Sports Frustration

I have been frustrated as a sports fan of late.  In case you are not sure why, let me recap.  First of all, my favorite sport has always been football.  However, I am quickly becoming disgusted with it.  There was the stupid labor disagreement last year, with billionaires and millionaires fighting over who got more of the gigantic pile of money on the table.  Then the Saints - a team that I had somewhat gotten behind in recent years - was shown to be a bunch of cheating cheap shot artists.  And overreaching all of that, there is the concussion fiasco which (in my opinion) has a legitimate shot at ending the existence of the sport for good within a few years.  [Just for fun, you should go read this exchange between Bill Simmons and Malcolm Gladwell, especially page two.  The whole thing is interesting.  But the section about concussion is nauseating.  My favorite part?  The illustration about how the hits kids get in Pop Warner football being the same as having your child sitting in the front seat without a seatbelt and getting in repeated 25 mph accidents.  Go sign them up!]

In addition to this, I have apparently developed a nasty tendency to pick team that fail to live up to their potential.  This is played out in just about every sport with my beloved UCF Knights.  Our football team last year does great, wins its first bowl game, and comes back largely intact.  They start off the year great and then proceed to drop faster into the toilet than ... never mind.  Then there was the basketball team, which raced out to a stunning record - even beating UConn at one point.  They too decided to stink it up, ending up missing the NCAA tournament and getting waxed in the NIT.  Then in baseball, they team was ranked in the Top 10 at one point.  They actually went into the final month of the season with a chance at hosting a regional bracket.  Then after unexplainable losses to mighty Presbyterian and Memphis they starting to list to the side.  Then they went into the final weekend with the chance to take the conference title away from Rice - who had won it for 19 years in a row.  Keep in mind, this series was AT HOME.  Choke.  Then they got into the regional in Miami and promptly won their first two games.  First seed Miami got booted immediately, which meant UCF had to lose two games to Stony Brook - which, as far as I know, is an apartment complex in Tampa.  Now, they had already beaten Stonyfield Farms once in the bracket.  And they lost two in a row by a combined score of 22-11.  Go Knights.

I have tried to get into hockey.  This year I was fervently watching the playoffs.  Thanks to NBC's excellent coverage, I was actually able to see my Nashville Predators for all of their games but one.  They finally vanquished their nemesis, the Detroit Red Wings.  They were one of the hottest teams in the NHL.  They had a top-notch goalie playing out of his mind.  And they were an outside pick to go on a run and make it to the Stanley Cup (like the Kings ultimately did).  So, naturally, they got destroyed by Phoenix and went home early.  My other fringe sport hasn't done well, either, with the US Men's Soccer team missing the Olympics all together.  Combine all that with the fact that I can't stand baseball, only caring enough to keep track of the Rays, and it spells sports disappointment.

Then there's basketball.  For years I have been a Magic fan.  That comes with living most of my adult life in or near Orlando.  Apparently, being a Magic fan means you will never experience sports joy.  You will be teased off an on.  You'll have ridiculous luck with the lottery.  You will see your team grow and strive and blossom.  They will draw you in and get you to care about them.  There will be one superstar and several other good players.  You'll get close, but never close enough.  And then your superstar will jerk you around and toy with your emotions.  He will claim to be loyal and sneak around trying to find ways to leave.  He finally will get so irritating you, as a fan, will find yourself pushing him out of town.  As he lands somewhere else and wins a bunch of titles that should have been yours, you will wonder what just happened.  You will spend the next few years watching an AAU team wearing Magic uniforms.  Then you'll win the lottery again and start the process all over.

I've been pretty ambivalent about basketball for a while.  This year, I literally did not watch a single NCAA tournament game.  I think that hasn't happened since I was a baby.  Somehow one of my brackets won in one of my groups.  How I managed that is beyond me.  I would watch the occasional NBA game, but I didn't follow it much.  I kept up with the Magic soap opera because the local media covered it with the ferocity of the Casey Anthony trial.  [Side Note - what is it with Florida and bizarre trials and news items?  Bush/Gore, Anthony, now Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman and the Miami Zombie.  There must be something in the water.]  I found myself watching the playoffs, though.  I would put my usual kiss of death on a team.  Once I started cheering for them, they would collapse.  Exhibit A: Orlando.  Exhibit B: San Antonio.  Now we are sitting here, waiting for the Finals to start.

