I recently joined a new, online forum. As one who runs roughshod through a number of different social media sites to promote my own, I’m always looking to share, but not necessarily impose, my opinions on others.
The new forum is kinda cool. It’s called Yabberz and it’s just like any other online venue where people can post their thoughts and ideas on a variety of different topics.
The problem I run into when joining said forums is that, as most of you knowledgeable sports fans already know, there are a bunch of nincompoops running around that have no idea what the fuck they’re talking about.
Take for example a gentleman who shall remain nameless yet deserves to be ridiculed not only for his lack of insight about all things basketball but for his improper use of punctuation, capitalization and grammar as well.
Within days of joining the forum, I’ve found said poster to have released such insightful comments as…
Lebron james in a close out game. 2-10 7 pts. Lebron will retire top 5 but he will never be jordan or magic
This comment came after Game Five which LeBron played on the road, in foul trouble for most of it, and a game in which his team still almost won. Perhaps our protagonist was only looking at the stat sheet. That’d be a shame for he missed a good contest.
Side note: if we’re putting LeBron at number three behind (j)ordan and (m)agic, I’d say that’s still pretty good company to be in.
Our forum-dweller went on…
As a heat fan it must be nice to have no competition. This is the weakest era of basketball since the late 1970’s
This last statement negates not only LeBron’s accomplishments (and Dwyane Wade’s) but also Kevin Durant’s and Tim Duncan’s. Last time I checked, those guys are pretty talented.
It also leads me to believe that if this person were old enough to be watching the NBA in the late 1970s, he should at least be educated enough not to make such ludicrous assessments about the current state of the game. I guess that’s what I get for assuming.
Oh, the internet and its forums can be so entertaining. It gives every tool with a keyboard and an opinion the opportunity to express a voice that should forever remain unheard.
As sports snobs, we need to do our part to ensure such ridiculousness doesn’t go unchecked. Join me in my crusade, won’t you? I promise it’ll make the world a better place.
Shit, I want to agree with this guy since I dislike Lebron so much…
But even I have to admit he’s been incredibly clutch over the last few years. Can’t really ask more from a player. But I still think he’s a self-absorbed douche.
He’ll never be Magic or Jordan? What about Bill Russel or Jerry West. I guess the NBA started in 1979…
Interesting article. Not that Im a basketball aficionado but it always rubs me the wrong way when a certain group of people (“knowledgeable” fans) start calling other people “nincompoops” because their opinions differ without so much as an explanation of why.
In a decade where James has set the bar , has there been any other player coming close to the standards he has now set ?
All good points, Craig.
One thing I’ve found about most basketball fans and LeBron is that they really don’t like the guy.
I can’t help but think that most of that resentment came out of the Decision because it seems to me most everyone liked him or at least rooted for him to succeed before that.
Maybe it also had to do with the Not Five, Not Six, Not Seven speech, as if he’s supposed to tell fans he thinks they’re not gonna do well.
Heck, Tim Duncan just said he thinks San Antonio will win this series and he didn’t get any flack for that.
We have a tendency to get too reactionary when it comes to the modern instead of putting things in their proper place in history.
I may or may not be guilty of that when I say LeBron is already a top ten player of all-time. But I’m pretty sure I could put forth a solid argument for that with the resume he’s already put together.
Thanks for chiming in.
Stu…
Pretty much thought I explained why.
That wasn’t clear enough?
Perhaps I’ll try harder next time.
Remember, the name of the piece and the series is “Sports Snobbery” for a reason.
That would be a negative, Al.
Well, maybe Tim Duncan and perhaps Dwyane Wade.
Durant’s done well but he still only has one Finals appearance.
I am loving the Finals we’re about to witness.
To bad we have to wait til Thursday to see Game One.
Wade is no longer the player he was six or even seven years ago . Duncan has aged like a fine wine and there is no better player in the league , who thinks the game and makes it look so easily from a cerebral standpoint. He is simply the best power forward in NBA history , bar none !
Is ” Mary Jane ” now legal in Minnesota ? Because I would like to know what Timberwolves’ executive Flip Saunders is on , when he states that Kevin Love will remain a T’wolves’ player for the next five to ten years .
Love is wasting his time on a team that is uncompetitive and clearly not good enough to win its division , much less make the NBA postseason .
I’ll wait until Thursday ! I have too much do with this “honey to do list ” . The other half has me working on her vehicle and my compensation is not even a ” piece of t-n-a “ ? Go figure . LOL,LOL,LOL !!!
Lovie Smith seems to created a good rapport with the Buccaneer players . Let’s hope it bodes well for the pre and regular season for the team .
Don’t hold your breath waiting for that Mayweather Pacquiao fight to happen anytime soon .
There’s more chance of Justin Bieber throwin’ down with Lil’ Wayne , than that said to be much anticipated bout between the two multiple world champions .
