The great Scottie Maurice Pippen was recently inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Pippen’s multi-dimensional skill-set, on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball, truly made him unique. His tools were rare for a guy of his size. A six-time NBA Champion and one of the NBAs 50 greatest players of all-time, his greatness is undeniable. The Chicago Bulls have decided to honor Scottie for all he has done for the franchise. They will unveil a statue of him at the United Center at some point this coming season.

Pardon me, but I have to be cynical for a second. Why did that decision take so long? It is an excellent gesture, but shouldn’t that have been done some time ago? Michael Jordan haters will say that the Bulls wouldn’t have won any titles without Pippen, so Scottie was equally as important. I don’t know the answer to that, and we’ll never know now. However, Scottie’s importance in that run is inarguable.

I look at the Utah Jazz who have statues of both Karl Malone and John Stockton, side by side, outside of EnergySolutions Arena. That’s fitting because each played an equal role in earning their zero rings. Also, I understand that Jordan’s statue was erected more than a decade ago in honor of his first retirement, but I often wondered why Scottie didn’t have something to publicly honor him.

Naturally, Pippen’s legacy would have been different if he never played alongside Michael Jordan. Who knows how we would view him if he were ever “the man” of a team.  The better question is, could he have led a team to a championship if there were players placed around him based on his style of game? I bring this up because he will forever be regarded as the Robin to Jordan’s Batman.  Hopefully this statue will help erase that.

What I do like about all of this is that it sounds like the statue will be in the United Center, while Jordan’s is outside. I agree with not putting them side by side because if that were the case, spectators would pay more attention to MJs even though Scottie’s would be right next to it. This way, Scottie gets his own well deserved shine. In any event, this is an excellent gesture by the Bulls and I’m happy that Pippen is getting this sort of respect.

“Words really can’t express my feelings. It’s an unbelievable honor and truly amazing. It’s something you dream of as a kid growing up, but you can never foresee those childhood fantasies becoming reality. You see statues of individuals who have done great things and made their mark on history, but as a basketball player, you never really think about arriving at this point. It’s an amazing honor for the Chicago Bulls to do this for me,” Scottie told the Bull team website.

Obviously he’s flattered and appreciative, but I wonder deep down if he’s thinking, “about time”.

Roger Clemens appeared in court a few years ago, along with his former trainer Brian McNamee and as far as I can tell, Clemens sat there and lied through his beige teeth. He claimed he never used any sort of performance enhancing drugs to boost his performance even though there apparently is a bunch of physical evidence saying otherwise. Well, the court doesn't believe him either because he was indicted for perjury.

Clemens apparently thinks that he's the only person on Earth that gets younger as they get older. He got better with age as a pitcher and that simply does not happen with athletes. He definitely was on the juice. If you watched that congressional hearing from a few years ago, then you could see that Clemens was uneasy and...lying. Sorry, there's no eloquent way to put it. He even said that McNamee "misremembered" certain details. Who says stuff like that?

But despite the indictment, nothing will happen to Clemens. This was just to let people know that they haven't forgotten about it. Barry Bonds was indicted a few years ago and he's doing just fine. This is supposed to go to trial next year and Clemens could face between 15 and 21 months. Clemens isn't going to jail. He'll be fine. No way will Clemens be the poster-child for this whole situation. I will say this though: I think he has eared Pete Rose punishment from the Commish.

Anytime I can, I like to point out the fact that I am a proud Yankee hater, so the last thing I would do would be to support or defend one of their players. A few weeks ago, Alex Rodriguez hit his 600th carrer home run. I don't care what type of performance enhancers he took, I still think this is significant.

Here's my thing: first of all I like A-Rod. I have no problems with him. Yankee fans do. Without the services of Rodriguez, the Yankees would not have won the World Series last year. If they were to have made the playoffs, they definitely weren't getting out of the divisional series. I think I like A-Rod because most Yankee fans hate him. They don't know what they have.

I think his 600th is significant because if you know baseball, you can tell that he is talented without any help. Super talented. I can't say that about everyone in the 600 home run club (See Sammy Sosa). I know that isn't much to base this argument on but that's all I got. I'm sure thousands of baseball players have taken steroids, but only a handful were able to eclipse 600. That's impressive. With or without he help of steroids. I still think he'll be a first ballot Hall of Famer too. Time will heal all. He'll get in.