As with most sports fans, I will probably watch some of the series.  But I honestly don't have any idea who to root for in this matchup.  Between Oklahoma City and Miami, you have just about everything wrong with professional sports on display.  The natural villain is Miami.  I detest the Heat.  First of all, they are in Miami.  To my sports mind, if a team plays in Miami, New York, LA, or Boston they automatically are the "bad guys."  I can't stand any of the teams from South Florida.  Maybe it is because I have unresolved issues with growing up down there, I don't know.  Miami has geography against it.  The second reason I hate the Heat is because they highlight one of the biggest problems with the NBA - the officiating.  More than in any other sport, the refs in basketball can hijack a game.  The officiating is deplorable in basketball.  There are two sets of standards - one for regular players and one for stars.  Things like travelling, fouls, technicals are called differently depending on the name on the shirt.  It works both ways, though.  Dwight Howard has to get hit with a steel chair before the ref blows the whistle; Kobe Bryant gets blown on and he goes to the line.  I hate it when there are two sets of rules.  It is like Ancient Rome in the NBA.  If you are a player of high status, you can get away with anything.

People will always say that I only say this because I hate the Heat.  No, I say this because it is true.  This has been part of that team's history for years.  When they beat Dallas a few years ago for the title, Danny Ocean wondered how they pulled off that heist.  Once LeBron and Bosh showed up, it only got worse.  The foul discrepancy in the Boston series was ridiculous.  Wade travels on every play.  He and James draw fouls on just about every play they want to - and by draw, I mean they draw up an IOU for the ref for $50 after the game.  It drives me nuts.

The biggest reason I hate the Heat is LeBron James.  I grew up in the day when a player stayed with his team forever.  You liked a player and a team and couldn't separate them.  That hardly happens any more.  Yet, James had the right to go play wherever he wants.  And so did Shaq and so does Dwight Howard.  But in sports there has always been this agreement between the fans and the players.  The players play their hearts out and do their best and are loyal, and we will keep paying the money and heaping on the love.  That has always been the way.  But that isn't good enough now.  These player movements are not about getting a better chance to start or even make more salary.  Shaq took less to play with the Lakers than Orlando.  LeBron took less to take his talents to South Beach.  Howard will make less anywhere else.  It isn't even about titles.  It is about these other cities give them more opportunities - to act, to get endorsements, to build their brand.  That is hard for me as a fan to stomach.  I always felt that the way Miami went about getting James, Bosh, and Wade smelled funny.  There is no way it was on the up and up.  I didn't like the way James left Cleveland.  And I don't like the way he plays.  To me, he isn't a player I can get behind.  I know that there are huge LeBron fans, especially in Florida.  But I am not one of them.  Ordinarily, that would be enough to swing me into Thunder Country.

BUT

Let's not forget how Oklahoma City landed their team.  If Miami is the poster child for how poorly players treat franchises and fan bases, then the Thunder are the poster child for how badly owners do.  Seattle was a franchise with a great history.  They had won the title.  They had been there several other times.  There was a rabid fan base.  This wasn't some city that didn't support the team.  But the owner say an opportunity.  He got the NBA leadership to back his play.  And he bailed on the city right when they team was about to explode.  They had just scored Kevin Durant in the draft and had started to stockpile talent.  There was hope for the future.  And then they were gone.

