King James Returns Home To Cleveland Tonight

First off, I have one statement to make about this topic: WHO CARES? I mean, obviously Cleveland fans all over the nation care and think it's a big deal but honestly, grow up people. I know James humiliated you on national TV and not only a fan-base but an entire City, I get it. But c'mon, you knew he was gonna leave sooner or later if the team couldn't help him out and put together a championship worthy team. Now, maybe the way he went about leaving the team and the circumstances that surrounded his arrival in Miami could have been done a little better, it doesn't mean he didn't have the right to leave Cleveland in the first place. But let's not kid ourselves here, Lebron James put the entire Cavaliers franchise let alone an entire City on his back and tried to resurrect a franchise back to whatever "success" (if you even want to call it that) it may have had in the 1990s. He deserves a lot of gratitude from the fans and City of Cleveland. If it wasn't for King James sports in Cleveland might have become a dead topic. The Browns are still horrible and the Indians are falling off as well. King James resurrected, at least to some degree, a town that used to have some decent sports teams.

He fulfilled his contract for crying out loud. This happens in sports all the time. A player fulfills his contract with a team and then he has the right to explore other options or stay right where he is at. I may not agree with a player leaving one of my favorite teams for another team but I get over it and move on to the next game/season, etc. Part of the reason for all the hard feelings is because the d-bags at ESPN had to make his decision to leave (which was probably made long before the media event) the biggest story since the fall of the Berlin Wall (or some equivalent world event.) That didn't help the situation at all. I must admit, James is probably one of the biggest media whores I have seen in a while so of course he welcomed the attention and the spotlight for an entire hour during prime-time TV. That is the part of this whole fiasco that I don't agree with, the way he went about doing everything.

All that being said, I have this to say to any fans going to the actual game tonight or watching at home on TV: BOO all you want. You have every right to at this point. The way you were just thrown out the back door by Lebron like nothing happened is wrong. You deserved to at least be let down a lot more easier than what he gave you. Keep it civil and keep it classy as possible. That would be just what Lebron would want to have unruly fans cause a huge disaster and embarrass the City of Cleveland and the Cavaliers franchise even more. The fact that King James isn't doing to hot in Miami this year so far is a relief that all Cleveland fans need to celebrate and realize that it may turn out to be his loss after it's all said and done. Until that time when Cleveland fans can turn it back around on Lebron, stay cool and just move on from it already!

-R.N.N.
rnelson0187@gmail.com
@ryannnelson87 on Twitter

The Michael Vick Story: A Legacy Re-born?

If you were to walk up to a random person on the street and ask if they knew who Michael Vick was, I can guarantee the answer 9 out of 10 times will be simple: "He's the dog killer, right?" Unfortunately, Mr. Vick has dug himself into a massive hole and maybe this year he is slowly beginning to make the climb up and out of that hole. Maybe. A lot of people will never let him live down, and maybe rightly so, the fact that among other convictions, he financially supported and housed the dog fighting ring known as "Bad Newz Kennels" based out of Surry County, Virginia. Countless Pit Bulls not only lost their lives due to the behavior of Vick and his associates but many of the dogs were found so beat up that their lives will never be the same. Thankfully, some of the canines have been "re-trained" and have been lucky enough to find new homes that will care for them in the way they were meant to be cared for. However, others were not so lucky and had to be put down because they were just so mentally and physically destroyed by the effects of Vick's dog fighting operation. Over the past year and a half this story is what many people have come to know about Michael Vick, not football.

Not his glory days at Virginia Tech and taking the school to a BCS National Championship game as a Sophomore and breaking school record after school record in a multitude of categories as a QB. Placing third in the Heisman voting as a Freshman. Not being drafted number one overall by the Atlanta Falcons in 2001 and then two years later taking them into a cold and snowy Lambeau Field and beating the Packers in the playoffs and ending the Packers undefeated playoff record at home. His three Pro-bowl selections which his first selection came in his second year in the league. His electrifying playing style, his upbeat personality, and his great athleticism. Whether you agree or not how good of a quarterback Vick started out as during his first seasons with the Falcons, he was still a play-maker and most of all a game-changer. He brought back the scrambling days of Randall Cunningham and others but in a much bigger way. Even with all the criticism and bashing he still managed to play the game the way he wanted to and still managed to stay on top of his playing style the whole way through.

Then somewhere along the way, he lost focus. The 2007 year brought a lot of hardships to Michael and everyone knows about the dog-fighting convictions and his ultimate guilty plea and being sentenced to jail for 23 months. But it didn't end there for Vick. When he was released from prison in mid-2009 he was met with extreme financial issues and more lawsuits from creditors and others that Vick owed money to. It looked like it was never going to end for Vick but after his reinstatement into the NFL and with help from former Colts coach Tony Dungy and many others, the Philadelphia Eagles signed Vick in the 2009 off-season to a one-year deal. This signing, in my eyes started the road of redemption for Vick. He just has to make sure now he can stay on that road and continue improving and putting the past behind him and learning from his mistakes.

Since his release from prison he has been making great strides toward showing the pet lovers and animal community that he is trying to educate everyone more on the nature of dog-fighting and it's heinous results in the live altering effects it has on the animals subjected to it. He has been going across the nation and presenting his message to the people that are willing to listen. Even with occasional media criticism or protester, Michael is still working towards a solution to his problems so that life can get back to "normal" for him.

Being from Newport News myself, going to the same high school that Vick did, and growing up a VA Tech fan, naturally I have always been a fan of Vick and everything he has accomplished as a person and a football player. When I heard the news about the dog-fighting charges I was, needless to say, utterly shocked and upset with Vick. How could he be so blind. Throwing away everything that he worked so hard to accomplish in life and now it could all be destroyed because he listened to some old friends and associated himself with a bad crowd that he should have known were "bad newz." It was sad to see such a promising life get halted in an instant and everything just blew up in his face. Yet, everything Vick has worked for as a professional and a person still hangs in the balance has he tries to "redeem" himself through a new and improved game on the football field.

Personally, it will take me a very long time to forgive Vick for his off the field antics. What he did to those defenseless dog is just beyond wrong at this point. I had heard of dog-fighting cases before but not as horrific as the Vick case and that is really disturbing. As much as I want the infamous cliche "every one makes mistakes" to apply to Vick here but I think his situation cannot be rectified on that statement alone. However, as a football fan he is well on his way in redeeming himself on the field after falling off there before his incarceration. He is an amazing football player and now is one of the top QBs in the league in my opinion. As long as he is not playing the Giants I will always want to see Michael do well on the field.

So has his legacy been re-born this season. I think so. Most are calling it a "renaissance season" for Vick and I would have to agree with that assessment. It's good to have him back on the field where he belongs and see him starting to do well again. Now let's see if he can keep it that way and help his legacy continue to mature again into the Michael Vick we all knew he could become.

-R.N.N
rnelson0187@gmail.com
@ryannnelson87 on Twitter