This was predictable. I thought there was no way that the season would get under way before January/February and even that was being generous. 

Looks like we're going to lose the year. 

A good read on how security has changed around professional sports teams in a post 9/11 world. 

As I mentioned two weeks ago, Mark Cuban was a major reason why I didn't have a problem with the Mavericks winning the NBA championship this year.

He is the kind of owner I would love all of my favorite teams to have. He is a real fan and isn't afraid to act like it. In an era when we have gotten used to rich men owning sports teams just because they can and not because they're passionate about the game Mark Cuban presents a refreshing change of pace. He's not like other owners sitting upstairs in some luxury box (when they actually show up to the games) he is sitting in the stands and actively involved in the game the way any fan would be. His habit of being outspoken has gotten him in a lot of trouble with the league over the years but that hasn't made him back down one bit.

I really wanted the visual of David Stern handing him the NBA trophy but Cuban had something else in mind. He honored the former owner of the Mavericks Don Carter and let him accept the trophy on behalf of the team. Cuban wasn't done making news though as he announced that Mavericks would not be getting championship rings but he wouldn't reveal what else he had in mind. Is there any doubt that it will be something big?

His announcement today regarding the parade is what me write this right now. Mark Cuban announced that he will pay for the championship parade instead of the city of Dallas which like most of the country is facing a budget crunch. Again, what a refreshing change of pace. We've gotten used to billionaires hosting cities and states hostage so they will help them build stadiums and arenas off of which the owners will get richer. Has there been another sports owner who has done something similar? I honestly can't think of one.

You should follow Mark Cuban on twitter @mcuban and read his blog "Blog Maverick".

The moment a large chunk of NBA fans were dreading has arrived. Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh are playing in the NBA Finals in their very first season together.

LeBron James became public enemy #1 in the eyes of many in the aftermath of "The Decision" but as I said it then I find that stance from people quiet funny. I said back in July that I had no problems with LeBron leaving for Miami and remains true to this date. Unlike most I always wasn't rooting against them in the playoffs. What do you think of his decision to leave Cleveland now? Is it the same as it was back in July?

By the way how much crazier does Dan Gilbert's rant sound now? Unless you count University of Virginia's lacrosse title the Cavaliers will not win a championship before the Heat.

I actually wouldn't have had a problem with any of the conference finalists from this year winning the NBA Championship. I don't know if I am cheering for the Mavericks or the Heat because I honestly wouldn't have a problem with either of the two winning. A Miami win would be fun because of uproar it will cause from hypocritical NBA fans. I call them hypocrites because very few of them would have had a problem with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh signing with their teams. Now I'm supposed to buy into their arguments for hating these guys? I have encountered plenty of Knicks fans here in the NJ/NY area who have knocked LeBron for his decision to sign with Miami but I can guarantee not one of them would be saying a thing. It becomes even more laughable when many of those same Knicks fans are fans of the New York Yankees who's entire business model revolves around signing the big free agents from around the league! I'm not trying to make this into a New York thing at all. Most of the people knocking LeBron happen to be Kobe Bryant fans. Yet again though they don't see the hypocrisy in their views. For whatever reason they have chosen to forget that Kobe basically forced his way to the Lakers after being drafted by the Charlotte Hornets. LeBron James honored his contract and took the franchise to heights it had never before seen.

Dirk Nowitzki has been one of my favorite players in the league for quiet some time. I definitely would like to see him win a championship and that is why part of me leans towards the Mavericks this year. The three guys in Miami will have plenty of chances to win a title, this could very well be the last time Nowitzki has a shot. Plus, how cool would it be to see David Stern hand the trophy to Mark Cuban? I couldn't care less about Jason Kidd though. I get that he's a future Hall of Famer and generally well liked player but that doesn't change that he is an idiot.

Have you heard about the "Cavs for Mavs" fan group?

I have said it repeatedly that I have no problem with LeBron James leaving Cleveland to go play in Miami but I think this is pretty cool. 

Congratulations to the Miami Heat on making it to the NBA Finals. As I mentioned last summer I had no problem with LeBron signing with the Heat and this trip to the finals helps vindicate his decision. 

