LeBron's Return to Cleveland a Refreshing Wake-Up Call

I've read LeBron James' announcement in Sports Illustrated probably 30 times now. Each time it invokes the same reaction in me.

Tears well up in my eyes as I read it.

http://www.si.com/nba/2014/07/11/lebron-james-cleveland-cavaliers

I don't care if someone edited it, polished it or refined it for him. The message tugs at your heart.

"Before anyone ever cared where I would play basketball, I was a kid from Northeast Ohio," James begins in his letter to fans. "It’s where I walked. It’s where I ran. It’s where I cried. It’s where I bled. It holds a special place in my heart. People there have seen me grow up."

Right there, I'm already choked up.

Maybe it's because I have become so used to athletes making spectacles of themselves as James did when he announced he was bailing his hometown and taking his "talents to South Beach" in a live, televised ESPN reveal four years ago.

Even last night during Major League Baseball's All-Star game, when Seattle relief pitcher Fernando Rodney ended an inning with a strikeout late in the game, he shot an imaginary arrow in the air in a clear act of ego and showmanship that really is no different than how James acted when he abandoned Cleveland.

But it wasn't that he abandoned Cleveland as much as how he did it that truly upset fans, causing many to burn his jerseys, with Cavs owner Dan Gilbert even writing a scathing letter to about/to James that said some pretty angry things. And that's putting it mildly.

This, however ... this is the new LeBron. Wiser. More mature. A father to several kids of his own now. That perspective changes the way a mature person thinks, makes decisions. The message you create for your own kids suddenly matters even more.

"My relationship with Northeast Ohio is bigger than basketball," James continues in his letter. "I didn’t realize that four years ago. I do now. Remember when I was sitting up there at the Boys & Girls Club in 2010? I was thinking, This is really tough. I could feel it. I was leaving something I had spent a long time creating."

I'm glad he mentioned the Boys & Girls' clubs. Just a few weeks ago, I donated $10 to their cause on behalf of former White Sox skipper Ozzie Guillen at a semipro baseball game, knowing it's an organization making a tangible difference to underprivileged kids every day of the year. I've seen it with my own eyes.

Some of those same underprivileged kids who looked up to LeBron like he was their hero, their everything, many who don't have a mom or dad, were hurt when LeBron left Cleveland. I'm sure of it.

Then, comes an apology of sorts. Remember, this is a guy who has the '303' area code of Akron, Ohio, tattooed on his arm. You don't do that for fun.

"If I had to do it all over again, I’d obviously do things differently, but I’d still have left," James adds. "Miami, for me, has been almost like college for other kids. These past four years helped raise me into who I am. I became a better player and a better man. I learned from a franchise that had been where I wanted to go. I will always think of Miami as my second home. Without the experiences I had there, I wouldn’t be able to do what I’m doing today."

Sure, a small portion of people will say that James bailing from Miami has the same negative effect him bailing Cleveland did for fans and kids alike. But you'd be wrong.

The difference now is, that mother or father in Miami can explain, rationally, to their child what James did this time was for the right reasons. Ones that matter, that a child can comprehend and understand. Ones that when a child grows older, they can look back bummed James left Miami, sure, yet understand he did so for the right reasons and still look up to him. Cleveland or not.

There's a certain dignity in that. Doing something as James now has for family, friends and those who grew up with him. Playing in the same parks. Going to the same schools.

Him returning is the kind of thing that gives people hope again. The same hope us Chicago fans have clamored for from our very own Chicago Cubs for over a century, in fact.

"After the season, free agency wasn’t even a thought," James said.

Which means something convinced him. We'll call it maturity. Perspective. All things he has learned since his ill-fated ESPN announcement.

That there is class in doing things old school still.

"But I have two boys and my wife, Savannah, is pregnant with a girl," James adds. "I started thinking about what it would be like to raise my family in my hometown. I looked at other teams, but I wasn’t going to leave Miami for anywhere except Cleveland. The more time passed, the more it felt right. This is what makes me happy."

