Well, the big story in sports today, at least in sports media, is The Big Lead getting acquired by Fantasy Sports Ventures for "low seven-figures." More on that later this morning.
In today's SN column, I lead with one of my biggest pet peeves: The myth that for LeBron or Dwyane Wade, they care more about winning than anything else.
That is simply not true.
They care about winning -- obviously -- but only within the context of getting paid as much as possible.
If they cared more about winning than money, they would either both sign with the Magic to play with Dwight Howard (and win 80 games en route to as many titles as they wanted) or they would sign with any team they wanted for the league minimum, freeing up room for other free-agent superstars to do likewise. Again: The result would be epic winning.
But "I want to win" is a canard. And I don't begrudge LeBron or Wade for wanting to get paid. Hell, we would all do the same thing.
What I begrudge is that they insist they put the premium on winning, when they are already narrowing their ability to win based on parameters of getting paid.
Money is the No. 1 priority. Winning is No. 2. A distant 2nd, actually.
Here was my kicker from the column: If LeBron and Wade and Bosh and the rest really wanted to make NBA history -- I mean do something that no one has ever done before AND win as many rings as they wanted -- they would put winning over money.
(Don't argue that by picking Chicago or New York over Cleveland, LeBron is giving up tens of millions and somehow taking love over money. I'm talking about orders of magnitude: LeBron playing for a million bucks in Orlando and winning 80 games and a title next year.)
It is an earnest, pie-in-the-sky (even naive) attitude for me to take -- but I sure wish we would at least acknowledge that "I want to win" is subordinate to "I want to get paid."
More in today's column:
*This ain't the 2008 NBA Finals.
*Urban Meyer: Hmm... I'm confused.
*Joe West: MLB's biggest villain?
*Bryce Harper: One week to go.
*Federer: Upset of the Year?
(No, really: Is Federer losing before the semis of a major a bigger upset than, say, Kansas losing to Northern Iowa in the NCAA Tournament first weekend? How about the Bruins losing a 3-0 series lead to the Flyers? I think it is.)
*I approve of the Marlins selling unused Perfect Game tickets to Phillies fans. If you don't want one, don't buy one. (But if I was a Phillies fan, I'd probably buy one.)
See the complete column here. More later.
-- D.S.
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