A Faustian Bargain: To Pitch or Not to Pitch?
July 7, 2010Cleveland Sports Blog Night
July 7, 2010LeBron James showed up on time today for the final day of his Nike Skills Academy in Akron, Ohio. He was on the phone when he arrived (huge, I know) and did not talk to media or Cavaliers head coach Byron Scott who showed up midway through the session.Â
What We Think We Know:
Tomorrow’s “Decision” will take place in Greenwich, Connecticut per Newsday. Many want to point out that the suburb of New York City is approximately 35 miles from Madison Square Garden. Others want to point out that the location has no bearing on where James intends to play.
Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski wrote this morning that he was told it was between the Cavaliers and Miami Heat. CBS’ Ken Berger penned that some in Dwyane Wade’s camp feel that someone close to LeBron James leaked the Chris Bosh-to-Miami story to take the suspense away from their announcement. Heat beat writer Ira Winderman says that James has interest in Miami, but he would not consider them to be favorites.
Knicks beat writer Frank Isola continues to play the “sorry Knicks fans” card, but New York continues to have their name tossed out there by many different people (including NFL wide receiver Chad Ochocinco and NBA forward Jared Dudley). ESPN’s Ric Bucher recently tweeted a quote from an NBA executive stating “Who does a 1-hour special on how you just ripped the heart out of your hometown?” He also pegged the recent surge in Knick-based rumors on LRMR “creating suspense.”
More What We Know:
This is all crazy. Rumors, speculation, innuendo…when we all thought that it could not get any worse, it continues to bubble. Cavaliers fans are desperately looking for some glimmer of hope to cling to. Shares of MSG (Madison Square Garden and Knicks parent company) are trading at an extremely volatile level with twice as many contracts on an increase in current value as there are on the down side. Intrade (an online predictions market) is currently pricing the Cavaliers at 50 – meaning they are seen as having a 50 percent chance of re-signing James with the other teams splitting the balance. Yesterday, this price was 65 while it was at 15 on July 1 – a graphical representation of what this roller coaster has been for many of us.
Stay tuned.
Update 4:10p: SI.com’s Richard Deitsch says that the announcement will come within the first 10-15 minutes of tomorrow’s program; James’ team requested that Jim Gray be the interviewer.
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(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
76 Comments
Woj loves to bag on LeBron though. Gotta read him with a grain of salt (at least he doesn’t just randomly throw out rumors for fun though. gotta give him that)
u mean 47?
mgbode – did you even read it? i know about Woj, but that article seems pretty dead on in my opinion as well.
I hate Broussard as much as anybody…he is the human buzz kill. But I stand by my source. And I would rather be a stupidface and be wrong then right about this.
I will sure remember the day C.H.A.N.C.E. used his sources to confirm the story ahead of time.
48 is ‘notorious’ on my screen.
It’s C.H.A.C.E. Thanks.
Like I said, source is spot on. It is what it is.
@54 – oh, sorry. you are a MSU journalist major. we missed you 🙂
I love LBJ’s twitter account. 269,000 Followers but he isn’t following anyone. Kind of like this whole free agency game with him.
looks like I guessed correctly. do I get a cookie?
Guessed what? Not sure which comment you are referring to.
I’m a long time Knicks fan and….
I want Lebron to stay in Cleveland; partly because for the last 10 years they (Knicks) have been a sleazy low class organization and don’t deserve him, and partly because I’m a Buckeye and after the Browns, the 97 World Series, the 07 ALCS, Cleveland needs him.
Either way he’ll be Art Modell or Jim Brown.
Agree with Mike. And we have a damn solid team. You can’t tell me that Mo, Tawn, and JJ (with more minutes) wouldn’t put up great stats without Bron here. That’s Bosh to me – a stat only guy, who is the best scorer on a mediocre team. So to say that Bron would have more talent to work with in all these different cities is ridiculous to me.
Going into the playoffs this year I thought our roster ON PAPER was as good as any Cleveland team in any sport I’ve seen in my 35 years (except maybe late 90’s Tribe.) I still blame Brown for our collapse.. With Byron Scott in the fold now and possibly a strong roster move, we’re still going to have a great team.
LeBron’s in Miami meeting with Riley right now – so says Bucher…
@64 — @ricbucher has deleted that tweet.
meanwhile @chris_broussard reports lebron was playing softball in akron. http://twitter.com/Chris_Broussard/status/18005779682
so… there’s that.
hey what the hell… don’t his softball teammate have iphones??
If he goes to Miami, LeBron best not return to Akron for a real kong time. It won’t be good for his personal well being.
So.. Im in Columbus. Is there panic in the streets? If so, can I play?
It’s sports guys. Not some existential argument. I hate this all, because it’s making me hate something that’s supposed to just be for fun.
This is all comparable to when it looked like the Rockers were going to stay together then Shawn Michaels shockingly threw Marty Jannetty through the Barbershop window
I knew somebody would come at me with the “it’s just sports” thing. (Im sick it had to be you Denny)
Obviously I (we?) know that. And Ill speak for myself but I have a feeling a lot of people are like me when I say, sports are a big part of my life, which is why I read this site every day of my life. Sports effect my mood, they make my day, ruin my day, give me something to look forward to during the work week, give me something to do on my droid while I’m at work, etc. Right or wrong, thats the way it is, I can pretend it doesn’t matter, but it does, so why lie to myself. I know in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t matter THAT much. And Im so so thankful for my health, family, freinds, etc. But please stop telling me it’s “just sports” cause, I guess, to me. It’s more than “just sports.”
/steps off soapbox
//hugs denny
Looks like the only hope we have left is if he’s orchestrating this Miami story to build more drama for his ratings tonight.
If this all ends up being true, going on national TV and kicking your hometown team in the balls like this is one of the biggest “Richard” moves I have ever seen. If the guy wants to leave, fine…but would showing a modicum of class while doing it be too much to ask?
I agree with JK in regards to Denny’s comments. If it were just sports why is there a “more than player” campaign? You’d be fooling yourself if Lebron doesn’t transend sports for this community of NE Ohio. Athletically, Financially, or Economically.
Not sure why people think LeBron wouldn’t go on national tv and embarrass Cleveland by announcing that he’s leaving… this is the same guy who showed up at a Cleveland Indians playoff game against the Yankeess wearing a Yankee hat…. he cares about himself only.
@ JPS3 – Why is there a more than a player “campaign”? Because the Cavs made a video to emotionally appeal to LeBron during their sales pitch, and then released the thing to the public. That’s why.
@ JK – I like sports a lot too. I just like the NBA a lot less after dealing with this all. It’s a complete mess and I’m not going to invest emotionally in it all.
NBA has always played the ‘star’ angle. Well, the ‘star’ angle just played the NBA.
WFNY,
Please use your influence in the blogosphere to begin a campaign in the state of Ohio, and beyond, to donate (and match or exceed) the amount of money that, He-Who-Shall-Henceforth-Not-Be-Named (Lebron James), has donated to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.
There is no reason that he should be allowed to use his access to the media conglomerates of our nation to salve the pain of the sin he has committed against the good people of Ohio or to implicate the Boys and Girls Clubs of America in that same sin.
It would be just and right if those of us with the means donated to the same charity with an amount they can afford. Not one of us has the means that He-Who-Shall-Henceforth-Not-Be-Named has, but there are more of us. Our voices should be heard. The people who will continue to LIVE in Ohio should support the Boys and Girls Clubs of Ohio.
I will make the first contribution of $200.00.
WFNY, just tell me where to send it.
I urge all other WFNY posters to ask the same question of our moderators.