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I've been fascinated by the LeBron story over the past two weeks, during the NBA Finals. I grew up with Larry, Magic and Michael in the NBA, and with Riggo and Rypien in the NFL, clearly all the antithesis (antithesi: plural(?)) of what we saw from LeBron. 50 Gut wouldn't have worked so well if Riggo had fumbled the ball, on purpose, every hand off. I have never seen a player desert any and all responsibility to have a hand in winning the game as I saw from LeBron.
Unbelievable.
That word is overused, but applicable here. Not sure I would have believed it, even if my dear old dad told me, had I not watched it myself.
Why was it so glaring though? We have seen athletes shrink before, haven't we?
Well, maybe. But not like that. The part of the equation that gets overlooked is Dirk Nowit-however-you-spell-his-name. Dirk showed up ready to win.
But was 1-12 from the field at halftime.
But he kept shooting.
He wanted the ball. Wanted the pressure. Wanted to win.
LeBron did not.
The contrast between the two makes the final result and final evaluation that much more glaring and obvious.
And it made me think of Clinton Portis, in '05 specifically. Portis carried the team into the playoffs that year. The whole rallying cry of "Five in a row or we don't go" was great, and I'm sure effective on some level. But Clinton took over down the stretch and provided the spark and rushing yards we needed.
It's been 5.5 years since he did that. Have we seen anything like it since? Do we have someone on the team that refuses to lose?
Hard to say, honestly. This team is relatively young. We've got a lot of uncertainty, and a lot of players in which we really don't know what we have. All of this should make for a truly fascinating training camp competition. We haven't had this much youth in a long, long time.
Refreshing, isn't it?
I for one, am looking forward to these fools realizing how much money they have already, both sides stop being greedy, and settle their differences so we can get back to what should be an incredibly fun time of year. Training Camp SHOULD be a month away at this point. The NBA Finals are over, NHL will be over tomorrow night, MLB is in the first third of a ridiculously long, increasingly irrelevant season, I want football!
I'm encouraged by our drafting, I want to see these guys start to develop. Dirk was the 9th pick overall, which means leadership doesn't have to come from the very top draft picks. Dirk spent his entire career being told the European style of basketball could never be successful in the NBA. He played with a chip the size of Germany on his shoulder.
You think maybe Hankerson has a chip about being drafted in the 4th round?
You think Kerrigan likes being referred to as a "soild pick" and not a potential star?
Come to think of it, you think maybe Kyle Shanahan is tired of hearing about his unreasonable demands on McNabb?
Or maybe his dad is sick of hearing about how this job is going to tarnish his legacy because he doesn't have it anymore?
Here's hoping they all have chips! Here's hoping they are all hungry!
If they have that desire that Dirk had and that Lebron was missing, the Redskins could surprise a few folks.
Unbelievable.
That word is overused, but applicable here. Not sure I would have believed it, even if my dear old dad told me, had I not watched it myself.
Why was it so glaring though? We have seen athletes shrink before, haven't we?
Well, maybe. But not like that. The part of the equation that gets overlooked is Dirk Nowit-however-you-spell-his-name. Dirk showed up ready to win.
But was 1-12 from the field at halftime.
But he kept shooting.
He wanted the ball. Wanted the pressure. Wanted to win.
LeBron did not.
The contrast between the two makes the final result and final evaluation that much more glaring and obvious.
And it made me think of Clinton Portis, in '05 specifically. Portis carried the team into the playoffs that year. The whole rallying cry of "Five in a row or we don't go" was great, and I'm sure effective on some level. But Clinton took over down the stretch and provided the spark and rushing yards we needed.
It's been 5.5 years since he did that. Have we seen anything like it since? Do we have someone on the team that refuses to lose?
Hard to say, honestly. This team is relatively young. We've got a lot of uncertainty, and a lot of players in which we really don't know what we have. All of this should make for a truly fascinating training camp competition. We haven't had this much youth in a long, long time.
Refreshing, isn't it?
I for one, am looking forward to these fools realizing how much money they have already, both sides stop being greedy, and settle their differences so we can get back to what should be an incredibly fun time of year. Training Camp SHOULD be a month away at this point. The NBA Finals are over, NHL will be over tomorrow night, MLB is in the first third of a ridiculously long, increasingly irrelevant season, I want football!
I'm encouraged by our drafting, I want to see these guys start to develop. Dirk was the 9th pick overall, which means leadership doesn't have to come from the very top draft picks. Dirk spent his entire career being told the European style of basketball could never be successful in the NBA. He played with a chip the size of Germany on his shoulder.
You think maybe Hankerson has a chip about being drafted in the 4th round?
You think Kerrigan likes being referred to as a "soild pick" and not a potential star?
Come to think of it, you think maybe Kyle Shanahan is tired of hearing about his unreasonable demands on McNabb?
Or maybe his dad is sick of hearing about how this job is going to tarnish his legacy because he doesn't have it anymore?
Here's hoping they all have chips! Here's hoping they are all hungry!
If they have that desire that Dirk had and that Lebron was missing, the Redskins could surprise a few folks.