From the moment LeBron made the heavily scrutinized decision  to “take his talents to South Beach” and join the Miami Heat, in a seemingly easier route to an elusive NBA Championship, I thought that he should have been applauded rather than hated. The fact that he willingly put himself in the crossfires, all in the name of winning, is commendable. The other side of that argument is that he is a traitor. That sentiment largely comes from Cleveland where people actually shed tears when he made his decision, and foolishly burned his jersey. It will take LeBron a very very long time climb his way back into the good graces of his detractors, but some feel as if he may have taken a step towards that when he recently thanked the city of Cleveland for all of their support. But is it too little, too late? Maybe.

For the most part, I think LeBron is a sharp guy, but some of the things he does doesn’t really seem that thought out. This summer is an example. Although I didn’t mind the hour-long reality show, “The Decision”, it’s easy to see why others did. Then, last week, he took out a full-page ad in the Akron Beacon Journal where he thanked the city for their support. The word “Cleveland” was not present in that ad. There was a mini uproar that ensued because LeBron made the effort to thank a city in Ohio, but it wasn’t Cleveland. When I first heard the news, I had a split response. Half of me said, “So what? He’s from Akron, not Cleveland.” Then the other, rational side said, “That has to be the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”

How could he take the time to thank Akron, and not even acknowledge Cleveland? That wasn’t thought out at all. How could his PR crew co-sign such a big mistake? Well, over the weekend, he finally got it right. In his first public appearance since announcing he was leaving Cleveland, at his annual charity bike-a-thon in downtown Akron on Saturday, LeBron did what he should have done a while ago. He thanked Cleveland. When he took the podium, he was actually welcomed with cheers (hard to boo a guy at his own charity event).

In front of a few hundred people, he said, ”To the city of Cleveland, my fans in Cleveland, my fans in northeast Ohio, I want to say thank you for the last seven years and the years that continue to go in the future.” He would speak for a little while longer before mentioning Cleveland again. “So I want to thank the city of Cleveland, also northeast Ohio, for all the great years that I’ve had.” I guess he really wanted to make sure everybody heard him.

LeBron told the world that he was going to Miami on July 7. His charity bike-a-thon, where he thanked Cleveland was August 7. Why did it take him an entire month to do this? More than anything, I would like to hear the answer to that question. What made it worse was that other players took the time to thank their former city before LeBron did. Amar’e Stoudemire thanked Phoenix in a rather expeditious manner, but the kicker was Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who is also in Miami now. Even he thanked Cleveland before LeBron did. That made LeBron look very bad. I know that Z has been in Cleveland much longer than LeBron, but come on. LeBron shouldn’t have allowed Z to beat him to it. Now, it looks like LeBron is just reacting to all the other players around the league who have done this.

I can’t speak for anyone, but I think his “thank you” is a day late and a dollar short. I think he missed the boat. It took too long. This may have even fueled the fire, because not only did it take a month, but he ignored Cleveland in his Akron thank you. 

I said it before and I’ll say it again: LeBron doesn’t owe anybody anything. He doesn’t owe Cleveland a goodbye, or a thank you for that matter. But, he needed to do it right if he wanted to be well received again, which I think he wants. If he doesn’t, then I guess this is a moot point.

If you thought the widespread hate for LeBron James was just germane to the basketball world, guess again. It has apparently seeped into other sports as well, namely baseball. A few weeks ago at Progressive Field in Cleveland, the hometown Indians were hosting the New York Yankees. There were more fans at this game than usual because many were on hand in attempt to witness Alex Rodriguez hit his 600th career homerun. Low and behold, one of those fans had on a LeBron James jersey. A Miami Heat LeBron James jersey. Honestly. I can’t make this stuff up.

I’m not sure what this guy was thinking wearing that jersey in Cleveland, and at a sporting event. I’m not going to say he’s crazy. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and just assume that he doesn’t own a television and isn’t sure what is going on. Hey, this is a tough economy. That has to be it.

Each time Rodriguez came to bat, people would race to the left field bleachers to try to catch his potentially historic homerun ball. This gentleman was sitting somewhere in that vicinity, meaning he was in the most densely populated part of the park. When the Cleveland faithful (who actually cried when LeBron announced that he was “taking his talents to South Beach”, as if they were at a Michael Jackson concert or something) saw this guy in that jersey, it was on. During the sixth inning, hundreds of fans chanted obscenities and were pointing at this guy in hopes that others would see him, join in and fuel their fire.