I remember when the Colts left Baltimore in the middle of the night in Mayflower trucks.  I remember when Baltimore returned the favors and stole the Browns from Cleveland and left them with some pathetic expansion team - and then promptly won a Super Bowl.  Owners go to their home city and say, "I am a billionaire.  But I am not going to build my own stadium (unless they are Jerry Jones).  I want YOU to pay for it.  I want YOU to give me tax breaks and special considerations.  I want YOU to market my team and support it.  I want YOU to put up posters and banners.  I want your citizens to cheer for us.  BUT, if you don't do that, I will take my team and move to some other city who will."  How is that right? Again, going back to that trust between fans and their teams.  I will cheer for you if you will stay here and put out a good product.  There have been times in the not too distant past where the Magic threatened to move if they didn't get their huge new Amway Center.  The Bucs threatened to leave (to Orlando) if Raymond James wasn't built.  The Jaguars still are threatening it.  It happens everywhere.  It just happened with the Minnesota Vikings.  Can you imagine the Vikings playing anywhere else but Minnesota?  But it almost happened.

So the Sonics bailed on their fans.  Well, the players didn't; the owner did.  And now Seattle is looking on at this series, knowing that this should have been their team to support.  The worst part is that the Thunder are such a fun team to like.  They at least present themselves and market themselves in the right way.  As Bill Simmons said in that article I mentioned, they are the Anti-Heat.  Kevin Durant is the Anti-LeBron.  But their ownership is the other side of what is wrong with sports.  Basically, you have all three things that make it hard to love basketball at play in this series.  You have horrible officials who ruin games.  You have players who have no loyalty.  And you have owners who are willing to do anything to earn a few extra dollars.  Sure, I'm old fashioned and expect too much out of sports personalities.  But I'm not the only fan out there who feels this way.  Instead of being the highlight of the season, it makes me not want to watch.  I'm kind of burned out on being frustrated by sports.

I'm Confused, LeBron

There is something about this whole LeBron James situation that I just don't get. I'm not talking about not LIKING it. There is that, too. I think that LeBron has proven himself a narcissistic drama queen with little or no regard for anyone but himself. But that is beside the point. Any moral umbrage that I could generate has probably already been plastered all over blogs and sports pages. I have a different set of values than LBJ - shoot, than most athletes. That is actually neither here or there. I'm not going to rip on his right to earn money or play wherever he wants. What I am saying is that the whole process just didn't even make sense.

Why would a player move teams? A better question - why would YOU switch jobs? There are only so many reasons why a person would leave a job.

1. Fired/Laid Off/Dismissed
2. Demoted/Promoted
3. More Chance for Advancement
4. Better Set of Duties
5. Better Situation for Family
6. More Prestigious Company
7. Better Co-Workers
8. More Money
9. Flat Out Hate Current Job

What other reasons are there? I would wager most other reasons are sub-points of these nine reasons. With an athlete, you can come up with their versions of those nine reasons, with one addition.

1. Cut/Released/Traded
2. Benched
3. Better Chance to Start
4. Better Set of Duties
5. Better Situation for Family
6. More Prestigious Team
7. Better Teammates
8. More Money
9. Better Chance for Titles
10. Hates Current Team

So, looking at those nine athletic reasons, why exactly did LeBron go to Miami?

CUT/RELEASED/TRADED: Uh, no. This was NOT the case.


BENCHED: Again, no. Not the case


BETTER CHANCE TO START: Um, LeBron was already starting.

BETTER SET OF DUTIES: You see this sometimes where a player was playing out of position on one team. Maybe he is actually a power forward and has been playing center. Or he really wants to be a Free Safety and has been playing Linebacker. So they switch teams to where they can actually play what they like playing. This does come into play a little bit with Bron Bron. Everyone likes saying he is the "Next Jordan." There are a million reasons why that is incorrect, starting with his half-butt performance in the playoffs this year (something Jordan didn't even do when he had the Bird Flu against the Jazz). He actually is the "Next Magic Johnson." Bill Simmons of ESPN has argued this case since James entered the league. He isn't a scorer as much as a play maker. With Cleveland, he was expected to do everything. Let's face it, who else was he going to have help him? Zombie Shaq? Boobie Gibson? (Of course, I don't want to dip too much into point seven.) So, finding a place where he can be a play maker would be attractive. Is that Miami? I'm not really sure. Yes, having Dwayne Wade there will help his assists numbers. But I really don't know if LeBron is going to be able to "do his thing" any better with the Heat than any other team? Not really, especially if he had dragged Bosh and Wade with him somewhere else. In fact, with Miami's lack of supporting players, you could argue James will have MORE on his shoulders than even in Cleveland.

