Flash Tizzle

I agree with some of you that, even with all these media reports for Miami, he'll select Cleveland. I've long past considered the Bulls, but I figure awesome things will happen in both scenarios: if he remains in Cleveland the media looks ridiculous, and we atleast have a higher percentage chance of competing in the East; but if he leaves, we can watch Cleveland fans cry, and if nothing else Miami will be fun to watch. There's really no hope for the Bulls, though.

Also, this has to be the longest thread in Soxtalk history.

Really, aside from a source probably originating with WWW, when have there been ANY rumors of the Bulls landing Lebron? All I've heard is that we're second, but nothing much like we've heard from Cleveland, New York or now Miami. I think we'll find out after that we were never really in the discussion. As George Carlin once said, isn't there a small part of you that hopes for the worst? I hate the idea of Wade/Lebron/Bosh in Miami, but there's a portion of my mind that LOVES the idea of Cleveland crying about losing a player that, even after spending seven years of his career winning absolutely nothing, somehow owes it to the city because they drafted him. And he lives in a suburb of Ohio.

Why haven't the terms of the Bosh deal been disclosed yet? The absence of anything makes me believe Lebron's choice isn't so set in stone. Almost as if Bosh is thinking, if Lebron is here, I'm going to sign outright with Miami; if he isn't, I'll go for sign and trade to earn the money.

I know I cannot be the only one who does this, but when people are anticipating important sports news do you purposely avoid anything that may give it away before you log onto Soxtalk? These last few days, I've been entering these threads blind; not knowing anything from ESPN, Real GM, the radio, basically any outlet. It's not so much this year, but I remember in the past I did it with the White Sox too. It's completely ridiculous, but it's like this exciting build up. And what's strange is, I cannot even consider myself a basketball guy. I root for the Bulls, but my devotion to them is nowhere near that of the White Sox. This entire Lebron pimping experience has drawn me in.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jul 6, 2010 -> 12:37 AM) My first inclination of that was that they simply admitted for the first time in Cleveland that LeBron is carefully considering Chicago. Cleveland fans on the Real GM are very confident he'll return. Hell, they have a good point; look at his website: I hate to be that person taking everything as a hidden meaning, but it's his damn home page; he obviously has some input. The above statement doesn't sound like someone out to run out. If it just about basketball he'd be gone. I'll say one thing, if Wade stays in Miami, Lebron stays in Cleveland, and Bosh goes wherever aside from here, I'll be upset, but ultimately, Bosh was never really linked here unless it was with Wade. And Lebron is puss whipped by his entourage and Cleveland's insistence that the town will be dead after he leaves. We'll look back afterward and realize the signs were there, notably the WWW dismissal out of the inner circle. It was really some of his people realizing that Wes poses a threat to their comfort in Cleveland, and keeping him around affected their free ride; so he was sandbagged.

I don't believe for a moment Rose preferred Johnson over Lebron. Also, I'm sure the moment the report surfaced he placed a personal call with Lebron to clear any misconceptions. Doesn't it just seem like someone is doing their due diligence to push Lebron away from us? We've had the no special privileges for his people story, the Rose story, and from the Rose part we now learn of Lebron's concern with our lack of a shooter all within one day. Strange how nothing much else is coming out about Miami, New York, or the Nets. Not that I believe this campaign, if it really exists, will accomplish much. It's basically the media equivalent of those goofy fans that believe putting together a song/dance routine will improve their chances. I still believe he'll go back to Cleveland. But when I read stories such as this I think to myself that some people are getting concerned.

According to the Daily Herald's Mike McGraw the Bulls were unwilling to offer Lebron's management and assortment of leeches the same privileges as allowed in Cleveland. This bit of news, for me, was enough to sway my opinion of our position with Lebron. It had been teetering on the edge, but this was that final push. I cannot imagine him leaving Cleveland unless he's completely comfortable; both on and off the court. Even though I do not know all the perks his management and friends had, I'm sure it involved their constant presence around him. We may fit his view of the type of roster he'd prefer to play for, but if he feels that being surrounded by his people helps him deal with fame, basketball, whatever, it may be the excuse needed to eliminate us.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jul 3, 2010 -> 03:36 PM) Berman pegged the crowd at around 150 people. If that's true then that's an awful turn out. Really, they were better off not having anyone.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Jul 3, 2010 -> 02:32 PM) The brass. Thibs looks like he means business. Nice suits, it has the business/casual feel. I'm sure someone familiar with interviews, body language and the such put their time into selecting an outfit. Also, I love that we didn't have any presentation material. It makes it more personal and sincere just speaking from the whim. Not that any of this matters (I doubt any one presentation swayed him), but at worst we don't ruin our chances.

