Teri Silver: Commen"Teri"

First off, let me tell you that I am a born and bred Clevelander who supports Cleveland sports teams through thick and thin.  While baseball is my first love, I also root for the Cavs, Browns, etc.

So, King James decided to move on. I'm sorry about that.  But to tell you the truth, when he "dropped the ball" against Boston in the 2010 playoffs, it showed me this ... he's no super hero.  It was supposed to be all about him, but he didn't get the job done.   Sure, LeBron has a lot of talent and he'll be missed in Cleveland, but for every veteran who leaves, there is a rookie who is just dying to show us what he can do (I've had to repeat that mantra every time the Indians lose their prime players.)  It's sports, it's part of the game.  The bottom line is ... it's business.  Money makes people predictable.

Of course, I hope that every time they meet, the Cavs will burn the Heat.  

But regardless of LJ's ego, his fantasies and his media circus drama, I have to say that Cleveland Cavaliers majority owner Dan Gilbert has no class.  http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2010/07/gilberts_letter_to_fans_james.html 

I understand Gilbert's anger and disappointment and agree with some of what he said but to take this so personally and make those feelings so public is not showing himself in a good light. Whatever motivated LJ, the bottom line is that it's a business, ... and you'd think that the owner of an NBA team would understand that.  Dan Gilbert made an ass of himself. 

Really, I don't blame Gilbert for being mad and he's probably voiced sentiments for a lot of people, but I can't say his public reaction was good Public Relations for the team. I agree that James could have and should have handled this much differently, this drama shouldn't have been played out this way.  But all of the feedback I've read so far (from Cavs' fans) about Gilbert's letter and his later comments about LJ's playoff performance (way after the fact) has been negative, and it makes me think Gilbert's rants could be a problem for recruiting .... (who'd want to work for this guy?) and for weaving excitement for a new product.  Public image is everything. The Cavs' Public Relations team has a lot of work ahead of it.

So, time to move on.  It is baseball season, after all, and in a couple of months, they'll be throwing the pigskin.  Cleveland loves its sports teams, no matter if they win or lose.  Buhbye LeBron, don't take any wooden nickels. One question, though ... can't you take Dan Gilbert with you?

Teri Silver