After losing to the Chicago Bulls by one point, in a game that ended on what appeared to be a blown foul call by the refs, LeBron James led his Cleveland Cavaliers to a 100-91 victory over the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden.
On March 5, 2008, LeBron James lights up Madison Square garden with a spectacular showing, dropping 5o points, 8 rebounds, 10 assists and 4 steals.
A near jaw jolt to the face of Spike Lee.
Spike probably rubbed off the boo-boo, forgot about it, then moved on.
Wrong.
On February 4, 2009, LeBron James comes back to New York for the second time. But this time, he feels like putting on a show for everyone, including friends as Jay-Z, Beyonce, etc. LeBron dazzles the New York arena with 52 points, 9 rebounds, 11 assists, and 2 blocks, barely missing the last 50-point-triple double since Kareem.
Simply, as the NBA says, amazing.
Oh, and I think that this blow to Spike Lee’s jaw, probably left a couple bones broken.
So, with the Cavs heading into New York on Friday (11/6), will LeBron put on another show? Will Spike Lee be able to handle another blow? Will the Knicks be able to take another blow?
I think not.
In case you have not heard, George Kokinis was fired yesterday from his role as GM (General Mute) of the Cleveland Browns.
He had been on the job for less than a year and was reportedly at odds with head coach Eric Mangini as early as training camp. Rumors have since swirled that former Colts, Browns, and Giants GM Ernie Accorsi will be hired by Browns owner Randy Lerner soon.
We here at Midwest Sports Fans, however, are not so sure. Accorsi is a GM with a pretty successful track record and his hiring would almost seem to be too logical and sound a choice for the Browns.
So we put together top 10 list of candidates who – based on the Browns moribund history since being reinstated in 1999 -are probably more likely to be named General Manager than a former Super Bowl architect.
After two straight loses to the Boston Celtics (in Cleveland’s long awaited and much anticipated home opener), then suffering a loss on the road to the Toronto Raptors, nervous Cavs fans can finally breathe a sigh of relief!
In what has been dubbed the Cleveland “Season of Expectations,” the Cavaliers finally got their first win of the season. In an almost “must win” game (in the eyes of many fans), the Cavs beat the Toronto Raptors 104-87, and five Cleveland players scored in double digits.
Kobe Bryant jumps in the air, giving a sweet vision back in time to Jordan’s celebration after knocking down the buzzer-beater that put a dagger in the heart of Karl Malone and Jazz fans alike. Watching was a sea of blue and white disappointed fans.
Yes, the Lakers were 2009 NBA Champions as they finished off the Orlando Magic in 5 games. What an incredible season.
A season that included LeBron finally being able to crown himself the best in the 08-09 season with a much deserved MVP award. A season where Dwight Howard showed us REALLY how to play defense, as he stole the 08-09 season’s Defensive Player of the Year. A season where Dwyane Wade put on a show nearly every night in Miami.
Yes, the season was great even for Knicks, Jazz, Hornets and all NBA fans alike…because regardless of how your teams performed, the individual performances were spectacular.
But that season is over.
ProFootballinsight.net is proud to present the NBA Pick One Challenge, a fantasy basketball game where you compete by picking your favorite players daily and competing against the rest of the ProFootballinsight league.
Click here for How to Play.
The game is easy and interactive and Pro Football Insight will be giving out prizes to the top five teams at the end of the season.
The following tweet by our friend Scott from Waiting For Next Year perfectly summed up my thoughts regarding the Josh Cribbs trade rumors floating around right now:
As little underlying support there is, these Josh Cribbs rumors are not fun
He is exactly right.
Who knows how legitimate the Cribbs-to-Miami or Cribbs-to-whomever talk is, but there is nothing fun or exciting at all about the Browns’ clear fan favorite being mentioned in the same sentence as the word “trade.”
All the rumors about Cribbs got me to thinking: is he the second most untradable sports figure in Cleveland?
(I think we all know who the first is.)
The Cleveland Cavaliers traveled to North Carolina to beat the Bobcats, 102-96, in their second Preseason matchup. The game was not televised, but it was still evident by the loud applause that echoed threw the radio airwaves – the Shaq and LeBron Show was well received on the road.