Apparently fearing for the safety of this man (or probably out of an act of sheer disbelief), security escorted this man and his female companion out of the ballpark. As he was leaving, rabid Cleveland fans followed him to continue to verbal onslaught. Allegedly, these fans threw things at them as they were leaving for good measure. It’s only right, because reports say that he was purposely holding up his jersey to the crowd, in a taunting manner, as he was leaving.

I was not at this game, nor am I from Cleveland or have a vested interest in LeBron’s departure from the city, but I can certainly understand where they’re coming from. That had to have been the least thought out thing I can remember in a long time. This guy obviously woke up that morning and said, “I feel like pissing a lot of people off today.” That’s the only logical conclusion I can come to. I know he doesn’t own a TV, but you at least would’ve thought he read a paper or something. But, he definitely achieved his objective. He received the reaction he was seeking because there’s no way he thought that would be accepted.

It’s almost reminiscent of when LeBron himself attended a Tribe game in Cleveland and wore a Yankee hat…in a game against the Yankees. Cleveland was up in arms then too, but LeBron didn’t really understand what the big deal was. They didn’t really taunt LeBron and they definitely didn’t throw anything at him, but it rubbed people the wrong way. At first I didn’t make that much of it either because the Yankee hat has largely become a fashion statement. But then James said, in his defense, that he’s actually a Yankee fan. Fair game then, I guess.

If this no-name guy was vilified for being in Cleveland with a LeBron Heat jersey on, can you imagine the first time LeBron returns to Cleveland wearing a LeBron Heat jersey? Guaranteed to be ugly.

Another off-season means another opportunity for Brett Favre to make an ass of himself. Right on cue, he's doing just that. I actually lost count of how many summers in a row this is of him doing this but its definitely par for the course. From the moment news broke that he may need surgery to repair the ankle that he hurt during the NFC Champioship game last year against the Saints, I knew he was drag this one out again. But you know what. It's not even his fault. It's the Vikings' fault. They're allowing him to do this. They are the enablers and they look desperate and silly for doing it again. Granted, Brett played well last year when is enough enough?

As a person who appreciates many languages and cultures, over the past few summers, I was able to pick up a new language. Yes, I now speak Favreian (pronounced Favre - ian). Some news came out the last few weeks regarding Brett Favre and his possible return, but the news was delivered in Favreian, and I realize that many of you don't speak that language. That's why I'm here. Allow me to translate.

News that was reported: Brett Favre sends a text message to Vikings personnel telling them that he plans on retiring and will not play for the Vikings this year.

Translation to Favreian:  "I'll see you early September."

More news that was reported: The Vikings offer Favre $20M if he plays this season with $16M guaranteed. The next day Favre says that he never sent a tex to anyone and he doesn't know if he'll play

Translation to Favreian:  "Wait, you're gonna pay me how much? For 1 year? And I don't have to go to training camp? What I had meant was..."

Stay tuned for the latest twists and turns in this never ending saga. Don't worry, you can always count on the The Kevin Burke Project to translate for you.

For a team that is centered around their defense, the Jets are acting as if they don't need their best defensive player. Jets standout cornerback, Darrelle Revis is officially a holdout. He threatened to do so months ago if he didn't get a deal done and he was true to his word. Usually when guys hold out, it annoys me, but Revis has a legitimate beef. I'm not a Jets fan, but I'm sure they feel him on this one too.

As arguably the best corner in the league, Revis would like to get paid like one. Literally. His beef is that he wants to be the highest paid corner in the league. The Jets partially have Al Davis to thank for this. The Raiders gave Nnamdi Asomugha a 3-year $45.3M contract in February of this year. That's $15M a year. Well, Revis wants $16 a year. I say give it to him. Last year, Revis was able to shut down Chad Johnson (twice), Randy Moss, Steve Smith, T.O (twice) and Andre Johnson. Not too shabby.

Earlier this offseason, Chris Johnson of the Titans threatened to hold out if he didn't get a deal done. The Titans were smart by giving the 2,000 yard back more money. I thought that was a sign that Revis would get a deal dont too. What really gets me about this whole football contract situation is how cheap teams can be. Let me clarify. They're only cheap with guys who deserve to get paid. Revis has proven that he deserves what he wants but teams will give a rookie, who hasn't even played a single down yet, $50M guaranteed (see Sam Bradford in St. Louis. Actually, see every rookie QB who goes #1 overall).

