The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

Having lived in Ohio over the past 5-6 years, and gone through the LeBron-James-is-heading-to-South-Beach transition, I've heard a great deal of talk and debate regarding the superstar. While it seems that approximately 80% of basketball fans in the state still want to give LeBron the middle finger to his face, the two main points of debate regarding him are: 1) Where does he stack up with the all-time greats (namely, Michael Jordan), and 2) Is he the main reason why his teams have fallen on the short end of the stick in the playoffs more times than not? NBA fans in this state - especially Cleveland Cavaliers die-hards - appear to believe that LeBron James was simply a choke-artist in Cleveland - that and he gave up too frequently. When it comes to the Cavs losing in the finals, or during other playoff runs, it seems that a majority of fans here mainly blame James for the team's disappointing finish to their season. They also don't believe he's even in Michael Jordan...

Philadelphia Eagles' starting quarterback Michael Vick has gotten some heat in recent days due to his new book - an autobiography entitled Finally Free . He has at least temporarily cancelled a book-signing tour due to death threats. Now ESPN's LZ Granderson is criticizing the Pro-Bowl quarterback for the title of his book - Finally Free . From reading the article, it appears clear that Granderson has yet to read the book, as he focuses all his attention on the title of the book and not the content inside of it. He says: "So giving the book that title -- even in the context of serving 18 months in federal prison -- was a colossal miscue because it gives the impression that Vick's punishment was an unjustified obstacle that had to be overcome. The title gives the impression that it was something thrust upon him, something he's not responsible for. And based upon the testimony  from the trial, nothing could be further from the truth (and I'm not even a dog pe...