My Man LeBron

One of my friends mentioned that I hadn't written anything lately. It's not been for lack of subject matter or that I've lost my opinionated touch, it's mostly lack of time. But, a couple weeks ago there was a column in the local rag which got me going again. One of those pieces that make your teeth hurt. One that makes you wonder how this writer ever got a spot in a newspaper and you're limited to ranting on your own little mostly, I fear, unread blog. Got your attention?

The gist of the column was that LeBron James is a disloyal, money-hungry, ungrateful wretch because he had the unmitigated nerve to leave Cleveland. Normally I don't care about professional athletes or the obscene amounts of money they make, but this column got me going. The writer went on to opine that since Cleveland was so good to James, the least he could do is to create a foundation, contribute every penny he makes in his first year at Miami, and give the money to poor people in Cleveland. There was also some talk about James not being grateful or loyal to Cleveland. Okay. Stop and take off earrings.

I wanted to just say "WTF" but I sent a sarcastic email to the writer instead, something along the lines of I thought it was hilarious that three black guys got together, made some demands, went to the same franchise and will probably affect what goes on in the NBA for the next several years. I made a smart aleck remark about white people getting their undies in a bundle when black people do something savvy and smart. I opined that James did something good for himself and I say "Good for him." It's the NBA, stupid. It's about money. Period.

I got a timid little response from the writer this morning: "Good morning. I hesitated to reply to this; are you really serious about your reply, especially the thing about 'three black guys'?" Oh, my. Looks like the PC police struck again. You don't even want to know what I said to him.

As the Sherrod episode so clearly showed, we've got a long way to go in this country. We can't even engage in a civil discourse about race. We snipe at each other from behind right wing nut cases like Breitbart. And a local columnist in SW FL plays into people's hateful, racist attitudes by implying that James "owes" Cleveland; that he's not being "loyal" to Massa Cleveland that gave him so much. My question to the clueless columnist? Did you ever write a column admonishing Brett Favre for leaving the town that nurtured and supported him or suggesting that he return to Green Bay with a bucket full of money for poor folks? No answer. Yet.