If I were Revis, I wouldn't budge until they gave me what they want. Revis knows that they need him. They're nothing without him. Head Coach, Rex Ryan and veteran LB Bart Scott each acknowledged the importance of Revis. If the Head Coach says that, then Darrelle must be at home smiling. This whole situation is nonsense. GM, Mike Tannnenbaum said that they offered Darrelle both a short term and a long term deal that were both shot down by the Revis camp. I don't know the figures of those alleged proposals, but I'm sure it was low ball.

With the moves that they made this offseason, the Jets are clear SuperBowl contenders. Not without Revis though. Even with the perennial AFC East powerhouse, New England Patriots, in their division, I think the Jets are the better team. I was in LA in the middle of July and had the opportunity to interview Wes Welker of the Patriots and he told me that the Jets scare him (Look for that interview towards the start of the regular season. Shameless plug, but why not? I mean, you are on my site).  I fully expect both sides to come to an agreement before the season starts and then all will be forgiven. But as of right now, the Jets look like fools.

Former NBA All-Star, Stephon Marbury, has agreed to continue to play basketball in China for three more years. He played 15 games last season with Shanxi Zhongyu of the Chinese Basketball Association where he averaged 22.8 points, 9.8 assists and was actually a fan favorite. Marbury will play two more years for the Chinese club and may be asked to become an assistant coach in the third year. The deal also states that Shanxi Zhongyu will create a company to produce and sell apparel from Steph’s Starbury brand. Starbury shops may also open up.

All of that sounds nice and everything, but I’d much rather see Steph in the NBA. At only 33 years old, he definitely has enough game to play in the league and should be on an NBA roster. Marbury’s career long criticism is that teams get better when he leaves. While I’m not completely disagreeing with that notion (facts are facts), for a guy who has averaged 19.3 points and 7.6 assists for his career, maybe that is misleading to a degree.

The beginning of the end for Steph in the NBA was when he was still in New York and the Knicks hired Mike D’Antoni as head coach. Long story short, D’Antoni inexplicably banished Marbury from the team (apparently thinking Chris Duhon gave them a better chance to win) and Marbury was perceived as a malcontent. Because he was told to stay away from the team, Knicks brass wanted to negotiate a buyout for his $21M salary since he wasn’t playing. That didn’t interest Marbury at all. Realizing that this was the last year for him to make that kind of money, he wanted to make sure he got all that was owed to him. Wouldn’t you? Makes sense to me. But, that’s another story for another time.

He eventually found his way onto the Celtics later that year where he didn’t really have a major role with the then defending champs. And before you knew it, he was gone just like that.

Steph has always rubbed people the wrong way. It started when he forced his way out of Minnesota. He said it was because he missed his family and the New York area, but most think it’s because he didn’t want to play in Kevin Garnett’s shadow. There’s no telling what they could’ve done together. At first I gave him the benefit of the doubt that he actually did miss home. But, a few years later when he was dealt to Phoenix, he looked a little too happy to go. As if he didn’t miss home anymore. Let’s not forget the Vaseline eating incident either. But, what actually had me scratching my head was when he thought it would be a good idea to get a tattoo on the side of his head of his Starbury logo. By far the most ignorant thing I’ve ever seen. The man is definitely a little off, but I digress.

For years, I felt he was a top 5 point guard in the NBA, but he never really got that kind of recognition. We forget just how good he actually was because he never played for a winner. If you want to say that’s his fault, then fine. It is what it is. But my point is that he is definitely good enough to play in the NBA. The last time we saw him, he was still playing at a high level.

Marbury’s goal was to land a job in the NBA. That hasn’t happened, but he has embraced playing in China because it gives him the opportunity to get his brand known internationally. That seems important to him, so I don’t think he’s completely broken up. And besides, his Starbury brand has no chance at doing anything significant here because more people dislike than like him. Whether that’s right or wrong, it’s true.

I hope he continues to thrive out there in China but I think it’s nothing short of a travesty that Stephon Marbury is playing in China and not the NBA.

By now you’ve probably heard the reports circulating around the humid New York air that disgraced former New York Knicks General Manager, Isiah Thomas, is being considered again by the club for the very same role. The very same role that he was fired from. The very same role that he has become a punch line for. There is a huge misconception about Isiah Thomas’ tenure as GM of the Knicks. One that has gone on for far too long. This news of his possible (and probably unlikely) return to Manhattan finally provides me with the opportunity to set the record straight for “Zeke.”

