Comments on: Sorry I Don’t Want My Pro Player To Be A Gracious Loser!

By: Larry Bird Would Not Have Shaken D-Howard’s Hand Either | Slam Dunking

Larry Bird Would Not Have Shaken D-Howard’s Hand Either | Slam Dunking — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:26:27 +0000

[...] well aware that I took a lot of heat early this summer for defending LBJ. I wrote a column entitled Sorry I Don’t Want My Pro Player To Be A Gracious Loser! and received a month filled with hate mail. I was told that “The Chosen One” was a bad [...]

By: Larry Bird Would Have Shaken D-Howard’s Hand Either » Slam Dunk Central

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:18:47 +0000

By: Jeff Sack

Jeff Sack — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 23:34:38 +0000

Dave,
Very eloquently put, and you make some valid points! The only thing that I would dis,agree with is your putting LBJ and Woody Hayes in the same context. Dave we are talking two opposite ends of the spectrum. One is a 24 year old young man really making his first public gaffe. The other was an old man who had gotten so consumed with winning, the “game” and his ego that he committed an insane act. Though I realize that in many people’s minds LeBron did not cover himself in glory by refusing to congratulate the Orlando players at the time (He did however fire off an e-mail to Howard that night after the game and congratulated Orlando the next day when he talked to the Cleveland Media.) Dave I think you would agree not shaking hands and a coach attacking a player on the opposing team during a drive down the field are not in the same area code! Thanks for taking the time to write and your thoughtful comments!

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:05:22 +0000

It is not okay for pro athletes who make millions of endorsement dollars from the young and old alike to decide they can act like a pompous spoiled brat because they got beat. If they want to act like that then please do not make any products and market them to our youth …

Kids emulate their sports hero’s in the backyards and on playgrounds across the world and while Mom and Dad are (or should be) the ultimate role models, Mom and Dad don’t make jumpshots and slam dunks on national TV, and Mom and Dad are not plastered all over TV in commercials geared toward the youth (you don’t really think those puppet commercials are for the adults do you?). Some kids do not even have a Dad or a Mom or maybe even either to look up to … and believe you me those kids, the ones who need it the most … they do look up to the most popular sports figures because for some they believe and wrongly so … that sports is the only hope.

And while I am up here on the stump … any pro athlete who works in his or her community in any capacity around kids or helping those less fortunate souls among us … well that is the epitome of being a role model. They should not be given a free pass when choose to not ascribe to the decency of being the role model they have otherwise portrayed themselves as.

As well when those wonderful efforts of truly being a role model within their community are used by their pro associations to extol their own virtues in Public Service Announcements such as the “NBA Cares” which is used to toot their own horn but also as a means to spread their brand using the “feel good for good deeds psyche” approach to marketing.

Look I have nothing against LBJ dissing the media … most of the questions from the pundits are mundane at best … however I did find it refreshing that the commissioner decided he could not let it slide thereby creating a “LeBron Rule” that every athlete could then use to ditch the media. But dissing his fellow competitors was just flat out a punk move.

Seems to be a dead subject now but hopefully LBJ will learn from this and not let it deter him from the great things he can achieve. I will leave you with this …

A mans character is not defined by how humble he is in victory but how gracious he is in defeat. Woody Hayes may have thought the opposite however Woody Hayes was proven to be an abuser and a maniac … I mean come on tackling an opposing player who put a beat down on your team … can you take anything that kind of a person says as being valid???

Peace to all …

By: Jeff Sack

Jeff Sack — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 02:29:09 +0000

The Mike & Ike Quote did Rock! Greg take away the Wizard years from Jordan and then take away the post Achilles surgery and back problems from Bird. That means you count the years 79-80/80-86. That means he wins 3 titles and 3 back-to-back NBA-MVPS in a 7 year career. And then he is the greatest of all time! You play the years they count on your career. Was Rocky five the one with John Wayne’s nephew the boxer with HIV or the last one with the guy from Heroes?

By: Greg

Greg — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 04:22:56 +0000

Ok… The mike and ike quote rocked…

btw I don’t count the JOrdan Wizard years. Just like I don’t count Rocky 5 in the great Rocky series (best sports movie series in history)… Everyone makes mistakes. Stallone fixed his with Rocky Six…Let’s hope Lebron fixes his going forward in 2010.

As for the atheletes being looked up to by kids. I wholeheardtly AGREE w. Jeff on this one. Sports atheletes SHOULD NEVER be role models.

