Been awhile, huh?

Why, yes, yes it has. So what prompts this respite from blogosphere hibernation? Lebron, of course. So, my thoughts...


As a Clevelander, the 24-36 hr. period, from waking up Thurs. to the Miami reports thru Fri. and the aftermath was hell. Understand the tortured history of Cleveland sports. The Drive, The Fumble, The Shot, Jose Mesa '97, Colavito, etc.

Oh, those hurt, believe me, and created the fatalism that exists about our teams today. But they can be chalked up to the "sporting gods" and miserable luck. In the end, we haven't had the right combination of luck and skill since 1964 to pull it off. But we're used to that.

Art Modell ripping the Browns was a cruel act that ripped our hearts out. That was a decision to LEAVE the town, a great football town. It will never, ever be forgiven.

Odd as it seems, the way James handled this was even worse than Modell. At least the old man wasn't a native of NE Ohio, couldn't fully appreciate our psyche. James was acutely aware of everything, of our tortured sports history AND of our utterly unfair reputation of being a second-rate horribly boring city.

Leaving is one thing. Not fun, but not unreasonable. But starting with the way the Celtics series ended (Yes, he ABSOLUTELY quit), it went downhill. Clearly, this move was the plan for awhile, and it's likely why he gave up against the C's; why did he care anymore? Fine, but stringing us (and others) along like we had a legit chance to keep him, just to create an ESPN-inspired media hysteria around him was unfair.

Then the 1-hr. show. Would he really be heartless enough to embarass his home area so brutally, so publicly? Many national pundits thought not, as did many locals. He would know better than that, right? Wouldn't kill us so publicly, right?

If we're being totally honest, Thurs. morning's reports should have resigned us to the inevitable: Yes, he IS that gutless. But deep down, we still couldn't imagine he'd do us like that.

The special itself was the moment American culture "Jumped the shark," an hour+ farce with a host paid directly by LRMR asking idiotic questions, before, after 27 mins., the nuke was dropped. Mind you, he first noted that he was going to "South Beach," not the Heat, as if to say, "Thank God I'm leaving for somewhere 'fun.'" There was no real emotion towards home; it was all a (failed) exercise in national/global branding, with ESPN as his lapdogs. And we in Cleveland were the poor sap victims, anguishing for all the country to see.

For LeBron, maybe history will see him as an all-timer. His crew likely figures that winning, oh, 4-5 titles in a row, will speak for itself. That being part of the most heralded team ever, even if it will never be "his team" will be so great that he will still be an ESPN-hyped/pimped "icon" when it's all said and done. And maybe they're right; American culture is touchy and can turn back on a dime.

Still, he can never be Jordan, Bird, Magic or even Kobe. Did those guys WANT to join their friend superstars? H=ll no, they want(ed) to beat them. Every single time. James admitted he's not good enough to get it done when the chips are down. He wants to HELP "The Man," not be "The Man." I think this will start a trend: Friends arranging to play with each other, not competing against each other. I think this is a bad trend.

Cleveland WILL survive. Our city is far more vibrant and interesting than even we give it credit for. Great restaurant scene, emerging areas like Tremont, world-class museums, etc. Doesn't feel like it now, but we'll be fine.

Our sports will also survive, but honestly, they won't be fine for awhile. The Indians are a joke, the Browns are on "Rebuild v. 50.0", and the Cavs have been crippled; crippled by a guy who couldn't just be honest with us or his team, who couldn't speak with his now pissed-off owner before the show; a guy who said, last night in Miami, that winning 7 titles will be "easy" b/c they're so good. B/c winning should always be easy. But fans are used to this now, unfortunately, creating a fatalism that is profound and not as charming as what Red Sox fans once had.

Two articles: Ironically, Mike Florio. And a local POV.

The Great IndyCar Implosion of 2009

THIS should have been the biggest disaster this week for IndyCar (really, Richmond might have been the WORST oval race ever).

But then, the tumultuous reign of Tony George ended. George was always the wrong man at the wrong time. Still, this shakeup does not say "stability," does it?

Depressing, Not-so Depressing

Yglesias brings the depressing. I suspect he's right.

Al Giordano with the not-so depressing.

So Sad, So Inspiring

Translation of the woman's thoughts (via):

Tomorrow is Saturday. Tomorrow is a day of destiny.

Tonight, the cries of Allah-o Akbar are heard louder and louder than the nights before.

Where is this place? Where is this place where every door is closed? Where is this place where people are simply calling God? Where is this place where the sound of Allah-o Akbar gets louder and louder?

I wait every night to see if the sounds will get louder and whether the number increases. It shakes me. I wonder if God is shaken.

Where is this place that where so many innocent people are entrapped? Where is this place where no one comes to our aid? Where is this place that only with our silence we are sending our voices to the world? Where is this place that the young shed blood and then people go and pray -- standing on that same blood and pray. Where is this place where the citizens are called vagrants?

Where is this place? You want me to tell you? This place is Iran. The homeland of you and me.
This place is Iran.

Dawn approaches. The world watches, and prays.

Showdown coming

Watching NBC News tonight, that's the distinct impression one gets. Tomorrow, Mousavi has called for demonstrations and a national day of mourning for those who have already been martyred (yes, martyred). There should be a ton of people on the streets.

Then, Friday prayers, given by Khamenei himself, with more huge opposition protests planned (bigger than tomorrow even). And so, that might be the day of destiny.

But maybe not. Maybe a compromise will be reached, though the longer this goes, the more unlikely it becomes. Or, perhaps, in a tale out of Shakespeare, Rafsanjani ousts Khamenei in Qom.

Whatever happens, I have two thoughts: One, this is NOT about us (in the West); it is about Iranians and their future. But that doesn't mean that we as citizens cannot morally sympathize w/ our Iranian brothers and sisters who are rallying (and dying) for those most basic and universal principles of free votes, dissent, and freedom to make one's own destiny in life. These are human principles, that do not differentiate between geography or religion.

Second, as Djerejian is the latest to note, the Islamic Republic, whatever happens, will never be the same.

Solidarity

Until this is over in Iran, this tiny blog will go green. We are with you. Stay safe, stay strong.

Choices, choices

In brutal fashion, the mullahs have made their choice. As Juan Cole notes, it is laughable that Ahmadinejad "won" in the fashion the mullahs claim. Seriously fellas, you expect us to buy that Ahmad won Tehran by any margin, let alone 50%? Really?

The violence by the IRGC and the Basij militias is very real. More troubling? Reports like THIS and THIS. Put this together with speculation from Trita Parsi at the end of Laura Rozen's report, and we may be seeing a full-on crack-up of the regime of epic proportions, in which hard-liners are determined to destroy ALL opposition, brutality included (though the demonstrations are also inspiring).

We've not heard the last of this. Either we will end up w/ at least a partially liberated Iran governed by moderates or a fully oppressed, subjugated populace governed by hard-line Khomenist Islamists.

The populace faces an impossible choice: Revolt and (possibly) die, or acquiesce to disaster. Unfortunately, the same choice might already have been taken from Mousavi and Rafsanjani.