In sports, the GM of a team has two core objectives in his job description. The first one is to improve the team’s roster.  Secondly, it is to put the best possible coach in place to direct this roster that you have assembled (if you have the type of control that Isiah was afforded).  There are some other extraneous responsibilities, but what I have outlined are definitely atop the list.

Isiah Thomas was hired as GM of the Knicks on December 22, 2003. He inherited the following roster: Othella Harrington, Kurt Thomas, a hobbled Allan Houston, Howard Eisley, Michael Doleac, Clearance Weatherspoon, Lee Nailon, Shandon Anderson, Charlie Ward, Lavar Postell and Frank Williams to name a few. In no time, he eventually transformed that roster to Stephon Marbury, Jamal Crawford, Quentin Richardson, Eddy Curry (Granted, his salary has proven to be bigger than what he is worth, but people fail to realize that Curry was 20 and 9 for the Knicks in his best year there), Zach Randolph, Jalen Rose and Steve Francis. Not to mentioned that he drafted guys like David Lee, Nate Robinson, Trevor Ariza and Channing Frye. Maybe it’s me, but the post-Isiah roster is clearly better than the pre-Isiah roster. Clearly. Objective #1 of improving the roster: successful.

The head coach of the Knicks when Isiah arrived was Don Chaney. “Who?” I said, Don Chaney. Who did Isiah replace him with? Only the winningest coach in the history of the NBA at that time, Lenny Wilkens. Nothing too serious. But, the Knicks still weren’t successful under Wilkens. Who did Isiah get to  eventually man the sidelines for the orange and blue after Wilkens, you ask? Oh, nobody. Just Larry Brown.  The same Larry Brown who just led the Detroit Pistons to an NBA Championship and the crown jewel of NBA head coaches at the time.

(I apologize, but I’m about to go off on a tangent, as I tend to do occasionally. But please stay with me). The roster that Larry Brown had was a very solid one: Marbury, Crawford, Richardson, Lee and Curry. As well as a descent bench. Larry Brown coached the Knicks to a 23-59 record, which was tied for a franchise worse, and he was completely absolved of any culpability. He walked away as the victim which still disgusts me to this day.  He signed a 5-year, $50M deal to coach the Knicks. He was only there for one season and got roughly $40M in a buyout.  So basically, he coached a team to the worst record in franchise history and was rewarded with $40M for one year. I was going to bring up the fact that he would also routinely call out his players to the media, rather than keep it in-house like he should, but I’m not going to even go down that road. Larry Brown did more harm to the Knicks that year than Isiah did, but nobody talks about Larry Brown.(Again, my humblest apologies. I’m back now).

Where was I? Oh yeah. Objective #2 of improving the coaching situation: successful.

Isiah improved the roster and the coaching situation, but the team still wasn’t successful. How can that all be his fault? His critics love to harp on the fact that he overpaid for guys. In certain cases, yes, he did but at the time it didn’t prohibit them for acquiring anyone that they had their eye on. It wasn’t until Donnie Walsh took over and forfeited 2 seasons that we realized just how many hefty salaries he had acquired. But, he wasn’t planning for 2010 like Walsh was. He was planning for then.

In hindsight, Eddy Curry’s salary is obviously way too high, and he also overpaid for Jerome James at $30M for 5-years. But James just came off a pretty impressive playoff run (for his standards) the year before for the SuperSonics, and had many GMs across the league taking a look at him.

Isiah was definitely not an angel during his time in New York. The Anucha Browne Sanders harassment case, where she was awarded $11.6M in punitive damages, is evidence of that. But he became a punch line when he largely accomplished his two primary objectives in his job. It became cool to talk bad about Isiah. It became a part of pop-culture. I was personally at a Knicks game when Isiah eventually took over as head coach, and the Knicks were up comfortably in the 4^th quarter in a game against the Nets that they ultimately won. Then there came the “fire Isiah” chants in the closing moments of the game. That’s when I realized that many people don’t even know why they don’t like him.

