read: Charles Barkley forced trades to try and win a title ... rookie Eli Manning forcing a trade right after getting drafted ... Deron Williams basically forcing Jerry Sloan to retire ... Kobe forcing LA management to get rid of Shaq)?

Rising from a stage predicting 5...6...7...titles. Dumb, but the Heat organization created that event/buzz. In the end, it was a free celebration for the Heat (bandwagon) fans to rejoice in the greatest free agency coup in NBA history. Did you want him to say "I'm not sure if we'll win a title together"?

Pairing up with two other stars (ok, maybe 1.5 b/c Bosh is merely a soft All-Star) was a no-brainer after having a terrible supporting cast in Cleveland year in and year out with no second, third, or fourth option after King James. The jealousy from other cities due to their teams not procuring Bron's talents is understandable. But don't say Hall of Fame superstars have never played together...

Pierce/Garnett/Allen. Kobe/Shaq. D-Wade/Shaq. Jordan/Pippen/Rodman. Duncan/Ginobili/Parker. The Logo/Wilt/Goodrich. Bird/Parrish/McHale. Magic/Kareem/Worthy. Moses Malone/Dr. J/Mo Cheeks. Thomas/Dumars/Laimbeer. Frazier/Reed/DeBusschere. Russell/Cousy/Havlicek.

Guess what...titles are won by great duos/trios, not by one individual. Not even the G.O.A.T. did it totally by himself.

Career playoff stats show LeBron is one of the greatest of all time. He is not better than Jordan, but probably the closest thing to the most complete overall player in history when you look at his numbers. Bad Finals or not, his production throughout the playoffs speaks for itself, this year and throughout his career. It's funny how easily people forget games like when he scored 25 out of the Cavs last 29 to beat the Pistons. Or when he dropped 37 per game with 8 rebounds and 8 assists in a series against the Magic. Or when he shutdown this year's regular season MVP.

His deferring to D-Wade is natural. LeBron is right to defer to D-Wade. D-Wade has a title. D-Wade (and Riley) brought him to Miami. LeBron has lower scoring production levels with Wade in the line-up and its obvious that the Heat need to figure out the niche for each superstar despite having played about 100 games together. The Heat's offensive deficiencies doesn't prove LeBron chokes under the 4th quarter pressure. It just shows that they need to figure out how to best utilize their two superstars skills when the game is on the line. That's something they've struggled with all year.

Hate on the Miami fans for being bandwagon. Most of them are. Hate on the fact LeBron hasn't won a title. Yet. Don't hate on his greatness. That's just jealousy and envy because your squad/city doesn't have him. It's also not true. The dude is GREAT at what he does. Even without a title yet. Even with one series of bad 4th quarter performances.

The NBA titles might not be there now, but the guy is going to get his eventually.

Friday Madness!

Been awhile since I've been on here for a post, so its time for some random March Madness Friday thoughts...

*Funniest moment of the day (and possibly the tournament) was on a local Miami news station. Group of 15 or so Wisconsin fans making their 18th straight road trip to the NCAA tourney. They are in Miami for the games. They start some random Wisconsin chant while heading into the American Airlines Arena in downtown Miami, FL. Did someone forget to tell them the Badgers play in Boise, Idaho tonight?

*Behind them, virtually nobody on line to enter the arena. Sad that the Miami site can't even sell out their games. Giving away tickets and they still can't fill seats. And it's not the economy...just not a sports town, and especially not a college basketball town.

*Ok. St./Tenn. is the game of the tournament so far. I hope that changes though, because while it was exciting with great back and forth action, Madness hasn't hit full form just yet.

*Gus Johnson doesn't even sound like his normal self. Or maybe he's toned it down after the little diner incident a few days ago.

*Dionte Christmas is the truth.

*March Madness on Demand is amazing. Boss Button...not so much.

*Can the 2pm games get us a buzzer beater already?

*Didn't know the "Jacksonville Jet" played in Dayton, Ohio. I guess his speed doesn't help his scoring much. 4.2 ppg for the year.