BETTER SITUATION FOR FAMILY: This is one of the biggest reasons athletes do anything. "If I move to Seattle, I'll be closer to my thirteen kids and their mommas." I mean, even Pope Urban Meyer used the family reason before. LeBron has always made himself out to be about family. But this move has NOTHING to do with family. He is from Ohio. His family is from Ohio. And after viciously stabbing the Cavs in the back, he won't be welcome in Ohio. And his family will still be stuck there. This doesn't help his family at all. In fact, his family was left out of the decision making process entirely. They wanted him to stay. So, he can't play this card.

MORE PRESTIGIOUS TEAM: The Cavs are NOT one of the NBA elite teams. They may be one with a better record, thanks to LBJ. But they are NOT a premiere team. Lakers, Celtics, Knicks. Those are the prestigious teams. You could argue that the Sixers, Bulls, Spurs are in a higher tier. You know who's not? The freaking Miami Heat. Yes, they won a title. Actually, they robbed the Mavericks of a title thanks to the shakiest officiating since Nick Patrick was working NWO matches. The Heat have arguably the WORST fans in the NBA. They can't even sell out playoff games. There were even Finals games they didn't sell out - with Shaq and Wade on the roster!!! If it was about joining a big time team, the Heat would have been riding the pine with the Clippers.

BETTER TEAMMATES: Here is where there is some validity. LeBron wanted to play with his friends. He wanted to spend the next few years playing with Wade and Bosh - and try to lure Chris Paul there in 2012. So, this could have been his reason. Except. He could have manufactured this at any of several locations. He could have brought Wade and Bosh to Chicago - or at least one of them. Same thing with the Clippers, the Knicks, the Nets. Shoot, he even could have made it happen by getting Bosh to go to the Cavs. So it wasn't necessary for him to go the Heat. What he basically did was go and start his own team in Miami - they are starting from scratch. He picked three people in the pick up game and said, "We'll fill the rest in with scrubs." The thing that is really puzzling is that the Cavs were a VERY tight team. They loved each other and joked around. They had fun together. LBJ loved Big Z. The team hung out off the court. It was one of the better chemistry teams out there. Was playing with a different set of players better? The biggest thing, though, is that the Cavs had a horrible supporting cast. It was pathetic. So he HAD to get help. The Cavs front office had never brought in help for him. They kept picking up pieces for a one year run. They never planned for the future. They were really incompetent. So, James needed better teammates. But, really he just picked two buddies. He has no clue what kind of help they are going to have. There is no money left - except for bare minimum stuff. Yes, it is an upgrade -- and it is a downgrade at the same time. Wouldn't he have been better off bringing one of his amigos to the Bulls, where there already were some great players (Rose, Noah) to accompany them?

MORE MONEY: See, this is a weird one. Actually, LeBron cost himself about $30 million by signing with the Heat. The Cavs could have given him an extra year and more money. So, by jumping ship, he actually cost himself money. Now, if the Heat had executed a sign and trade with the Cavs, then he could have gotten that bigger pay day. There were a few problems with that. First of all, the Heat have ONE PLAYER on their roster right now. So, they have nothing to give Cleveland. Second, the way that LBJ ran this whole process made sure that the Cavs will not do ANYTHING to help him out. If he was to blow both ACLs this weekend as his "Welcome to Miami" party this weekend, the Cavs would probably throw their own party. I know that people will talk about Florida's act of a state income tax, but that only saves him about $2 million per year, which does not add up to $30 million over five years. Miami is bigger than Cleveland, but it is not on par with L.A. or N.Y.C. He had opportunities in both of those other cities (Clippers, Knicks, Nets). As far as sponsorships and endorsements go, he had WAY more possibilities elsewhere. And that is not even taking into account the international exposure that the Russian Mafia owner of the Nets could have provided. It wasn't just money. [This was a similar thing with Shaq when he screwed over Orlando for the Lakers. He actually took less money there. But, in his case, being in Hollywood allowed him to make movies and albums. And punished us with Kazaam.]

