Can We Put Pete Rose In The Baseball Hall Of Fame Now?
Pete Rose’s life has ended. It's time for his lifetime ban to do the same.
LeBron James is still bothered he didn't get every single vote for the NBA's Most Valuable Player award in 2013.
James won his second NBA championship with the Miami Heat that year and was named the league's MVP. However, James collected 120 of 121 first-place votes, meaning he would not become the first unanimously voted MVP in NBA history.
During an episode of "The Shop," James expressed that he was still bothered by the rogue vote of one journalist.
"I also had the opportunity to be, I would’ve been the first unanimous MVP where I got all 120 votes. But I got 119," he said, misstating the vote count by one. "There was one vote where he voted for Carmelo [Anthony]."
"The writer is from Boston, of course. I know his name too, but I ain’t going to give him that light just yet; I'll wait for the doc on that," James said.
LeBron really said \u201cImma wait for the doc\u201d everyone finna get the smoke LMAOO— (@)
That writer is and was publicly known as the Boston Globe's Gary Washburn. Washburn justified his reasons for not voting for James that same year and stated that his understanding of what an MVP is may differ from James'.
"I had no idea I would be the only voter to leave LeBron out of first," Washburn wrote at the time, according to CBS News. "This isn't Mrs. Wilson's class, I don't walk around asking fellow sportswriters their answers to the US History quiz. This isn't the Best Player in the Game award; it's the Most Valuable Player award, and I think what [Carmelo] Anthony accomplished this season was worthy of my vote."
James' complaints echo the ones he made in 2016 after Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry became the first unanimous MVP selection.
"I was heated," James said of 2013. "But I knew all along [I wasn't getting a unanimous vote]. I just knew it, man," he told Cleveland.com.
"It just pushed me harder," James said. "That's all. It motivated me further."
The forward admitted at the time that he initially believed it was a writer from New York that voted for Knicks star Anthony.
"I got the New York part right. It was 'Melo,' my guy ... I didn't get the writer right in Boston."
BlazeTV's Jason Whitlock, however, attributes James' comments to him "channeling his inner Michael Jordan."
"He wants us to believe he's motivated by slights. It's fake. LeBron doesn't run off anger. He runs off joy," Whitlock explained. "He's a mostly joyous person who pretends to be angry because the so-called 'culture' says black people are supposed to be mad at the world."
"The world has treated LeBron wonderfully ever since it discovered his athletic gifts around age 10. LeBron is quite happy, has been for a long time," the writer and host stated.
Lebron is really putting all of his insecurities out there. 😂
Gary Washburn explains in detail why he did NOT vote for Lebron James for the MVP that year and whether or not he would change that vote knowing it stopped him from receiving the unanimous MVP. 🏀 https://t.co/S6e3uowUIF pic.twitter.com/yOvgHGp8YZ
— NBA Strife ツ (@strifeomg) April 20, 2024
That was not all James took issue with from 2013, though. James said it still "stings" that he didn't win the Defensive Play of the Year award, which was given to Marc Gasol despite the player not being named to the NBA's All-Defensive first team that season.
"That's the only award that I don't have in my house; that kind of stings," James said, before comparing his award snub to singer Beyonce not winning at the Grammys. "I talked about this before; it don't make sense. It's almost like what [Julio Rodriguez] just said about B. How can she have the most Grammys but never won Album of the Year?"
BlazeTV contributor T.J. Moe added that James is one of the most "naturally gifted athletes" ever to compete but consistently plays the victim card.
"God gave him more natural ability than virtually anyone that has ever existed, yet LeBron has spent most of his career pretending to be some sort of victim. He’s insufferable," he added.
James also claimed on the podcast that journalists who have voted on such awards were not "watching the game" nor "studying" it.
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COVID-19 isn’t all bad. It appears that one of its side effects is turning Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers into a combination of Muhammad Ali and Navin R. Johnson.
Of course, you remember Ali, the greatest boxer of all time. Ali fell under the spell of Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X and risked prison and invited national scorn by refusing induction into the military and participation in the Vietnam War.
But do you remember Navin Johnson, the jerk? He was the lead character in the 1979 movie classic “The Jerk.” Comedian Steve Martin played the role of Navin, the white adopted son of black Southern sharecroppers. Navin hilariously has no idea that his black parents adopted him.
Rodgers has fallen under the spell of podcasters Joe Rogan and Pat McAfee and has refused the COVID vaccine injection. The quarterback’s defiance apparently is going to jeopardize his chance to win the NFL’s MVP award and has invited national scorn.
One of the 50 voters for the Associated Press' MVP award, Hub Arkush, labeled Rodgers the biggest jerk in the league and a bad guy and stated that he won’t vote Rodgers MVP for that reason.
Rodgers is the jerk. He had no idea that deciding what’s best for his body would provoke lunatics to treat him like a 1960s black man.
“I don’t think you can be the biggest jerk in the league and punish your team, and your organization and your fan base the way he did and be the most valuable player,” Arkush said during a radio interview. “Has he been the most valuable on the field? Yeah, you could make that argument, but I don’t think he is clearly that much more valuable than Jonathan Taylor or Cooper Kupp or maybe even Tom Brady. So from where I sit, the rest of it is why he’s not gonna be my choice.”
This is the kind of utter lunacy COVID has sparked among the Branch Covidians, the mask-wearing leftists who believe “my body, my choice” only applies to killing children in the womb.
