Lebron Joins the NWO

Last week, The Sports Guy did an all-Lebron mailbag to appease the broken hearts of Cleveland fans. Frank from Oakland had this to say:

I'm trying to figure out where I've had a feeling like this before. Then I remembered: This reminds me of Hulk Hogan at the moment he drops the big boot on the Macho Man Randy Savage to team with the Outsiders (Scott Hall and Kevin Nash) and essentially form the nWo. These are the only two times when I have said to myself "No! Why are you doing this! Evil! Evil! EVILLLL!"

Which led to this fantastic video being made.

Tosh.O Redeems Crying Giants Fan

Last year, when the Eagles beat the Giants at home to all but end their playoff hopes, the initial video on here went viral. As part of a running series, comedian Daniel Tosh redeems him. Hilarious stuff.

Fan Voting has Far-Reaching Effects

With the midsummer classic fast approaching, a quick look at the all-star roster would be enough to make any follower of baseball sick to their stomach. Like every year, there is no shortage of snubs or people to complain about them. Fans turn sports into a brilliant and elaborate spectacle, but are they given too much power in ultimately deciding a player's legacy?

Here is a quick breakdown of how each league chooses it's all-stars.

MLB - Fans choose starters. Players select 16 (8 pitchers and one backup player at each position). Managers select 9 players to fill the roster to 33. Fan Internet vote for the 34th spot on each team.

NBA - Fans vote for starters. Coaches vote for the reserves with the caveat that they cannot choose players on their team. Commissioner chooses replacements.

NHL - Starting lineup and goaltender chosen by fans. Reserves chosen by Hockey Operations Department in coordination with GMs.

NFL - Fans, players and coaches each have 1/3 say of who gets voted in.

At first, I planned to do a lot of research to see how many times a player was "snubbed" from being selected to an all-star roster, however, my own individual bias would make that process highly subjective. What I've realized is that there is no way to make this process objective. By taking fans out of the equation, could we make it less subjective?

The problem with being snubbed from an all-star roster spot has much to do with an athlete's legacy at the end of his career. When the pundits look at their Hall of Fame ballots across all sports, all-star appearances can weigh heavily on their minds.

When China votes Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady onto the all-star team every year (deserving or not), those appearances stack up. In 50 years, will we remember Yao Ming as a semi-bust who could never stay healthy or live up to his full potential or will we just see 7-time all-star (not all deserving) and forget to dig deeper? Stats don't lie and when there isn't a single person alive anymore that can remember when Yao played, that's what they'll turn to.

So here is my question to you: Should fans continue to have a heavy influence on all-star game rosters (and potentially influence whether they become hall-of-famers) or should we leave it up to the people that are closer to the game and follow it for a living (players, coaches, owners and media)?

I'm opting toward the latter.

Lebronukkah Live Blog

Lebron James plans to announce his decision on which team he will join next season (and for the next 5 years) on a humble public appearance deemed “The Decision.” Here is my liveblog of this ridiculous spectacle.

8:53PM: For the last three hours Sportscenter has speculated and respeculated about where Lebron is going. Personally I’d like to see a live feed of David Stern shitting his pants as Lebron signs with the Italian league for $400M.

8:58PM: Bob Holtz was just asked what kind of celebration there would be in Miami if Lebron signed there... probably somewhere between balloon animal clown and unadulterated flash mob.

9:01PM: Who is narrating the intro? You’re telling me with this budget they really couldn’t get James Earl Jones or Morgan Freeman?

9:02PM: Stu Scott just announced that there will be blanket coverage of this event (similar to blanket defense). Why isn’t the panel wearing Lebron James snuggies?

9:05PM: Only 2 other players in NBA history have switched teams after winning an MVP: Wilt Chamberlain and Moses Malone.

9:07PM: Lebron looks like a nervous farmer who accidentally slept with his neighbor’s underage daughter and is about to confront him.

9:11PM: Stop bringing up the Olympics like its and indication of how they’re going to play with each other.

9:17PM: Broussard, Wilbon and Barry are predicting Miami. On a related note, I’m going to vomit.

9:19PM: Lebron chose to air his Vitamin Water commercial during the special. Big Choice Water. Decision Water. Egomaniac water.

9:24PM: I really like interviews where nothing of substance is being said. So... all sports interviews.

9:25PM: Lebron just said he’s already told the team who he’s about to sign with. Jim Gray responds “The other 5 teams must be waiting on pins and needles.” I bet they are Jim Gray, now that they know they didn’t get a call. Idiot.

9:27PM: Miami. Fucking Miami.

9:28PM: Suicide rate in Cleveland tonight?

At this point I was distraught and had to make a few phone calls. I feel like I’m in a never ending nightmare where I’m being chased by David Stern’s wet dream down a long dark hallway. Lebron James is a Miami Heat. For the next five years the East is incontestable.

As a fan of history, the Finals match up is intriguing. Phil Jackson vs. Pat Riley (presumably). Kobe, Lebron, Bosh, Gasol, Artest and Wade on the same stage. Lots of personalities and story lines. My eyes would be glued to the television.

As a fan of the current state of the NBA this sucks. The sixers won’t be able to compete in the East no matter how good Evan Turner and Jrue Holiday become. Lebron’s legacy will forever be tarnished in my mind. Forget the comparisons to Jordan I was really hoping for. He’s now going to win Championships with 2 future hall of famers.

