I’m not an NBA guy. Hell, I’m not a basketball gut, I find the sport pretty boring to watch, that’s odd in the sense that it’s one of the primary sports I play myself year round. Like any sport however, I do pay attention to the leagues elite. Sitting down each and every night to watch the highlight reels of the nights best plays is always fun, no matter what the sport. I think we all would agree one would have to be living under a rock to not be able to name the key players in any of the major leagues fighting for our attention. In the NBA one of those big names is of course LeBron James. The past week or two has been nothing short then a drama queens ballroom dance, and even though I’m frankly very tired of hearing about it, I’m going to take the time to talk things through one more time for a reason that will be very clear once I’m done.
LeBron James put 7 years into Cleveland, Ohio and part of me gets the fact that if he felt he wasn’t going to win in Cleveland he eraned the right to move on. That’s the whole point of becoming a UFA. Mind you when your team wins 60 regular seasons games, I’m still scratching my head on how anyone could say the franchise didn’t put the pieces in place for success, but maybe that’s just me. His choice to go play with 2 of the other superstars of the league isn’t a hard one I don’t think, it’s kind of like Crosby and Malkin saying to Ovechkin, he we have a chance to play hockey for the same club, want to do it? What man, or fan for that matter, wouldn’t consider the possibilities? In short, all I’m trying to say is I do understand the choices and train of thought that went through both James, and Bosh’s I suppose, heads in this process that ended up with them leaving the teams that drafted them into the NBA.
With that bunk out of the way, let me tell you how I really feel.
Cleveland, Ohio is a small market. Edmonton, AB is a small market. Small market doesn’t mean that no one cares, in fact it’s exactly the opposite. I believe the fan support of the Edmonton Oilers is more then likely second to none in the NHL, I would imagine the same can be said of the fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers. That’s not to say large markets don’t have great fans, but large market fans have never been through the process that’s a harsh reality for the have not teams in these major leagues. The large market fan always has the superstars on their club, while the small market fan gets something to cheer about for a few years if they are lucky, and is then often left in heart break and anger. Just the state Cleveland is in now. Which brings me back to Edmonton and the our beloved Oilers.
I was blown away how many fans and media here took the stance they did when LeBron picked Miami to go play basketball. The basic sentiment was get over it, it’s a business. It’s his right. You should support him and still be a fan of his. Blah, blah, blah!!!! Let me paint this picture. The Oilers are proud owners to the right of one Tayler Hall. The city is abuzz and the feeling is being compared to the excitement that engulfed the city when the club drafted a kid named Wayne Gretzky. So lets say the next 7 years sees the Oilers grow as ateam and gain more and more success. Ultimately with the club getting back to the playoffs, and even going to the finals on the back of our superstar Tayler Hall. To top it all off in the seventh season the Oilers win 60 out of 82 games. That very next off season Tayler Hall says, after being in the Stanley Cup Finals and winning 60 games during the regular season, in the past two campaigns, I can’t win here. He then signs a contract with the Detroit Red Wings that summer. Does anyone thing that the call in shows here in Edmonton will be full of flowers and best wishes for one Tayler Hall? Not freaking likely. In fact there may be riots in the streets. I just hope that the City of Edmonton isn’t destined to walk in the same shoes as Cleveland, Ohio and Tayler Hall embraces the challenge of being the man in market that’s a way tougher road to walk then the one Lebron James picked. It’s the path that defines greatness however, something that James will now miss out on, while Hall still has a chance to accomplish.
Then again, this is just another damned opinion.
