Heat Index

Geico commercials are about the best part of any TV program.

 

Indeed- Just love the Abe / Mary Lincoln one. Kind of surprising that some woman's organization has not lodged a complaint on that one.

 

Heat Index is a cool (no pun intended) name though.

 

Disagree with you, Mizzou. Of course you can have a problem with LeBron leaving Cleveland for reasons other than how he announced his decision.

Can't recall a player (except maybe in MLB) who so blatantly spit out the bit, in his prime, of being the cornerstone of a franchise to seek his championships on someone else's team. My biggest gripe with James is the same "he should want to beat the best, not join up with the best" criticisms levied by Jordan, Barkley and others.

And just dismissing that by citing the stars around Magic on the Lakers or around Bird on the Celtics doesn't cut it. Teams assembled via trades and drafts vs. a team dreamed up by the players themselves. And not just any players but buddy-ball players.

I was fine with James giving Cleveland 7 years. Had he gone to Chicago or New York or New Jersey or the Clippers, more power to him.

It is going to be awfully hollow if he, Wade, Bosh and the rest win a title next June. Where's the accomplishment in ganging up, with superstars, to thrash 29 lesser clubs? I know we love it during the Olympics, but by God, that's for America! This will be for Miami and more so for these guys' egos.

As for Bosh, he's the dork who finally is getting to hang with the cool kids. A blown knee before Christmas would be a nice challenge for him, in terms of coming back in 2011-12.

 

It seems silly that there's some arbitrary line that a player must respect. He can go as a free agent to a good team, but not *too* good.

 

One more thing: given Windhorst's move to Miami to continue covering LeBron James, should a sportswriter want to be so closely identified with one athlete that he covers? Some sports editors think you can't be fresh and objective on a beat for more than X number of years, even as the coaches and players are changing around you. But can you be fresh and objective on one particular player if you've covered him for more than a decade, from the time he was in high school?

Don't you also run the risk of becoming known as the guy's bobo?

Are there other writers who have been one-superstar chroniclers through the year? Besides, I guess, Pedro Gomez/Barry Bonds (and Gomez wasn't primarily a writer anymore when he got the Barry beat)?

Besides Max Mercy/Roy Hobbs, too.

 

That line exists in my heart or head, not out in the whole world. Just not to my taste or preference, and I find myself rooting against someone who tries to short-cut (IMHO) his/her way to glory. No one else has to agree but it just seems weinie to me for a guy of certain repute (double MVP definitely qualifies) to latch onto two other superstars rather than elevate a lesser group.

I'd feel different if LBJ went to Jersey or Chicago. I'd feel different if he was five years older and heard his biological clock ticking. I can't see how winning now can mean anything close to what it would have in Cleveland.

I also think those Heat players better be careful with Jemele Hill staking out their social activities. I'm predicting a real double-edged sword, scolding some who are critical of the Super Team along the way while trying to play "Gotcha!" herself.

 

Reaction in Cleveland to Windhorst's departure today has been interesting, to say the least. People are outraged that the best beat writer in town would dare to follow You-Know-Who down south. The petty, narrow-minded insults you'd expect from the lowest of the low have been flying loudly.

Windy, meanwhile, has done interviews with a top radio station and a couple of online outlets today explaining his decision.

(Sidebar: Umm, WTF is there to explain? Extremely talented writer working for a metro paper gets a chance to go national with one of the highest profile beats in the country. How is that even up for debate?)

Through all of this, I can't help but ponder which is more ridiculous: people getting legitimately outraged that a local sportswriter is leaving town or said sportswriter doing multiple interviews to explain his decision.

 

People being outraged that a local sportswriter is bailing sounds good to be. Means people read the paper and still care. It's legit, too, since Windy grew up in Ohio and pretty much got his start there. He's one of them.

 

He should have done a one-hour TV special with Wilbon asking softball questions.

 

Meeeeeee! At least MLB Network. Got hooked on "Quick Pitch" during the last month of the season. Gets me to the highlights right away without having to hear about LeBron hiring someone to tie his shoe or Favre walking his dogs. Generally I've enjoyed NFL Network offerings, especially when they let Steve Sabol loose on a great game from the past. Haven't watched enough NBATV or NHL Network to make a decision, but I think I may have made a mistake by dismissing some of these networks as "government radio."