Wade may not be the same player he once was, Al, but that doesn’t change his career accomplishments.
Besides, he’s looked pretty in the playoffs so far.
If Saunders wants to keep Love in Minnesota, he better surround him with talent. Otherwise there will be a number of more appealing offers out there for the big man.
Lovie Smith in well on his way to creating a new culture here in the bay area, Al, we know that and oh, I stopped holding my breath waiting for that Pacquiao-Mayweather fight a long time ago.
We all did.
Wade had three really good years in lead up to the Heat’s first title , but as the injuries hampered his career and too much sex with Gabrielle Union (pardon the pun there ) but I’d also be laying the hammer to Union , you could see the gradual decline in his game . He is now playing second fiddle to LeBron .
If the Spurs get out to a fast start , then they could make things very difficult for the Heat .
Pacquiao and Mayweather as a bout no longer interests any boxing fan .
Buccaneers really do need to start the regular season off right and win in that first game is imperative , as it can set the tone for the rest of the season .
I find that engaging morons about sports topics is just as rewarding as debating with them about politics.
I was a legit LeHater when the whole Kobe vs LeBron thing was going…I also didn’t dig how the whole Decision things went down…But LeBron has become the best player in the NBA bar none since taking his talents to Sowf Beech.
I can’t blame him for leaving Cleveland, but he shouldn’t have said anything…like they were the front runners to keep him, knowing full well they weren’t. And the whole spectacle in Miami declaring 7, 8, 9 titles and all….But whatever…What’s done is done. Since then, all he’s done is gone to 4 straight Finals, assert that HE, not Wade is the leader of that team, and become the closer that he wasn’t in Cleveland.
The guy is an absolute monster.
I agree with Mark Jackson…LeBron has now surpassed Larry Bird as the best SF of all time. Bird was a better shooter, but LBJ passes like Magic, takes over games like Jordan and has the physique of and posts like Karl Malone. What more could you want? (Except for him to opt out and join the Lakers)
As for the sports snobs, remember that “fan” is short for fanatic…And most sports fans are loyalists who refuse to hear logic, stats or reason when it comes to their team or preconcieved notions of players on other teams. You’re pissing in the wind 99% of the time.
Some are just trolls, some are haters, some are there simply to push buttons for a laugh or whatever. You gotta approach it like Jack Nicholson in As Good As It Gets…Take away reason and accountability.
Al…
Wade is averaging 19-4-4 and shooting 52% so far in the playoffs. Those are pretty good numbers for a guy who’s supposed to limping around on one leg.
Alex…
By your statement, you wouldn’t be referring to you poor, disillusioned, Republican brother, would you?
ZING!
Bleed…
Take away reason and accountability and you have…. SportsChump.
I’m glad you brought up the Karl Malone comparison.
Although one player that never gets mentioned in the LeBron comparison is Clyde Drexler.
When it came to putting his nose down and getting to the basket without being stopped, Clyde was sick. Bron Bron does the same thing, he just finishes more like Malone ’cause he’s got those damn shoulders. Not that Clyde couldn’t finish.
He’s definitely a hybrid and a fun player to watch.
As Bill Simmons points out, he takes over games in his own way, doing whatever needs to be done, whether it’s scoring or creating opportunities for his teammates to score. That’s really the greatest and most underrated part of his game.
He allows the game to come to him, then figures out whatever way necessary to beat his opponent.
He’s going to be very difficult for San Antonio to come up with an answer for.
Has he (Wade) taken over a game during the postseason (this) at all ? That is what I want to see and not just a few stats thrown up for good measure .
What excuses can now be used for the Rays continued ,disarray ? Pitching or the ongoing silence of their bats (team avg ,243) ? Please do inform me ?
10 1/2 games out of first place this early in the season can either be seen as catastrophic or simply the Rays looking to lure their opponents into a false sense of security . Which is it in your opinion ?
NFL
If we build it , they will come , but what happens if we don’t ? Who gives a fu#k ?
Building blocks
NBA
Cap it with what ?
The ongoing stupidity within the Knicks’ organization and Phil Jackson was meant to bring in some sense of stability and management skills there ? Now he has been fined a paltry $25 ,0000 for a clear act of tampering by trying to persuade Derek Fisher to consider the Knicks’ vacant coaching position. Fisher is still under contract with the Thunder and at the team was still part of the playoff picture . So explain to me now what type of credibility Jackson now has beyond his coaching pedigree because, he has no frigging respect for the league’s rules whatsoever .
Wade doesn’t need to take over games, Al. All he has to do is be steady and productive, which he has been. I’m not quite sure how you can scoff at a 52% field goal percentage as if he’s not doing enough.
Take over a game? This isn’t a super hero movie. This is about the NBA Finals and the Heat’s efforts to threepeat and put their mark on history. It’s not about if someone thinks Wade isn’t doing enough because he isn’t scoring 40 a night.
