There are children and young adults from every level of society that compete in every sport imaginable. In many instances, these young athletes choose to compete in the sports that their fathers, mothers and oftentimes even their grandfathers and grandmothers competed in. However, here in the “new” millennium there are dark attitudes exhibited by a few fans and some of the media in the world of sports that is pure hateful and borders on pure evil. These ‘tudes seem to be fully acceptable and don’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon. For instance, let’s take a look at Lebron James Jr. That’s right, the NBA superstar’s son.
There was an article recently written by Cam Smith, a reporter for USA TODAY High School Sports, titled, “Fans chant ‘overrated’ at 13-year-old Lebron James Jr.” Mr. Smith first asks the question, “What is wrong with these people?” These people that Mr. Smith was referring to was the “audience” that was watching Lebron James Jr. put on an “adolescent” basketball clinic at the recent USBA Nationals.
Mr. Smith continues writing that: “First off, no 13-year-old deserves to be branded as overrated in front of their peers. Secondly, of all the 13-year-olds one might consider overrated, LeBron ‘Bronny’ James Jr. is certainly not one of them. Bronny James is a versatile young guard with strong athleticism and excellent court vision. He’s already exhibiting some of his father’s strongest suits. And he’s only 13. So what would possess someone to claim the younger James is overrated? It’s insane.”
Imagine this. The New Orleans Saints were once quarterbacked by none other than Archie Manning, father of Peyton and Eli, two NFL quarterbacks that have won four Lombardi trophies between them. When Archie Manning was under center for New Orleans the Saints were abysmal, reaching the .500 mark only once in 1979. During his tenure in New Orleans, the Saints had nine losing seasons. Although Archie Manning was an All-Pro, he could never take the Saints on his back and win a Super Bowl. Everywhere LeBron James Sr. has hung his hat, the team has won an NBA championship but yet folks are screaming at his still-developing son. Who knows? Only the shadow knows. John Branch of the New York Times posted this on nytimes.com on Jan. 14, 2011: “For Matthews Clan, N.F.L. Is All in the Family.”
Mr. Branch wrote, “No family has infiltrated the league the way the Matthews’s have. They might be considered the Manning’s for the head-knocking set. For now, five Matthews men have played in the N.F.L., bridging three generations and including the current linebacker Clay Matthews III.”
Look at former Oakland Raiders defensive lineman Howie Long and his son, Chris Long. All of the aforementioned family and genealogical athletic connections were celebrated but certainly not overrated, especially when these players were still in middle school or competing at the high school level. A few other folks had “questionable” evaluations of Lebron “Bronny” Jr. that seem to be partially based on the “Book of Trump,” chapter 8, verse 9000, which reads: “Thou who is born stupid, and lives stupid, will certainly perish, ‘stupidly.’”
To translate some of this garbage, we have to refer to a tidbit of knowledge quoted by Mother Teresa who once said: “We the willing, led by the unknowing are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have come so far, for so little, for so long, that we are now qualified to do anything with nothing.” Or something to that effect. Folks better be careful because some people feel the same as I do. “You might mess with my money. You might even take my wife out for a drink. But don’t mess with my kids or my grandkids.”
If I were a few of you haters I’d take this morsel of information and run with it.
(Aubrey Bruce: abruce@newpittsburghcourier.com.)
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