LeBron better than Jordan? Hardly. Here's why King James will never be as great as "Air Jordan."

As the Dallas Mavericks put the finishing touches on last night's 112-103, taking a 3-2 lead in the best of seven series of the 2011 NBA Finals, a few things stood out to me.  First and foremost is that Dallas will not go away, and if they can keep up their hot shooting, there is a good possibility they can take at least one of the final two games in Miami, thus becoming NBA champions.  Then there was the play of Miami without Dwayne Wade, a team that at times looked worse than last year's LeBron James led Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Boston Celtics. 

The story of the night, however, is that LeBron James is no Michael Jordan.  In fact, LeBron is not even in Michael's area code when it comes to basketball, and, despite what happens in the future, King James will never be as good as the one they dubbed "Air Jordan."

All pregame talk centered on whether LeBron would be able to bounce back from what was the worst playoff perfomance in his career. To his credit, he did notch his first triple double of the series.  Yet he couldn't help lift his team to the victory, and now he and his Miami teammates head home on the brink of elimination.

Lebron apologists will point to the fact that Miami was without D-Wade for a majority of the game.  During Michael's prime, however, had Scottie Pippen been hurt Michael would not have made excuses, he would have found a way to win without Scottie.

In addition, Michael Jordan may have also been unofficially known as "Mr. Clutch",  because when it came to the fourth quarter, and the game was on the line, Michael took over.  LeBron's recent struggles in the fourth quarter of playoff games are well documented, with one fan even posting this on twitter:

" RT @damienwoody: If u ask @KingJames for a dollar, he'll only give u 75 cents; he never gives you the fourth quarter."

There are other reasons, though, that James will never be in the same stratosphere as Jordan, even if the Heat end up winning this series(and possibly another four or five titles).  The first is that LeBron complains way too much.  It's become pretty pathetic, actually, to the point you almost expect him to cry 'foul' every time he misses a shot.  At least it seemed that way last Sunday while I was watching  game four at a friend's house.

Jordan never made excuses, he just won ball games.  And, if he ever talked any trash, he was always able to back it up.  Lebron hasn't even won one championship yet, and he's already looking ahead to the day when he has more titles than Michael.

And what if Lebron does bounce back and leads the Heat to the championship?  Or five? Or six? Or seven?  The answer is he'll still never be as good as Jordan, primarily because he thought it was too tough to win in Cleveland. So he decided to "take his talents to South Beach."   Why couldn't he persuade Wade and Bosh to join him in Cleveland? Oh, yeah, that's right, LeBron is much more marketable in Miami than he would have ever been in Cleveland.

Think Michael Jordan gave a rat's a-- about his marketability while he was on his way to winning six NBA Championships with the Bulls?

I rest my case.

Why Corruption In College Athletics Isn't Going Away Anytime Soon

The recent scandal at Ohio State involving players selling memorabilia for discounts on tattoos(among other things) has brought to light the greater debate about corruption across all college athletics.  And while it is true that higher profile schools such as Ohio State are more susceptible to violating the rules, it does not mean the smaller schools are exempt, either.

In fact, in an article in ESPN The Magazine dated May 30th, 2011, the magazine called 2010 the most scandalous year in college sports.  It goes on to say that even schools such as Boise State are being investigated...for women's tennis.

A natural reaction is to point the finger at the head coaches of these programs, who are called upon to educate and enfore the regulations that the NCAA create.  However, the scandal at the Ohio State begs an even bigger question. 

And while I am not going to argue that Jim Tressel was made out to be a scapegoat, I think that Boomer Esiason, former quarterback for the University of Maryland, Cincinnati Bengals, and the New York Jets, makes some interesting points in this video I am reprinting from Sports Illustrated(ironic that it's from SI, the same SI I trashed yesterday, but remember these are the opinions of Esiason alone, and not necessarily the editorial staff at SI):  http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/video/ncaaf_video/2011/06/03/060211.btm_boomer_selling.mov.SportsIllustrated/index.html

So maybe a change was necessary at the top of the Ohio State football program.  Does that mean the next coach will have better luck convincing his players to follow the rules?  Maybe.  Only time will tell.

Ohio State mess: A diehard fan's perspective

This probably has to be one of the hardest entries I'll ever have to write.  And not just because it seems that the bottom has fallen out on what was once the pride of Columbus, Ohio-the Ohio State Buckeyes football team.  No, there is a lot I feel I have to say--and I sincerely hope that this turns out to be one of my better editorials.