If LeBron James' move to Miami made him a villain to some, fans like dressing as a bad guy.

Remember how everyone hated LeBron James just 9 months ago?

http://sahyder1.newsvine.com/_news/2010/07/08/4640753-some-thoughts-on-lebron-james

It is one of the most highly anticipated yet meaningless December basketball games in recent memory. Tonight, LeBron James will "take his talents to Cleveland" as a member of the Miami Heat. 

As I said at the time, I have no problems whatsoever with the three of them deciding to team up. I was in the minority and didn't really have a problem with the concept of "The Decision" prime time special. I also seem to be in the minority as far as their 2010-11 season is concerned. So many people have already written this team off. They are hovering around the .500 mark but why are people forgetting that the season isn't even a quarter of way done yet? Would people really be shocked if they went 48-15 the rest of the way? This team has more than enough time to put together a good season and have a great playoff run. 

I am not a Miami Heat fan, as a matter of fact I despise Pat Riley and never really liked Alonzo Mourning. I am a Raptors fan who lost Chris Bosh to this team. 

How will the Cleveland crowd react tonight? Lets just hope they take somewhat of a high road and not embarrass their city. Don't get me wrong, I want to see them boo LeBron all night long for the rest of his career (Vince Carter still hears boos in Toronto) but don't disrupt the game. Keep your expletives to yourselves and don't humiliate yourself on national television. 

How will LeBron react tonight? He could go a long way towards calming things down today if he doesn't come out in a confrontational mode. He needs to just let his play do the talking or it could get really ugly tonight. Who knows, if he goes off for 50 points tonight in a masterful performance he might even get some of the crowd back on his side. 

Heck, even Barack Obama was asked about tonights game.

There will be a heavier security presence tonight at the Q. How ugly do some in the league think tonight will be? The Heat travel plans for this have been kept secret. 

In Cleveland, LeBron is now known as "Queen James"

Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert is on twitter. Looking forward to read what he has to say tonight. He did make a plea to the fans,

CavsFans: Remember 2 most import things 2nite: 1. That City, Fans, & all of us be our 'finest' w/eyes of world watching. 2. We get the WIN!

Who can forget his letter to Cleveland when LeBron left? 

Sports Illustrated provides a flashback to some recent "homecomings." How about these pictures from Cleveland?

Any predictions for tonight? ESPN's Streak for the Cash asks if LeBron will have more points tonight then the  Cavaliers will have field goals. I certainly would not rule that out as a possibility. It will be the first time this season that I will tune in to the start of an NBA game. The game tips off shortly after 8 PM Eastern on TNT.

For all the complaining I heard about LeBron James' "The Decision" all over Newsvine, Twitter and facebook a lot of people surely watched this thing. It was the 3rd most watched show on Cable TV this year.

By now everyone has seen Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert's letter addressing the departure of LeBron James. Lets' just say the Raptors chose to handle it with a little more dignity and class. 

What a spectacle! What we have all just witnessed is something unprecedented in professional basketball and possibly even in professional sports. In a year where multiple NBA teams positioned themselves for the ability to sign a "maximum" contract player (or players) in free agency, three of the NBA's bright young stars are teaming together in an attempt to win an NBA Championship. Kudos to the Miami Heat for pulling off such a feat.

I'm sure that there is frustration and disappointment, possibly even resentment, upon hearing the news that Chris Bosh is leaving Toronto to join forces with Dwyane Wade and LeBron James in South Beach. Well that certainly is the feeling from this vantage point as we lose a player that has been the centrepiece of our franchise for the last several years. I can assure you every move/investment made in the last four years to improve our basketball team was designed with the belief that putting the right pieces around Chris would get us closer to our goal of winning an NBA Championship. In fact, Chris actively participated in that process as transactions and changes were contemplated because I have always believed that a franchise player experiences a sense of ownership in team building. Unfortunately, we fell short of that goal and must now move on to a post-Bosh era in Toronto.

