Less Than a “Mess” Concerning LeBron
Written By: Craig | Category: Cleveland Cavaliers | Comments: 25
I am sure almost all of you saw Channel 19’s incessant promos over the weekend regarding their special report on LeBron James entitled “More than a Mess.” It was advertised constantly in station promos that it would air Monday night on the 11 o’clock news. I can honestly say that I do not watch the local news on TV. I maybe catch it four or five times per year. After seeing the promos for this “story” on LeBron, my B.S. detector was raging and I decided to tune in to check it out. I mean, I just had to know what a bad bad person LeBron is and how he should have “criminal charges” filed against him according to local residents. After all, Scott Taylor was reporting, so it just had to be bad, right? Wrong.
The dispute in the story was over some memorabilia that James was allegedly supposed to sign in exchange for being allowed to film segments of the movie “More Than a Game” in his old apartment in Akron. Apparently, the memorabilia was given to James to sign and was misplaced or not delivered, or something to the dissatisfaction of the women interviewed last night on TV. Of course they pulled out typical quotes like, “How am I going to explain this to my child?” Because if we disappoint children, that is certainly the lowest of all lows. Picture LeBron walking down the street swiping candy from a baby.
Look, LeBron is not perfect. I don’t think he is anywhere near beyond criticism. He is sometimes extremely cocky and egotistical. He sometimes refers to himself in the third person. His incessant complaining to referees and the way he acts hurt on the court annoys me sometimes. All that is counter-acted by a surprisingly mature attitude most of the time. LeBron is genuinely funny and seems to be one of the most caring teammates in the history of Cleveland sports. In addition, he is very active in giving back to the community. Far be it from me to decide whether LeBron is doing “enough,” but he truly seems to do a lot in comparison to other professional athletes, except maybe Josh Cribbs.
Those things don’t get him off the hook if he misled these two women, or failed to live up to his end of any deals he made. He should certainly have to do the things he says he is going to do. That being said, I am not sure that a dispute over some memorabilia that would ultimately be settled in small claims court deserves three days of ratings-grabbing promotion in order to drag the good name of one of the greatest athletes in Cleveland sports history through the mud. Simply titling this story “More than a Mess” is more than misleading. They could have just as easily called this story “Less than a Mess,” or “More than Mountains out of Molehills.”
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For more, check out Brian Windhorst’s take on all this. He has some first-hand knowledge of the situation.
Author: CraigLyndall
Craig Lyndall has been writing about all the Cleveland sports teams at WaitingForNextYear since September 2008. When he isn't, you can find him selling insurance or playing music. Follow WFNYCraig on Twitter.Craig Lyndall has written 338 articles for Waiting for Next Year.
Well said Craig – fair take on Lebron
The solution is pretty simple. 1.) Find Arbitron families and 2.) Get them to turn that crap off.
The thing is, I suspect, that local news ratings are largely tied to the programming on before it, since people just leave their TV tuned to that station rather than making a conscious choice. If that’s the case, only a handful of people under the age of 60 watch Live Action Channel 19 DeathNews anyway.
Nice write-up Craig. Somebody that has received the amount of adulation that LeBron has received his entire life could most definitely have turned out to be a horrible person. Like you said, I’ll take the Duncanesque complaining and 3rd person talk because they are far outweighed by the positives.
It’s local news. They know that no one under the age of 70 watches it. So, they need to create over-the-top promos and make stories out of nothing. It isn’t cool, but I don’t think Lebron lost any sleep over it.
These are the same groups (local news) who frequently tell you in promos that your children may be in grave danger if you don’t catch their special report at 11. Then you tune in to find out that children can be harmed if they stick forks in electrical sockets, so parents should be sure to cover unused sockets.
I live in California, so I didn’t see the promos, but local news is the same no matter where you live. Still, I appreciate you calling them out – it’s deserved.
I have exclusive footage of a Fox Programming meeting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0WHZ6qKR-E
In general, local news is unwatchable because it is an insult to your intelligence. Channel 19 News has the added attractions of being an insult to your morals, your sense of decency, and your stomach.
i didnt watch this…since it was ch 19 i was pretty sure it was going to be 100% bs….glad i was right
I have to believe that everyone in Cleveland knows Channel 19’s M.O. They’re the National Enquirer of local news.
If this attention grabbing headline of theirs didn’t get the ratings they wanted, it wouldnt surprise me to next learn from them that LeBron is actually one of Shawn Kemp’s kids.
Obviously those women need to bust OJ out of prison to go get back their memorabilia.
Hey 19 Action News, CLEAN UP!