Before I start I want to make something perfectly clear for those of you who are regular followers of my blog.  A few weeks ago I made light of what Jim Tressel might have said to Gordon Gee to save his job in light of the alleged coverup of inkgate.   But at that time(May 16th) I  had no reason to believe he would be forced to give up his job, and I also thought that his error in judgment, while unfortunate--was nothing that he, the Ohio State University, and the football team couldn't put behind them.

Fast forward to today, June 2, 2011, three days after The Ohio State University announced that one Jim Tressel would be stepping down as head coach of its football program.   Ray Small's admission that he received deals on cars, etc. and Sports Illustrated's article on Jim Tressel(more on that in a bit), have sent tOSU into a tailspin that it might take years to recover from.

Annoucement of resignation and Immediate Reaction

It was Monday morning, and I was kicking back at my apartment, enjoying Memorial Day as best I could.  I was watching a little tv(I can't remember what was on, but I think I was tuned to TBS), and surfing the Internet.  Actually I think while I was watching tv I logged on to Facebook to see if anyone had commented on my wall. There were no new comments on my wall.  I then believe I went to the ESPN.com homepage to  check the latest news in the sports world.

Along the side bar of ESPN's homepage, I see the headline that Jim Tressel is set to resign as head coach of Ohio State. I quickly turn the channel from whatever I was watching to ESPN, and follow whatever news they have to say about this turn of events.  I reluctantly text my dad that Jim Tressel had resigned, that he was right.  At the time, however, I remember wishing my dad had been wrong.

As the day went on, I would receive texts from my younger brother Rocky about my thoughts on Urban Meyer as the next head coach of Ohio State.  I said I thought he would be a good fit because he could bring the recruits in, did not micromanage the game, and had an Ohio State connection.  That his tenure at Florida was marred by scandals as well did not really cross my mind.

I think, however, my biggest reaction was disbelief.  How could someone like Jim Tressel get himself involved in something like this?  I felt disappointed in him but also furious at the NCAA.  This is directly from my twitter account on that day :  @jargobright: "Tressel's resignation sobering, but a wake up call? NCAA needs rule change. Athletes should be allowed to have a part time job."

Later I would find the article on the new NCAA investigation on Terrelle Pryor.   Upset at the flamboyance Pryor has seemed to exhibit throughout(notice I said seemed, that is my perception of him) I sent my buddies an email saying I hope Terrelle Pryor never plays another down of football for the Buckeyes(the email itself was a little harsher than that, but I have cleaned it up in case impressionable young minds should read my blog).

I would take the news about Pryor to break a story about a potential qb controversy at tOSU on the website bleacherreport.com (you can read that article here )  I thought for sure this story would be placed on the front page of the website, but it would get buried in favor of articles about Tressel.

Then I found the article about Tressel on Sports Illustrated.com.  After boasting that it was responsible for breaking the story that caused Tressel to resign(I'll have more on that in a bit) I went on to read the list of coverups the man they call "The Senator" was to have purported.  I was in absolute shock.  I could not believe that not only would Ohio State have to vacate their 2010 season, including a Sugar Bowl win over Arkansas, but they might also have to forfeit the 2009 season, which includes a Rose Bowl victory over Oregon.

Dealing with criticism both from both within and outside of Buckeye Nation

I hadn't even finished reading the word "resignation" and I already knew I was going to have defend my position on tOSU, right or wrong. It comes with the territory. Especially when you're as rabid a fan of the Buckeyes as I am. Who also happens to write several different blogs(including this one).

In the aftermath of Tressel's resignation, I had gone to facebook and twitter to show my support for the fallen coach.   Sure he had some serious lapses in judgment, and this ultimately led to his downfall, but I refuse to believe that he broke the rules due to arrogance.

Of course, some of the people closest to me would disagree with that last statement.  To protect the innocent, I will leave their names out of this discussion. They would argue Tressel knew full well what he was doing, and he had the audacity to think he could pull a fast one on the NCAA.  I'm not sure Tressel was that devious, and I don't know if I will ever believe that.

Needless to say, I wondered if their comments to me in the past days and months meant they were truly glad OSU had gotten rid of Tressel(whose coaching philosophy they may not have agreed with anyway), or they were just trying to get a rise out of me, or both.  If the latter was the case, they had succeeded in getting a rise out of me, as I would not let this die.

