Old News But New History

This Tuesday LeBron James will revisit his natal team: the Cavs. This match up doesn’t decide the fates of the teams in the post season. With the worst record in the league (14-58) the Cavs will have to watch LeBron James play for the Heat and for the first time in 6 years (when LeBron was drafted) the Cavs will not be in the 2011 Playoffs.
Miami has already begun to think about the post season. LeBron knows that he will not be welcomed with open arms to the Quicken Loans Arena. Although, he said, “Can't get no worse than it was December 2nd,'' after the humiliating 118-90 win over the Cavaliers James said, “"That was a huge step for us.”
Head Coach Byron Scott (Cavs) said that he doesn’t think that the arena will get that crazy as it did back in December. "I don't think it's going to be quite that crazy,'' Byron Scott said when asked. He says that the fans already know what happened last time LeBron went to Cleveland. Although shutting out the Cavs the last time they played, LeBron and the Heat know what happened a few weeks ago when the Lakers strolled into Cleveland and ended up losing.
LeBron James is known to be a clutch player around the league, and the Cavs know that. This Tuesday LeBron will be reunited with his old teammates and fans. After being ridiculed in every stadium this season, Miami, is used to the boos and shouts of the fans. Hopefully LeBron wont feel the pressure of his former city.

Taboo and Basketballs

Last Night, as I sat in front of my computer and looked for blogs to write about: I couldn't. The reason was because I had a basketball final the next day. As I went from blog entry to blog entry and read more about basketball, the anxiety got worse. And I began to think about what makes athletes do the things they do. Since I was a younger I could remember doing certain things before a football game: wearing a "lucky" shirt or buying the same gatorade flavor. The thought of having rituals pre or post game was interesting. So, I investigated. I found out that most athletes have superstitions that they avoid to feel confident. "Athletic superstitions and pre-game protocol rule the sporting world," said Kurtis Larson. And I agreed. Michael Jordan would play with his North Carolina Tarheels shorts underneath his Bulls uniform. In case this doesn't gross you out, Mark McGwire used the same protective cup from highschool. And we cannot dismiss the most famous one today, LeBron James' chalk throwing in the air. These rituals may even include swagger. All these superstitions were fascinating to read. They ranged from a simple use of an item of clothing to wanting multiple shots to the face. As I thought more of these taboos, I concluded that they're as important to a player as the actual game. After reading about the things that professional athletes do, it made me think that no matter how good they are, they wouldn't be as calm if it weren't for these rituals.

Miami And The League

After Miami's 5 game losing streak last week they were undoubtedly the center of ridicule. The rants began from NBA news reporters who spoke strictly upon facts and analyzed the reason why the Heat were struggling, but these were turned into attempts for fans to get a piece of the Heat.

Unfortunately for those who don't appreciate what Miami has done over the past few months, the 5 game losing streak was snapped against the ominous Los Angeles Lakers. Last Thursday, El Heat and Los Lakers(Latino Week) faced off in the American Airlines Arena. The Heat walked away with the win and left the Lakers with something to think about on their flight back across the country.

I was given the inspiration to write about this after watching Miami glide over the number one seeded Spurs and once again proving to be better then they are given credit for. Before the game, I read an article that suggested the same, Miami would need beat the Spurs in order to stop all those rants.