Three big reasons to be afraid

[Forkboy]

Regarding this LeBron thing: May we talk a little basketball?

Good.

But first, may we attempt to put the Thursday night developments in perspective one more time?

1. “The Decision.’’ You perhaps think the hourlong program was an embarrassing mess that did not reflect well on anyone, be it LeBron James, Jim Gray, or ESPN.

And your point is?

The instant we heard that James’s decision would be announced in that type of format, on that network, who didn’t know it would be a horror show? My information is that it was actually Gray’s idea, that he pitched it to LeBron right-hand man Maverick Carter and things went from there. ESPN is in the business of 24/7/365 sports programming, so its interest comes in the no-brainer category. Since it only takes a second or two, depending on one’s speech pattern, to say “I’m going to Miami,’’ we knew we would be teased to the point of nausea awaiting the news we had tuned in for. And we were. Next question.

LeBron was a colossal loser, absolutely. The very idea of the show was preposterous, and the fact he was not talked out of doing this by some clear-thinking elder is scary. He comes off as a narcissist’s narcissist, and perhaps we should wonder if we should caution Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to be careful about what exactly they’re wishing for.

2. The Rant. Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert went publicly nuclear, denouncing the nature of James’s departure as a “cowardly betrayal’’ while claiming that LeBron had tanked it not only in Game 5 of the Boston series, but in Games 2, 4, and 6 as well. He said they’d been “covering up’’ for LeBron. Fascinating. Now there is no doubt that if Gilbert’s charge is true that neither LeBron nor his agent, Leon Rose, had the common decency to explain why he was leaving Cleveland in a face-to-face manner befitting an adult, said act is despicable.

But it’s not as if Gilbert didn’t benefit financially from having LeBron around. I’m sure Mr. Gilbert feels better now that he has vented in such a spectacular, vitriolic manner, but it was at the expense of his dignity.

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/articles/2010/07/11/three_big_reasons_to_be_afraid/

Bob Ryan can be annoying on tv, but he's a awesome in print. :)

PS - In light of today's threads here in the Sports Forum I'm a little embarrassed that I didn't start this thread with "Fuck you, ____ ". :)

[madinmaryland]

1. Damn, Fork!! Guess I missed a lot today. Hey, I did catch the

original narcissist the other night here! He says hello!!

I'm not talking about BossHog, either!!

:D

[Forkboy]

2. I said hello but it got deleted.

;)

[Forkboy]

3. Kick for trumad. He'll like this, even if no one else will.

[wilt the stilt]

4. Funny, I find Ryan

annoying all the time.