In completing a Sign-and-Trade transaction with Miami, we were able to extract a very valuable Trade Exception and future draft picks that will serve as building blocks in the process of re-tooling our basketball team. The Trade Exception can be used to acquire players under contract with other teams via trade, or it can be used to leverage the acquisition of additional future assets. Speaking of the future, I can't tell you how energized we all feel to see the positive growth and development of so much young athletic talent on our roster including re-signing Amir Johnson and the recent first-round draft selection of Ed Davis. While more changes to the roster are possible, even likely, we can promise you now that this team will compete every night they take to the floor.

We believe we have the best fans in the NBA and we believe in the city and country that we play in. Your passion, pride and support has been tremendous no matter what the circumstances, and we cannot thank you enough for that. We all share a commitment to winning both on and off the floor and MLSE/Toronto Raptors ownership and management will do whatever it takes to WIN while also making the community a better place. Our franchise will evolve and emerge stronger than before, and I assure you that our combined efforts will produce the WINNER you are hoping for.  

Sincerely,

Bryan Colangelo

The owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Dan Gilbert just released an open letter to the Cavaliers fans. He rips into LeBron James repeatedly but never once mentions him by name. He also goes onto add that the Cavaliers will win a title before LeBron does (wishful thinking). Read the letter below. Thoughts?

Cavaliers: Open Letter to Fans from Cavaliers Majority Owner Dan Gilbert

Say what you want about LeBron James, ESPN and this whole prime time extravaganza tonight but hard to argue against the money going to a good cause.

We are about 3 hours away from "The Decision" and this LeBron stuff keeps getting more and more absurd by the hour. I've been reading and hearing things in the past few days about LeBron's decision and some of them just make no sense. Like I mentioned the other day, I just didn't think LeBron's ego would allow him to sign with Miami but it is looking like me and most others were wrong on this.

Why would anyone criticize his decision to go to Miami? For years people have been calling him selfish. For years people have been saying LeBron doesn't about winning. For years people have been saying that LeBron only cares about his brand. So I have to ask again, how can anyone criticize him if he actually does sign with Miami? If he does sign with Miami he will get a smaller (as ridiculous as that sounds given the amount of money we are talking about here) contract then the one he would if he signed with Cleveland.

I've been telling for a few years that he does not have to come play in New York to "build his brand." This is 2010, not 1970. Sports games are televised around the world. Jerseys and shoes  of athletes like LeBron are sold around the world. Does anyone seriously think that Nike will have trouble selling "Witness" Tees if he signs with Miami? Heck, does anyone think they would have trouble selling those if he had signed with Memphis? It's a global age. Games are everywhere, highlights are everywhere and the merchandise is everywhere. Lets stop with the archaic view of the sports landscape.

He won't be "the guy" on Miami. Aside from Alex Rodriguez, how many guys come to mind who have willingly moved to another team to share the spotlight when they could have been the face of their own franchise? Basketball fans for years have said that he only cares about himself but here he is reportedly on the verge of going to Miami to share the spotlight with not one but two superstars. How does that make any sense? He's putting himself into a position where he can win championships for the next couple of years. Would anyone really be surprised to see veterans like Tracy McGrady sign up to play for the NBA minimum in order to win a championship with this group? This is the perfect situation for LeBron. He can sign a short term deal (or a deal with an out clause) and possibly go to the Nets in 3 years when they move to Brooklyn?

I've seen people complain about the prime time special on ESPN. Why is anyone shocked by this? ESPN and CBS give National TV time to High Schoolers as they announce where they will be playing their college sports so why can't one of the biggest faces of sports in the world get the same treatment? It's not like LeBron is pocketing the money from tonight. The money is going to a great charity. 

As always you can leave a comment here, reach me by e-mail or follow me on twitter.

July 1st 2010 is finally here. 

This date has been talked about in the NBA circles for years. The biggest free agent class in NBA history is free to negotiate contracts at the stroke of midnight eastern time. Where will LeBron land? What about Chris Bosh? Will Dwayne Wade really leave Miami? Will Dirk really leave Dallas? 