Someone around Lebron, if not Lebron himself, must realize Cleveland is in no better position to defeat the Magic, Lakers, or even an improved (some combo of Wade/Bosh/Lee/Boozer) Bulls team. They have no cap space until 2012. If he uses any type of logic he'd be out, but what worries me is he'll use ESPN logic; you know, that he has "unfinished business."

QUOTE (Real @ Jul 2, 2010 -> 09:00 PM) OR: To force Cleveland's hand by making them sweat the possibility of him leaving, and he never truly was going to leave town. This possibly puts more pressure on Cleveland to try and make some moves to bring in some talent to surround him with, and perhaps show him that next year they can put even more talent on the team to contend. He really really wants to win in Cleveland, but I don't think he'll leave town unless another team absolutely blows him away with an offer, whether it's the Bulls, Nets, Heat.. whoever. Is it really necessary for Lebron to go through all this to convince Cleveland to make certain moves? I'm sure if he were willing to extend he'd have exactly the same influence then as he would now under the threat of leaving.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Jul 2, 2010 -> 08:34 PM) For Lebron it's either the Bulls or Cavs with the Nets as a wildcard. Lebron is an idiot if he returns to Cleveland. The entire point of refusing to sign an extension with Cleveland was to explore his options, and it's obvious better options are out there (Bulls - winning, Nets - money). I just can't imagine him saying, "i decided after looking around that Cleveland is my best fit." Cleveland wont be any better situated to defeat the Lakers. Or possibly Chicago if they have some combination of Wade/Bosh/Boozer. And ultimately they had seven seasons to win a title.

Who knows what else Elin knows, too. Whether there's a little bastard child pooping somewhere or a mistress count far more than has been let on. That large paycheck made the decision a lot easier.

QUOTE (sircaffey @ Jul 1, 2010 -> 12:21 AM) Not 1 of the 4 analysts on NBA Fastbreak picked Chicago as LBJ's landing spot, two minutes ago. 2 NY's, 2 CLE. Was this recorded two months ago? I don't know what has happened recently that has made New York reenter the discussion, and people only select Cleveland to purposely go against other destinations. If he wanted to stay in Cleveland he would have resigned. Everything their front office has done doesn't suggest to me that they think he's a likely bet to return.

I wonder if, come tomorrow, players will be quick to sign with teams or will wait for Lebron to see how everything shakes down. Of course Lebron has had months to think about this, but the goof will probably drag it out past July 8th. It'd be terrible if our Plan B/C signs, we wait around for Lebron, and he goes elsewhere and we're left with s***. I'd have to believe there's some contingency plan in place, such as telling certain players to wait, but if some team throws out enough money I don't know if it really matters.

http://www.soxtalk.com/forums/index.php?sh...amp;mode=linear Nothing unified Soxtalk more than the collective hatred of Billy Koch. What an awesome thread to read through. That thread also reminded me of the old YNOT days on Soxtalk....

What's strange here is the most important team in the Lebron sweepstakes is whatever dumbass GM decides to trade for Beasley, thus opening up the necessay cap space for Miami to sign three max deals. Some team out there has to ask themself whether they'd rather play against Wade/Bosh/Lebron/scrubs or Lebron and the Bulls, all the while knowing Beasley doesn't help you for s*** in the first scenario.

I have this sinking feeling he'll select Miami, and we'll learn afterward in the ESPN documentary, entitled "The Summer of Lebron," that we were never in the discussion. It was just between Miami and Cleveland. I just believe that having to constantly hear the Jordan comparisons (more than usual) is one factor, ego related, that he would never get over. "Having Wade and Bosh as teammates, in a city starving for basketball tradition, was an opportunity I couldn't pass up," he'll say. Additionally, he'll admit to puposely leaking rumors and laughing at all the reactions.

If I was suave enough to pick up random women at a grocery store I'd never leave Trader Joe's. Both times I've been there the place was overrun with attractive (young and old) women. I advise everyone to take advantage of this before Milkman gets wind, starts creeping around, and ruins it for everybody. All I can say is, the man......has sexual demons.

If players just stood at the plate against Marmol and didn't move their bats he'd be out of baseball.

You know what, I was hoping we'd no-hit. Why not draw national attention to our woes while also embarrassing the team? If it meant Williams was one minute closer to breaking apart this filth and ending the super-fan talk around here of winning through June on a .700 clip I was all for it.

It's not only good pitches with ripples that trouble Beckham (as they do most mlb players), he's even missing hangers. What's terrible is, it's not as if we could have known that from college because, how many good pitchers with decent curveballs/sliders did he face?

The results have been good, obviously, but Peavy has thrown for too many meat sliders. I'm worried about that one bad inning where someone will connect.

Maybe you guys didn't hear me. The chat is reopened. Get your lazy asses in there. Most of you are unemployed anyways, may as well share your misery with us.