As for those outside of the Buckeye Nation, I am not sure why I listened to them at all.  I read a couple of articles written by Michigan fans, one of which jokingly suggested that we hire Rich Rodiguez as our next coach.  I should have resisted the urge to respond to this, but I couldn't help myself.  The following is an excerpt of my comment, and the response to my comment:

Jarrod Argobright commented on 5 Reasons the Buckeyes Need to Hire Rich Rod

i didn't even need to read this drivel to know you were a michigan fan. its all good though, we still have the better athletes to...

3 days ago

Like Reply

• 2 replies – here are the latest…
• Oh-How-I-Hate ohio-state replied…
  Make that 1 less athlete Jarrod .... Report: Pryor under investigation (Read MSN today)
• Adam Hirshfield replied…
  I literally LOLed at this.

I knew Michigan fans were going to let us have it, but I could not resist.  I think part of it has to do with the fact there are Michigan fans who live in Columbus.   Not that they shouldn't be able to, but I really don't know any Buckeye fan who would willing move to Ann Arbor.  And still root for the Buckeyes while living up there.

In the end, however, I am glad that I haven't replaced my car stereo so I don't have to change the station to classic rock every time Mike and Mike in the morning want to talk about Tressel.

A Fallen Hero

My aunt Cheryl had said when the news first broke out about Tressel that she felt the worst for her nephew (also my cousin), Jonathan.  Jonathan had just learned that the man who was his hero, Jim Tressel, was not the man he thought he was.  And I think, I, too sort of looked up to coach Tressel as a role model.

To outsiders, Tressel was an easy man to hate.  He was the ultimate control freak, a man whose offense was as bland as the sweater vests he wore on the sidelines.  Critics argued he scheduled weak opponents, and that he could never beat any real competition (read: SEC).    They would further contend that his OSU squad would pad their win total over a "watered down" Big Ten Conference.  And, when the latest scandal broke, they would point to his book, "The Winners Manual", as more proof that not only was he a cheater but also a hypocrite.

But inside Columbus, Ohio, Tressel had been revered the way no one around these parts had since Woody Hayes.  Tressel apologists argued that he scheduled games against Ohio schools to give back to Ohio.  They also noted how much he gave back to the univeristy, and that he even taught a class at the university(one that I would have liked to attend had my work schedule permitted me).  They further went on to note everything he did for our fine men and women overseas.

All of that seems to have gone by the wayside with this latest scandal.  For many, they will only remember Tressel's tarnished legacy.  For myself, as well as others in Buckeye Nation, we will remember him as a good man who ultimately fell victim to a lapse in judgment.

Calling out Sports Illustrated

So if you haven't read it, Sports Illustrated.com first broke the news of the complete history of Tressel's trangressions. (Click here to read the full article, also reprinted in the June 6 magazine edition).  The mag even went as far as to claim this story even led to Tressel's resignation.

But was Sports Illustrated's article motivated purely by a search for the truth? Or were they motivated by something else?  Surely they want to sell magazines, but is it possible they also reveled in seeing the Ohio State football program collapse?  And did Robert Rose and Thaddeus Gibson voluntarily offer that they traded memorabilia for benefits, or did the magazine receive an anonymous tip?  And if the former is true, did you(SI) ask either Rose or Gibson why they chose to sell out a coach who treated them as if they were his sons?

I am calling on Sports Illustrated to respond to my claim of journalistic integrity.  I would love to see someone respond to my claim.  Heck, I'll be honest, I wrote this piece in part to see if they would even reprint it.  They don't even have to pay me for it, as long as they credit me for the article.

I don't expect SI to even respond to my allegations, but I'd love to hear your thoughts, pro or con.  And not just on SI.  On the article in general.

No Football League? No Problem

It’s now going on 70 plus days since the NFL and its owners locked out the players.  Accusations have been tossed at each side, along with the occasional news that progress is being made, even if all that progress amounts to is the two sides sitting down across from each other at the negotiating table.  Both sides claim that they understand the fan’s concerns, and they are committed to getting back to the business of football.

Well, to paraphrase a line from “Gone With the Wind” frankly, I don’t give a damn. 

To be sure I am a fan of pro football, my favorite team being the Cleveland Browns.  My love of pro football goes even further than that, as I have a tremendous respect for the skills of such players as Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Brian Urlacher, Adrian Peterson, Charles Woodson, and others bring to the game.  I have really enjoyed watching them entertain me.