So many questions to answer and so many teams with room to sign free agents. Bulls are obviously an attractive landing spot. They can afford to sign two players at maximum contracts and bring them in to play in with Derrick Rose. Wouldn't they be instant contenders if they landed LeBron and Bosh? Their fans are on board and have been clamoring for season tickets. One thing is for sure, this will bring back all the bandwagon Bulls fans from the 90s. Can Miami really pull off a major coup and get LeBron and CB4 to come to Miami and play with Wade? It is a scenario that would get me paying attention to the NBA regular season a lot more next season but I highly doubt LeBron's ego will allow him to share the spotlight with Wade. 

How far have the Knicks really fallen?  For years their fans have been looking forward to this date. They have endured years of losing, expiring contracts and more losing in the hopes of landing big free agents on this date yet according to all the reports they will fail to land any of the "big 3". Their first planned meeting for tonight is with Mike Miller? Ouch! As someone who lives in NJ and loves to laugh at Knicks fans, I'm loving this! 

Will the Nuggets seriously trade Carmelo Anthony? Just a note, if the Knicks can get them to take Curry's expiring contract in a trade they would still have room to sign two max guys on top of getting Carmelo. 

What was Richard Jefferson thinking opting out of his deal? Is someone seriously going to pay him big money? 

Real quick, this how I think everything plays out when all is said and done. 

10. Rudy Gay: Los Angeles Clippers

9. David Lee: New York Knicks

8. Carlos Boozer: Chicago Bulls

7. Amare Stoudemire: Los Angeles Clippers

6. Paul Pierce: Boston Celtics

5. Dirk Nowitzki: Dallas Mavericks

4. Joe Johnson: Atlanta Hawks

3. Chris Bosh: Miami Heat (as much as it pains me as a Raptors fan)

2. Dwayne Wade: Miami Heat

1. LeBron James: Chicago Bulls

As always you can leave a comment here, reach me by e-mail or follow me on twitter.

Nets digging into Knicks territory? Absolutely love it. The Nets are the #2 team at the moment but that can quickly change if the Nets were to somehow land some combination of LeBron, Wade and Bosh.

Mikhail Prohorov has been quiet an interesting character so far. Really interested to see what he will do over the course of a season. Really interested to see how he will handle the Nets not landing LeBron. I can't stand the Knicks and this point it is just fun rooting against them. They have been selling their fans on the "Summer of 2010" for a long time and that is all about to implode.

An interesting move from the Bulls here. It gives them enough cap space to sign two "max contract" guys. If they can get a pair of guys to come play with Rose this will be a great team next year.

"Americans don't care about Soccer."

We've heard that line for years. People who don't like soccer have used one lame excuse after another to ignore the world's most popular sports and the world's biggest sporting event. We've heard people whine about the lack of scoring, we've heard them moan about the "diving" and we've heard them complain about the officiating. This time around we've even seen them try to knock the Vuvuzelas. I wanted to use this space to address some of these "issues" and hopefully give you some other reasons why you must tune in.

We've all heard people say that no one watches soccer right? The US/England game which was played on a Saturday afternoon drew over 17 million people to their televisions in the US. That number is higher then the average for the first six games of the NBA finals. Heck, it was comparable to the roughly 18 million people who watch NFL games from week to week during the course of a football season. To put that into perspective keep in mind  that "only 13.5 million tuned in to watch the finale of "Lost," which is the same number of viewers who watched the "Dancing with the Stars" finale." Through the first 14 games of the World Cup ratings on ESPN/ESPN2/ABC have seen "a 64% increase from the same period in 2006." That number does not include people watching the Spanish broadcasts on Univision or the authorized live streams provided by ESPN 3 and Univision.com. That number includes millions more. 

The World Cup has dominated social media too. Twitter recognized ahead of time that the World Cup was going to dominate discussion on its platform for the month so they dedicated a portion of their site to the World Cup. A quick search of the terms "USA" or "USMNT" will provide thousands of tweets from around the country. It has always made it easy for fans who are at work or in classes to discuss the game from the comforts of their homes, desks or offices. 

