NBA action last night, the defending Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers knocked off the Miami Heat 108-97. Notable about the game was the 3rd quarter ejection of LeBron James, marking the first time in his entire 14-year career he’d been thrown out of a game. Kevin Love led all scorers on the night with 38 points as the Cavs improve to 14 and 7 this season and have won nine straight.
I had no idea that James had NEVER been ejected from a game prior to last night. I guess it just never dawned on me to check up on something like that.
But think about that stat for a moment. What's he played, several thousand games in his career? 80-plus regular season games a season plus playoff games for the better part of 15 seasons.
For all the numbers used in comparison between James and other NBA greats, that's one (for me, at least) in which I have a great deal more respect for than points, assists, rebounds, etc.
Please Don't Weep for Eli Manning
Lost in this tale of Eli Manning not being named as the starter this weekend for the New York Giants roadtrip to Oakland this weekend is the story in which he apparently was told that he would start this weekend, but may be benched at some point in the game in order to allow coaches to evaluate other quarterbacks on the roster.
I know how easy it is to look at that uncomfortable expression on Eli's face, hear the frustrated words in his locker room interview session and to try and imagine how he must feel, but this is a grown man having a hissy fit and playing it out to a captive audience.
Say what you will about head coach Ben McAdoo and the job he's done with the Giants this season. The record speaks for itself, but to quote a phrase about the job of a coach, manager, etc., "This job is not that f***ing easy", and sometimes unpopular decisions have to be made for the betterment of an organization, a business, a product if you will.
McAdoo's days as coach of this team are numbered anyway. He knows it, the business knows it. Worse yet, the media and fan base not only know it but many are actively calling for that number of days to come to a quick and painless end already.
But the fact remains, the team, the business itself must think ahead for the future. What Manning's future is to that business apparently is in some doubt, so the business must do what it can to ensure itself to be fluid for whatever changes may come.
Eli Manning's going to play the role of victim, much like his older brother Peyton did when he was left out in the cold by the Indianapolis Colts.
You can argue the methodology all you want, but the business world can be cruel sometimes.
These are the ways of the world.
No One Weeps for C.J. Beathard
Meantime, out in San Francisco, fans of the 49ers cheered when quarterback C.J. Beathard was injured in the fourth quarter of their home loss last weekend to the Seattle Seahawks.
Beathard's injury meant the "official arrival" if you will of Jimmy Garoppolo, who threw two passes, one for a meaningless touchdown in the waning moments of the game, and has since prompted head coach Kyle Shanahan to name Garoppolo as the starter this weekend when the 49ers begin playing out the rest of their schedule on the road at Chicago to face the Bears.
Don't get me wrong, we're all interested to see what Garoppolo will do in San Francisco, and there's no question the upside to the team going forward, if in fact Garoppolo is as good as he's been in the limited opportunities he's had to this point.
But the reaction heard by fans of the 49ers last weekend is neither to be encouraged nor endorsed when it comes to the exit of Beathard. The man may well have lost his job, and some people were just far too happy to witness the final chapter as it was written.
Aguayo alleges assault by FSU fraternity
The Florida State football team program is back in the news again for assault charges, but when you hear the details -- while just as unsettling -- they aren’t what you’d expect.
Because it’s not a woman accusing a member of the football team as much as a member of the football is accusing a fraternity. This after the team’s place kicker Ricky Aguayo told police he was physically assaulted by some fraternity members after a rivalry game last season.
Tallahassee Police records show that Aguayo reported being “jumped” in front of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity house at around 3am on December 2nd of last year just one week after the Seminoles beat Florida 31-13.
But despite the fact that the team won by three scores, the frat wasn’t happy with the fact that Aguayo missed two of his three field goal attempts.
According to the Sun-Sentinel, Aguayo told police he was walking by the frat house when people began shouting at him about the missed kicks and was later confronted and punched in the face.
Details of this story are surely still going to come forward, and while I'd like to say there's going to be some peaceful, normal resolution to all of this, it's another sad reminder that behaviors regarding athletes and celebrities which have been tolerated far too long, need to be addressed in some harsher, darker realities.