If the lockout drags on into the regular season, however, you won’t find me whining that there is no football on Sunday.  As a matter of fact, I think college football would do well to be proactive and start moving some games to Sunday this fall.  Bottom line is that, I along with many other of my fellow football fans, will find something else to do with their time Sunday if there is no football.

I would hope that the players and the owners do not see this  as the rantings of a disgruntled fan.  Actually, I think the opposite is quite true.  I find this whole scenario to be quite hiarious, kind of like “The Longest Yard” meets “The Replacements.”   

On the one hand you have Manning,  Tom Brady, and Brees acting like Paul Crewe in “The Longest Yard”, fighting what they believe is the good fight.  Roger Goodell is the prison warden who wants Crewe to suffer for the fun of it.  And the owners are his prison guards, making sure that the players don’t run the asylum.

Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, and Tom Brady all fashion themselves as a real life version of Paul Crewe in this lockout mess

On the other hand, you have guys like Ray Lewis saying that if the lockout extends into the regular season players will start turning to a life of crime.  Really Ray?  I mean, how ironic is it that the one individual accused of murder but nonetheless acquitted would go public with a statement like that.  Kind of reminds me of that safety for the Washington Sentinels in “The Replacements.” 

Of course, maybe this whole fiasco is more like the movie “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” than anything else.   A player like Lewis making such an absurd statement about his colleague’s turning to a life of crime seems like something Jack Nicholson’s character in “Nest” would say.  Players who cannot live on a salary of even half a million dollars a year should be ashamed of themselves.  No how long it would take the majority of us middle class citizens to even gross half a million? I am not sure but it would probably be in the ballpark of 10-20 years.

This may be a little extreme, but wouldn't you agree that millionaires asking for more millions is kinda like this?

Which brings me back to college football. Sure this has been the most scandalous year in not only college football, but also college athletics in general.  But give me the college game over the pros any day.  While these guys are chasing millions, and some of them will do anything to make a buck, they aren’t millionaires yet.  And that leads many of them to play with a passion that is not seen in the pros.

So  this fall I will be glued to the edge of my seat awaiting college football on Saturdays.  And maybe Sundays I will get to see a little football as well.  Or maybe not.  Not that it’s a big deal.

LeBron has made it to the finals, and made a believer out of me.

So an interesting thing happened last night during game 5 of the NBA's Eastern Conference Finals.
And no it wasn't the fact that the Chicago Bulls blew a double digit lead on the way to be eliminated from the playoffs.  Although their late game meltdown was disappointing, even if you aren't a Chicago fan.

Nor was it that the Miami Heat are headed back to the finals to play the team they beat to win their only championship, the Dallas Mavericks.  Dirk you'll get your chance in a few days, don't worry

No, there was one thing that stood out more than the others for me about last night's game.  LeBron James was finally able to close out a quality opponent.  And in doing so he made a believer out of me.
James saw that the Heat were in danger of losing  game 5 and heading back to Miami for game 6 and he stepped up in a big way.    His hitting two crucial jump shots, including the go ahead basket, plus his block of Derrick Rose's  three pointer with time expiring in regulation, show he has become a clutch player.

Once again we are all witnesses to King James.

Now this does not mean I have become a rabid Miami Heat fan.  But being a former Cleveland Cavaliers fan, I was a little bitter about the way James left the Cavs.   His play in this series against Chicago, especially his defense, has me convinced that he was sincere when he said he wanted to win championships.  He could have handled "The Decision" a little better, but I no longer hold that against him.

Should the Heat go on to win the Championship, and LeBron wins Finals MVP, I don't think anyone will be able to question that he is indeed the leader of that team.  

Indianapolis 500: American Classic? Hardly. More Like American Bore.

So the Indianapolis 500 is less than a week away.  And I could care less.  I mean, other than Danica Patrick, why would should I even want to watch this event on Sunday? It's not like I will even know which car Danica is driving anway, nor will I be able to see her pretty....face!

Seriously though, Indy Car Racing is almost becoming obsolete.  NASCAR has become one of the fastest growing sports in America, even in spite of the fact that some of my friends refer to it as 'Trashcar(Vroom! Vroom! Vroom!).   I have no idea how many people will attend this Sunday's race, but I would be willing to wager that the TV ratings will for the Indy 500 will be signficantly lower than its stock car counterpart, the Daytona 500.  Heck, they might not be even as high as the most recent Nextel Cup race that was televised.