ESPN needs to be applauded for their efforts this time around. At Euro 2008 they took measures to reduce costs and let announcers call games from a studio in Bristol, CT. Thankfully that is not the case at this World Cup. ESPN has gone all out and has sent out a very good team to South Africa. Darren Rovell of CNBC recently reported that ESPN sent over 300 people to South Africa to handle their coverage. That a huge improvement for ESPN from 4 years ago when they called 20 games from studios in the US. ESPN 3 (where available) has been a huge asset for them. Early in the World Cup there were 1.3 million people watching live online. That number has likely gone up now as they continue to advertise it on a daily basis. I am a big Olympics fan but get annoyed by their tape delayed coverage. For the 2nd straight World Cup the ESPN family of networks are airing all 64 games live. 

There is a segment of the population that believes that soccer is boring because there is a lack of action. I will never understand the fascination with high scoring games. I would much rather watch a 1-0 or 2-1 baseball game with great pitching and defense in the National League over a 7-5 American League game. High scoring hockey games get annoying as do most high scoring football games. Is a 127-125 NBA game really fun? Whatever happened to "defense wins championships?" Yes, there is less scoring but the ball is always in play. There are no lengthy "TV timeouts". I don't now how many of you caught this but Wall Street Journal had a great article earlier this year about there only being 11 minutes of actual action in a NFL game.  Just think about that for a second. That works out to roughly 18% of the actual game time and obviously far less once you factor in all the stoppages. I haven't seen a similar study for baseball but I can't imagine that the numbers would be much different there. How can you complain about soccer being dull when after every pitch the batter takes 15 seconds to adjust everything from his helmet to his cup? How can you complain about there being down time in soccer when the last 5 minutes of a basketball game take about 40 minutes to complete?  

Over the past two weeks I've seen people comment on not being able to watch soccer because players "dive" too much. These people can't possibly be serious right? I can't help but laugh at these people since many of these same people were just going on and on last week about the greatness of the NBA Finals. How can anyone be a NBA fan and complain about diving in other sports? We're talking about a league where even the tiny bit of contact gets you a foul. We're talking about a league where players exaggerate contact just so they can get to the free throw line. We're talking about a league where players and coaches work the officials the entire game so they notice and call fouls on every little contact. Are these people seriously trying to tell me that a Wide Receiver in the NFL has never tried to sell a pass interference penalty? Have these people never seen a catcher move his glove after a pitch to try and sell a strike? How is any of this any different? Athletes and coaches have been working officials for a long time in ALL sports. 

Vuvuzelas have been a huge a subject on conversation at the World Cup this year. If you are not familiar with Vuvuzelas I wrote about them last week. Again, I have to ask you, how is that any different then what happens at sporting venues around the world? Part of what makes sports great is regional traditions. ESPN spokesman Mike Soltys said it best recently:

It's part of the experience and flavor of football in South Africa. 

I couldn't agree with him more. I was at a Raptors/Nets NBA Playoff game in 2007. It was Game 6 at what is now known as the IZOD Center. The majority of the fans in attendance though were Raptors fans. Nets players were getting booed throughout the game on their home court so for the final minute the Nets game day crew piped in crowd noise into the arena to drown out the Raptors fans. There was no way the Nets fans were actually that loud that night. Would you rather have that over actual noise being made by fans? Things like the thundersticks are widespread around North American sports. How is that any different? If you're that bothered by it, buy ear plugs. 

I always get a kick out of US media trying to sell to us the idea that close to a billion people watch the Super Bowl. I can believe the 100 Million viewers in the US for the Super Bowl but if you try to tell me that people actually care about the Super Bowl in Buenos Aires, Seoul, Johannesburg, Madrid or Athens I will just laugh at you. Believe it or not there actually is civilization on the other side of the Atlantic and Pacific and they do have different interests. The FIFA World Cup truly is that global event. It has stopped wars and it is a passion followed closely around the world. 

Will this World Cup run help grow soccer in the US? Sure it will and it has been. People in this country have been embracing Soccer for the better part of the last 20 years. Hosting the World Cup in 1994 was big and stadiums were sold out from coast to coast.  MLS has definitely helped the sport in the US as well. Is it comparable to the big international leagues? Of course not, but it is growing. The success of hockey at the Olympics this year helped the NHL ride the momentum to record TV ratings, surely MLS can expect a similar bump? Average MLS attendance is expected to increase 15.4 percent in 2010, to about 18,500 fans per game. There are teams in the NBA and MLB who would love to have those attendance numbers. There are new soccer specific stadiums being built around the league and the MLS has been expanding across the continent. ESPN has been doing a great job promoting the sports while also appeasing the real fans. Coverage this year hasn't been "dumbed down" like previous events were. 

