Crossing Over

Much has been made lately of Lebron James, his free agency and possibly leaving Northeast Ohio now that the Cavs season is suddenly over. There's a bunch of X's and O's talk, but I think it is far simpler than that.

First off, there is not going to be any mention here of who the Cavs should hire, fire, or sign to possibly play with Lebron. Boring. Cavs owner Dan Gilbert will make big moves and do what is necessary. He has a lot on the line in this area with the Cavs, and the casino's. And money is no factor either. Everyone involved has hundreds of millions of dollars many times over. And are only going to get richer.

What this really comes down to is what's truly inside a 25 year old guy who is blessed with once in a lifetime basketball talent. I can't do many of the things Lebron can, but I've been in the world longer (almost twice as long) and so have most of you. That is something way special too. And in the grand scheme of things infinitely more valuable.

Many times it is natural for a young guy to want to live in a bigger city, take on new challenges, see new things and make new friends that run in different circles. And he may be feeling that, who knows? Tough to fight that sometimes. Under normal circumstances once a challenge is complete, new ones seem far more attractive. But these are not normal circumstances and this job is still undone.

I hear fans saying "too much weight on his shoulders" and the whole bit, and I respectfully disagree. You and I have weight on our shoulders living in the real world, with real world problems of which he knows nothing of. I wish my biggest worry on earth was winning an NBA Championship. Whether he likes it or not, he is a big part of our local economy. And that in many ways does become our problem. He brings people to downtown Akron and Cleveland businesses, and the suburbs. He puts us on National TV two times a week, brings wonderful charity events to Akron. All this makes us feel better about our area. That's not carrying weight. That's living a dream.

Truth be told in the current climate of the NBA his chances are just as good of winning a title here as any city. But it's going to be completely up to Lebron, totally out of any one persons hand.. It's simple, does he want to go down as the biggest sports hero in Northeast Ohio history or not? Does he want to be spoken in the same sentence as Jim Brown and Bob Feller when he's 50 or 60? Does he want his statue outside Quicken Loans Arena in the years ahead or not? The Cavs drafted him to resurrect the franchise, which he's done. And take us to a title which he hasn't. Reason being? Because it's hard. Plain and simple.

So many young people today are hungry and assertive. They can't wait to get out in the world to invent new things, start new businesses and make a difference. But there are also those less mature who leave tasks undone because they are too darn hard. Every year, only one city boasts an NBA Championship. The rest are just like us. We are no different than any other city in that regard and we need to grow up and accept that. Quit listening to ESPN's stories about how "tortured" we are as fans. We're not victims, and we need to quit crying about it. For every year there is but ONE champion in any sport.

But as we go forward as witnesses, what do we want to see? NBA players performing little skits, plays and dancing before and during meaningless mid season games against the also -rans for the TV cameras? Or a grown up who knuckles down from opening night and gets the job done even when the competition is brutal and it's hard to do so. I don't remember Micheal Jordan dancing during games. And the only performing I remember from him was making the championship shot...virtually every time - against us. With all things in perspective, it's not our legacy Lebron would be solidifying....it would be his.

This has nothing really to do with sports, but more about being in he world a while and crossing over into real adulthood. Some things in life are hard. Finish what you start, especially when it's hard. Because it's the "hard"...that makes it great.