Muses.Music.

Feels bittersweet folks. I am ambivalent about Lebron going to the now NBA Superpower Miami Heat, and for several reasons. Sure my team (as well as the other 29 teams not located in South Beach) are going to have a lot harder time winning games for a while. Nonetheless, I will try to look at the situation as objectively as possible, from somewhere between a Cleveland and a Miami State of Mind…

Let’s face it – if he wanted to be known as the best player ever, he should have stayed in Cleveland. The reality is that, playing alongside two other elite players his skills will not improve, that is almost a guarantee. His leadership abilities as well as his legacy are all going to decline. Playing with a safety net [Wade and Bosh] is going to allow his weaknesses and bad habits to hide behind by his superstar counterparts. Sometimes the pressure of having to show up and give 110% every single night is a good thing, especially on the post season road to a championship.

Technically, statistics-wise, he may actually get the fabled season triple double average playing for Miami. Honestly, I actually wouldn’t be all that surprised, assuming he stays healthy, if he works his stats up over the next five years to a triple double career average in Miami, but that’s another story.

Listening to his explanation, the biggest mistake Lebron made was stating “It doesn’t matter how you win a championship, as long as you win a championship” in response to the question “Can you be as happy winning a championship in Miami as you would be in Cleveland? [sic]” He is going to be in for a shock and surprise because resurrecting and leading a once struggling team to a championship versus ‘coming along for the ride’ are two VERY different feelings. His is the same logic that almost ruined a few other sports. These days too many athletes are all too willing to do “whatever it takes” to achieve their goals even if that means taking Performance Enhancing Drugs. I don’t think that is what he meant but I am trying to show that the “whatever it takes” logic can be faulty.

One; just one championship in Cleveland would mean the world to Lebron’s brand. Cleveland has nothing to measure up to, there is no shadow to come out of just one would have been enough, for everyone. He was born, bred, and raised in that market, bringing the gold home is a heroic journey, and would be a better reward then winning anywhere else. I don’t know if there are any title-winning, MVPs that are native of the place where they played and won. It means more to make something out of nothing, it is almost messianic: “the little kid watching the NBA all his life in a winless town a product of hopelessness grows into a powerful man and pulls the proverbial sword from the stone”. That’s something every kid in every playground can relate too, that is how you inspire the next generation and leave a mark. That is special that is priceless.

With that said I can’t wait to see the highlights and the NBA next year and I hope the Heat really go on a 90’s Chicago Bulls like tear, better yet, winning 4 championships in a row or maybe more. The rest of the league won’t sit back for too long though and this is where the backlash might be a problem in the NBA. There is just not enough talent for too many more “Big Threes” to happen. Smaller market struggling franchises may go out of business in the long run unable to compete with the NBA version of a Cold War Nuclear Rings Race. Also, there are rumors of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement next year which could make it easier for high profile teams to sign multiple superstars and still remain profitable.

Lastly, I am in favor of the move away from ego-driven sports divas and more of a team oriented spirit of the game. This is actually why Lebron is not a coward despite what others may think (I see you Cleveland). He may have the wrong idea but it is the thought that counts. Like many in my generation facing the disillusionment of attaining our parent’s version of the “American Dream” Lebron is choosing to take a sizable pay cut, share the spotlight and take the road less traveled to find happiness. That idea of sacrificing for “the greater good” I believe is something the guys on Wall Street as well as ‘oil rig with everything on it but hold the safety valve” BP could learn a thing or two from.

-Muses

As the summer begins to wind down, children scramble to finish their book reports, and teenagers to find just the right outfit for the first day of school, a young man’s fancy turns from beaches and bikinis into gridirons and goal posts, yes my friends football season is officially upon us….

As a college educated, non gambling, pescatarian, professional armchair quarterback, the thrill of a new season is never quite the same for any other sport as it is for football. The ultimate man’s sport  swoops in, steals the show, separates the weak from the strong, kicks ass takes names and then leaves with the grandest finale that is known to western civilization; The Super Bowl! So, on the day even the creator of all entities, chose to rest our gridiron warriors of all that is not estrogen, push through the pain, fatigue, and of all other obstacles to deliver their finest performance. And I can’t speak for us all but I will try to, when I say: it doesn’t matter what the win loss record is at the end of the day today BUT what matters is that your hometown heroes to give it their all.

True, we can’t all have, or be players the likes of Peyton Manning, Randy Moss or Adrian Peterson, but dammit we fans want you to leave it all out on the field! Sure my 9 to 5 job isn’t half as skill demanding or stressful as theirs, but how can I too, not feel as though I can take in the world watching 5’ nothing Patriot’s star receiver Wes Welker break the abominable defenseman Brian Ulacher’s tackle?

Carrying that into my reality I think; would Wes be petrified to deliver some speech his boss told him ‘could decide his future prospects at the company’?? Hell no! You can bet a white collar working Wes Welker would belly laugh, ask you to fetch him a coffee (black no milk no sugar obv), and throw his sports coat on the back of the confrence room’s $2000 executive chair and proceed to make himself a shoe-in for Junior Partner at his firm. That’s football spirit pumping through to you baby!!

That is why this straight edge, tree hugging, spooner (yes I’m comfortable enough to admit I’ve spooned, hold the salmon and pastel color clothes though) can’t help but stock up on finger food, throw things in disgust and anger and laugh like a mad scientist or scream at the T.V (hopefully stadium a couple times this year) from every kick off to final knee when the NFL is back on.