BETTER CHANCE FOR TITLES: I know that people are throwing this around. There even are people saying he took the easy road to a title by joining forces with great players instead of playing them. I don't agree that he is any closer to a title in Miami than in Cleveland. Are they going to win this year? With the pathetic lineup they will have with those three guys? No. They may not even win their division. They play in the same division as the Magic and Hawks - two playoff teams last year. That is not a cake walk. So, what did they actually guarantee? They have no defense. They will have an impressive offense. Bosh is overrated. Wade and James can't cover everyone. And they'll have a pu pu platter of other players. I mean, they are still trying to go out and get a "shooter" like JJ Reddick. They don't even have a SHOOTER? What the heck are Wade and James? So they are missing a big powerful body to match up against people like Dwight Howard and Kendrick Perkins. They are missing a shooter. And they are missing their second and third strings. By 2012, they may be able to lure Chris Paul. What about this year or next year? If he really wanted to win titles, he should have gone to Chicago. If he and Bosh or he and Wade had gone there - even if he and Boozer had gone there - you could have signed them up for four titles easy. They already had a great team - with no need to gut it. It wasn't about titles. He has always said that was it - that was why he couldn't stay in Cleveland. But that is hogwash. The rings didn't matter. They probably will win one at some point - but that is not set in stone.

HATES CURRENT TEAM: Since you can't really say any of the other reasons are the real reason, you would have to wonder if this comes into play. But, really, is this even a possibility? There was nothing that made it seem like he hated Cleveland. He always seemed to be enjoying himself. He was a hometown boy. But, the way he played this whole thing out. It makes you sick. He knew where he was going from the beginning. He knew he wasn't coming back to Ohio. Why the act? And why the whole hour long self-absorbed special? He ripped the heart out of the entire fan base on national television. Again, referencing Bill Simmons, it was like when Hulk Hogan joined the NWO. It was wrong on so many levels. Usually that level of viciousness is reserved for revenge against a team who had hurt you or wronged you. But, there was no evidence of that.

So, why? What was the point? If he had wanted to create his own empire, he could have done that anywhere. If he had wanted to build his "brand," the Nets were actually the best option. If he had wanted to build his legacy, he should have stayed in Cleveland. If he wanted to win titles, he should have gone to Chicago. Instead, he went to the butthole of the NBA and set up shop. The only reason was that he wanted to. For some reason, he just wanted to go there. I don't understand why. I don't think anyone really does, except maybe LeBron himself. Nothing he did made sense. From his quitting in the playoffs to his self-imposed exile until free agency started to forcing teams to try to seduce him to the one hour show to the decision. It has made no sense. It has violated all logic. James actually hurt his image - becoming a villain to many sports fans. He gave tons of NBA fans a new team to loathe. [Trust me, the Heat just jumped the Celtics and Lakers for my least favorite team.] He gets to play in South Beach, hang out with his pals, make lots of money. That doesn't seem like a well-thought out plan. It sounds like a college kid picking a Spring Break locale.

State of Florida Sports: Florida is a Great Sports Town

After watching Tampa Bay's amazing run to - and pathetic performance in - the World Series, it really got me thinking about sports in Florida.  I have lived in Florida all my life.  And really, it is a great place to live if you are a sports lover.  But it is a little unique in the world of sports.  Most of the time, there are big cities that have teams and rabid fan bases.  Look at places like Boston, New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia.  They are known as "sports towns."  They have teams with histories and lots of very opinionated fans.  And in the mainstream sports media, they are respected more than the "casual" fans that populate other places - like Florida.  

The thing that you have to think about is that Florida is a new sports frontier.  The state itself has grown by leaps and bounds.  Did you realize that Florida is the 4th most populous state?  And it probably will pass New York before long.  In 1980 it was 7th.  In 1950 it was 20th.  In 1920 it was 32nd.  So, when teams like the Red Sox and Cubs were already developing curses, Florida was a nothing state.  I am 34 years old and Florida native.  I was born in West Palm Beach and lived there until I moved to Orlando for college.  With the exception of the Dolphins, every single Florida professional franchise began after I was born.