/Scott Taylor’d
The report was crap. The icing on the “less than a cake” for me was Scott Taylor prancing around the Q before a game asking Lebron’s partner why he had e-mails that contradicted the story at hand. Put yourself in LBJ’s shoes. He obviously has the means to fix the situation. Now, if I’m Lebron and I see that the local media has given a voice to a couple of ladies from Akron that don’t want to disappoint their kids, I’m going to make it right. If I see Scott Taylor following my business partner around before a Cavs game being an inconsiderate jerk and questioning the man when its totally obvious to anyone with cognitive ability that he is in no position to answer questions at the moment, I’m probably going to get pissed off.
I hope the kids get their stuff, but I wish it came with three swift kicks to the groin. Two for the mothers, and one for Scott Taylor… preferably from Shaq. (Hes here to protect the King)
I know Lebron is probably upset about being called out by his local media, but this should be a lesson… if you think that hackjob “investigative” reporter from WOIO is a nosey pain in the backside, go to New York. Stay here man, Cleveland loves you.
Most likely someone else made the deal and he didn’t even know about it. Blame his handlers or the people associated with the movie, not Lebron himself.
Oh and Channel 19 is pretty much trash.
News team – ASSEMBLE!
I loved that report. Seriously. So, lets get this straight. This was all a plot by LeBron to dupe a couple of moms into giving LeBron their kids’ memorabilia so he could then keep them and never give them back?
THANKS SCOTT TAYLOR FOR BRINGING THIS HIDEOUS AND ABHORRENTLY EVIL PLOT TO LIGHT!!!!!!
As stated before, Channel 19 is a national joke in the broadcasting industry. Before you view any story they produce, you need to check what month it is; Nvember, February, May and July means that 19 (and any other station) is going to go out of its way to oversensationalize the absolute stupidest crap. Think about the Jerry Seinfeld evening news skit on SNL in the 90’s and you’ll get the idea.
Having worked a summer in the 19 Action Newsroom I can tell you that even the reporters and anchors (not counting the always-classy Sharon “You ever been in a street fight, b*tch?” Reed) don’t believe in the BS they put on the air, but they get a big stinky paycheck from Raycom to run what fits their trashy format. Believe it or not, Scott Taylor is a really cool guy… just not in front of a Channel 19 camera.
It’s November, that means sweeps. Time for local TV news to whore themselves out for the almighty ratings. Good to see Cleveland sports fans won’t be fooled by this garbage.
Like vsb said, there’s no possible way LeBron even had anything to do with this. I’d be very surprised if he was out negotiating location fees. lol
@13 Denny:
Did you mean “observe”?
/Isis’d
“He is sometimes extremely cocky and egotistical. ” hmmm – dare we say he is even ‘cavalier’? thank you, thank you very much!
According to the Windhorst article:
“According to a source close to James, when he was contacted about this story he had his personal staff send the family and building manager at SpringHill signed basketballs and signed jerseys to try and make up for the misunderstanding. Forget the sentimental value these items would have, their retail value on auction sites like eBay would be for more than $500. A source said they were sent registered mail and received last week.“
Tonight on Ch. 19 news – “On the prowl. An inside look at Cleveland’s Cougar Craze”. Need we say more about 19.
“Ladies and gentlemen, can I please have your attention. I’ve just been handed an urgent and horrifying news story. I need all of you, to stop what you’re doing and listen. Cannonball!”
-R. Burgandy
Colt McCoy had a hilarious clip they have been running on Austin Sportstalk this week….
he goes into a news conference where it was “leaked” he might announce his pro intentions…apparently, he got wind that it was what was expected….
Colt “Ladies and gentlemen, can I please have your attention. I need all of you, to stop what you’re doing and listen.”
he then pauses….
Colt “Cannonball!” and then he busts up laughing….
I’d like to give this extremely talented guy the benifit of the doubt to, but I can’t. I don’t know him persoanlly, but I know credible individuals who have had contact with him in the past. Let’s just say that their experiences left very bad tastes in their mouth. For instance a young mother of a 1 yr old in the Medina area was his waitress at an Ihop. He left her no tip after she provided him exceptional service. The kitchen even cut up his food for him per request. Another lady did voluntier work for a community event that he highlghted. She was so disgusted by the way he treated his fans that she refused to participate in further events inwhich he participated.
[...] Less Than a “Mess” Concerning LeBron — (Waiting For Next Year) Those things don’t get him off the hook if he misled these two women, or failed to live up to his end of any deals he made. He should certainly have to do the things he says he is going to do. That being said, I am not sure that a dispute over some memorabilia that would ultimately be settled in small claims court deserves three days of ratings-grabbing promotion in order to drag the good name of one of the greatest athletes in Cleveland sports history through the mud. Simply titling this story “More than a Mess” is more than misleading. They could have just as easily called this story “Less than a Mess,” or “More than Mountains out of Molehills.” [...]
I saw the promos, but missed the story, so I was looking for an explanation. Great summary, very well written and I agree with your take on LeBron. He has many great qualities, but sometimes you worry that his head is getting big…considering his young age and achievements that not surprising, but I do hope his maturity wins out and he has people around to keep him grounded.