Analytics Is King

There's no reason to rehash the events of July 8th, 2010. In the minds and hearts of Clevelanders that day will forever carry great significance as our native son ditched us on national television for the glitz and glamor of South Beach. He decided that the opportunity to try and win multiple championships with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh was something he couldn't pass up. The challenge of being THE leader of your hometown franchise was clearly something that had weighed on him over the last seven years. Being THE man isn't for everyone. There's a reason guys like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Bill Russell are considered greats -- because there just isn't many of them.

It's difficult for us Clevelanders to stomach the move from the "King" because he was one of our own. We THOUGHT he was the guy who would bring us sports glory for the first time since the 1960's. We obviously thought wrong. It's because of that, and the manner in which he delivered the news, that has us so upset. 

The point of this post isn't to necessarily criticize LeBron James (though I imagine that'll be a popular pastime for quite a long time) for the decision he made. I, like him, would be interested in chasing the titles. That said, I'd want to be the leader on the team chasing the titles rather then a follower. No, the point of this post is to challenge all of those who consider Cleveland's reaction to be a gross overreaction. "There's obviously more to life than winning and losing in sports," they tell us. "My happiness isn't dictated by whether or not my local sports team wins, or my favorite athlete performs well," they argue.

Guess what? I'm happy for you. But that's just not how it is for millions of Americans. Most of us live and die with our sports. How many of us grew up watching sports on television with a father/grandfather and can recall those stories even today? *Raises Hand* How many of us cried as kids when our favorite teams lost in a crucial game? *Raises Hand* In 1992, I was a huge Kentucky basketball fan (don't hold that against me). When Christian Laetner hit this unbelievable shot to beat Kentucky in the 1992 regional final, I cried. Why? Because I wanted the people I looked up to then to succeed. When they didn't, that was devastating to me. 

Think about baseball... how often have you heard those stories of our fathers fathers sitting around the radio trying to catch what's happening with Babe Ruth, or Joe DiMaggio? *Raises hand* How often on television do you see families together at baseball games? Quite often, right? It's something we do to spend time together because thats the way its been for more than 100 years. 

Think about college football or the NFL. We all look forward to Labor Day weekend because we get some much needed time off. Why else? Because that's typically the start of college football season. Living in Austin now I can tell you the start of college football is a HUGE deal around here. Not just for the money it generates for the city, but for the sense of comradery it creates with our fellow man (or woman). Similar story with the NFL. How often do you get together with the buddies on a Sunday during the fall to watch your favorite team play? Quite often, right? Is that just to drink beer? Ok, maybe a band analogy. But seriously, you get together to watch so you can check out your favorite team, but also spend time with friends. 

Sports, like it or not, has become part of our culture. So when one of our favorite heroes turns out to be a goat it hurts us. That doesn't make us bad people. It doesn't mean that our priorities are out of whack. It just means were like most of society looking for something/someone to help us either make sense of the world or escape it for a few hours. 

There's more to life, and Cleveland, than Lebron James. There's more to life, and Cleveland, than sports. But if Lebron James' antics taught us anything on Thursday night it would be just how important sports really is to our society. And, to the chagrin of many it seems, that isn't going to be changing anytime soon. For that, consider me VERY grateful. 

GO BROWNS!

Because I dont have a blog (yet), and Twitter is obviously not the appropriate medium, I wanted to take a second to rant about Lebron James -- most notably my Cleveland brethren's reaction(s) to how he's handled free agency. I'm guessing nobody will agree with me, but I have to get it out there in some sort of organized fashion. 

So...here we go. 

1. Apparently we've forgotten that the Cavs have had the best record over the last two seasons. Sure, we didn't win the championship and Lebron did not play well. Is he the reason we didn't win an NBA title? Partially. Is he the ONLY reason we didn't win the title? ABSOLUTELY not. If you believe he's the sole reason we haven't won a title already then I think you need to go back and watch a few more basketball games. 

2. Some in Cleveland are upset that we're "begging" Lebron James to stay. I get that. The last thing the city needs is the appearance that it's desperate to keep a player. And yes, the happiness of a city should not be dictated by sports/sports personality. Here's the reality though... With Lebron James' departure would come (at least) a decade long period of mediocrity and insignificance. It isn't as if we had a lot of winners between Price/Nance to the LBJ era. If you don't care about the NBA then you wont care about that. However, realize the amount of revenue Lebron James has generated for the city and what he means to small businesses in the area. If folks aren't coming down to the "Q," how do you suppose "Ma and Pa Restaurant" will stay in business? I'm not advocating begging, but understand the whole picture before you criticize those pleading with Lebron to stay in the city. 

3. In the end, my opinion is that this will be purely a basketball decision for Lebron. Because of that, he won't end up in New York playing for a franchise that's been irrelevant for a decade. If he doesn't stay in Cleveland (and I hope he does by the way), he'll end up in Miami or Chicago where there are greater chances to win than in Cleveland. The reality of the run the Cavaliers have tried to make is that they're now cap strapped with a roster full of aging players that nobody will want. Ironically, if he stays in Cleveland it will be for purely non-basketball reasons. Eh...

4. I feel like we've been here before with high profile Cleveland free agents. Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez coming to mind. When they left they left a huge gaping hole. Sure, the Indians had a couple of runs after those guys left but nothing close to prolonged success. In both of those cases, however, the differentiator was money. That wont be the case here, but their departures is illustrative of what happens to a mid-market team (total bullshit term basically trademarked by the Indians front office) when a superstar departs. 

I could go on, but we'll know soon enough what LBJ decides to do. I hope he stays, for the record, but wont be shocked if he goes and wont blame him either. Remember - if you were put in the same position with your job what would you do? Would you turn down a great opp with similar monetary benefits for an opp that was clearly inferior? I don't think you would....

Thoughts?