The most sickening part of this is that Kobe actually becomes more likable than Lebron.

The Inevitability of Tiger Woods

This issue has been beaten to death by every pundit, blogger and celebrity with a craving to regurgitate their messy opinion all over us. I don't want to get into the moral dilemma. It bores me. Instead I'd like to focus on the cultural aspect of this issue and see if it could have been prevented. Is Tiger Woods morally bankrupt? I doubt it. Is he addicted to sex? Laughable. Tiger is simply a product of our society and how we esteem phenoms. His inability to withstand the social pressures of celebrity could have a lot to do with a lack of example in the world of golf.

I needed a small sample size for phenoms, so I set the cut-off point for age at 25 years old. I wanted to see athletes that won early and often in their careers. I also needed a cut-off point for the year. The media and their 24/7 coverage plays a large factor in this, so going back too far would eliminate that culture from the equation. The results are hardly surprising. Golf is an old man's game; there are very few prodigies.

Since 1970, there have been only 9 golfers to win a major championship under the age of 25. Of those nine, only three of them were able to win multiple championships before turning 26.


The Jackel's career followed his hair and peaked early

1) Brit Tony Jacklin won his second major, the 1970 U.S. Open, at 25. He failed to win another, although experienced a great deal of success in the Ryder Cup.


How could anyone tell those jackets were green?

2) Spaniard Seve Ballesteros won the 1979 British Open at 22 and followed up his performance with a win at the 1980 Masters. He won three more majors (1983 Masters, 1984 British Open, 1988 British Open) after turning 25 for a career total of five.

3) Woods won the Masters in 1997 at 21. He became the youngest person ever to win the Masters (and the youngest to win a major since 1922). Tiger then went on to win 5 more majors before turning 26, including four straight championships from 2000-01. He has 14 total majors, placing him 2nd all-time on that list.

Tiger not only blew away expectations, but continued that sustained success. Seve and Tony are great, but they can't touch Woods. He garnered a tremendous amount of attention from the media and became an American icon. The face of golf. With all of this attention came the social pressures as Woods dove headfirst into the culture of American celebrity.

A recent series of articles on ESPN Insider can shed some more light on this. They have a blog in which current star players from all the major sports anonymously talk about life as a professional athlete in the 21st century. In both NBA Player X and NFL Player X's columns, they talked about the culture of their sport. When a brash and immature rookie phenom enters the league they have a large number of veteran players (on their team no less) to show them how to stay out of trouble. The younger athletes listen because the older guys have just gone through it. It doesn't become a game of "when I was your age" because the difference is only a few years apart.


Watson and Nicklaus, ready to relate to a young whippersnapper

When Tiger blew up the golf world in the late 90s, what example could he follow? The two closest American comparisons I could find to Woods were Tom Watson (8 championships, first at 25) and Jack Nicklaus (18 championships, first at 22). In 1997, when Woods won his first championship, Watson was 48 and Nicklaus was 57. Is a 21-year-old really going to take life advice from these guys? Probably not. Neither Watson or Nicklaus had to deal with the 24/7 news cycle or the omnipresent internet.

Golf had never seen someone like Woods and while this certainly doesn't excuse his behavior, it sheds some light onto why his homely malfeasance became a spectacle. There was no one for Tiger to look up to in the golf world, but himself. Our society placed Tiger on a pedestal and he took that entitlement and flaunted it. As a product of both our culture and the archaic nature of golf, a phenom's social downfall was inevitable. It happened to be Tiger Woods. He now becomes the example that future phenoms will steer clear from duplicating.

A Fresh Start

It's not often that you get to hit the reset button on your life. That's exactly what it felt like, soaring 30,000 feet over the air and watching the tiny bursts of fireworks light up the night sky. When you watch fireworks from the ground they can seem majestic and prominent. Not up here. A quick change of perspective makes them tiny and insignificant. I had just quit a fantastic engineering job at a great company to join the ranks of the self(un)-employed. Like my view of the fireworks I felt small and insignificant and wondered if I had actually made a huge mistake.

I want to be a writer, but I'm not quite sure what that entails yet. Every piece of writing advice boils down to a simple truth: Write Every Day. And while my past has certainly shaped who I am, there is no reset button. So instead I'm going to reset my mindset and try to live my life according to what I've learned from the world during my short stay. Here is the list I came up with (in no particular order):

1) Keep perspective

2) Listening and observing are usually better than speaking and acting

3) It's okay to be insecure; it's not okay to project them on other people

4) Be open-minded

5) Try things that scare you

6) Eat healthy

7) Exercise every day

8) Cherish relationships with family and friends

9) Be passionate in your endeavors

10) Be confident in everything you do

11) Write often and about anything

12) Fail at things; it will teach you to get back up

13) Stay focused and motivated; remember why you're here

14) Stand up for yourself and the people you love

15) Don't be petty

16) Be realistic

17) Don't hold grudges or harbor ill will

18) Reward future Mike

19) Once you've learned from the past, let go of it

20) Take advantage of being young, single and unburdened

I plan to add and revise this as I go, but for now this will do. Time to start over (sort of).