The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

I'm going to the game tonight.  Never in my life have I been this nervous about a sporting event.  I'm not even enjoying myself; I'm not excited.  I'm sick at my stomach, literally shaking at work, while the clock ticks down.

It's actually a little bit embarrassing that something that really doesn't matter is having a physical effect on me.

All day, people (casual fans who don't really understand the Xs and Os of basketball) are coming in here talking about the game and what I think about starting this guy and that guy and I'm just telling them I can't talk about and sending them away.  This is gut-wrenching and I just want it over.

Go Spurs!!!!!

Relax, Dave. You're about to be a part of history. With that being said, GO SPURS!!!

Game 7 for all the marbles?  I can't say that I blame ya, Dave.  If it was Game 7 of the World Series with the Braves involved, I'd feel the same way.

Outside of his own family, I am probably the biggest fan of Udonis Haslem that you'll ever meet. I've spent over $400 on different Haslem jerseys (5 of them) over the years, from his time at UF to the present.  I am cheering for the Heat because I want Haslem to rack up as many championship rings as possible before he hangs up his high-tops.

GO HEAT!!

What a different attitude from Heat fans. I'm not saying it was on purpose but throughout the playoffs some of the posts I have seen here bordered on arrogance.

Go Spurs!

Agreed.  From an actual Spurs fan since the early 90's when we lived there from '90-Jan. '92 before moving back to 'Bama and have loved them ever since (and, just as importantly, not just a "HEAT hater" pulling for the Spurs)--Go Spurs Go!

pretty good game 7 .

woot !

I really enjoyed the series.

I gotta say, as happy as I am for the HEAT, I'm also really happy for the league and basketball fans in general.  Both of these teams are class acts.  I know that the HEAT get a hard time because everyone hates them, but for a series that was this close and this physical -- you really had no arguing, no dirty looks, no trash talking, and no technical fouls over the course of a 7 game series.  ...pretty incredible.

And the Spurs stayed out and congratulated the HEAT and every person on the HEAT congratulated the Spurs in every single interview I saw.  It was a really classy series all the way around.

They made a big deal on TV about how Wade ran over immediately to talk to Duncan after the game ended.  I thought that was pretty cool to see. 

Overall I'm really happy for the Heat but the entire series was great to watch.

It was a good series. I just don't like all the hype. I'm probably in the minority but I think they should just play one game at a neutral site and get it over with. Same with baseball.

What an incredible last 2 games of a great series.  Nerve wracking to say the least. What an awesome feeling when your favorite team wins it all. Never gets old. But most of all I'm happy for LeBron. The continued unmitigated hate the man receives is disgusting, and it just brings a smile to my face knowing how frustrated and pissy all the haters are.

My absolute respect to the Spurs. I knew this was going to be a dogfight. Great team. 

Here's hoping my fins can one day give me that feeling too!

Realistically, what did LeBron do to deserve all the hate?  People mad about the LeBron-a-thon thing on ESPN from 3 years ago?  Still?  Really?  Or people mad that he wanted to go to a team where his buddy was playing?

Is that really deserving?

Is he a drug dealer?  Does he run a dog-fighting ring?  Does he go kicking people's dogs or punching babies?  Or you just hate him because he's a great player and doesn't play for your favorite team?

I just don't understand all the LeBron hate.  If you live in Cleveland, fine.  Then I get it.  But most people hating on him (and the Heat as a whole) just because, and can't even explain why.

We like to build people up, tear them down, and then build them up again.

People loved to see Lebron rise up as a rookie.  Then, they wanted to tear him down.  They used "The Decision", a charity show that raised millions for the YMCA to justify it.  Plus, the fact that he went to the small market HEAT, instead of LA, Chicago, NY, etc -- that pissed people off, too.

It's the way he went about it.  The Decision was him acting all big, bad, and cocky and selling out his hometown team up the Cuyahoga.  That one night right there earned him all this hate.  If he had quietly gone about signing his contract with the Heat like the other free agents did, there wouldn't be all this fuss.

^^ Is that really a valid reason to hate the guy all these years later?  Do you hate ESPN for wanting him to do it?  Do you hate the charities he gave the proceeds to?

I don't understand how you could hate a guy for raising money to charity.  Everyone says he's the best basketball player in the game.  Maybe in the world.  And you hate him because he went on TV 3 years ago to make an announcement?

Seems extremely shallow.

I agree completely...puddle-caliber shallow.  IMO, other than true Cavaliers fans, anyone who harbors a shitload of hate for LeBron because of "The Decision" should seek professional psychological help.

