Saturday 23 June 2012

Lebron Wins title, so shut up!

Lebron Wins Title, so shut up!

He did it, finally he captured what took him 9 years of struggle and criticism to take. The beautiful Larry O Brien trophy by blowing out the heavily supported Oklahoma City Thunder 121 to 106. Years of being called choker, not a "4th quarter guy", a dude who doesn't care, he shut every hater or critic cough *Skip Bayless* cough by once again showing off his pure talent by notching a triple double  of 26points 13 assists and 10 boards he also hit a clutch three in game 4 after cramping up earlier on. that put the heat up late and put Miami in a 3-1 series strangle hold. No one on my twitter feed ripped on him one bit they simply were in awe of this talented talented superstar. He became only the 7th player in NBA History with 40 points, 15 rebs and 5 assist in the playoffs over the last 5 seasons, think about that for a second, that is crazy.   Lebron also hit clutch free throws down the stretch that led Miami to their title. Lebron also was the third THIRD person In NBA history to led his team in points, assists, and rebounds in the Finals and captured the Finals MVP for most valuable player in the Finals. This dude can do it all, we have not seen this amount of mixed talent since the Jordan era possibly. More importantly he is still at a reasonable age and right in his prime, we could see this dominance go for a very very long time. In 2007 he went to his first career NBA finals against the San Antonio Spurs and came up short as the Spurs swept the young one man armed Cavs in 4 games, he did not get blasted as it was expected the Spurs would win, though he would repeat having best records for Cleavland posting a 60 win season one time. Sadly though he would face early exit after early exit and that's when the critics and supposed haters kept whispering into Lebrons ear saying he shrunk during the big game, during the 4th he quit on his team.

His image changed from "Chosen One' to the choker.It took 6 years until Lebron became a free agent and then did the famous and controversial "Decision" that was televised in his hometown Akron of all places and announced to the world that he would take his talents to South Beach. This put the world against Lebron even getting him to say " I embrace this villain role". He would join his pals Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami in what was said as the biggest free agent splash ever. Did not take long for those egos to arise when soon after a downtown outside celebration of sorts by having all three be introduced and dance their horrible dance moves and so boldly say " we're not here to win one, two,three,four, that little 10 second comment that put more pressure on this man than anyone. Despite season struggles and days of sobbing they made the NBA finals almost to their goal, only to have it halted and to have the door slammed right in their face by the Western Conference Dallas Mavericks. The hate that was directed more specifically at Lebron was enormous. No team was called out and judged more than this team as soon as the celebrating went down expectations were that they would win right off the bat. I thought that it would take time for them to jell. Lebron got mocked,  hated on, used in pretty much every punchline till it got tiresome there were even some discussion of splitting this team up.

Though despite the rough rumors Pat Riley and coach Splostra remained confident in their team only adding a  few key pieces in Shane Battier and getting rid of old man Mike Bibby. What benefited this team most was that it kept quit which was key especially for Lebron who averaged 27 ppg close to 6 boards a game and 6 assists per game and captured the scoring title and also capturing the 2011-2012 NBA season MVP one of eight players to grab three NBA MVPs.. Lebron was more focused than ever in the postseason scoring 45 points and grabbing 15 rebounds on his way to beating his rival Celtics in 7 games playing 45 minutes and shot 19-26 from the field. It was one of the greatest performances i have witnessed from this dude and any doubt about him winning it this year certainly was fading. He would move on to face the Thunder in what some thought was going to go 7 games. It was not to be as Lebron and the Heat beat the Thunder in 5 Games and finally finally Lebron holds that beautiful gold trophy in his arms because he and the rest of his squad deserved it.Completely outplaying the Thunder in every aspect experience and desperation came into play for LBJ, he was ready to win, ready to get a ring, and ready to shut the haters up for good. No more will i see Lebron has no rings written on boards in classes (yea that happened). no more  doubters saying he can't win the big one. its all bout how he can win the big one because he did, he is the king of the world, enjoy it.




Why do i say enjoy it? well you are a fan of basketball or you would not be reading this.So why not celebrate and enjoy such a great all around talented dude who who the big one. We may not see a player like him in a long long long time maybe never again. He is young and hungry he's got talent with him so the weight isin't all on him even though it is his team yes Wade even said so. It should be more of a privilege to watching him rather than a curse. He is the best player in the world right now for a reason, lets celebrate that.
Fly High Lebron, you are still young. Oh and a future rap career?
P,S, Chris Bosh is awesome i want a pair of those shades

Thursday 14 June 2012

Sports and Social Media

In the world of sports social media has grown and been a big part of how teams, players, and sports networks interact with their fans or supporters. It’s what has created bloggers and fan journalism through the years. Especially in Twitter where fans and people like ether can praise the athlete or broadcaster or rip them apart and just by typing in their username or handle they can make sure those people hear what they say.

The Major Sports Business relies heavily on Social Networking. That’s their way of promoting their product whether it be team hats jerseys or other memorabilia. They rely on Social Media to connect to fans, players, and update whether or not players will be playing.  Social Media platforms like twitter are the most common used sites for Sports organizations the way twitter works, the information they send certainly reaches its fan base in a quick and efficient way. 

I especially like Twitter for discussing and debating topics with Sports Journalists. I communicating with some of the best in the business with just a few simple steps certainly feel like a cool experience.  

A good example of great use of social media in sports, more specifically twitter was When the Professional Hockey team known as the Los Angeles Kings took to twitter after beating one of their rivals Vancouver Canucks and said a pretty smart, funny, and true comment that said “to everyone in Canada outside of BC, You’re welcome”. Saying what is true that most if not all of Canada hates said canucks. That one comment got noticed by Sports Stations everywhere that created a buzz and a popularity surrounding the franchise that has not been seen for a long time.  This created a trend that has seen recent NHL twitter Clubs be more fun with what they right, even the leagues worst team the Blue Jackets from Columbus had fun taking shots from fans and retorting with wit. Some people have found it obnoxious I personally think it is great. Players chirp all the time on the ice so I have no problems having clubs trade blows with others and their fans.
 
Social Media is growing and it is not going to stop. Sports as a whole are going to embrace, use, and grow when they have a chance with social media. Email has taken over paper mail, facebook continues to grow despite its recent falls, and twitter has been a big and relevant social media site that sports have used, Interaction with athletes and broadcasters have never been as easy as this, and it is great.