Imagine this:
A kid from Lafayette grows up and goes to school over in West Lafayette. Okay, so Lafayette isn't exactly West Lafayette, but it's close, and it's basically the same thing. Now imagine that kid is Rob Hummel. The same Hummel who is adored by the entire Purdue fan base. Now it's 2009 at a press conference before the Minnesota game. Hummel personally guarantees a championship this year. The of course, he gets hurt. Fast forward to next year. He's healthy now, and before school starts up again he decides to transfer to IU. He also announces this decision on national television and states that Purdue is small time and he wants to be on the national stage.
How would you react when he came back to Mackey to play against Purdue? A player that you loved and supported with your entire being. What would you feel? What would you do? Well if you're me then you'd want the Boilermakers to field a team of 5 Brian Cardinals and physically beat him down any time he tried to do anything.
Now of course, in this story West Lafayatte and Lafayette are played by Cleveland and Akron. Rob Hummel is played by LeBron James, and the 5 Brian Cardinals are played by 5 school girls dressed in Cleveland Cavalier uniforms. The girls who are too enamored with him to dare make him uncomfortable by delivering clean hard fouls every time he goes to the rack.
That's what Cleveland wanted. They didn't want to kill him (well maybe some did). They wanted to deliver a message. The fans did their part. They made him uncomfortable and let him know what they thought of his ESPN fiasco and his arrogance. The players on the floor rolled over and played dead. They didn't dare touch him. The very first points scored were on a Wade dunk where Anthony Parker was right behind him. He stood there and watched him dunk. What he should have done is clubbed him and made sure he earned the points on the stripe. For one night I wished the Cavs were the late 80's Detroit Pistons. Then the players would have made sure they were on the same page with the fans. Instead, while the fans poured out their feelings the Cavs players yucked it up with James in front of their own bench.
Where to now? The team will get blown up and the perpetual rebuilding will begin.
5 comments:
I agree that the whole "production" was horsesh!t. I wouldn't have been bothered so much by him leaving, if it were a true business decision like 99% of all other professional athletes and not a production. But the way he did it was just wrong, and I understand why the people in Cleveland were mad and I would be too, but at the same time regardless of what jersey he has on, he's still a hell of a player, let's not kid each other.
Most athletes love to play infront of their home"town" crowd. Most fans enjoy watching the guy from their hometown regardless of the team. But no Bron Bron... you ruined your welcome in your home city. I'm sorry I don't think you will ever be respected there again. -jeremyarm
There's no question about his talent. If he had Kobe Bryants fire then I really think LeBron could be the best ever. Instead, he'll settle for very very good.
I wholeheartedly agree. I had a good conversation about this with some people on campus today. Ultimately, there was nothing wrong with the decision to leave Cleveland, mainly because they had 7 years to get their roster together to get the right supporting cast for him. But exactly like it's already been said, the way he did it was just mind-numbing. I don't think he deserves respect in his hometown or anywhere else, to be honest.
He's good at basketball, sure. Arguably in the top 5 discussion for the modern game, even. But he's not even human the way he just kicked everyone to the curb like that. He could have done it about a dozen different ways that would have saved his respectability across the country. But instead he did it... that way.
Sorry, Bron Bron. You'll never have my respect again, and I'm not even a Cavs fan.
Nice parallel hypothetical story, Tim. For a second I actually thought you might have been talking about Scott Martin, except nobody ever liked him as much as Rob and we may never have the pleasure of whipping him or his team in Mackey since ND is so scared to play us.
Miss Lippy...the part of this story I don't like is when Robbie Hummel transfers to IU. You go out and find that damn dog!
-Billy Madison
Unfortunately for those of us who grew up watching the NBA of the 80's and 90's, the game is no longer like that. No more hated enemies. They are all pretty much buddies who don't want to piss each other off. He totally dissed his former teamates...yet there they are joking with him! Unbelievable!! Didn't the cavs players feel the venom flowing from the stadium??
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