A Future Crown For the King?

The King hung his head as he walked off the court during the final seconds of the Cavs loss to the Pistons on Sunday. Lebron James appeared exhausted, frustrated, and even a little bit sad. He stared into the distance as the final seconds ticked off the clock and Detroit celebrated their series-clinching victory in what turned out to be a much more heated Eastern Conference semifinal series than anyone imagined. It was a picture of a man who gave his all, but simply came up a bit short against a magnificent team. It’s a picture NBA fans may want to freeze frame, as it may be one of the last times they see that look ever again.

After falling behind in the series 2-0, James revved the Cavs’ engine by leading them to back-to-back home victories followed by a rousing upset in Detroit to give Cleveland a 3-2 edge in the series. The Cavs had a chance to wrap up the series at home Friday night, but a combination of clutch shooting from Detroit, the inability of James’ teammates to rise to the occasion, and plain old bad luck foiled their plans, as Detroit secured a two-point victory and sent the series back to Motown. In Game 7, King James did his best to keep the Cavs’ engine roaring, getting his team within two points at the half. However, James finally ran out of gas in the second half as his teammates crumbled around him and Detroit pulled away for the victory.

In sports, losses are not all created equally. Every team has a time and a place. Some miss their windows of opportunity, while others capitalize. The dominant Pittsburgh Steelers team of the 1970’s had playoff failures before going 4-0 in the Super Bowl. It took Michael Jordan’s Bulls several trips to the post-season before they were able to congeal around him enough to hoist a trophy. The Cavs lost the series, but in defeat they may have leapfrogged several steps on the way to greatness. No one doubted King James had the ability to someday rule the NBA kingdom, but few knew he was this close this soon.

The best news for Cleveland was that this series exposed exactly what James needs to take that preverbal next step. Cavs veteran point guard Eric Snow played his heart out in the post-season and was a defensive force both in the Detroit series and in the Cavs first round victory over Washington. However, his lack of offensive skills forced James to handle the ball more than he should, and allowed teams to double and even triple team the King without the threat of getting burned by the open Snow. The Cavs would be wise to find a point man with the ability to burn teams who focus so heavily on James.

In addition to the point guard situation, the Cavs should be propelled next year by the return of Larry Hughes. Hughes was signed in the off-season to play Robin to Lebron’s Batman. With Hughes in the starting line-up, the Cavs surged to an 18-10 start this year. However, Hughes injured his finger, was forced to miss 45 games, and never fully regained his rhythm on the floor once he returned. Then, during the Detroit series, he was dealt a devastating blow with the loss of his younger brother, Justin, who died from complications from earlier heart-transplant surgery. Hughes and James were never able to completely get on the same page this year, but they showed enough flashes that once they do, they could form a lethal combination.

In addition to the youth on the floor, Cavs rookie head coach Mike Brown also took some major steps in the developmental process. After getting blasted by the Pistons in the first two games of the series, Brown made the necessary defensive adjustments that allowed the Cavs to turn what looked to be an early exit into a near miracle upset. Brown is the second youngest head coach in the league and just like his players, he learned some valuable lessons this post-season.

In the end, the Pistons were the better team in this series from start to finish. That fact only should scare the rest of the league. If the Pistons were clearly the better team, yet were still only a few possessions away from going home, imagine what Lebron and company will do once they are clearly the better team. The Cavs lost the series, but won a major victory in the growing pains department. They are ahead of schedule, and King James has now had a taste of what the big time is all about. All he needs now is a little more help in the backcourt and another off-season working on his game (most notably his defense), and he could soon end the city of Cleveland’s notorious title drought.

The King has officially arrived, so get your titles while you can, because James will be wearing his crown soon enough.

MLB Zapper (April)

MLB Zapper 2006 (April)

It’s that time of the year again. Time to bust out the tiki torches and citronella candles. Spring has sprung and summer is right around the corner. A summertime consumer has many choices these days when searching for the perfect anti-insect remedy, but none of them have quite the allure and ambiance of the good ole’ “zapper.” Remember those lovely devices, glowing a bluish-hue like something straight out of Chernobyl? Nothing quite said “quiet summer night” like the distinct zapping sound of those unlucky bugs that decided to get a closer look. But alas, it seems the bug zapper has gone the way of cassette tapes and Hypercolor t-shirts. If you’re looking for piles of sticky insect carcasses, you’ll need to look somewhere else.

There is one place that the zapper still has a place in the world—The Major League Baseball diamond. Although we are only one month into the marathon season, several teams have already run face-first into the zapper, and several other are making curious circles around the glow. Once a team has hit the zapper, their post-season dreams are officially toast.

So, in homage to this lost vestige of the 1980’s, I present the first of a monthly series: The MLB Zapper. If you see your favorite team’s name on this list, feel free to turn in your season tickets, grab some sunscreen (preferably with deet), and look forward to football season. Because once your team has been “zapped,” there is no way to be revived.

It’s only been one month, but the zapper was just too alluring for these sorry teams:

Kansas City Royals (5-17)

The Royals are on pace to go 0-81 on the road this year. Good news is they are a blistering 5-8 at home. We may as well call our zapper the “Royal Zapper” as this franchise heads for the glow as early as possible year in and year out.

Washington Nationals (8-17)

A surprise early addition to the dead-pile. The Nats have the opposite problem of the Royals: They are 1-7 at home. Perhaps MLB can schedule a grudge-match between the two in the nation’s capital? Washington parlayed the excitement of a new city into a competitive season in 2005, but they seem to be reverting to their old Montreal form in 2006. It’s early of course, but with the Braves and Mets in front of them in the NL East, Washington can kiss this one goodbye.

Florida Marlins (6-16)

It’s an interesting pattern: Slowly build a team good enough to win the World Series. Then, in an instant, dismantle that team in order to save on payroll and start the building process again. While many blast the Marlins front office for their unreal roster slashing, it’s hard to argue with the two World Series titles they’ve won during their relatively short existence. In 2006, they are trotting out a team that MIGHT be worthy to play in SOME AAA leagues, but watch out for this crew in 2010.

Pittsburgh Pirates (7-19)

Pittsburgh native and die-hard fan Michael Keaton threw out the first pitch at the Pirates home opener. During an interview that same day, he ripped the organization for their lack of commitment to building a winning team and hinted that the fans have been led astray after building ownership a new stadium. When Mr. Mom starts ripping you a new one, you know you’ve got problems. Good news for Pittsburgh fans? Only 131 days until the Steelers begin defense of their Super Bowl title.

San Diego Padres (9-15)

How can I put a team on the “zapped” list that won their division last year and are only 5.5 games out of first with five months left in the season? Well, have you really looked at this roster? In many ways, it is an all-star line-up……from 1994. This team is ancient, playing in a cavernous stadium. The Pads are second to last in runs scored in all of MLB and dead last in batting average. Decent starting pitching will keep them from embarrassing depths, but make no mistake, even playing in a woeful division, they’ve been zapped.

That’s 5 teams out of 30 that have been officially zapped. But the 25 remaining teams best not get too comfortable, as several of them are already making a run for a May zapping.

April has come and gone, and taken five teams with it. Pitchers need to remember to keep the ball down, hitters need to remember to hit their pitch, and everyone should remember to stay away from “the glow.”