Hey easy now.  My post was analyzing why he is hated by most diehard NBA fans and doesn't apply to me personally.  I'll stop short of saying he is the best in the game.  There are a number of other players deserving of that honor

^^ I'm addressing it to the same people you speak of.

But I'd love to hear your discussion of who you think is a better basketball player than LeBron James right now.

Are you referring to current players or all time? Right now he is the best but if you drop him back in the mid 90s when teams were actually allowed to play D, he wouldn't stand a chance.

When would people have stopped?

People didn't like Kobe because of the Colorado deal and the way he ran off Shaq.  People still don't like Kobe today.  Why would they change their mind?

And what if you put the players from the '90s in the '60s?

This excuse is tired.

First of all, the use of the word hate is thrown around way too much. I do not hate LeBron. He is a great basketball player. However I do not like him as a person. He totally fucked the Cavaliers and their fans just to pump up his own ego. Same with the Decision, he did that to assuage his over inflated ego again...the charity thing was a p.r. move to lessen the negative reaction. Of course their is the whole calling himself King James before he accomplished anything. Then we have the pep rally and the talking about all the championships they are going to win.
You can respect a player for their ability on the court, while simultaneously not liking them off court or their behavior. The problem with fanbois, is they cannot fathom that people are capable of this kind of thought process and therefore constantly accuse others of "hatin".
Do I hate ESPN for collaborating with LeBron's egofest? No. But then again I have lost a lot of respect for ESPN in general and this was just another example of why I do not like ESPN. It was cheesy, and classless, but it made great ratings for them.

^^^ How did he "fuck the Cavaliers and their fans?" By leaving via free agency? Or by giving them seven of the best seasons that their franchise has ever had?

As for The Decision, LeBron wasn't even in the building when Jim Gray came up with the idea and pitched it to the CEO of James' marketing company and a talent scout named Ari Emanuel. Unless you're claiming ego by proxy or something...

He also didn't give himself the nickname "King James." It came either from his HS teammates or the HS basketball announcers, depending on which reports you believe.

I'm summing up your post as "Haters really hate being called haters."

Wow, telling Heat fans that they're going to win championships at a pep rally for Heat fans.  The gall of him!  What an egomaniac!  That event wasn't even supposed to be televised.

Heaven forbid a guy should try to get fans amped up after one of the franchise's biggest free agent signings.

^^^ Arguably the biggest free agent signing ever, by any franchise...

It's such sour grapes.

The reason that he's hated is because he had a press conference (FOR CHARITY!).

Get. The. Fuck. Out.

People hate him because they WANT to hate him.  He's a MODEL NBA player: not in trouble, doesn't have a big mouth, doesn't talk a lot of trash, respectful to teammates, the media, and the fans, and the community -- he SMART and he even took less money (people say it's always about the money) to play with his friends.  It's what everyone claims that they want, until they actually get it.  He may have an occasional slip up or is taken out of context, because he's a person, but the guy is a model citizen and player for 9 years.

He gave the Cavs the best 6 years of their franchise's existence and dipshit Dan Gilbert took it for granted and never tried to bring anyone else in there.  Lebron kept his options open to get the best deal for himself and chose the HEAT, because they had the foresight to clear the cap room.  Then the "fans" in Cleveland burn their native son in effigy and Gilbert public badmouths him.  F that garbage useless, jobless town.

Do you honestly believe LBJ would be able to penetrate and score with guys like Dennis Rodman, Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon, or Patrick Ewing in the paint?  Get real.  They would swat him down like a bug.

^^^ Was Michael Jordan able to penetrate and score with those guys in the paint? If you answer yes, then yes...I believe LeBron could have had the same level of success.

The fact that Barkley was on that list does sort of detract from your point though. Barkley's only basketball skill was having a wide ass to back his way down into the low post.

You Heat fans need to stop with this apologist But It Was For Charity! nonsense.  It was a public shaming of the Cavaliers, and the fact that ESPN supposedly donated the advertising dollars To Charity* doesn't change that.

Not that you should need this explained, but it wasn't the fact that LBJ left Cleveland that was the problem.  Athletes do that all the time; it's a business.  It's the fact that he had an unprecedented television show to humiliate the Cavaliers.  And "humiliate" is the right word; if he seriously thought that a television special was the best way to announce anything but his decision to stay with Cleveland, then he's not only tone deaf, but poorly advised.

*I wonder how much of their cable-subscription fees ESPN donated to charity?  Best not to think about that, I suppose.

^^^ So you hate LeBron because he was poorly advised...got it.

Still lame, but I understand the source of the lameness now.

You are aware that there are many other non-Jordan players that were able to score with those players patrolling the key, right?

