The Burrow

He has been a media sensation since junior high.  He went straight from high school to the NBA.  He's big and he's talented and he's a lightning rod for whatever you think about professional sports. Upset about college players who are "one and done"?  How about a kid who's barely old enough to vote knocking bodies with grown men twice his age?  On the cover of Sports Illustrated at 16, bigger and stronger than anyone anywhere with the talent to back it up, he stayed at home and played for his Cleveland Cavaliers, under the tutelage of Mike Brown, coach and mentor.  factsource.com LeBron's wingspan was on a giant mural gracing downtown Cleveland, visible from the highway as you drove to town from the airport.  Cleveland was in love with their home town hero and he seemed to return the favor.  The city was no longer the mistake by the lake.   It was the home of King James. He had trouble finishing what he started.  He was never the clu...

The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Miami Heat in the National Basketball Association's championship series this week.  Dirk Novitzki's 7' self led the Mavs to victory, leaving LeBron James in his dust. If you're not into the sports posts that paragraph should give you all the information  you need.  Come back tomorrow for something entirely different, As for the rest of you, would you agree that what started out with sloppy and unimpressive performances transformed itself into a beautiful example of well-played team ball?  Dirk can't get the ball to drop?  No worries, Jet's got him covered.  The Mavericks' bench scored nearly as many points as did their starters; that is team ball. Jose Barea claims to be 6' tall, but if that's true I want his measuring tape and I want it now. When asked why he was successful his disarming reply made short people everywhere stand up and cheer: When I am dribbling I am close to the ground and those big guys they...

Maybe it's not "too easy for the Cavaliers this post-season". Maybe they are just that good. LeBron denies a basket, lopes down the court and stuffs it in for 2. Delonte West, faster than a speeding bullet and stuffs it. ***** I wrote that when Dick Stockton said it, about 2 minutes into the first quarter of the 4th game of the Eastern Conference semi-finals series. It was a "reminder post" - just there so that I'd remember to use it. I'd fix it up later. Then I went back to watch the game. And the Cavaliers were suddenly behind. And LeBron couldn't make a lay-up. And the Hawks were stealing the ball. And I knew that it was my fault. I'd jinxed it by writing it down. Anyone who's ever "had a team" knows what I'm talking about. Maybe you have your lucky shirt. Wearing that Frank Gore jersey focuses your energy, and Frank feels it. You know he does. Perhaps it's a towel you wring and un-wring and wring again dur...

I was watching a pick-up basketball game while doing my push-ups at the gym. 6 guys in their 20's, none of them particularly buff, all wearing shirts. So, I wondered, how do they know who their teammates are? Quickly recognizing the color of your side's jersey, looking for shirts or skins, these are pieces of information which I've always imagined to be critical while playing a team sport. Hmmmm. I was doing 4 sets of 15, so there was lots of time to watch. And as I watched, I realized that they didn't need to recognize their teammates. They weren't passing. They weren't playing defense, except against the ball. It was run-and-gun, look-at-me shooting. Not basketball. I've followed college basketball since the 1970's - it was either learn it or lose TBG to the NCAA for the semester. I came to love the flow and the pulse of the game. There were only 5 players to keep track of and I knew them not only by number but by their faces and their physi...

Watching the NBA playoffs is not my favorite way to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon. For TBG, though, watching LeBron lead Cleveland is just this side of heaven. (Heaven was watching Michael Jordan 6-peat.) It's hard to remember that LeBron is the same age as the Little Cuter. He's a big man playing a big man's game, and he's playing with authority. The high school phenom turned Rookie of the Year. The man who has all of Cleveland "Believe"-ing. A real reason (beyond fabulous greek restaurants) to live by the shores of Lake Erie. And yet, he's still so young. He's been drawing a paycheck since he was 18 years old. This wasn't a paycheck most high school grads receive - this was serious money. Whole organizations were devoted to his interests. Paul Silas was hired to nurture him. Nike paid him $90,000,000 to be a human hanger and a shoe model. And he was just a kid. Last summer, LeBron played for Mike Krzyzewski and Team USA. This season...