To be honest, I didn't really respect LeBron for a long time. As a sports fan. As a person. I always knew he was the best basketball player in the NBA right now. But something was missing. I felt there was a deeper side to this man, the one an entire city has now forgiven and re-embraced.

"I'm not promising a championship," James says.

Thing is, to many in Cleveland, this letter, this announcement, the way he did it ... in many ways it's bigger than any NBA title he's won.

And it was one of the biggest breaths of fresh air I've had in a while in a pro sports world that can be filled with stench far too often.

LeBron was the last person I thought would provide me with that. But boy am I glad he did.

Hawks can, should hammer LA Kings in Western Conference Final

CHICAGO --- You don't think the Hawks are gonna just up and quit now, at this stage of the game, do you, worried Chicago Blachkhawks fans?

To have come so far just to roll over and die one step before getting the chance to make history is not in the blood of this team I tell you.

Just what the Hawks plan to do about it during these Western Conference Finals --- where they face the Los Angeles Kings for a second straight year --- is solely up to them.

Yes, the Hawks looked tired, if not disinterested at times against both the St. Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild, yet won both those series in six.

Moments after the series clincher that dispatched the Wild, Hawks coach Joel Quenville is said by multiple mainstream news sources to have walked into his club's locker room, then told his team at loud volume, and I quote, "You (fu***rs) should be proud!"

Indeed they should. Like they're still the heavyweight champs, with a huge gold belt around their waists.




Yes, folks, if there's any sign that's a good one headed into the home stretch of Chicago's quest for a full-fledged hockey dynasty, it may be Q having more energy than his team. But with much talk about how tired the Blackhawks must be after a grueling Stanley Cup win last summer, followed by a lengthy regular season --- then the Sochi Olympics --- many people forget one thing.

LA goalie Jonathan Quick, whose name always floats to the surface immediately the way a bobber does when the fish lets the bait go below when talking about the Kings ... well he has to be tired too.

Quick, you see, played in the Sochi Olympics. Crawford did not. Seabrook didn't either. Andrew Shaw will return soon, energized. And don't forget, Kane and Toews got a mini rest of their own due to injury precautions prior to the postseason.

Point being, with a team still as young as the Hawks are, fresh legs on all lines will be important. The Kings were just pushed to the max by a gritty Anaheim team after doing a magical escape act against San Jose in Round 1 --- one which Quick looked shaky in at times. Their legs will be spaghetti late in games too.

The Hawks may be fresher than we think, at least comparatively speaking. A club that has already won a Cup during an Olympic year before, with this same core, knows what it takes. Our top-end talent is better. And Corey Crawford is once again playing MVP-caliber hockey between the pipes at just the right time.

Then there are these stats/facts, which favor the Hawks:


-Quick is a mere 6-12-1 against the Hawks in his career.

-LA is more physical, which cost them dearly during last year's Conference Final. There's a time and place for that, and the Hawks know how to pick such spots. I do not think the Kings have that level of discipline.

-The Hawks have home ice advantage. This is huge.

-The Kings scored fewer goals in the regular season than all but five NHL teams. Their 2.5 goals per game won't cut it against a Hawks club that has a five-goal game sitting in its pocket on any given night, and averaged 3.3 a game of its own. That was more than any team in the conference. And that's with a target on their backs all year.

-Our fans. Chicago fans, when on THEIR game, are the best in hockey. I've seen and felt it in both the Chicago Stadium and United Center, and if you don't think those "Let's Go Hawks" chants don't rip right through the hearts of your on-ice heroes....well then you'd be mistaken.


This series won't be a cakewalk, don't get me wrong. Guys like Drew Doughty, Andre Kopitar, Jeff Carter, Marian Gaborik and crew are seasoned, gritty veteran leaders. Unfortunately for them, they aren't the Chicago Blackhawks, whose depth and skill should prevail barring a big collapse.