You mean to tell me that Tom Chambers, Chris Mullin, Clyde Drexler, 'Nique, and Mitch Richmond were all able to score 25+ PPG over an entire season with these defensive monsters on the court, yet LBJ would somehow become a mewling infant?

Being poorly advised isn't really that significant if a person has, you know, good judgment.

LeBron made a dumb choice to go through with that TV special and deserves criticism for that alone.  But the fact that not only did he decide to make that special, but that he also chose to surround himself with advisers who apparently all thought it was a good idea is another strike on him.  Someone in his inner circle should have told him that this is a potential train wreck and that the "charity!" excuse would not work.

How about the fact he waited so long to make his announcement that other top free agents had already signed. He knew he was not coming back, he should have announced day one that he was not coming back to Cleveland so they could have gone after the best free agents left from the beginning.
That is not professional, that is childish revenge.
He could have said no to the show, and just made his announcement. That is what a professional does. A narcissist wants the biggest amount of attention period.
One could say that Shaq's decision to go to the Lakers was just as big then as LeBron going to Miami. Yet there was no need for an ESPN show to announce it, and Shaq has a pretty damn big ego and thrives for attention.
Once again I will point out that at no time have I said a word about LeBron's abilities as a player. He is a phenomenal  talent, and will be a first ballot HoFer.
That being said he has made less than stellar publicity decisions off the court. I do not hate the man, but I do not worship him like all the homers posting on the internet, but I do recognize and respect his play on the court.
I can separate his on court and off court behavior....why can those who keep tossing around the word "hater" so much not do the same.

p.s. ESPN is a joke. This whole Decision show is just another example of how far from their roots they have gotten.

My only thought would be that it's possible his advisors all thought he was going to announce that he was going to stay in Cleveland. They still probably should have anticipated that he could go the other way and that wouldn't go over well in Cleveland at the very least, but I can see it if they thought he was going to stay. At the time I remember thinking "Surely he wouldn't do this if he was leaving so he MUST be staying." You can imagine my surprise. :)

^^^ I think anyone who watched him pull off the Cleveland jersey like he did when he left the court after his last game had a pretty good idea he was gone. I at least thought so.

^^ I think everyone thought so.  It was obvious.  At no time did Cleveland ever have a shot at re-signing him.

Thank you.

Meanwhile, assholes like Dwight Howard happen. And not one peep.   ::)

Poor Orlando fans. First Shaq, then Howard. Time to crucify them for bolting on their teams. And in one case, getting people FIRED.

Did Shaq or Howard have a TV special to announce to everyone that they were ditching Orlando?
No?
Then there's your answer.

^^^ Got it... At the top of your "Unpardonable Sins" list is "taking bad advice regarding the best way for a superstar to handle free agency."

Ridiculousness, thy name is Spidey...

Well you know what they say if you cant stand the heat get out of the nba er ah kitchen.

What's this "unpardonable sins" stuff?  I've been one of the biggest defenders of LBJ on this board.

But for all these Heat fans to endlessly whine about how they can't understand why everyone is always so mean to LeBron is silly.  As I see it, the criticism that LBJ receives for his on-court play is unwarranted, but the criticism that he takes for his off-court actions is.

And why do you keep trying to push the TV show off as "bad advice"?  Does the man bear no responsibility for his own actions?

Howard has been criticized mercilessly around here.

Of course he does and because it was...in reverse order.

No one is whining about people being mean.  Just trying to give a little perspective.

At the time, every story on ESPN was about "where is LeBron going to sign?"  Every news cast.  Every segment on First Take and PTI.  It was disgusting.  So, the TV show was just building upon the hype that the media already built.

Not saying that the TV show was a great idea.  At the time, I thought it was dumb.  But I'm over it.  Just bringing perspective to why people hate him.  Because he went on TV to make an announcement, which everyone wanted to hear anyway.  Would it have been any different if it was a press conference instead of an exclusive interview? 

Do people hate various celebrities for doing "tell all" exclusive interviews on 20/20 or Dateline? 

Why is this different?

I personally loved "the decision" him deciding on national TV to come to Miami was great .. best decision he's ever made. Seeing Cleveland fans burning his jersey just made it all the sweeter.

Yes, it would have been different if it was a press conference instead of a hour-plus long TV special.

You say that like anyone actually wasted an hour-plus of their time watching the whole thing...

Correction, you say that like you just want to keep an argument going, so that was the next random thing to bitch about. I'm assuming that coming up on your filibuster list, you've got "His facial expression was disrespectful to the Cavaliers" and "Demonstrated poor posture on stage."

 ::)