Even those of us that live under rocks have figured out by now that LeBron James and the Miami Heat are in the NBA finals. That seems to be the only fact the world as a whole is sure of at the moment.
This blog entry is honestly intended to less informative and more of angry rant that will hopefully make you as engraged as I already am. Well, maybe rage isn't a good word. Frustrated. Annoyed. Disappointed that the sensationalist news tone that seems to infect political news shows have also creeped onto ESPN and other media outlets that cover sports. Have you been watching the media frenzy following the NBA finals this year? Anyone with half a brain knew that the storylines would obnoxiously revolve around any combination of the following: LeBron James being amazing, the Miami Heat big 3, Wade's second ring, Chris Bosh's role (still trying to figure out what that is on some days, to be honest), Spoelstra's redemption after a year full of criticism at the slightest mishap, Lebron James choking, Pat Riley's schemes fulfilled, Lebron James being alive, the Miami Heat bench. And did I mention Lebron James?
The truth is that never before has one team inspired a seemingly infinite amount of stories from all possible media angles. I get that. By now, I think most people get that. But for the love of all things holy on the hardwood, could we please go back to talking about the actual basketball game?
These NBA finals have been absolutely incredible. Dirk has been on a tear, despite a torn finger tendon and running a fever of 102 degrees. Are you kidding me? That's some superman stuff, the kind of side story background information that, should the mavs win the finals, doesn't just make him a ringowner... it makes you a legend. Possibly even more incredible, the entiretly of the Miami Heat has been really good. But that story has largely been overlooked in favor of overanalyzing EVERY SINGLE LITTLE THING about Lebron James. How many assists, how many points, how many ppg, how many points per quarter. I literally read a column yesterday with fictional, made up statistics regarding James' play. And while the author's point was well made, do you think I care about LeBron's LOB- the "minutes the player you're guarding is left on the bench?" Seriously?
But overanalysis is nothing new. Any professional sport's final is going to feature such overhyped journalism. No, what really grinds my gears is the rediculous kneejerk overanalysis that is going on. As of 8:58 PM on Wednesday night (when I'm writing this sentence), if you get on ESPN, you will literally find the following in order of importance and text size:
1. LeBrondown II- featuring four stories revolving around the game 4 performance of LeBron James and comparing it to the famous "game 5" from his days in cleveland. This is one of the five boxes on ESPN, and thus is looked at by nearly everyone.
2. The top headline (and being discussed on sportscenter right now, as well) of ESPN is currently that the Mav's swing player Stevenson is talking trash about LeBron James, and saying he mentally checked out of Game 4... wow.
3. Another top headline: ESPN feels it is not just newsworthy, but significantly newsworthy to tell us that Charles Barkley doesn't feel he can root for the Heat because the fans are too obnoxious for his liking.
4. A Bill Simmons column talking about how suckish LeBron James has been.
5. A Rick Reilly column talking about how amazing LeBron James has been.
And that's just the front page. Actually, that's just the front page concerning LeBron James. Don't even BOTHER looking at the special event page ESPN has created to house the NBA finals news.
I get the window on LeBron's performance. But the rest? Really? On a night where the NHL is seeing their finals game 4 (following an 8-1 victory by the team that was formerly down 2-0 in the series??) and the red sox are playing in the bronx... amid a GIGANTIC ohio state scandal that has seen their star coach and quarterback leave the program recently... right after Plaxico Burress is released from jail, and Michael Vick wants to publicly speak about their similarities... right after a pitcher from the current MLB world champions strikes out 11... all that is going on, and ESPN's top story is that a bench player was talking smack to LeBron James? And he's got a track record of talking for years? That's not news, that's a facebook status.
Oh really Charles Barkley, you can't get behind the Miami Heat? Gee, I had no idea that you didn't like them. Honestly, everyone on the planet knows you don't like them Chuck. You publicly criticize LeBron James on national television more often than you eat breakfast. My kid sister knows so little about the National Basketball Association that I'm not even sure she can spell NBA, and I bet even SHE knows that Charles Barkley doesn't like the Miami Heat.
And I'm sorry but the kneejerk journalism has gotta stop. NBA final games are at most 72 hours apart. LeBron James can't be a God in game 3 and be no better than an AAU player in game 4. No one is perfectly consistent, but this is rediculous. Writers, please get it together. You're sensationalism is so rediculous that all of us readers are going to develop a bipolar disorder pretty soon.
Analyzing an analysis is completely and utterly rediculous. And yet I feel like that level of stupidity in journalism is what perfectly describes what the media is force feeding us throughout these NBA finals. Please, I'm begging a network exec to read this and hear my plea. Stop with the reactionary sensationalism. You're making our heads hurt.
