Monday, May 11, 2009
Spike and Skip Bayless
I'm not sure if this is the video you wanted me to see, but watching Skip Bayless trying (and failing) to do his schtick is priceless.
In terms of the LeBron era, count me among the unexcited. I guess I feel like when an era is about to occur, we're not supposed to know about it. There shouldn't be numerous articles detailing its nature before it occurs. It's usually never common knowledge. Predictions of how many titles the King will get before he's won one.... In 91, you knew Mike was a fantastic ball player, then he just took it to another level. You didn't know it was going to happen; that the GOAT was about to start separating himself from the others. How the f#ck would you know that?! I don't think historic moments work this way. When Obama won, part of the thing that made it so awe inspiring was that you weren't sure it was going to happen until it actually did. LeBron's a great player. He's still got a lot of work to do on his game. He's never faced a serious injury (not that I want him to), or even completely entered his prime yet. He hasn't dealt with free agency yet. There's so much here we don't know about what's going to happen. I think all the prophesying about the inevitability of his reign has less to do with his incredible potential than it does with sports people thinking they know something about what's going to happen before it happens. Whenever something with this many variables has an assumed narrative, one should beware. I'm not unexcited cus I don't like LeBron, I'm unexcited cus I'm not sure the storm that's coming is really the storm of the century. The other reason is: thecavs are a boring ass team. Watching them 18 out of the possible 25 Sundays on ABC next season makes me very unexcited.
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2 comments:
I disagree. Sort of.
The fact that we know doesn't take away from it. The "sort of" part is, as you said, that we don't really know. We don't know how this is going to play out. But he is in that Mike-in-91 mode where he's, again, as you said, starting to separate himself from the pack. And that's an understatment.
Plus, this "boring ass" Cavs team hasn't really been tested yet in the playoffs. Even so, just watching The King do his work has been a joy. It's like watching a magician. My brother in law was over the other day, watching the Cavs -- a dude who could care less about hoops -- and he remarked, "Holy sh!t, LeBron is somehow involved in every play, on either end." That's it right there. He's the general in a slaughter.
Now, can you imagine what a Nuggets/Cavs finals would look like? How physical that would get? Plus, you get LeBron and 'Melo going head to head (we've started to forget already all the comparisons that were drawn between the two back in 2003-04).
Come on, you're not excited about this? And if Kobe can stay reasonably healthy, we might be looking at a Cavs/Lakers finals next year? Kobe and LeBron going at it, 12 months after he decimated 'Melo? Or what if the Jazz learn how to play D and the LeBrons can dismantle them (like a modern version of the Bulls destroying the Stockton-Malone version)? Or if New Orleans can turn their sh!t around and LBJ can go to war against young Chris Paul?
Aw man, I'll take any of it. You're not excited? YOU'RE NOT F**KING EXCITED?!?
-G
I'm excited about seeing LeBron play at the peak of his powers. What I'm not excited about is some reign of domination on his part. It took me years to appreciate Mike. Partially cus I was a hater, but mostly because the NBA obnoxiously rammed him down my throat. He got every call. The announcers blew him from start to finish every game. I just got tired of it. And I don't want to get that way with LeBron. I'm already sick of watching the Cavs. The NBA makes it miserable for you if you like the actual competition between two good teams. It's never about the game. It's always about the deification of their Superstar because that's what sells sneakers. It's the corporate part that suffocates the fun for me. The stuff that excites me is exactly what you're talking about. What I'm not excited to see is the rules negligibly ignored when the King in the middle of a moment. Mike's most famous shot comes after he straight fouled Bryon Russell. Putting it in slo mo with music behind it, doesn't make me see that less.
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