How can you not like this sport? How can you not like the World Cup? I love the format. Pool play is great and the knockout stage is even better. ESPN has a great advertising campaign that says "One Game Changes Everything" and that couldn't be more true. Just take the US win over Algeria that won them their group for the first time since 1930. The US was on the verge of elimination from the tournament but one great play, one great moment, one great game changed everything. The success of the at this World Cup will go a long way towards securing the rights to host either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup here in the US. FIFA is going to award those rights in December. 

Dan Levy said it brilliantly earlier today:

I'm getting ahead of myself. It was just one goal. But remember today when the bids are announced later in the year. If the United States gets the 2022 (or even 2018) World Cup, today was a huge reason why. Some ten year old kid out there who watched today's match and ran outside to re-enact that goal over and over again in his backyard...he might just be thanking Donovan in 12 years. 

I would love the opportunity to go to World Cup games here in the US. It is one of the items on my bucket list.

I grew up in Karachi, Pakistan. I have been a fanatical sports fan all my life. It doesn't matter what the sport. Cricket will always be number one for me but even as a 9 year old living in Pakistan I used to get up at all hours of night to watch the 1994 World Cup which was held in front of sold out stadiums around the US from  the Rose Bowl to Giants Stadium. When I moved to Toronto in 1995 the city was getting ready for the induction of the Raptors into the NBA so I quickly became a basketball fan. That fall the great playoff series between the Yankees and the Mariners was going on and that led me to embrace baseball. Living in Toronto I quickly became a hockey fan and remain a fanatical Maple Leafs fan to this day living here in New Jersey. In international sports I generally root for Pakistan or Canada but I have been fully behind the US Soccer team since I moved here 10 years ago.

Don't try to tell me that Americans don't care about soccer. There is nothing wrong with you not liking the sport but quit announcing it to the world. No one cares. It really has been a shame seeing some really smart people act like ignorant fools for the past 12 days. If you are that bothered by it turn off your TV and stay off of twitter. No one cares about your "jokes" about soccer being boring. It doesn't make you cool.  I ran across a brilliant column on this subject from Andrew Kron. 

Oh, American Sports Fans…

It hasn't even been a week and you're already starting to complain about the World Cup.

There isn't enough scoring. Why would I want to watch Ghana play Serbia? What in the world is that damn buzzing noise in the background of the television? I can't understand the commentators. There isn't enough scoring. Why do half of these guys only have one name? There isn't enough scoring.

Just stop. Slow down for a second… Now do me a favor. Don't like what you see? Then turn your television off. Don't read the newspaper articles. Don't watch the highlights on SportsCenter. Just, don't watch anymore. Go watch baseball or motocross, or Hannah Montana, I don't really care. To me, the more you rant and rave and complain the more you are embarrassing not only yourself, but your country as well. So again, do me a favor. Turn your television to the Disney Channel and keep it there.

I couldn't agree with him more. If you don't like it, don't watch it. Turn off ESPN but please let us watch in peace. You can't tell us that people don't care when we see US soccer jerseys everywhere. I was at a hospital today. It was an amazing sight to see doctors, nurses and other hospital staff spill into the waiting room to catch the closing minutes of the US game. Don't try to tell me that Americans don't care when World Cup talk has been dominating twitter in the US.

I leave you with this brilliant Youtube brilliance.

As always you can leave a comment here, reach me by e-mail or contact me on twitter.

Really nice gesture by the Cleveland Cavaliers for a big fan who lost pretty much all you can lose.

I'll admit it. When I saw the headline I automatically assumed that it was another athlete who had gambled away his money or spent it on multiple houses and cars.

As much as we can appreciate his efforts in Detroit it should still be mentioned that it speaks to a wider problem that these guys become so rich at such a young age but really have no sense of how to protect the money or make wise decisions.