Time for some soul searching brought to us by King James, the Great Philanderer and the city of Akron, Ohio.
Let's start with the King.
On Monday, LeBron James returned to his hometown to voice confidence about playing the upcoming NBA season (he told the Associated Press he's "optimistic"), his excitement about the 2012 Olympics and how great it was to be back for his yearly event, re-named "Wheels For Education," which will equip 300 third-graders with tools for academic success.
That's all good.
But none of it changes the shame and failure lingering from his epic Finals collapse, the hate most Clevelanders still bear him and the warm feeling most everyone else gets from hoping he'll continue to struggle.
That's a fact, and it's a driving reason LeBron has seemed in a state of media hibernation since the Finals. For the kids (really) he emerged back into the spotlight Monday. Don't expect to see him under that harsh glare again until a Nike event or NBA game forces him there.
Still, for all the buzz of LeBron in the Rubber City, Akron had just gotten done hosting another world-class, utterly transcendent and seriously struggling superstar.
Twenty-four hours earlier, Tiger Woods had his final round at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. He finished 22 strokes back of Adam Scott, who just happened to have on his bag former Tiger friend, caddie and confidant Steve Williams.
This would be less than all good.
For starters, cue the bitter and sad words of that spurned caddie: "Honestly, that's the best week of my life. I've caddied for 33 years and 145 wins and that's the best win I've ever had," Williams said of Scott's win.
Moving past Williams' pathetic shots at his former friend, and the fact he seemed to be saying he reveled in Tiger's travails more than he had enjoyed winning multiple majors at his side, lurked this complicated truth: Despite the fact Tiger cheated on and humiliated his wife, and whereas LeBron simply left Cleveland without much grace, most folks would rather see Tiger return to glory than LeBron.
What the hell is going on here?
We have LeBron, who almost a full year after his self-absorbed Decision experienced the full force of nearly universal glee as he disintegrated night after night in the Finals. And we have Tiger Woods, who after serially cheating on his beautiful wife in ways too tawdry and numerous to document here, finds himself less reviled than rooted for.
One guy was a knucklehead who crossed some lines as it relates to sports. The other was an awful husband who crossed all the lines as it relates to marriage.
And yet we have LeBron facing the full fury of our judgment and schadenfreude and Tiger getting a good deal of whatever benefit comes with our hopes for his return and our sympathy for his struggles.
LeBron James was biking around Akron on Monday to raise money for children — harnessing the full weight of his relationship with State Farm and his still-formidable fame. And we can't stand him.
Let's start with the King.
On Monday, LeBron James returned to his hometown to voice confidence about playing the upcoming NBA season (he told the Associated Press he's "optimistic"), his excitement about the 2012 Olympics and how great it was to be back for his yearly event, re-named "Wheels For Education," which will equip 300 third-graders with tools for academic success.
That's all good.
But none of it changes the shame and failure lingering from his epic Finals collapse, the hate most Clevelanders still bear him and the warm feeling most everyone else gets from hoping he'll continue to struggle.
LeBron James
That's a fact, and it's a driving reason LeBron has seemed in a state of media hibernation since the Finals. For the kids (really) he emerged back into the spotlight Monday. Don't expect to see him under that harsh glare again until a Nike event or NBA game forces him there.
Still, for all the buzz of LeBron in the Rubber City, Akron had just gotten done hosting another world-class, utterly transcendent and seriously struggling superstar.
Twenty-four hours earlier, Tiger Woods had his final round at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. He finished 22 strokes back of Adam Scott, who just happened to have on his bag former Tiger friend, caddie and confidant Steve Williams.
This would be less than all good.
LeBron James
For starters, cue the bitter and sad words of that spurned caddie: "Honestly, that's the best week of my life. I've caddied for 33 years and 145 wins and that's the best win I've ever had," Williams said of Scott's win.
Moving past Williams' pathetic shots at his former friend, and the fact he seemed to be saying he reveled in Tiger's travails more than he had enjoyed winning multiple majors at his side, lurked this complicated truth: Despite the fact Tiger cheated on and humiliated his wife, and whereas LeBron simply left Cleveland without much grace, most folks would rather see Tiger return to glory than LeBron.
What the hell is going on here?
We have LeBron, who almost a full year after his self-absorbed Decision experienced the full force of nearly universal glee as he disintegrated night after night in the Finals. And we have Tiger Woods, who after serially cheating on his beautiful wife in ways too tawdry and numerous to document here, finds himself less reviled than rooted for.
LeBron James
And yet we have LeBron facing the full fury of our judgment and schadenfreude and Tiger getting a good deal of whatever benefit comes with our hopes for his return and our sympathy for his struggles.
LeBron James was biking around Akron on Monday to raise money for children — harnessing the full weight of his relationship with State Farm and his still-formidable fame. And we can't stand him.
No comments:
Post a Comment