Pro Athletes Don't Care As Much As You Do

            Most sports fans, when speaking about their favorite team, tend to use the word “we” when describing what the team has done or hasn’t done well. If I had a dime for every time I said, “we need to fire the coaches”, when referring to the Dallas Cowboys the last few years, I’d at least have $3.80. We love our favorite teams, to the point that their performance can actually affect our moods for several days. It’s irrational, it makes very little sense, but it’s the truth.

            That’s what made tonight’s Heat-Cavaliers game so depressing. Cavalier’s fans brought their A-Game tonight. There were quality signs and t-shirts (the three dudes wearing Le-B-um were my personal favorite), and fantastic chants (“AKRON HATES YOU” winning the award for best chant of the night) aimed at Lebron James. Cleveland could’ve gone 1-81 this year, but if they somehow could’ve won this game, there season would’ve been a success. The crowd energized the Cavs early, but Lebron and company went on a 16-0 run at the end of the first quarter and never looked back. Lebron dropped 24 points in the 3^rd quarter alone to seal the deal and clinch a successful return to his former stomping grounds. It’s not really the fact that the Cavaliers lost that made me feel bad for Cleveland fans. Miami is a superior team, so no one would fault Cleveland for losing. It was the way they lost, and mingled with Lebron James, that had me scratching my head.

            Shortly after the crowd showered him with boos, Lebron began mingling with Cavaliers players. He was seen on camera chatting with Mo Williams. During a Heat free throw attempt, he was chatting with Daniel Gibson while Gibson was sitting on the Cav’s bench. As hard as the Cleveland crowd was working to make Lebron uncomfortable, Cavalier’s players were working to undermine that effort. By socializing with him, they allowed James to feel at home and nail jumper after jumper.

            As a fan of the Cavaliers, how would you feel if the players on your favorite team are laughing it up with the man who “betrayed” your franchise (I don’t necessarily believe that James betrayed anyone, sense he was free to sign anywhere, but for the sake of this column I’m trying to look at it from the point of view of a Cleveland fan) while your team is getting slaughtered by 30 points? I know times are different know, with social media what it is today, but I would at least want my players to be in business mode during the game. It’s a shame the players didn’t care as much as the Cav’s fans. We would’ve had a much better game.