I say that Isiah, the head coach at Florida International University, is owed an apology because the fact that he is even considered for the GM job with the Knicks means that people within the organization realize that the job he did in New York wasn’t nearly as bad as it is perceived and the hate that he has received as a result isn’t warranted. If what he did was so bad, they never would’ve sent him to Akron to try to recruit LeBron a few weeks ago, nor would they still be in communication with him. Current GM, Donnie Walsh is 70 years old and has been going through health problems of late. That is why there is even speculation that a new GM is needed.  Isiah is most guilty for acquiring high salary guys. Donnie Walsh threw away 2 seasons by getting rid of those salaries in anticipation of a guy who never came. Which is worse?

How ignorant is Albert Haynesworth? If you remember, he inexplicably was given a 7-year $100M contract (not that he’ll see all of that) from the Washington Redskins a year ago as a Defensive Tackle. Not even an End. A Tackle (Daniel Snyder is a special guy). He played for them one year (last year) then about a month ago, he made a big deal about how the team was going to change their defensive schemes a bit under new head coach, Mike Shanahan. He didn’t agree with this and said that he would not report to camp under these circumstances. I was in absolute disbelief when I heard that. But then he got over it and decided to report to camp. Fat and out of shape.  After all of that, this man failed a conditioning test…twice.

His initial beef was that he agreed to leave Tennessee for the nation’s capital only because they told him they would play a 4-3 defense. They’ve switched to a 3-4 and he demanded a trade. I’m glad he got over it. If he’s supposed to be an elite D-Lineman, he should be able to thrive in any system. I don’t know about you, but $100M means elite to me. Apparently he isn’t because, like I said, he decided not to attend the Redskins offseason workouts and minicamp.

He finally decided to report on Wednesday and he was told he’d have to pass a conditioning test in order to participate in practice. He took it and flunked it. He took it again yesterday, and flunked again. So let me get this straight. You mean to tell me that the whole time while he was crying about them moving to a 3-4, he was home eating cheeseburgers and pork rinds? You can’t be serious. Isn’t there a clause in that ridiculous salary that punishes him for not reporting to camp in shape? There needs to be. Man, Haynesworth look bad right now. Really bad.

The simple fact that T.O. was without a team so far into the offseason is a complete joke. That never should have been the case. Can he be annoying and tough to deal with? Definitely. But even at age 36, anyone can see that the man can still play. Apparently, so do the Cincinnati Bengals. Today, the Bengals signed T.O. to a one year deal. It’s about time.

Earlier in the week we heard rumors that Owens may sign with St. Louis. I hope that was just an ugly rumor and that he nor his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, were seriously considering that.  What kind of sense would that have made? But that’s neither here nor there. If you remember, a few months ago Cincy brought Owens in to meet with him. Then they sent him on his way after the meeting. They weren’t interested. This is partially because they already signed Antonio Bryant earlier in the offseason (why that should’ve mattered is beyond me). Then T.O. met with Seattle, Washington and the Jets to name a few. Still no job.

Even at his age, T.O. is still a top-caliber wideout in this league. Make no mistake about it. Do you see any other WR blocking downfield like he does? He never takes plays off like a nameless receiver in New England (cough  -Randy Moss- cough).  Earlier this summer when he met with Cincy, I was strongly against him teaming with Chad Johnson (if you’ve read any of my stuff, you’ll know that I just can’t bring myself to calling Chad by his new last name). I called it a train wreck waiting to happen. But then I thought about it: Chad doesn’t really complain about not getting the ball. He just loves attention (maybe more than T.O. actually). So maybe it should work.

I was surprised to learn that Carson Palmer actually played a role in getting Owens. Apparently he lobbied for him. Both Carson and Chad are getting long in the tooth and they’ve probably hit their ceiling together,  so it’s probably time they shook things up a bit. He’s definitely worth the risk. Coach, Marvin Lewis, said Antonio Bryant will line up in the slot in order to accommodate Owens’ arrival.

But the bigger question is how long will T.O. continue to sign these 1-year deals? He just came off of one in Buffalo, and now this. As difficult as it was for him to get this gig this year, he better have a one hell of a year. If not, unfortunately I think this may be it for him.

I always promised myself that I wouldn't call Chad Johnson by his new last name. But I'll make an exception just for this blog post. It has become apparent to me that Chad wants to be Terrell Owens. Yes, Chad has an outgoing colorful personality, but he clearly wanted the attention that T.O. got. Owens is the Godfather of the flashy, "hey, look at me" wide receiver. He pioneered it. Chad wanted in. Well, he got his wish.

As you may or may not know, Chad was given his own VH-1 reality show called Ochocinco: The Ultimate Catch. It just so happens that Owens already has his own show on VH-1, The T.O. Show (for the record, I'm ashamed that I know all of this). I remember a year ago on HBO's Hard Knocks, Chad complaining about how he wanted his own reality show. At the time, all he had was UStream, which is just over the internet. So here we are.

Even before that, Chad's end zone celebrations were very T.O.-esque. By that I mean that they were rehearsed. Sounds like somebody else. Call me crazy, but Chad was dying for the T.O. type of off the field attention. But of course, Chad does have one thing over T.O. Employment.

Floyd Mayweather is probably the best showman in sports today. He talks a good game and, more importantly, he backs it up. He is undefeated in his decorated career with a 41-0 record with 25 coming by way of knockout. He has beaten the likes of Oscar De La Hoya, Zab Judah and Shane Mosley. However, the one thing that would elevate him into immortality would be a  win against a certain someone. Like who? How about Manny Pacquiao.

Pacquiao desperately wants to fight Floyd. But from as far as I can tell, Floyd doesn't want any part of Manny. Floyd is clearly afraid of Pacquiao. Clearly. For that reason, I have lost a little bit of respect for Floyd. These two are clearly the two best fighters (regardless of weight class) in the world today, so naturally it's tough to get all the stars aligned so that we can get them into the ring together. But at least Pacquiao's camp is trying. Manny's camp tried to get Floyd in the ring this past March, but it never happened. It didn't happen because they couldn't see eye-to-eye on drug testing. However, Manny seemed to be more flexible than Floyd. That made me scratch my head.

This past week, Pacquiao's camp gave Mayweather's camp a deadline to commit to a fight this November, where Pacquiao has already agreed to extensive drug testing. Everything seemed lined for Mayweather to accept. But, there was no answer from him or his side. To me, that means he's scared. And I don't get it because they each stand to make $40M from this fight. For a guy who loves money more than he loves life, there's no apparent reason why Floyd wouldn't accept this bout. Pacquiao realizes that Floyd is afraid because he's already looking for another competitor for this November. Floyd better come up with a good excuse.

For all of the money that he has made, for all of the fame and recognition that he has earned, for all of the God-given gifts that he has been blessed with, the last person on Earth that I wanted to be last night was LeBron James. Regardless of what words came from his mouth during “The Decision” last night, he was in a lose-lose situation. A lose-lose situation like we’ve never before witnessed (no pun intended) in all of sports, not just basketball.

From the time we woke up Thursday morning, we immediately heard that everyone’s “sources” said that the likelihood that LeBron would end up in Miami was great. That was a change from what we heard earlier in the week. On Tuesday, I thought he would be a Bull. On Wednesday, I thought he may be a Knick. If nothing else, it made for great theatre.

On the surface, LeBron’s decision to join Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami would leave anyone with a sour taste in their mouth because it looks as if he’s taking the easy way out en route to an elusive NBA Championship. What has somehow gotten lost in all of this immediate reaction is that LeBron turned down the option to make more money to stay in Cleveland, and more importantly – whether or not anyone would like to acknowledge it, he has indirectly damaged his brand and his ultimate legacy because if they win in Miami, he won’t have to lead them. He was willing to sacrifice all of that. An athlete actually put winning above all. Isn’t that a crazy, rare notion? We criticize athletes all the time for putting money ahead of winning. When one of the biggest athletes on the planet decides to do the opposite, it’s a bad thing? Did I also mention that the proceeds from “The Decision” made more than $1M and will go towards the future of children?

I can see how people got rubbed the wrong way about the way this entire thing played out. The fact that there was even an hour long special about this is interesting within itself. Would it have gone over better for him if he announced it quietly? Probably, but, we’ve never witnessed (there I go again) a more coveted free agent like this, so I guess that comes with the territory. The buildup turned people off. Rather, it pissed people off. LeBron never went to college so I guess this was his opportunity get recruited and to have this type of announcement. He started giving his answer to Jim Gray (I still have no idea how Jim Gray of all people got that interview) by saying “I’ve decided to take my talents to…”. It doesn’t get more college than that. But why was LeBron at the Boys and Girls Club in Greenwich, Connecticut? There were two general guesses why.  The first reason was that he was going to join the Knicks and Greenwich is about 15 minutes from the Knicks practice facility and the airport that the team flies in and out of (and about an 45 minutes from where I call home. Let me tell you, it felt like Christmas eve here on Wednesday). I thought that was a dumb reason because the Knicks don’t have practice any time soon, nor do they have a road game coming up.  The second reason, and the one I actually bought, was that he would be attending Carmelo Anthony’s wedding on Saturday in New York.  As it turns out, neither one of those were the answer because he landed in Miami last night after his announcement. The Boys and Girls Club of America is headquartered in Atlanta, so I don’t quite understand why it was in Connecticut. But I guess it’s really not that important in the grand scheme of things.