By: Jeff Sack

Jeff Sack — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 22:41:47 +0000

Gibbit;
If you look my friend right at the game story underneath this one here is what I said about the Series: “In the end the better team won, no matter the regular season record or the first two rounds of the Post Season. The Magic dominated this series from the jump and displayed the mental toughness that the Cavaliers suddenly found lacking.”

I agree the better team won! But that is not the issue here. The issue is did he do the right thing and not give into the anger and kept from saying something stupid? Or was he just being a bad loser??

By: gibbit

gibbit — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 22:32:20 +0000

You’re trying too hard to excuse LeBron, he acted like a 5 year old not a man.

You got beat by a better team (you can’t fluke a best of 7 series) … man up and admit it.

He’s not Michael Jordan yet, I wish ESPN would stop treating him like he is

Good on you for being such a staunch Cleveland fan though, even if your loyalty is misplaced on this one

By: Riebeil Durley-Petty

Riebeil Durley-Petty — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 07:35:29 +0000

I’m rockin with Jeff on this one. When you put on a preposterously superhuman herculean virtuso series long performance like Bron did and your teammates, and in particular MoWill, who I got mad love and respect for because he had a sensational year but completly disappeared at the zenith of playoff heat you’d be incredibly vexed too. I’m not justifying or absolving Bron of blame cause I believe he should have tossed out congratulatory pounds of acknowledgement to the Magic, especially since he is the face of the league and as a standard bearer of the NBA and ya crew you should do it, but I completely understand why he didn’t and dipped in silence. The King invested a expended a tremendous amount of energy and went ridiculously hard, truly leaving everything he had on the floor. Bron epitomized a 1 man band in this series. I haven’t seen an individual have to carry a squad in this fashion since Jordan avergaed 45.2 pts against Cleveland (sorry cavs fans for bringing back bad memories I’m from St.Louis aka Da Lou and rep Rock City all day) before Pippen and Horace Grant emergence as good players elevated them to title status. MoWill popped off audaciously at the yap and got his dome capped and was a relative non factor as well as Big Z who got eaten by Dwight Howard like a box of mike and ikes. Bron was exhausted and once the realization a season that looked destined for a championship coronation was dashed to bits rage, frustration and crestfallenness sunk in. Bron ain’t the first player walk it out without administering hugs and hand slugs to the opposition. Kobe hasn’t done it everytime, Jordan stormed off the court without acknowleding the Bad Boys following a crushing loss in the 90′ East Finals and he didn’t talk to the media either because he was so disgusted Pip and his tmates nutted up like spineless, terrified hopops in a 93-74 clocking. Next time Bron’s in a similar position he needs to learn from this mistake, accept the obligation of facing the media and dapping the winners and continuing to be the classy, upstanding young man’s he’s proven to be and not let his ravenous competitiveness to blur his judgment. He’s an insanely popular role model with a huge platform so Bron has to be cognizant of the scrutiny he receives and influnce he has on young buks. But people, and the media in particular needs to stop acting like son committed some type of callous capitol offense. As a journalist the rush to flame and demonize players for minor mishaps really ticks me off. It ain’t like he obviously quit on his team like Kobe did in the 2006 West Finals vs the Suns when they trailed 18 at the half,and as a protest of his displeasure with hit teammates he only took 3 second half shots after dropping 18 points in the first half. That was one of the most unpardonably deplorable displays of lack of consideration and leadership I’ve ever seen. That was a sheer unmitigated sissified poptart move. People have such short memories ha. Let the deflation and fury of that rage burn and reverberate within ya mind, body and spirit King and restore ya empire with a title next year after management makes a move to ge a legit 20 point a night scorer, athletic bigs and fortifies the squad with more cats like who get down for their crown like Delonte West

By: Jeff Sack

Jeff Sack — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:23:28 +0000

Sir,
No Larry Bird did not tolerate losing. He hated it, and most likely would have done something similar to what James did. The first time i ever remember a player hugging an opponent after a loss was Kevin McHale hugged Isiah Thomas in 1988 hen the Pistons knocked the Celtics out of the East Finals. The camera panned to Bird he looked like he wanted to strangle McHale. In my opinion if a child is “gettting cues” from a pro-player than that child’s parents are not doing their job correctly. Athletes are not Role Models, Parents, Teachers, maybe Religious and Civic Leaders, those are role models in my eyes Sir. As for how I got my job; I created the site! Tough to get fired if you are the Boss! Perhaps you could start one of your own! Send me the web address when you do, Okay?