So think about that for just a minute.  I have three kids and am trying to get them interested in sports.  There is not a multi-generational rooting structure in place.  My dad cheered for the Celtics and Chicago Bears.  When I was kid, what did I have to pick from?  In the NFL there was Miami (which I hated) or Dallas (the big team at the time).  So I was a Cowboys fan.  In baseball, there were the Yankees and Dodgers - so I picked the Yankees.  In the NBA, well I started cheering for the Hawks because TBS showed their games.  And I was Georgia Bulldog fan because I lived on Georgia Avenue and they were big because of Herschel Walker.  Since I was a kid, here is what has happened on the Florida sports scene.

NFL

• Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Founded in 1976 - Six Division Championships - One Super Bowl
• Jacksonville Jaguars - Founded in 1995 - Two Division Championships - Two AFC Title games - Six playoff appearances
• Miami Dolphins - Two Super Bowl Losses

NBA 

• Orlando Magic - Founded in 1989 - Three Division Titles - One Finals Appearance
• Miami Heat - Founded in 1987 - Seven Division Titles - One NBA Title

MLB

• Florida Marlins - Founded in 1993 - Two World Series Championships
• Tampa Bay Rays - Founded in 1998 - One Division Title - One World Series Appearance

NHL 

• Tampa Bay Lightning - Founded in 1992 - Two Division Titles - One Stanley Cup
• Florida Panthers - Founded in 1993 - One Stanley Cup Appearance

NCAA (Since 1974)

• University of Florida - Eight SEC Football Championships, Two Football National Titles, Two Heisman Trophy Winners, Fourteen Basketball NCAA Tourney Appearances, Two Basketball National Titles, Five College World Series Baseball Appearances
• Florida State University - Twelve ACC Football Championships, Two Football National Titles, Two Heisman Trophy Winners, Four Basketball NCAA Tourney Appearances, Fourteen College World Series Baseball Appearances
• University of Miami - Nine Big East Football Championships, Five Football National Titles, Two Heisman Trophy Winners, Five Basketball NCAA Tourney Appearances, Twenty-three College World Series Baseball Appearances, Four Baseball Titles
• University of South Florida - Football team founded in 1997, Three Football Bowl berths, ranked as high as 2nd in polls
• University of Central Florida - Football went Division I in 1996, One Conference-USA title, two both berths, three NCAA basketball Tourney appearnaces
• Florida Atlantic University - Football team founded in 2001, One conference title, one bowl berth
• Florida International University - Football team founded in 2002

In addition, we host about 25% of Super Bowls thanks to Miami and Tampa being two of the best host sites.  The Orange Bowl in Miami hosts the BCS Championship every four years.  The Capitol One, Outback, Gator, and Florida Sports bowls bring top teams to the state every year.  The Daytona 500 and Pepsi 400 are in Daytona each year.  And the UF/UGA game is in Jacksonville every year.  

So, as you can see, there is a lot of sports development in Florida in the past thirty years.  The thing is, just about everyone here is from somewhere else.  So they cheer for the team from whence they came (Steelers, Red Sox, Oklahoma) and then they celebrate when Florida based teams do well.  Some would label this bandwagon-riding (something I will address in my next post).  But this also is because there is not a lot of passion for Florida-based teams - for the most part.  People around the country don't have a lot of connections to Florida teams.  And Florida residents are kind of just happy that their state is doing well. [This of course does not apply to UF/FSU or FSU/UM rivalries.]  It is like the whole state is a sports town.  If you talk about Cleveland's or Philly's title droughts (well, not Philly now), that means that the city hasn't had a winner in decades.  But in Florida we are like, "Yeah but Miami won a few years ago and Tampa won."  There are HUGE differences between regions in Florida.  But not as much of a difference when it comes to sports.  There is a "all for one, one for all" mentality in most people.  I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing.