Lebron’s New Commericial: In Historical Context

So the new NBA season began last night, and of course the first game on the schedule features the revamped Miami Heat and their two new additions: Lebron James and Chris Bosh. In anticipation of this, Nike has just released a new Lebron commercial that takes shots at Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and all the “haters” who have constantly criticized him for his choice…and how he announced said choice. Now to be fair and honest, it’s a good ad. It gives Lebron a forum to lash out at his critics and clear up some misconceptions. But unlike his new team, I don’t think the product is worth the hype. There have been much better commercials from Nike alone. In the interest of not writing an entire book on the subject, here are 5 commercials that Nike has put out that are much better than the Lebron ad.

1. The “Mars Blackmon” Era: Anybody that has seen Spike Lee’s work knows that the man is an outstanding filmmaker. School Daze, Do The Right Thing, Jungle Fever…he knows how to make movies. But early in his career Spike did a little movie called She’s Gotta Have It. In the movie, Spike played a character called Mars Blackmon. Nike decided to use this character as it’s primary pitchman, which resulted in some of the best commercials ever.
2. Bo Knows: In his prime, Bo Jackson was quite possibly the best athlete of his era. Going between two sports, and excelling in both, it was obvious that he would be a great spokesman for any brand. The crossover aspect of it gave Nike the idea of saying that Bo could do just about anything, so “Bo Knows” was born. And when you’ve got the great Bo Diddley as your wingman, it’s hard to go wrong.
3. “I Am Not A Role Model”: The fact that this commercial is referenced to in the Lebron ad is reason enough for this to be on the list, but there’s much more to it than that. This ad wasn’t just a marketing ploy that Nike came up with, it was something that Barkley had been advocating for a while and they just decided to run with it. The argument of whether or not athletes should be role models has gone on for years, and Barkley threw gas on the fire with this one.

SN: Barkley’s commercials with Humpty Hump weren’t necessarily “classics”, but I found them amusing.

1. “I am Tiger Woods”: Come on…you know it was cool. With all of the controversy that has surrounded Tiger Woods for the past year and a half we sometimes forget that at one point El Tigre was actually pretty cool. And this ad spoke volumes back then about his popularity and what his image was doing for sports on a global scale. Although the one with his dad’s voice deserves an honorable mention, this one is tops for me.
2. “Chicks Dig The Long Ball”: Believe it or not, there was a time in this country where people actually watched baseball on a regular basis. Of course, a lot of the players were juicing and the numbers were inflated…but America fell in love with the home run. Pitchers weren’t necessarily known for hitting the long drives at the time so this commercial became incredibly popular for its humor and catch phrase. It may not be the best of them all, but it’s my personal favorite.

Am I saying that Lebron’s commercial isn’t classic? No. It is a good commercial that will be remembered for a while. But even just counting Nike ads, there have been tons better. This is all just a product of the huge hype machine in Miami. Not to be confused with the Sound Machine. They were quite good.  Let’s hold off on making James the villain until we see how this season shakes out. Until then, stop whining and play some ball.

Written by “The Professor” Nick Harrison. Let us know what you think here, on our Facebook Page, or by calling 888-993-7762!

Quick hitters

Well what a craptastic weekend:

-Saint lose to Cleveland…No They dont rock!

-Drew Brees is human

-Scott Fujita was a man possesed and knew exactly what the saints were going to do.

-No its not the same old saints

-Its an average year in nfl

-As bad as it was sunday…you could wake up a cowboys fan

-Huge game halloween night in the dome vs steelers

-I expect to see the saints best game

-Jerry Jones has killed the cowboys..He is Al Davis 2.0

-LSU lost to Auburn

-Better team won

-Cam Newton is a once in a generation kind of player

-Dont think LSU could do anything to slow him down

-Up next Bama..Great team..No cam newton

-Hopefully LSU can muster something from the qb situation

-ULM lost to MTSU

-No ULM got killed MTSU

-Coach Berry said it best” they play how they practice”..It wasnt good

-All will be forgotten if they beat Troy saturday for homecoming

-Frank Warren is a beast for GSU

-Go see for yourself

-Up for Walter Payton Award..And they are #1 for black national title

-Tech takes on Boise tonight

-Nothing to lose..time to see team go for it on 4th down, onside kick, fakes etc…etc..etc…

-How big an upset would it be?

-NBA starts tonight

-Most I have looked forward to it in sometime

-Dont think the Heat will win it..Way to much pressure

-Think the Hornets have the pieces in place to atleast make the postseason

-Gonna be fun..CP3 for MVP!

The Biggest Upset of the Year

Unless you have been living under a rock, or out of the country you understand that the pillars of college football as we know it have been devastated by major upsets.

The mightiest of the mighty SEC had to check their man card and almost revoke Ole Miss’ membership due to the opening weekend loss to FCS member Jacksonville State. The Rebels debacle is not the worst. True the Rebels were favored, and most people know all the controversy surrounding Jeremiah Masoli but still one is worse!

The Dakota’s? No but we are getting close. The last time I checked neither North nor South Dakota is listed in the media guide of (insert your favorite college) as having a recruiter for that area. North Dakota State only boasts 19 players from the state of North Dakota and the Bison defeated Turner Gill’s Kansas Jayhawks 6-3. Kansas defeated  # 15 Ga. Tech the following week, so the stakes are higher but still not the biggest upset in college football.

University of South Dakota over Minnesota of the Big 10, 41-38 is till not the biggest upset. The Coyotes only have 15 players from the Rushmore State on their roster and still there is one glaring upset that trumps all of these.

What is the glaring difference between FCS and FBS football teams? First let’s take a minute and learn their proper names. FCS (formerly 1AA) is short for football championship division. FCS is the one with the playoffs. FBS (formerly 1A) is short for football bowl subdivision. FBS is the one with bowl games! The glaring difference is scholarship number: FBS can have up to 85 players on scholarship; FCS can have 63 players having their education paid for. Division 2 is limited to 36 total scholarships. One interesting note, on the FCS level the 63 scholarships can be divided among no more than 85 players, thus an FCS school could have as many players on scholarship as an FBS school. All FBS scholarships are full, no partials allowed.

The biggest upset this season has been D2 Arkansas Monticello (Boll Weevils) defeating Southern (Baton Rouge) FCS last weekend. 36 Scholarship players made their way to Louisiana and defeated the Jaguars, who have 63 scholarship players. This was no 3 point squeaker, (Kansas/North Dakota, Minnesota/South Dakota), nor was it a 2OT go for two thriller that Jacksonville State had with Ole Miss. The final, D2 Boll Weevils 31 FCS Jaguars 7. Hats off to Arkansas Monticello on the biggest upset of the year!!

 By Nick “CB HERE” Brown. Listen to the Nick Brown show Saturday mornings from 7-9am

Cedar Creek 2010: 3 Games In

After 3 weeks of regular season play, the 2010 Cedar Creek Cougars stand 2-1. We’ve had big impressive wins over Grambling and Jonesboro-Hodge and a tough loss against St. Mary’s this past week. We now face a hungry Many team that is 0-3 after a tough early schedule. What’s gone right so far this season?

1. Hungry defense – Coach Haddox said in the off season, that his defense was going to play aggressive and ball-focused. They have. Big turnovers in every game have either sealed the deal for the Cougars or allowed them to stay in the game when their offense sputtered. The defense is as good as advertised.

2. Christian Marcus – He’s played well all season, but in the loss to St. Mary’s he was exemplary. Big plays on both sides of the ball. A long TD catch and run, as well as helping to force some turnovers and some big run stopping tackles, put him at the center of the Creek’s successes this past Friday.

3. Adam Van – in the transition from WR to QB, not everything has been smooth for Van. He’s made a couple of bad decisions that cost the Cougars, but overall his leadership and athletic abilities are a big asset for Cedar Creek.

4. Robert Feron – A great receiver, offensive leader, kicker and occasional return man make Feron irreplaceable for the Cougars. That showed when he was banged up and a little ineffective against St. Mary’s. Cedar Creek needs him healthy to be successful in the long run.

5. Austin Ginn – Ginn is to Cedar Creek what Adrian Peterson should be for the Minnesota Vikings. The first, second and third offensive options. Ginn is tough, fast, powerful and tenacious. He can carry the Cougars quite a ways this season.

6. K.J. Malone – Malone has been THE anchor of the offensive line this season. He routinely (almost always) draws a double team allowing his fellow lineman better odds with their blocks. He’s Ginn and Van’s best friend.

Now, what’s gone wrong so far?

1. A few hasty decisions – Van is still learning as a QB and there have been a few times where some more experience could have kept him from turning over the ball. That’s why we need to be excited that he’s only a Junior!

2. Short roster – This week against St. Mary’s the brevity of the roster (and the fact that almost everyone plays both ways) bit us late as the humidity and heat took their toll with cramps and exhaustion. The team is well conditioned, they just expend energy no matter which team has the ball and that matters late in the game.

3. Speed – This Cedar Creek team is fast, but with Grambling and St. Mary’s we faced teams with a few players significantly faster than us. If everyone doesn’t play responsibility football every play, we can get gashed for long plays as was the case with St. Mary’s Derion Porchia.

Overall, my impression of the Cougars 2010 season is a positive one. We’re already 2/3 of the way to tying last year’s record and it seems as if Coach Haddox and his staff have the Cougars back in the right direction for the future.

Written by Joel Sharpton. Let us know what you think here, on our Facebook Page, or by calling us at 888-993-7762!

Like a Bad Dream

Football season is back again, as if we didn’t know. We’ve gotten through the preseason, gotten our fantasy line-ups in order and cleaned off the grills. Some would say it’s the most wonderful time of the year. But with all of the commotion that’s going on around football (both college and professional), there is one question that still remains: can we live without it? As we have seen during the season opener between the Saints and the Vikings, the players of both teams held up one finger in a show of solidarity in the final year of their CBA.

Imagine waking up on Sunday in September, going to church, coming home afterwards and just…sitting in front of the TV. Perhaps there’s a “Pretty Wild” marathon on the tube, or you could just sit and read. Does any of this sound as good as sitting in front of a huge flat screen, cheering on your favorite NFL team? I think not. Or maybe going to work all day on Monday, getting home, kicking off your shoes and turning on the TV to see…Monday Night Poker? Really?

And then, of course, there’s always the UFL. First of all, unless you have an HD television you can’t really watch those games anyway. But come on…who doesn’t want to watch the championship rematch between the Florida Tuskers and the Las Vegas Locomotives? Or the expansion debut of the Omaha Nighthawks as each team strives for the William Hambrecht trophy? You know William Hambrecht, right? The investment banker (who just so happens to own the Las Vegas franchise)?

The bottom line is this: real sports fans need the NFL. It’s a way of life, especially in these parts. It’s hard for me to even imagine a world without the National Football League, although we have gone through the era of replacement players. But if they did that, there would be no UFL. You see? It’s a vicious cycle that needs to come to an end. So whatever the players and owners need to work out, they need to go ahead and make that happen. Either that, or somebody needs to call up Shane Falco…

Written by the Professor, Nick Harrison. Let us know what you think here, on our Facebook Page or by calling us at 888-993-7762!

To long since a quick hitter

Random thoughts from Fox:

Ok it’s been to long since I have done some quick hitters. I apologize! We have had 2 weeks of college and high school football and one week of NFL underway so now is as good as any for a blog.

-Terrible what happened with the West Ouachita and Farmerville families last week

-Both teams had great victories

-Not shocked about the Farmers

-Very shocked by the Chiefs, especially down 21

-This just in West Monroe is good

-Ouachita vs. WM week 6..Must watch

-Thru 2 weeks the Tech high-octane offense is running on fumes

-3 different qbs have played in 2 games

-What happen to Ensminger after he was named qb?

-I wouldn’t panic…Yet Tech fans. Dykes and Franklin have proven that their offense works

-Should be fun to see that Navy team this weekend. Better team than people probably realize

-ULM coach Todd Berry adamant at Presser Kolton Browning is the guy

-Browning looked every bit the part of the freshman qb against Arkansas

-If Frank Goodin is going to break the all time rushing record at ULM he better get healthy and get going

-Warhawks start Sun Belt play this weekend and in a place they haven’t played well. Jonesboro.

-LSU defense looks nasty thru first 2 weeks of the season

-Keke Mingo is doing everything I thought he could do

-LSU looks to have the pieces everywhere but at the most important position

-I think I wrote a blog about this in April

-LSU is good enough to beat everybody they SHOULD on the schedule

-But unless a QB emerges they will lose to Bama, Florida, Auburn and Arkansas

-GSU returns to action this weekend

-The crowd was great in Shreveport

-How many show up to Robinson stadium?

-I really like Carruthers at QB..He will be special

-Defense looks to still be solid even without Anthony

-Great to be in that number to see the Saints drop the banner

-Some worried about how they looked after week 1

-After watching the other games the Saints will be just fine

-Defense looks improved

-Ability to run the ball when Vikings knew the Saints would run impressed me

-49ers got drilled this weekend

–However this is the NFL and it’s their home opener on a Monday night. Will be closer than the experts think

Till next time. Sean Fox

Breakdown LSU vs UNC

LSU vs. UNC

Breakdown

QB:

LSU Jordan Jefferson is going into his second full season as starter for the Tigers. While his play has been less than stellar LSU coaches and players say he has had made a big jump in not only his decision making but also in his leadership. Should something happen to Jefferson Jarrett Lee does have starting experience.

UNC will go with veteran signal caller TJ Yates in the opener against the Tigers. Yates if you go by his numbers is one of the most productive qbs in Carolina history yet has been booed off the field numerous times in his 4 years in Chapel hill. Yates beat out redshirt freshman Bryan Renner who he split reps with during spring and fall practice. Yates won  because of his experience.

While Yates has the numbers, its numbers at a basketball school.

Advantage: LSU

RB:

Last season was a disaster in the running game for LSU. This is a program that has made a name for themselves over the last decade for being able to run the football against anyone in the country. Not the case last year. LSU made an emphasis in the spring to get back to this brand of football. Richard Murphy returns from injury, Steven Ridley got some experience last season, and Michael Ford who redshirted last season might have the most talent of the three. Also Spencer Ware a 5 star prospect from Ohio might see some time.

According to a report by Joe Schad of ESPN. The tarheels might not have a tailback to turn to in the Georgia dome.

Advantage: LSU

WR:

 

It looks like the lights finally came on for Terrance Tolliver last season

And he goes into 2010 as one of the top prospects at the Wide Receiver position. Reuben Randle didn’t get enough chances to shine last year but that should change this year. Russell Sheppard has made the move full time to WR and could be the most dangerous man in the country when he gets his hands on the football. Who steps up to be the fourth wr for the tigers will be interesting. Armand Williams from Slidell has garnered praise from Les Miles as has James Wright from Belle Chasse and Kadron Boone from Florida.

UNC has exactly what you want in ideal size at the WR position. 6’3 Eric Highsmith, 6’4 Dwight Jones, unfortunately it looks like the heels might be without their best WR in Greg Little who has been under the watchful eye of the NCAA recently. Will Butch Davis risk playing a guy under investigation? If Little plays I think this is closer, I don’t think he will.

Advantage: LSU

O-Line:

This was a huge blackeye for the Tigers last year. Gave up to many sacks and were terrible at run blocking. The line is pretty much the same except Barskdale will switch sides and Will Blackwell moves into starting full time. Les Miles put in the Big Cat drills during spring specifically to make the O-line tougher.

The UNC O-line is Big 6’3, 6’5, 6’6, 6’7 and wide everyone over 300 pounds. While I don’t think these big guys are great the tarheels did rush for close to 1800 yards last season.

Its not by much

Advantage: UNC

Dline:

LSU returns Drake Nevis who has never been a starter in name alone but has the experience. Pep Levingston makes the move inside to the other DT. The ends will be young but talented in Sam Montgomery and Juco Transfer Ken Adams. LSU will also deploy the explosive KEKE Mingo on third downs.

Boy UNC’s defensive line 3 months ago was looking like the best in college football. Then Marvin Austin got suspended indefinently and  Defensive end Robert Quinn might be suspended as well. Michael Mcadoo is 6’7 and is  a big old boy as is Quention Coples at 6’6. With Austin and Quinn playing this is easy for UNC. They aren’t.

Advantage: Push

LB:

Kelvin Sheppard is as good as anyone in the country. However flanking him are tough guys loaded with talent but little experience. Stefoin Francois finally gets his chance to shine and will be the hybrid LB/S. Ryan Baker has been a beast on special teams but hasn’t been a consistent LB.

UNC has Quan Sturdivant and Bruce Carter maybe the best 1&2 punch at Outside LB in the country. With Kevin Reddick anchoring the middle this position is the strength of  a great D.

Advantage: UNC

DB: Patrick Peterson is simply the best DB in the country. He stays healthy is a no doubt number1 draft pick. Morris Claiborne is going to get a lot of opportunities to make plays this year with people avoiding Peterson, I think he will make the most of it. The safety position is still up for grabs with Jai Eugene, Craig Loston and Brandon Taylor and Eric Reid fighting for the two last lines of defense for the Tigers. All talented LSU will have the top secondary in the SEC/

LSU has the best CB in the country and the tarheels have the best safety in Deunta Williams. The secondary is good at both levels. Charles Brown and Kendric Burney also have chances to be drafted next year. Very good

secondary.

Advantage: LSU

 Les Miles needs it and this Carolina team is loaded with distractions.

Final LSU 26 UNC 17

Cedar Creek Week 1 Preview/Jamboree Review

The Cougars made a good showing in their Jam at the Joe 2010 exhibition against defending 1A State Champs, the Haynesville Golden Tornadoes, but couldn’t come away with a win. The final score 9-12 Haynesville, belies exactly how exciting a game it was. Big plays, turnovers on both sides, and a solid defensive effort from the young Cougars all made the end of the pre-season a success even without bringing home the win.

In my interview with Coach Haddox today, he expressed pride and satisfaction in his team for the way they handled themselves against Haynesville as well as how they’ve responded to the less than perfect results in their scrimmage against Loyola and in the Jamboree. Though the final score didn’t reflect it, Cedar Creek dominated the game in time of possession, first downs and yardage. When you’re that successful, it’s tough to swallow walking away with a loss.

First year QB (and former WR) Adam Van displayed great ability with both his arm and his legs, scrambling for several Cedar Creek first downs. The Cougars will need him to make big plays just like on Saturday if they hope to contend for the Division title and a return to the playoffs. Senior receiver, Robert Ferron had several big catches and will be a great weapon for Van and the Cougars offense. Their biggest weapon, Austin Ginn, was largely left in the holster on Saturday, Coach Haddox not wanting to risk an injury in a pre-season game to the Junior Halfback and hub of the Cougar offense. Ginn was the leading rusher and receiver for the Cougars last season and should be at the top of both stat lists this year as well.

The O-Line, anchored by KJ Malone, did a solid job giving Van time to make plays only allowing one sack all afternoon. There were however several miscommunications at the line, high and low snaps that resulted in lost yards and one lost fumble. Taken as a whole, you like the effort of the Cougars, but as the regular season begins on Friday night, they’ll need to tighten up a bit on fundamentals and keep offensive slip-ups from sabotaging their offensive efforts.

Defensively, we only got a few glimpses of the aggressive, ball-greedy D that Coach Haddox has been promising. He told me that was largely a function of the offense that Haynesville presented and not representative of a change in direction. Look for more of the “attack the ball” mentality against Grambling Lab and continuing the rest of the season.

Turning the focus to Grambling gives us lots of question marks. Grambling brings in a new head coach as former coach Cedric Sherrod moves to Richwood High’s offensive staff. Grambling was a surprise last year and turned into a good story for the area. We’ll have to wait for Friday night to get a real look at what exactly Grambling has ahead of them this season.

For Cedar Creek fans, Friday can’t come soon enough. Coach Haddox, the Cougars and the team here at ESPN 97.7 are excited for the regular season and the next entry into the Cedar Creek Cougar story.

Written by Joel Sharpton. Let us know what you think here, on our Facebook page, or by calling us at 888-993-7762!

Cedar Creek Cougars Football 2010: What To Expect

“Just” Joel here. Or, “Crazy Joel” or “Frodo” or, You’re Friendly Office Computer Guy, or whatever Fox and Nick decide to call me the next time I’m on the show.

I’m going to be calling play by play for Cedar Creek Cougar football this season on our sister station, True Oldies 99.3. I got my first real look at this season’s Cougars this past Friday when Nick White and I traveled to Shreveport for their scrimmage against the Loyola Flyers.

As a Cougar fan, the end result was not what I wanted to see, a loss 20-7, but we did get glimpses of what looks to be a very promising run for Cedar Creek. This team is young, having lost offensive hub and last year’s QB, Jordan Scelfo, as well as some key defensive players. We’ve got a lot of underclassmen that are going to have to step up and play big minutes and anchor the locker room as well.

That’s the bad news. The good news: I think this team, and these players might be up for it. First year head coach, Ben Haddox has brought an excitement and an urgency to the Cougars. It’s not a complete overhaul of the philosophy and direction that Coach Aldredge had pushed for Cedar Creek as most of the coaching staff remains. Even Coach Haddox was an assistant under Aldredge and therefore carries a lot of the same ideas.

Three coaching staff changess (other than the promotion of Ben Haddox) are going to make a big difference in the Cougars attitude and actions this season.  Steven Taylor begins this season as the defensive coordinator. He shared the duties early last year and took over full defensive play calling later in the season. He (and Coach Haddox) are focusing on playmakers and athletic ability. The Cedar Creek Cougars are going to be fast and advantageous on the defensive side of the ball. They are going to swarm to the ball and strive to make the kind of exciting plays we saw from the New Orleans Saints D last season. Look for interceptions, forced fumbles and fumble recoveries. This team wants to be greedy.

Coach Van has moved up from the JV team to join the Varsity coaching staff. His intensity in last week’s practice that I sat in on was palpable. He is pushing hard hits, solid fundamentals on tackling (a big emphasis for the whole team) and continued involvement until the whistle blows. “No plays off” is a bit of a slogan for the team this year.

Jerry Little is the last addition/change to the coaching staff. Last year he served as TE coach for West Ouachita, this year he’s the Cougars’ Offensive Coordinator. Again, the focus is on speed and athleticism. Especially in their out of district schedule, the Cougars won’t always be able to match up size-wise with their opponents, but they’re going to put the best athletes on the field and look for them to make plays.

If the scrimmage Friday night proved anything, it’s that Cedar Creek is going to live and die by the turnover. They made some big plays against a higher division opponent, but had some blown coverages and some offensive miscues that put them in a hole they were unable to come back from. Of course, that was in a “game” that didn’t count, where the JV squad and many reserves got big minutes and the result didn’t really matter. One hopes that if these teams faced each other in the regular season, Cedar Creek could have come back and pulled out the win.

I’m excited about the Cougars season. I’m excited about their new head coach, several returning starters (most notably HB, Austin Ginn and QB, Adam Van on the offensive side and DE, Richard Jowers and CB, Bannon Martin on defense). If you’re a Cedar Creek Cougar fan, or a local high school athletics fan, you should be too.