I like the Hawks in six, and furthermore, I have a very hard time seeing them losing this series, even if it goes seven.

You ready, Chicago? This is the kind of once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that isn't just handed to teams. They've earned it. If you're the Hawks, with the sense of character and pride they have, the legend they've begun to create..... well, you don't follow the Yellow Brick Road to Oz only to turn around and walk away before seeing the Wizard.

Let's just put it that way.

It's time to go dynasty hunting, Hawks. Your destiny awaits.

The Michael Jordan gene: The Blackhawks have it

One of the coolest things about sports is how most of us can relate to what it feels like to be out there on that baseball diamond, hockey rink, basketball court or football field.

We've been there, in many of those same situations we watch our favorite pro athletes in. Maybe not in say, Madison Square Garden, or the Staples Center, but in general we can usually relate to a degree.

We know what it's like to sink that basket. To throw that game-winning touchdown. To hit that walk-off homer, whether at the Little League, high school, or college level.

But rare is the athlete who has what I call "The Michael Jordan gene."

Scientists, they always talk of genetic mutations, and it's almost always in a negative connotation.

But what if genetics in athletes mutate in good ways too?

Much like we get our looks from mom or dad, we also inherit some of their traits. Of course, we could go on all day debating things like how someone's environment also affects the way people turn out as athletes, or people, but then we'd be here all day.

So for the sake of argument, when I refer to this MJ gene, I will keep it in the context of sports only.

With me so far? Because this is a two-parter.

This hypothetical Michal Jordan gene, as I call it, isn't in everyone. Maybe it's a mutation that allows him or other athletes to focus more when it matters most. Throughout sports history, you will find example after example of people who seem to elevate their games when it matters.

With the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs underway, I submit to you that our very own Chicago Blackhawks have not just one, but a slew of players who posses the Michael Jordan gene. (And before anyone skewers me here, know this concept is all in good fun).

When you're as young as these Hawks still are, and already have two Stanley Cup rings gleaming the same way Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Brent Seabrook, Duncan Keith and crew do, history tells us they're the type of team that's not usually done winning titles.



I've seen the dynasties of the 1980s Edmonton Oilers, with Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and crew. And the New York Islanders, with Billy Smith and Mike Trottier.

I've watched the nearly indestructible Pittburgh teams of the 1990s with Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr.

Experience, it seems, matters. And these baby Hawks have been thrown in situation, after situation, after situation that has tested their poise to the core, much like those teams of the past once did. I'm not suggesting the Hawks are the Oilers, Islanders or Penguins of hockey lore, but I am saying they aren't far behind.

Remember the two goals in 17 seconds to win their second Cup in four seasons?

No pressure there.

How about that overtime winner by Seabs against the hated Red Wings in OT? No pressure there either. What, you say? Kaner had a hattrick to send the Hawks to the Cup Final, also in OT last season?

Nah, that ain't pressure.

By the way, that was the second time Kane has done that. He did the same thing to Vancouver in 2010.

And I suppose there was no pressure when Hossa pumped home a huge goal against Nashville in 2010, the same game he watched his teammates kill off a four-minute penalty before the Hawks won in OT there, too?

Or when Kaner scored that...you know....Cup winner in Philly?

Drowning sarcasm aside, I think you get the picture.

Just why do these Hawks, when their feet are put to the fire, seem to come out unscathed so often? Is it skill? Experience? Luck? A combination of all three?

Or is it something deeper? An ability to focus? The same way MJ hit jumper after jumper. Clutch shot after clutch shot. In the biggest of moments.

Some things, you can't teach.

So just a word of warning, a word to the wise to the rest of the NHL, as these 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs begin.

The Chicago Blackhawks may not win the Cup, but I'll tell you one thing.

You'd have to be a fool to bet against them. A huge one.

Michael Jordan gene or not.

Let the fun begin.