And the Beat Goes On...

So I woke up today, and what did I end up reading? Another anti-Cleveland story, and this with LeBron James. Go figure. It is obvious that a lot of "journalists" do not like the fact that a 23-year old man, who did not go to college, ends up becoming a star in the NBA and gets paid millions of dollars through his performance on the court and through endorsements like Nike. Maybe it is a jealousy factor, and the fact that he acts a lot more mature for his age than most people do at 23. Or maybe it is because he is playing for a small-market like Cleveland and likes it there, rather than a big-market, like New York or Los Angeles. Whatever it is, it is getting a little ridiculous.

Case in point: Tom Knott (who usually whines more than he actually reports) says LeBron should be suspended for elbowing one of the Washington Wizards players in Game 1 of the Cavs-Wizards series. Now, the problem is that if you watched the game, you would realize that every time LeBron tried to get to the basket, the Wizards would try to foul him. And hard. There were even times the Wizards got away with a hold or a push on LeBron, and to me, it is quite clear that the Wizards (and Knott) would not have been bothered if LeBron was hurt at all by the Wizards. And with LeBron playing with a bad back, it is possible that the players could have, intentionally, hurt him even more.

So LeBron had to send a message. He elbowed Andray Blatche, and to me, there is nothing wrong with that. Or else Blatche would have, like the time before, taken cheap shots at LeBron. Apparently, Knott forgets that the Wizards started it with the dirty plays. What is LeBron supposed to do..take it? Why should he be the one to get suspended over the players who are, in my opinion, trying to take LeBron out of the game via injury?

And Knott's piece is not under "opinion" or "fiction" or anything to show the reader that what he is writing is his own opinion. It makes it look like he is a real journalist, when he is writing what he thinks. I think he needs to say before he starts writing the article that he is a Wizards fan, so that people understand he has a bias. If not, people will get confused and actually believe what he is writing is legit. It is not! If he actually watched the game, he would realize that LeBron was attempting to stop the Wizards from taking cheap shots at him. Blatche was never hurt, but it is quite possible that the Wizards aggravated LeBron's injury.

Knott has a history of writing stuff like this..it would be nice if the Washington Times would move him solely into the Op-Ed section, rather than keeping him in the Sports Section with all of the "real" journalists.

Time to Stop the LeBron to New York Talk NOW

It could be that I am a huge Cleveland sports' fan, so I may be just basing this on my opinion. But I do think that the mainstream media wants to see Cleveland sports fail. Maybe it is because the city has the best fans in the world (in my opinion), maybe they just do not like the Buckeye state, or it could be that the Cleveland curses continue (The Drive, The Fumble, The Shot, etc.). But you would think, that even if there is a bias against Cleveland sports, there may be some common sense. But no.

Take, for instance, the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Now, I love reading it, but sometimes I think they buy into the mainstream media's view that Cleveland Sports are bound to fail. I love Paul Hoynes, but he has bought into the believe that CC Sabathia will leave the Indians at the end of the year to play for the Yankees. Now, it seems they are buying into the whole LeBron James to New York theory..

Besides the question of whether the writers for the Plain Dealer buy into this nonsense, my question is: it is newsworthy? Surely they have something better to post than a website made for fans of the Knicks, not the Cavs. Instead of talking about the playoffs, they talk about a website that is trying to pry LeBron to the Knicks when his contract is up...

Ok, sorry to the delusional Knicks' fans, but it will not happen for several reasons:

1) LeBron is from Akron. He has said he loves the Cleveland area, and that is why he is building a huge mansion.

2) LeBron has stated his desire to bring a championship to Cleveland, and he knows that he could be Mayor of Cleveland or Governor of Ohio if he helped to build a Cavaliers' Dynasty. If he left for more money and fame, he risks losing his reputation, and no guarantee that he will succeed elsewhere.

3) The Knicks are terrible, they have been for several years. They are over the salary cap, and already have to pay a luxury tax. What makes people think they will be able to afford LeBron down the line? Even if there are expiring contracts in the future, the team most likely (based on past and present tendencies) to overpay for over the hill players. Why would LeBron want to go into a no-win situation like that? I'm sorry, but he has a better chance to win a championship with the Cavs than he does making the playoffs with the Knicks.

I will post more on this..if you read Brian Windhorst's blog (on the side) or read his columns, you will realize that he is pretty good at what he does, and he has talked before about how journalists (or pseudo journalists) do not really understand the salary cap in the NBA, nor do they really understand LeBron, his desire to win in Cleveland, or his contract..I'll talk more about Windhorst in another blog.

Here is a question again..should the Plain Dealer cover a website that is made for Knicks' fans, and clearly will only make Cleveland sports' fans more upset about its history?

A Quick Sidenote

Ok, usually I post something about sports, mainly because that is what I wanted to focus this blog on, since I follow it really closely. But I do follow politics and the news daily too. Don't get me wrong, I follow politics a lot closer than the average American does (I believe), but I just wanted to bring something different, something that is happening in the sports world. When it comes to Journalism and ethics, most people think about it in terms of news and the political world. But there are also problems with Journalism and ethics when it comes to sports, so I hope to highlight sports more, since it may not be covered as much.

But I WILL cover politics and the news too, especially with the election season. When I find something really interesting to talk about, I'll shift gears...