Gabe weighed in on this earlier in the week and I realize I'm late to the dance on this one and that's mainly because this story is a non-issue. First of all, like Gabe said in his piece, what possible benefit does Heat coach Eric Spoelstra think he's getting by telling the media his boys are in the locker room crying like a bunch of ninnies? This guy is already on his last legs in Miami(regardless of what Pat Riley says, Coach Spo has looked overmatched in dealing with the big names on his roster. Those beady eyes bulge for a reason, Riles. The man's at his zenith), so what does throwing his team under the bus do for him or his squad? Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, I'll believe players on the Heat are crying when I see tears with my own two eyes. I don't know why Spolestra would lie about something like this but I also don't know why he would even bring it up in the first place.
I've SEEN Terrell Owens cry like a baby in defending Tony Romo after another big Cowboys playoff loss. I've SEEN Adam Morrison get watery-eyed after Gonzaga's loss in the NCAA Tournament. Hell, I've even SEEN The Zen Master's boy Kobe Bryant cry for his wife's forgiveness after he paid his way out of those rape charges(On top of that, Phil's golden boy Michael Jordan cried after winning the NBA Championship). Yes, all of those were after games of significantly more circumstance than a pithy regular season game in March, but the point is people cry.
We get too caught up in the archaic vision of how we want our athletes to be. We want them to be grizzled manly men who find crying beneath them and spend their days as warriors battling out on the gridiron or the baseball diamond or the hardwood. The irony of that is that we follow these guys on Twitter or watch their reality shows because we want to see if they are normal human beings just like us. It's ok if LeBron goes on to carry the Heat to the NBA Championship this year, but if he cries during Sex and the City, well, then, he's a pussy. Athletes are human beings with abnormal human talents. Chris Bosh is a basketball player. He's not King Leonidas. If athletes possessed the gene to be without emotion or unable to feel sadness, they'd be politicians.
Back to Jackson for a second, Dr. Phil made headlines by saying the NBA was "No Boys Allowed" and said "Big boys don't cry, but if you're going to do it, do it in the toilet where no one can see you." One, nobody actually saw the Heat cry beyond a coach who must have been outside of his mind diming out his boys to the media like that. Two, since when does a hippie who spends his free time in the offseason dressing like Morgan Freeman in "Bruce Almighty" and contorting his body into "Downward Facing Dog" get to make fun of others being soft? Since when has Phil Jackson been the authority on manliness? This is the same guy who tried to mediate the Shaq and Kobe beef by talking it out and then shit his pants when he couldn't get both sides to align peacefully. Look, I'm not taking anything away from Phil Jackson. He's a great coach and has done great things with some supersized egos, but perhaps he should pass occassionally on the chance to offer up a sound byte....especially after his Lakers have now been swept by those wimpy deers in Miami.
We get too caught up in the archaic vision of how we want our athletes to be. We want them to be grizzled manly men who find crying beneath them and spend their days as warriors battling out on the gridiron or the baseball diamond or the hardwood. The irony of that is that we follow these guys on Twitter or watch their reality shows because we want to see if they are normal human beings just like us. It's ok if LeBron goes on to carry the Heat to the NBA Championship this year, but if he cries during Sex and the City, well, then, he's a pussy. Athletes are human beings with abnormal human talents. Chris Bosh is a basketball player. He's not King Leonidas. If athletes possessed the gene to be without emotion or unable to feel sadness, they'd be politicians.Back to Jackson for a second, Dr. Phil made headlines by saying the NBA was "No Boys Allowed" and said "Big boys don't cry, but if you're going to do it, do it in the toilet where no one can see you." One, nobody actually saw the Heat cry beyond a coach who must have been outside of his mind diming out his boys to the media like that. Two, since when does a hippie who spends his free time in the offseason dressing like Morgan Freeman in "Bruce Almighty" and contorting his body into "Downward Facing Dog" get to make fun of others being soft? Since when has Phil Jackson been the authority on manliness? This is the same guy who tried to mediate the Shaq and Kobe beef by talking it out and then shit his pants when he couldn't get both sides to align peacefully. Look, I'm not taking anything away from Phil Jackson. He's a great coach and has done great things with some supersized egos, but perhaps he should pass occassionally on the chance to offer up a sound byte....especially after his Lakers have now been swept by those wimpy deers in Miami.
This is a new age of athlete. Gone are days of Dick Butkus and Charles Oakley where are athletes never let anyone see them as anything other than captain of industry alpha males. Athletes in 2011 cry, make witty comments on social media outlets, milk injuries like a dairy farmer, praise God excessively and generally act like....wait for it.....human beings. I'd rather my athletes cry after a loss than chuckle on the sidelines like Derek Anderson on Monday Night Football. Every man on the face of this planet has let a tear loose. That doesn't make you less of a man. If I walk by Mike Tyson sobbing in a pet store in SoHo, I'm not going to walk up to him and say "Stop being a bitch, Mike!".
Ever since "The Decision", the Miami Heat have become the most compelling story in the NBA since Michael Jordan retired. Every game has overly critiqued. Every dirty look overanalyzed. Every dribble and shot beaten into the ground. For a week, we have wasted our time and energy on a story about athletes crying without one single photo of one single tear. That, not some bullshit overblown headline, is what really should make us all weep.
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