The Rays? They’re just bad. There’s very little that impresses me about this team. It seems like they’re sitting and waiting around for a winning streak that might never come.
Not only that but David Price is driving down his market value.
Fined 25 grand to talk to Derek Fisher? Last time I checked, he’s still in the league as a player. We saw what happened with Jason Kidd this season and his growing pains.
I know D-Fish has been part of the Jackson system but the guy’s still sweating from the OKC-SAS series. Is he really the guy the Knicks are going to pin their future on?
Chris
Let me pose this question if LBJ were to get hurt in this series and perhaps miss two games at best do you see Dywane Wade picking up the slack and the ” go to guy ” on the team ? Just asking that’s all, because beyond momentary glimpses of Wade and a sporadic Bosh . It has been LBJ all postseason long , Consider that premise if you can or is thinking outside the box too difficult , because your’re still trying to convince yourself that the Rays can win ninety games (your suggested 90-95) ? At present they will be luck to even even win seventy , given their current pace . There you were suggesting that they could win 90 games with that pitching staff ?
Explain to me also , where you see Sternberg coming up with $25 million to break the Rays’ lease (expires 2027) at the Trop’ with the city of St Petersburg, when they can barely afford to bolster their roster in terms of higher salaries ? In a not quite parallel universe, if the Rays’ payroll were over $200 million they might be more competitive within the AL East as well baseball in general ? But then again, whoever said the organization had the wherewithal to get it right when they have done is simply be threadbare and you’re suggesting that they get out of their lease (legal action against them would be a catastrophic) by simply walking ? Do you see anyone doling out $25 million to assist the organization ? Not even their bankers are willing to do that .
You should write an article about how this is the strongest era in the NFL, in my lifetime. Last season, there were no bad NFL teams, unless Washington qualified as bad. Four NBA teams are superior to all the others, but the NFL has the problem with being filled with good teams, and only twelve can make it to the playoffs
Al…
So you’re asking me if I think that LeBron James got hurt, which he never does, but if they best player in the league got hurt, whether his team would suffer? You’re dealing an awful lot in the hypothetical these days.
I would dare to suggest that if LeBron got hurt, the Spurs would win the series. Heck, they might win it anyway with him healthy.
Re: the Rays, with every passing day, 2027 and the end of that contract gets closer and closer. I think this team will move here before the contract ends, I think all those involved will find some way to make that happen before they move anywhere else, meaning outside the bay area.
Greg…
Do you honestly believe that? That this is the glory days for the NFL, not popularity-wise but talent-wise?
I’ll agree with you that there’s far more parity in the NFL than there is in the NBA but for every Seahawks, Patriots and 49ers, there are always Jaguars, Raiders and Buccaneers.
Lord Stanley’s Cup up for grabs. Can’t wait for game 1 tonight.
What an epic run by LA…Makes the abysmal state of the Lakers a little more tolerable.
GO KINGS GO!!!
That was a close one last night, Bleed.
Ya’ know, for the Kings being such a huge favorite, as least in the public’s eye, Vegas wasn’t giving the Rangers that much of a huge number.
They were only +150 or so to win the series.
Hypothetical , Chris ? Last night’s game was that enough of a hint for you ? Who stepped to the plate fot the Heat ?
The Rays will move close the expiration of their lease ? LOL,LOL,LOL !!! And you truly believe that the city will let them out of their lease agreement ? If they can”t afford $25 million to break it now , what makes you think that Sternberg will still have the money closer to the appointed time ? Even with any type of prorated agrerment (will still have to pay the city of St Pete) he has proven that he doesn’t possess a head for business , while continuing to bi$ch and whine like a schoolgirl without a date for the prom !
Everyone has the right to freedom of speech, but man, when it comes to sports, there are thousands of people that I wish didn’t have that right. Unfortunately, people abuse that right and just become ignorant, or threaten and talk down to others. It’s a shame, but that’s the world we live in, unfortunately. LeBron brings a lot of this out of people, too… and sadly, he brought a lot of it on himself, and not just because of ‘ The Decision’, which was a long time ago, but because he has an opinion about everything. The media must love covering him, because you can almost always get an opinion out of him about everything – and every topic. If he uses “one game at a time” more, maybe he’ll keep some of the trolls away.
KP…
Interesting point about LeBron.
Did you hear Cowherd the other day talk about a poll suggesting that most of white America dislikes LeBron?
I’m not too sure what the guy needs to do to get back some well-deserved love but whatever he’s doing now ain’t workin.’
I am have said it many times on here that he needs to hire a great PR person. He is not liked by most and it is 100% his fault.
The problem, D, is that LeBron remains loyal to the people he grew up with. I believe a lot of his high school buddies are the ones in his corner.
Maverick Carter, I believe, is the mastermind behind The Decision. He and Mav go way back while long ago he probably should have dumped him for Goose.