As a Knicks fan, for me to say that LeBron should be applauded, not hated, is big. The Knicks pioneered this whole league-wide initiative to clear cap space for LeBron in 2010, and the day never came. They were the first ones to do it, back in 2008. Then other teams caught on and starting doing the same. The Knicks forfeited two seasons for this summer and so far only have Amar’e Stoudemire (who I’m excited about) to show for it. The most infamous man in recent Knicks history is Isiah Thomas. Can you believe that the Knicks actually sent Isiah to Akron to go talk to and convince LeBron to come play for the Knicks? I think that is hilarious, but I digress.

From the moment the interview started, he looked tense and nervous. That immediately told me that he wasn’t going back to Cleveland. During the interview and before LeBron announced where he was going, Jim Gray asked him what was most important in him making his decision. He said winning. That excluded New York and New Jersey (who never really had a shot in my opinion). That left only the Bulls, Cavs and Heat, but again, all day we heard that he was going to Miami. The fact that he was so nervous should tell you that it was genuine because he knew he was about to let a lot of people down. But, Cleveland doesn’t want to hear that. They had already begun burning his jersey.  And Cavs owner, Dan Gilbert, should be ashamed of himself. He posted a letter to Cavs fans on the team’s website not too long after LeBron made his decision. Here’s some of what he said…

“It’s not about him leaving. It’s the disrespect. It’s time for people to hold these athletes accountable for their actions. Is this the way you raise your children? I’ve been holding this all in for a long time. You simply don’t deserve this kind of cowardly betrayal. You have given so much and deserve so much more.  In the meantime, I want to make one statement to you tonight: I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER ‘KING’ WINS ONE. You can take it to the bank. This shocking act of disloyalty from our home grown ‘chosen one’ sends the exact opposite lesson of what we would want our children to learn. And ‘who’ we would want them to grow-up to become.”

Dan Gilbert is 48 years old and wrote a childish misguided letter. I’m embarrassed for him. The double standard is that if LeBron responds, he’ll be the bad guy. Let’s be clear: LeBron owes nothing to anybody. The notion that he owed something to Cleveland is nonsense. How often do we see players get traded or released without any regard to them? It happens all the time. If LeBron stayed in Cleveland and in 10 years they thought that his skills diminished to the point where he could no longer help the team, they would get rid of him. He just beat them to it.

I said before that Kobe Bryant was probably the most hated guy in the league amongst NBA fans. Well, Kobe can breath easily now because he was just unseated. That being said, I still feel that we should applaud this tough decision that LeBron has made for all that was willing to sacrifice in the name of winning. At the end of the day, winning is what it’s all about.

Last year’s 2009 Wimbledon Final was a very special event. I said it then and I’ll say it again: it was one of the best sporting events I’ve ever watched. Eventual champ Roger Federer and first loser Andy Roddick put on a show for the ages. I was looking forward to seeing a rematch, but we got no such luck. Both guys failed to make it to the final.

I’m not that surprised that Roddick didn’t make it because while he’s plenty popular, he’s not an elite tennis player. Don’t get me wrong, he’s very good. Just not elite. But Federer definitely is (or was). Over the past year, we’ve seen indication that his best days may be behind him.  Roger is just 29 years old, which is technically in his physical prime as an athlete, but for a tennis player, that’s like being a 30 year old running back in football, or a 38 year old shooting guard in basketball. In other words: old.

Rafael Nadal has long since been rumored to be the future of the game.  With this Wimbledon win, he is now the world’s number 1 tennis player and Federer has dropped to #3. That may not sound like much but that’s the lowest Federer has been ranked since 2003. I think it’s safe to say that we’ve seen the last of untouchable tennis by arguably the greatest ever.