*Glasser from ASU was on fire...until he just got knocked the f out. Guy almost got decapitated. No foul.

*Verne Lundquist asking for the advantage rule to be applied in basketball like it is in soccer. Excellent!

*Halftime - #1-26, #16-23. #1 with 13 turnovers in 1st half. #1 selected as a champion in one of my eleventeen brackets. I'm sure they'll wake up in the 2nd half and probably win in blowout fashion anyway, but come on Pitt, its ETSU!!! 16 over 1 would be excellent though.

*Did I mention that Dionte Christmas is the truth?

*Semaj Inge from Temple has a twin brother. First name? Yes, James. WOW, some lazy parents from Camden there.

*Fundamentalists rejoice! Great use of the pump fake throughout the tourney so far.

*Pitt = epic failure?

9/11/01 - We'll Never Forget

I send this out every year, but with each passing year, this message is such an important one to understand the unfortunate catastrophic events of 9/11/01 and how we can learn from them. It is a reminder of how important it is to appreciate our family and friends. It is a reminder of how we should all try to live our lives in positive ways each and every day. It is a reminder that the price of our freedom sometimes comes with a cost so great that we lose loved ones because of it.

9/11/01 - Its a date that no one in our lifetime will ever forget.

For some of us that day hit closer to home than for others, but without a doubt we'll all remember it and how our freedom as we knew it was compromised that day. Just sending you this reminder to never take anything for granted. Love your family and friends...take advantage of all your blessings and talents - seen and unseen...take time out for others...live life to the fullest...don't be afraid to go after things you want...and most of all, enjoy yourself - life is too short not to.

Sometimes in our daily routine, we forget that, and 9/11 always makes me think of those things because of a person many of us knew, who always lived up to those ideals.

Dom, you had all those areas covered (www.atributetodom.com for those of you who didn't have the pleasure of knowing this great man). I miss you as we all do and you will never be forgotten. Thank you for being there for all of us during your 40 years with us, showing us how to laugh, live, and love.

To all of you (some of who I see and talk to everyday and others I haven't seen or spoken to in a long time), be sure to go after your dreams, life your life to the fullest - how you want to, and enjoy everything that is important to you.

To all the fallen heroes of 9/11/01 and to all the service men and women who defend our freedom everyday...thank you for your heroism and all of your efforts.

Wishing you all the best always,

Brian

O. S. D.

I'm not normally a huge Olympics fan, although I usually enjoy the Summer Olympics more than it's colder brother, Mr. Winter Olympics.

That said, these Beijing Olympics have been captivating throughout. I have been hooked to the TV, even watching tape delay contests, because the competition has been great throughout. From the obvious like Michael Phelps' record-setting performance and Usain Bolt's complete domination of the 100 & 200 making him the World's Fastest Man to the less publicized events like some great Water Polo matches and crazy crashes in the BMX time trials, these Games have lived up to the old NBC hype/motto - Must See TV.

Although some of the channel listings and games have been tough to find at times, once you got the hang of the timing and/or used nbcolympics.com, there have been so many great events to watch.

All this Must See TV leaves me suffering from O. S. D. due to the time difference. But I'll deal with the Olympic Sleep Deprivation for a little while longer if these great contests continue.

Enough writing...this USA/Serbia volleyball match is becoming yet another classic from these games!

El Verano Classico...or is it El Classico Verano?

I'm not usually much of an All-Star Game fan (and it shows as I'm currently watching SuperLiga soccer vs. the actual MLB game), but the pre-game ceremonies this year were special. I'm also an unapologetic Yankee hater, but hosting 49 or so MLB Hall-of-Famers while introducing all of the players was a great moment to close out "The House That Ruth Built" while giving the Yankees their rightful due in the history of the game.

Combine that with the extremely memorable Josh Hamilton performance last night (previous drug problems or not), and a classically funny Celebrity All-Star Softball game (Kenny Mayne is still my hero despite his choking), and you have the making of one of the greatest Summer Classic's ever...

Even if, I'm not really watching the actual game.