But you don't really care about Indy Car, do you? Well, neither do I.  But in the interest of being fair to all sports(even the less interesting ones), I would like to offer a few tips on how Indy Car can rebuild its fan base:

1.  Appeal to the common man:  NASCAR thrives in part because its leading drivers (Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt,) are portrayed the prototypical everymen.  Fans root for these guys because they can relate to them, and like to think that maybe they could even drive like these guys, even if for only a day.  And that is in large part due to two things: These guys make themselves accesible to the public, and the majority of them are American.  I hate to sound elitist, but just watch the film Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.   Even if "Frenchy"(my apologies to Sacha Baron Cohen, as I don't quite remember your character's name) is technically bettter than Ricky, the fans are clearly behind Ricky Bobby.  The point here is that with all the international names in Indy Car, such as Helio Castroneves and Dario Franchiti, this racing league seems more like a bunch of stuffed shirts. 

I mean take a look at Ricky Bobby in this clip. How can you not root for him?!!!

2. Add more drama:  A big reason that NASCAR is successful is that it entertains both on and off the track.  And as much as that has to do with wrecks during the race, it also is a result of the dynamic  personalities that make up NASCAR.  People either love or hate Kyle Busch. Same goes for Tony Stewart. And Kevin Harvick.  But for that same reason they will watch these guys every Sunday, even if they are rooting for them to fail.

Not only that, but I think NASCAR has just begun to tap into something that has made Hockey popular for so long: fights.  Now don't get me wrong, I don't think NASCAR is openly promoting fighting in its league.  But they could crack down harder on fighting, I just think they don't because they understand drama sells.

3.  More Danica Please:  You're promoting a male dominated sport.  That is watched by predominantly males.  And you have the only female driver in racing.  And she's hot.  Need I say more?  Ok, Ok, I guess I'll have to spell it out for you: put Danica Patrick in the winner's circle, will ya?   Even if she is fully clothed in a cramped car, I bet it would do wonders for the sport if she actually won.  And you might even try throwing enough money at her that she goes full time in Indy Car and wins the Indy Car Series.  If you do, and she does(win, that is), I'm guessing that male viewership demographic ages 18-45 goes up more than slightly, know whadda I mean?

I don't know about you, but there's a couple of more reasons I'd consider being more than a casual IRL fan.
4. Make it about the drivers, and not the cars: so much of the excitement surrounding NASCAR is that you never know who is going to win from week to week. Well, in Indy Car, you pretty much know that the two to three teams with the best engines are going to win the majority of the time. Boring.

5.  Rename your league.  Really wanna know why stock car racing is more popular? Because NASCAR rolls off the tongue so easily.  Okay, so I'm joking about that last one.  But you ever hear about how NASCAR got its name?  One day Jed saw his brother Jeb working on a new car that Jeb had just bought. Jed turned to Jeb and said, " Nas car,  that's a real nas car you got there"


So there you have it IRL folks.  Your welcome.  You can make all appreciation checks out to  J-Rod's Sportszone.

Sir Charles vs. King James: Who would win?

So we have heard it all season, Charles Barkley has been critical of the way LeBron James and company have conducted themselves on and off the court.  And James himself has been rather defensive about the criticism he has received, to the point that it led Barkley to call him 'whiny' the other night.

It appears to me that Barkley shows no signs of letting up on LeBron until he 'gets it'--that is, until LeBron starts to eat the humble pie that Charles has been trying to serve his way.

For his part LeBron may never understand why Sir Charles contiunally calls him out.

So given that these are two very outspoken individuals, and they have been at each other's proverbial throats the entire 2010-2011 season, who would win in a fight between King James and Sir Charles?

If we take a look at their on the court reputations, this is a no brainer.  Charles Barkley was not afraid to mix it up during his hey day, taking on Bill Lambieer (sp), Dennis Rodman, and even Shaquille O'Neal.  So round one would have to go to the round mound of rebound.

To make matters worse, it has often been said that LeBron is too 'nice'.  That is definitely something that would have Barkley licking his chops.

Lebron would not be a pushover, however.  At 6-8 amd 270 pounds of solid muscle, James is among the few athletes who could have played and excelled at multiple sports.  And, as his guttural scream following the Heat's victory over the Celtics would suggest, he does have a mean streak.

At the end of the day, though, I have to give the edge to Charles right now.  The former Sixer/Sun/Rocket turned TNT analyst has more experience as a brawler, and that in itself would be the difference maker.