The Cavs-Heat game will be broadcast on TNT. Fitting, since we expect it to be explosive. LeBron dropped a bomb on Cleveland when the King abdicated his throne (opting for a kingdom with a better view of the beach) and the fans blew up in anger. Let’s just say President Obama’s Afghanistan exit strategy was less controversial. Returning to his original court could be caustic; a circus where the carnie jumps through a ring of fire to find himself aflame. In both scenarios, there's an elephant in the room, although the animal will be acknowledged.
Only a few wins -- three, to be exact -- separate the two teams heading into their Thursday showdown in Cleveland, but under scrutiny, the Cavs record doesn’t hold up. Their lone quality victory came against the Celtics. A buzzer-beater over the Bucks was their only other win against a playoff-caliber opponent. While the Heat haven't been the hoops Hercules we all hoped for, it’s tough to view this as anything but a pretender vs. a contender, even if the contender right now resembles Little Mac more than Mike Tyson. There's no escaping the fact that this still a featherweight squaring off against a heavyweight.*
The most exciting part will be the pre-game introductions. When we’ll see whether or not frenzied fans show appreciation or animosity towards LeBron. For those who think the former won’t happen, we recently heard Philadelphians cheer not curse Donovan McNabb in his return, surely the sports surprise of the century. Still, neither Cleveland nor LeBron have demonstrated much dignity in the aftermath of “The Decision” and it's not like the Cavs owner, Dan "All Caps" Gilbert, has been much of role model for the fans to follow, investigating the Heat's interactions with LeBron. If Gilbert isn't willing to let go, how can we expect the fans to? There will of course be a furious faction for whom LeBron's new No. 6 jersey might as well be a #666 because he is the Devil incarnate to some. Two things we can count on: 1. The crowd will be louder than Craig Sager’s suit. 2. We will all be witnesses to a mediocre matchup -- unless you're tuning in to the Thursday night football game (we think Michael Vick is more of a must-see than LeBron).
*We'd love to be cool enough to put this in MMA terms, but people are getting punched in way too many parts of the body for us to figure out that sport.
No comments:
Post a Comment