Cavs Play-By-Play Announcer Fred McLeod, standing in for Joe Tait on WTAM 1100 AM, said that the near capacity crowd was a rarity for a Bobcat game.
Excitement rocked Quicken Loans Arena, as a nearly sold out crowd of Championship hungry fans came out to “Witness” the beginning of the Cavs XL (40th) Season.
None were disappointed, as they caught a preview of the new Cavs Opening, broadcast in High Definition on the Q-Tube Jumbatron. And fans danced and sang along as they listened to Jay Z’s “D.O.A. (Death Of Autotune)” Rap, which the Cavs adopted as their new 2009-2010 Theme Song.
Yesterday afternoon, I trudged home from the Browns Backers watching party that I always attend on Sundays, lamenting yet another Browns loss and our horrid 0-4 record.
I drowned my sorrows in afternoon and evening football, did some blogging and tweeting, and went to bed early with the knowledge that I’d wake up one day closer to the Browns’ next victory.
It appears that Braylon “Hands” Edwards has other, more public means of dealing with his frustration.
Hey basketball heads. I’m sure each and every one of you is salivating at the thought of the start of the 09-10 NBA season.
Nevermind the fact that this season may be one of the most anticipated in a LONG time. I mean come on, look at what is at stake; the whole 2010 free agent class.
Well anyways, maybe I can help some of your NBA addictions.
Well, here it is.
I believe that before season’s end, the Cavaliers will have a new power forward, with Zyrdunas Ilguaskas being the most likely to go.
As your average run of the mill sports blogger, I don’t ask for much. The accomodations provided by my mother’s basement are more than adequate. And while I’m still far from my 40th birthday, I see no reason why I wouldn’t enjoy kicking it down here for the next decade plus.
That still doesn’t mean I’m not grateful for an opportunity to step out the house once in a while though.
So when Nike’s media department offered me a ticket to attend the private screening of More Than a Game at the Akron Civic Theatre this past Thursday, along with media credentials to cover the Nike Tourstop on Friday, I was more than appreciative. Â
Nike’s people were beyond pleasant, and it was great meeting them. Dunktape hijackers they weren’t. However, there was a moment of the weekend that I wasn’t quite ready to step out of the basement for.  And it wasn’t writing my review of the Kris Bellman movie, or posting together my seven-post blogumentary on the Nike event Friday.Â
No, my Florida State moment came at the end of the day on Friday, when I stood there, wearing my media credentials around my neck, wondering if I really could go back and write about what it was the weekend left me thinking.      Â
Â
If I was an unbiased journalist, I would have written what I was thinking. Luckily I’m not that.  But if I had been, I would have been obligated to write about how I found no evidence, listening to and being around LeBron James for two days, to suggest that he is definitely going to re-up with Cleveland in 2010.Â
Â
I would have felt it only right to report the fact that LeBron repeatedly made the point that he represents Akron, and that he never said he reps Northeast Ohio, and he never said he reps Cleveland.Â
I would have also had to make mention in my article of the fact that LeBron spoke of the great friends he has made in the NBA, and how one of them was even with him during his Akron homecoming…Chris Paul. I wouldn’t, however, have been able to write about how he spoke glowingly of his current Cavalier teammates, and how they were his great friends too, because he never mentioned them either way.Â
I also wouldn’t have been able to write about what Shaq, Delonte, or Z said during the two day stop, because they weren’t there. If I was a reporter, and someone wrote into my editor and said Chris Paul was only there because he was a Nike guy too, I would have had to write back and said so is Mo Williams…you ever hear of Fog Raw?
I would have then had to close my piece by writing that LeBron never one time said, ‘I rep Akron, and I am so glad that I play for a team that is only 45 minutes north of Akron,’ because he never said anything remotely close to that.  Luckily for me, I’m not an unbiased journalist.
