People always want to watch great players - and always have. I bet if you looked at attendance records in baseball from the 20s and 30s, the Yankees always drew a good road crowd because they had the Babe. In the 80s, NBA teams loved to have the Bulls come to town, not cause they'd beat them but because Jordan would sell the arena out. Gretsky sold out arenas as a 12 year old kid in Canada - before there was an ESPN. I went to see DeMatha with Bogans and Forte just to see those two play - and I went when they played the top teams to see how they would handle the best. People want to see the best, regardless of their age.
In team sports, star seems to be a bad word. I agree that some stars take things too far in terms of their own image of themselves that they project to everyone else. But I can't find fault with a network for showing a star to us - that's what sports fans in every era have wanted to see. And networks have always featured games with stars long before ESPN existed. ESPN just gives us an outlet to see this player that we would not have had before. I am thankful for that outlet - otherwise I would have to drive to Cleveland
LeBron will hit the jackpot in a pro contract, and immediately will hit basketball adversity the moment he takes the court for his first pro game. He will struggle, and we will ultimately see if he has what it takes to build his game to the NBA level. But lets enjoy what he can do now and hope that he has what it takes to handle the fame and fortune that will be his in six months.
Fri Dec 13, 2002, 05:13pm
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