TheOUTLAW wrote:Your mods aren't cooler, it's just that you don't get the vast number of trolls we get here. I'd have no problem with peope starting threads about how Arenas is a choker, Howard should be tossed out of about every game or that Kobe is a rapist etc. but for the most part Cavs fans don't roll like that. It's not as though Wiz mods are allowing posters who are fans of teams start threads talking about how much the Wiz suck.
Actually we used to have a thread that allowed exactly that, but never re-started it after the re-set because it proved to have dangerous mojo -- we'd win the ballgame most everytime other people started the insult war. But when we bumped it ourselves, danger.
I highly recommend a 'trolls' thread on every board though. It's a good way to contain the nonsense and allow your wittier posters to unleash, unload on, and insult interlopers to the general amusement of all. All that is required is a first-page post that states that the TOS regarding 'respecting each others views' are relaxed in that thread and that thread only. In that thread 'respect' involves jibes and joneing on people, all in good fun/ Still no foul language etc. Just a congenial atmosphere of snark and barbs, enjoyed by all. Oddly it actually helped prevent foolish behavior in other threads.
As for this thread. I'm torn between classy behavior and joining the worms feasting on the corpses of great men. The Haw-haw-ing Nelson Muntzes of the interwebs. It's tough to be a good loser, and LeBron to his credit lacks practice at it. But it was regrettable that LeBron defended his behavior after the fact and earns yet more enemies who might deride him as a self-bloated colostomy bag. Whatever happy shadenfruede I might feel as a fan from an opposing team is tainted by the surety that non-fans of the NBA will latch onto yet another reason why all NBAers are classless worthless individuals and bal bla bla.
The guy is not used to losing, doesn't know how to react well, is highly competitive. It would humanize him if he'd come out the next day and simply said:
"I was an ass -- it kills me to lose and I was pretty sure I wouldn't have liked whatever came out my mouth at that point. But today I can say, we got beat by a really good team, and I wish them well, at least until next year when I plan to load up and destroy them. Either way they have my respect, no shame that we got beat, it just means we're not quite as good as we need to be. And that's on me, my teammates, my front office. Hey it's a reality check. I hate it, but maybe long term it's the best thing that could have happened to us. We'll see..."
Sports are a civil substitute for war. For irrational nationalism, or the local equivalent. I've been through Cleveland twice as a kid. Your bus station is as nice as any other, there's no real hate or animosity, it's just fun to pretend. A man with incredible talent showed a momentary weakness of character, still in the denial stage of grieving, of loss. Those things are understandable. But we shake hands to remind ourselves that it's a game after all, not war. That we're cooperating in competition for the enrichment of all. Someone's got to win, someone's got to get beat, that's life. The lesson lies in how you handle it, what you do next. But it''s a learning experience. LeBron's still sometimes just a full grown baby man, if he's occasionally immature in his reactions, well he's still young. I expect down the road he'll end up better for it.
Just not today.