So since I won’t admit what the weekend left me thinking, I’ll just continue to be a biased blogger and focus on planning for the victory parade next June down Euclid Avenue.  What’s the use in worrying about the future anyways…its not like my mom’s gonna raise rent on the basement. Â
Besides that, this is a season that presents the best chance Cleveland has had to win a world championship in the last 40-plus years. And it might be the best chance to win one for the next 40 as well.  No, I’m not going to go there anymore, I’m just focused on the here and now, because this season could be one for the ages.Â
But if its not though, and he does…well, that’s another moment I’m just not ready for either.
(Images courtesy of Stepien Rules Head over to Stepien Rules to read Brendan’s excellent coverage of the event.)
**********
Brendan is a featured columnist at Midwest Sports Fans who also runs Stepien Rules, where they discuss everything you ever wanted to know about the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Brendan’s contributions to Midwest Sports Fans are sponsored by BigTimeGameBoards.com, the company that helps you tailgate like a champion with our high quality cornhole boards, sets and accessories. And if you don’t know what cornhole is, you aren’t a Midwesterner.
When word broke that there was a video of Lebron James getting dunked on, the public wanted to see it. Instead of that happening Nike took the tape, and it wasn’t seen until Wednesday.
The dunk was shot off of a cell phone during Lebron’s summer camp. I watched it, and all I could say was “That was it?” I watched it again and again, but it still didn’t hit why Nike confiscated that tape. The dunk wasn’t even that bad. It’s unknown whether it was the business’s idea or Lebron’s to confiscate the tape. It wasn’t even that worth it. People would not have thought less of James. Everyone gets dunked on, so just because the ‘next coming’ gets dunked on everyone is going to like him less? Just stupid.
They had me thinking it was going to be like a slamball throw down where James just totally gets it handed to him, but it wasn’t even like that at all. I think the everyone overreacted about this video. Most people will watch it and forget about it.
In other non-basketball news: Mark Buehrle threw a perfect game. I am sure all of you know about this even before you read this, but I would just like to congratulate him on such a great baseball achievement. He now has 2 no-hitters and a perfect game under his belt. That is way more than most major league pitchers can say. I agree with Jerod that Buehrle is a very underrated player. He usually flies under the radar. Buehrle is having a great year, and hope he has many great years later in is career.
In our post from earlier today regarding TMZ snatching the never-before-seen video of Jordan Crawford dunking on LeBron James, I linked out to Deadspin’s account of how multiple media outlets were given the chance to buy the footage. Daulerio estimated that TMZ paid somewhere between $10K and $50K for the video.
And if you watched the TMZ video, you realized two things:
The purpose of me posting this is not even really related to the Dunktapegate story itself. Â Now that the video is out, the story is pretty much dead save for the slight tarnish it leaves on LeBron’s rep and increased profile of Jordan Crawford. My purpose in posting is that I find it both surprising and interesting that TMZ made such a big deal out of having the “only” video, and apparently paid so much for it, when the video was out there.
The video at Ebaumnation was just posted today. Â Did they simply wait until TMZ started promoting their own video to build the impulse for it? Â Were they waiting in the weeds strategically to make a bigger splash after the initial disappointment of the grainy, hard-to-see TMZ video? Â Or is this is all just a big meaningless coincidence that simply gives us bloggers something to talk about on a slow sports afternoon?
Who knows, and at the end of the day, I guess, who cares. Â Readers may not find this angle all that interesting, but I’m sure my fellow bloggers will. Â If anyone knows the backstory, or finds it online, please step up in the comments.
Have a great evening everyone.
NFL tickets are always hot, and with the Super Bowl looming, you'll be looking for Philly Eagles playoff tickets to go along with Panthers playoff tickets (or even Titans tickets). No matter who your team is, you'll want the best tickets, so get them from GoTickets!
Best of Midwest sports betting websites here, along with online casinos and games.
Find superb free sports betting information, including reviews on sportsbooks, vegas odds for sports betting, and NFL super bowl odds at NSAwins.com!
Free expert NFL picks, NBA picks and MLB picks. ATS Consultants' top-ranked handicappers make all selections using the most up to date NBA lines, NFL lines, and MLB lines.
