#6's Return?

[Walter White]

I can't believe any LeBron worshipper would defend his "right" to do the Decision, which without question was a PR disaster for him. It's like defending your kid's right to go out and play in traffic.

LeBron regrets that himself. It looked like he was regretting it half way through anyway.

 

[Jack Brickman]

LeBron regrets that himself. It looked like he was regretting it half way through anyway.

Yeah there was a moment near the start of The Decision that I turned to my friend and just said, "He's leaving." He was super nervous and uncomfortable. There would be no reason for either if he were returning to Cleveland.

Luckily, my friend and I were at a bar watching, so there was no shortage of alcohol.

 

[Jon]

There was no way he was leaving Cleveland without some measure of disdain, but he certainly could have tempered it had he left in an actual intelligent manner.

That wasn't going to happen... no matter how politely your hot girlfriend tells you she's dumping you for a hotter guy ... there's going to be an explosion of grief, hate, jealousy, regret, etc.

The only way to avoid that is to not think of a basketball player as "your hot girlfriend".

 

[Jon]

Seriously awful. It doesn't just come down to naming it. "The Betrayal", or "The Backstabbing", wouldn't have been options if he had just gone about his business and signed with Miami. Instead he had a live event announcing where he would sign. It's like he wanted the same BS that happens on national signing day with NCAA football. He knows the history of Cleveland sports, it was his choice. He didn't need to make it into a live event.

The most awaited moment ever in sports free-agency 2+ years in the making, and you didn't think it was going to be a live event?

You've got to be kidding.

Did you expect him to post the answer on his web page? Maybe text message Brian Windhorst?

It was going to be a huge event. His spin on it was selling it to ESPN and controlling the content.

Cleveland would have been just fine with the program if James had actually picked Cleveland ... but oh noooes ... it went against us. The Horror.

 

[Jack Brickman]

That wasn't going to happen... no matter how politely your hot girlfriend tells you she's dumping you for a hotter guy ... there's going to be an explosion of grief, hate, jealousy, regret, etc.

The only way to avoid that is to not think of a basketball player as "your hot girlfriend".

See, I disagree. There would have been some anger and resentment, sure, but nowhere near the amount that was created simply because of The Decision itself.

The most awaited moment ever in sports free-agency 2+ years in the making, and you didn't think it was going to be a live event?

You've got to be kidding.

Did you expect him to post the answer on his web page? Maybe text message Brian Windhorst?

It was going to be a huge event. His spin on it was selling it to ESPN and controlling the content.

Cleveland would have been just fine with the program if James had actually picked Cleveland ... but oh noooes ... it went against us. The Horror.

He should have done what every other major free agent has done and released a simple press release. It's not rocket science.

And for the record, I know plenty of Cavs fans who hated the idea of The Decision from the start. I was one of them. It was an egotistical strokefest and had no business being televised, particularly on a network that touts itself as a news channel.

 

[Jon]

See, I disagree. There would have been some anger and resentment, sure, but nowhere near the amount that was created simply because of The Decision itself.

I know, but you're wrong.

"The Decision" was just the speck of dust the hate needed to cling on to before the thunderstorm could begin in earnest.

 

[GreasySpread36]

You're right, Jon, LeBron had every right to make a jackass out of himself on national television. Far be it from us to stop him.

"The Decision" was just the speck of dust the hate needed to cling on to before the thunderstorm could begin in earnest.

LOL

 

[Jon]

You're right, Jon, LeBron had every right to make a jackass out of himself on national television. Far be it from us to stop him.

a) Feel free to point me to any posts you made declaring LeBron was about to make a jackass of himself on national TV from before the program aired.

b) Did you watch the show?

LeBron James TV show The Decision played to 7.3% of U.S. television homes, according to early ratings from ESPN, making the sit-down program in which he revealed his next NBA stop the network's top-rated non-NFL show of 2010.

The top three local markets were Cleveland (26.0 ); Columbus (14.2) and Miami (12.8). Chicago ranked sixth with a 10.7 and New York ranked seventh at 10.4.

It seems like a whole bunch of Clevelanders tuned in to watch James act like a jackass, disrespect their past, and take a dump on the city.

 

[-Akronite-]

a) Feel free to point me to any posts you made declaring LeBron was about to make a jackass of himself on national TV from before the program aired.

b) Did you watch the show?




It seems like a whole bunch of Clevelanders tuned in to watch James act like a jackass, disrespect their past, and take a dump on the city.

Everybody thought it was over the top beforehand, but figured he wouldn't dump his hometown on TV. Sorry that we cared enough to see what our star for the last 7 years was going to do.

I'm not gonna say much more on this subject because there are rules against personal attacks on this forum haha. But honestly, dude, I can only imagine you like playing the devil's advocate character because everything you say seems to just be an attempt to get under people's skin.

