By Tim Marcin
Elm Staff Writer
The Good
LeBron James has not made a lot of friends recently, nor has he won back a lot of fans. His fall from grace has been swift and steep after his ill-fated, hour-long, TV debacle entitled “The Decision”. His departure from Cleveland to go play with his cast of superstar friends in Miami was handled in perhaps the worst way imaginable (well at least he didn’t go in moving trucks in the middle of the night, as Baltimore fans may point out). Recently, however, LeBron did earn a little bit of my respect back after his newest Nike commercial debuted.
If you haven’t seen it, check it out. In it James addresses everything that has been said about him, posing the question, “What should I do?” He asks, should he play the role of the villain, should he remove his “chosen one” tattoo, should he just disappear, or as he says at the end—should I be who you want me to be? Some people take this as LeBron being indecisive, even scared about his image.
I however, respect the move. He clearly admits that he made some mistakes; his tone and facial expressions give that away. He does not, however, back down, and I like that. In fact, I think this is LeBron calling everyone out. Some people may take him asking “What should I do?” as being passive, I see it as being passive-aggressive. James addresses all the criticism about him, of him being selfish, of ruining his legacy, even of Charles Barkley poking at his decision. He addresses these things, then quickly throws them to the side. James is answering “What should I do?” with “Whatever the hell I want.”
He shows he is rising above the criticism, when he ultimately rises above nameless opponents laying in a fingeroll. As this happens he asks, “Should I be who you want me to be?” Clearly, the answer is no, as the screen shows he is clearly rising above everyone else, focused only on himself and his goals. He is going to be who he truly is, no matter what we say about him. While I may not the like the person he is, I can respect that LeBron is publicly stating, “This is me, get used to it.”
The Bad
Here comes what is likely the first of many such arguments as the college football season is coming near the end. Why is there not a playoff? For the sake of the sport, the bowl system has to go. Yes it makes money, yes it shortens the year, yes there are less games for already busy student athletes—but one question still remains. How many times are we going to allow a great team not even have a chance at being called national champions?
This brings me to my point. Boise State, as it stands, is definitely getting the short end of the stick. Right now the BCS standings have them behind Oregon and Auburn. They can do no right. They remain undefeated after starting the season in the top 5, and constantly teams ahead of them have fallen, yet they cannot get a sliver of respect. The Broncos are 6-0, have won 20 straight games, and have proven themselves in years past against good teams in bowls. Yet they cannot convince the computers that they deserve a shot at the championship. Boise State continually gets jumped over by undeserving teams. They cannot break out of the three-spot. The knock on them is that they don’t play anyone of substance, since they do not play in a big conference. Yet, this year they have beaten Virginia Tech and Oregon State. All they can do is just keep dominating, and hope one day the computers will wake up and allow them to play for the title. If I were the Broncos, I wouldn’t hold my breath.
The Ugly
Last week I said the Cowboys dug themselves into a hole. This week they have dug themselves even deeper. They can barely even see light, they are are so deep. They are now 1-5, after getting pummeled by the Giants on Monday night. Don’t let the 41-35 score fool you, it was never really that close. The Giants ran through them pretty handedly, in a game where they did not even seem atop their game, as they gave away points to the Cowboys. Also, if it weren’t for the brilliance of Dez Bryant scoring three touchdowns (two receiving, one amazing 93-yard punt return) the Cowboys would have been in a lot worse shape. This seems like a Cowboys team that is going nowhere, a team full of talent but with no direction. Tony Romo has been unspectacular and not the leader they need, and has no come down with a collar-bone injury to make matters worse. The special teams has been terrible in coverage, and Wade Phillips looks to be a man defeated. I think two things were learned on Monday night: the Giants are currently the best team in the NFC East, and the Cowboys look to be done for the year.