Get your first look at Cedar Creek (and a ton of other local high school football teams) this Saturday at the Jam at the Joe. Tickets are just $10 for five games of football. It’s the best sports deal in the area. Tickets available the day of and the games begin at noon at Joe Aillet Stadium on Louisiana Tech Campus. Of course, all the games will be aired on ESPN Radio 97.7 and streamed live worldwide at our website.

After this weekend, you can catch me, Patrick Hall with color and the Cedar Creek Cougars each Friday night on True Oldies 99.3! Let’s get ready for football!

The Real King

33 Years ago yesterday, Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll died. I’ve always been an Elvis fan (though he was dead, four years and a month or so before I would exist), but this summer, the summer of King James, the anniversary of his death strikes me a bit harder than in years past.

My unabashed and unashamed (and some would say, unmanly) love for Lebron James has been well documented on this blog, on my personal blog,  on the air at ESPN 97.7, in my living room and in my morning conversations with my mirror (in order to find his equal, an Irishman is forced to talk to himself or the Almighty). But as I remember the King today, the Lebronference and The Decision leave a particularly nasty taste in my mouth.

In the 50’s, Elvis OWNED popular music (and therefore culture) in a way that it’s impossible for us to fully comprehend today. Then in ‘58, he went into the military. He began recording again in 1960 and made a ton of movies throughout the 60’s but things were different, the world was drunk on Beatlemania, Elvis was still Elvis, but the King had a wobbly throne.

For the sake of our blog here today, I kind of feel like that’s where Lebron was in his career this summer. He was the face of the NBA three years ago when he took his team to the Finals against San Antonio. Lebron. Not Kobe, not D-Wade, not Dwight Howard (three years ago, who the heck was Dwight Howard?). Since then, he’s had two terrible missteps against better teams and he’s allowed Kobe to further cement his hold on “Best Player in the Game” status. In 1968, Elvis needed a splash. In 2010, so did Lebron.

Elvis’ splash was the ’68 “Comeback” Special,  one of the most memorable, entertaining and celebrated live performances by an artist in the history of rock and roll. If you’ve never seen it, you really should give it a try. Elvis is at his most powerful, charismatic and in control in this performance. It’s the equivalent of Jordan’s ’95-’96 season. He’d been out of the league for a while, he’d had a disappointing return when the Bulls were knocked out of the playoffs by the Magic, he busted his butt in the off-season and the Bull’s won more games that year than anyone ever had. Elvis, went Alpha-Dog and did it by himself.

What Lebron did this offseason, is call up the Beatles and say, “Let’s make an album together!” Will it sell well? You bet it will. Will it put him on top of the record books in lots of categories (I think he’s pretty much a lock to average a triple double in at least one of the next two years)? Probably. Will it be his ’68 “Comeback” Special? Nope. Not even close. Elvis was nobody’s sideman. Lebron has chosen to be exactly that.

Has anyone in Rock ever done what Lebron did? Perhaps the name “The Traveling Wilbury’s” rings a bell? George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and Jim Keltner began playing together in 1988. Members of the Beatles, the Heartbreakers, Electric Light Orchestra, one of the greatest freelance drummers and two of the great solo performers of their eras all combined to form a real life Supergroup. Two albums were recorded by the group between ’88 and ’90. Are the “Wilbury’s” good? Certainly. Did they have a few great songs? Yes, they did. But John Lennon and Paul McCartney didn’t join a supergroup. It was the third most popular Beatle. Robert Plant or even Steven Tyler didn’t trade in Zeppelin and Aerosmith to join teams. The guy from ELO did. What I’m saying is, this isn’t how the Gods of Rock do things.

I wish Lebron and Los Heat well. I think they’re going to be a lot of fun to watch. I think they’ll win rings (yes, plural). I think Lebron Hatred will subside as he posts numbers we never thought we’d see in the NBA again (and some we’ve never seen). But I’ll probably never get my ’68 “Comeback” Special out of him. And yesterday, mourning the loss of the real King, that made me a little sad.

Written by Joel Sharpton. Let us know what you think here, on our Facebook Page, or by calling us at 888-993-7762!