I'm not in charge of you, but I think it'd be great if you'd stop defending his actions and attacking fans as if Cleveland is at fault here. Ugh, you've been at it since 2010 for Christ's sake.

 

[Tlyons]

Maverick, is that you.

 

[Jack Brickman]

It seems like a whole bunch of Clevelanders tuned in to watch James act like a jackass, disrespect their past, and take a dump on the city.

You do realize that we didn't know his decision ahead of time, yes? I watched the show because, distasteful as it was, it had a huge outcome on the future of the Cavs, the Cavs being my favorite sports team.

Like most, I found the whole idea of The Decision exceedingly arrogant but, well, that's LeBron in a nutshell. We all knew he was an arrogant asshole. We just chose to ignore it because he was our arrogant asshole like most sports fans do with whoever is a douche on their team.

I also assumed he'd have the good sense not to shit on Cleveland on national television given our history.

 

[Scholar]

a) Feel free to point me to any posts you made declaring LeBron was about to make a jackass of himself on national TV from before the program aired.

b) Did you watch the show?

It seems like a whole bunch of Clevelanders tuned in to watch James act like a jackass, disrespect their past, and take a dump on the city.

Absolutely not. I sure as hell didn't watch the show. In fact, I have avoided every clip from it. I said it was a bad idea before it, and that it was a bad idea after. Whether or not I felt he was leaving is irrelevant to that question. You need to stop pigeon holing us for the sake of your own inventive argument.

Frankly, this nonsense you spew on this topic gets worse and worse with time. That made up silliness that they came up with "The Decision" because they were concerned it would be labelled something else is pretty far out there. You should be wearing a tin foil hat it is so ridiculous. Seems pretty clear that either James, or someone in his group thought it would be cute to use one of the catch phrases because they have no investment in being a fan of the local teams. It's along the same lines as thinking that having sponsors donate a portion of the advertising fees to charity would absolve all their sins.

The thing you keep ignoring in all your posts is the fact that the fallout outside of his home state would have been so so much less if he had handled this in a professional manner. Yep, he certainly would still have had some fall out in Northeastern Ohio. But, he would not have gotten any where near the hate that he has faced in all the other arenas in the league too. Remember, once upon a time he was often cheered as a visiting player in the opposition's arena, and that wasn't just in the arenas that thought me might move there either.

 

[Jon]

Everybody thought it was over the top beforehand, but figured he wouldn't dump his hometown on TV. Sorry that we cared enough to see what our star for the last 7 years was going to do.

So, just like I said ... it was going to be all cool as long as he said "Cleveland". Any other answer == H A T E.

I'm not in charge of you, but I think it'd be great if you'd stop defending his actions and attacking fans as if Cleveland is at fault here. Ugh, you've been at it since 2010 for Christ's sake.

What I'm doing is pointing out human nature - the fact you see it as some sort of attack is telling in it's own right. If the show was a bad thing, then it's a bad thing. Period. It shouldn't matter which city got the nod.

My view of this hasn't changed and it's not going to change. As always... if you don't like to hear this sort of thing, avoid the LeBron James thread.

 

[Jon]

Absolutely not.

I don't remember asking you, but ... good for you!

The thing you keep ignoring in all your posts is the fact that the fallout outside of his home state would have been so so much less if he had handled this in a professional manner.

I haven't ignored that at all, but if it wasn't "The Decision" then perhaps it would have been the "not 1, not 2" line from the next week. The media just needs something to sink their teeth in to get rolling ... all the while involving themselves, promoting the show, and gladly accepting the profits that came from the mad ratings, the hype, the controversy, and all the fall out.

The smartest thing LeBron did last year was to stop playing along with the media conception of him as "the bad guy". The smartest thing he did this year was to tease Clevelanders that he might return.

 

[Jon]

You do realize that we didn't know his decision ahead of time, yes? I watched the show because, distasteful as it was, it had a huge outcome on the future of the Cavs, the Cavs being my favorite sports team.

Oh, I had a pretty good idea how that was going to come out ...

Like most, I found the whole idea of The Decision exceedingly arrogant but, well, that's LeBron in a nutshell. We all knew he was an arrogant asshole. We just chose to ignore it because he was our arrogant asshole like most sports fans do with whoever is a douche on their team.

It made no difference to me how he announced his choice. If he started calling Cleveland a shit hole, then I might have taken issue.

I also assumed he'd have the good sense not to shit on Cleveland on national television given our history.

You had expectations for an arrogant asshole?

My only expectation was that he'd do what he said and go form a super team with his friends and pursue rings. I held out hope that our loyalty pitch would suck him back, but not much after that disaster in the playoffs and our inability to improve the team leading up to his decision.