Arkush reminds me of David Susskind, the popular American TV host who trashed Ali on national television shortly after a jury disregarded Ali’s religious objection and convicted him of refusing the draft.
“I find nothing amusing or interesting or tolerable about this man,” Susskind said. “He’s a disgrace to his country, his race, and what he laughingly describes as his profession. He is a convicted felon in the United States. He has been found guilty. He is out on bail. He will inevitably go to prison, as well he should. He is a simplistic fool and pawn.”
I find nothing amusing or tolerable about the way Rodgers has been treated since it was discovered his COVID immunization didn’t include taking the experimental medical trial that is being hailed as the corona silver bullet. Arkush gave voice to a sentiment that could derail Rodgers’ MVP candidacy. Arkush was dumb for publicly admitting his bias, but he’s not remotely alone.
Many people within corporate media think it’s perfectly fine to discriminate against the unvaccinated. Rodgers could face additional discrimination because he appears to be flirting with the concept of publicly embracing conservative values.
During ESPN’s Monday Night Football broadcast, Rodgers yukked it up with Peyton and Eli Manning, bragged about reading Ayn Rand’s pro-capitalism manifesto “Atlas Shrugged,” and mentioned his Chuck Norris bobblehead. Norris, the action movie star, is a prominent, unashamed Hollywood Republican.
Back in October, I wrote a column about Rodgers cleverly supporting comedian Dave Chappelle by ripping cancel culture and the woke mob during a podcast interview with McAfee.
From way on the outside, it looks like someone slipped Rodgers the red pill.
Or maybe the No. 1 side effect of COVID is the red pill? The red pill is ivermectin?
COVID isn’t all bad. It’s forcing people to wake up and recognize the lies global elites, politicians, Hollywood, Big Tech, and corporate media are shoving into our brains and veins.
The beauty of COVID is that it impacts all of us. Men, women, and children. Rich and poor. Old and young. Black, white, and brown. Believers and nonbelievers. Educated and uneducated. Famous and unfamous.
It’s unifying in the same way that critical race theory has unified parents concerned about what is being taught inside our public schools. Teaching kids to view our country as a force for evil makes a rational person pause, ponder, and push back.
That’s what’s happening with Aaron Rodgers and people across the globe as it relates to COVID and the alleged vaccines. There are too many lies to be ignored or written off as honest mistakes, too many negative consequences to not raise your voice out of concern.
The lockdowns and isolation have sparked a rise in suicides and depression. The normal, healthy development of kids has been compromised. The experimental medical trials don’t seem to prevent COVID as advertised.
The COVID pandemic just might save freedom. It might make men stand up. It has certainly inspired Aaron Rodgers, the NFL’s most talented and interesting player.
Rodgers is remaking “The Jerk” into a superhero movie.In 1963, at the age of 37, New York Giants quarterback Yelberton Abraham Tittle Jr. was named the most valuable player of the National Football League. In the league’s then-43-year history, Y.A. Tittle was the oldest player to win the award.
Tittle held that distinction for the next 50 years, until Peyton Manning, older by seven months, won the award in 2013. Four years later, 40-year-old Tom Brady set a new standard for old-guy dominance of a young man’s game.
This year, another quarterback older than Tittle is likely to be named MVP of football. The leading candidates are 38-year-old Aaron Rodgers and 44-year-old Tom Brady.
Two of the 10 oldest active NFL players are the front-runners for MVP. This is good for TV ratings. Brady and Rodgers are handsome superstars with brands nearly as pervasive and strong as McDonald’s and Coca-Cola.
But their dominance of football does not say good things about the NFL.
Football rule-makers, in pursuit of player safety and points, have made the game far too easy. I do not say that to denigrate Brady or Rodgers. As a fan, I love watching them play. I respect their approach to the game. I marvel at their sustained discipline and passion. Football is a more enjoyable product with Brady and Rodgers than without them.
My problem is that their prolonged domination of the league indicates a reduction in the stakes and/or consequences of playing the game. When you reduce the risk, you reduce the reward, you reduce the level of satisfaction.
Despite all of its corruption, the sport of boxing won’t die because of the elevated consequences of the sport. At any moment, someone could get knocked out. That’s exciting. It’s why we tuned in to see Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder three times even though we know neither fighter is Muhammad Ali or Joe Frazier.
Football used to be so punishing that the all-time great quarterbacks retired at age 37 or 38 whether they really wanted to or not.
In 1979, at the age of 37, Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach had the best statistical season of his career. He threw for a career high in yards (3,586) and touchdowns (27) and was named to the Pro Bowl for a fifth consecutive year. He retired after the season. He suffered five concussions during the 1979 season and six during the calendar year.
Football has significantly decreased the degree of difficulty. Hardly anyone talks about it. The old-timers don’t want to sound bitter or jealous of the modern players. Corporate media is in bed with the NFL. ESPN and Fox Sports’ job is to promote the league, not analyze it. The former players leading the discussion of football on TV are simply happy to be cashing a check. They’d rather whine and cry about some perceived racial injustice than discuss what’s going on in the actual game.
The truth doesn’t keep the butter biscuits flowing. Emasculated emotion, tears, and racial division keep the money flowing.
So we pretend that what Brady and Rodgers are doing is just as difficult as what Tittle, Staubach, Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana, and John Elway did. It’s not. Tom Brady knows it’s not. Here’s what he said in September during a panel discussion with his Buccaneers teammates.
“I think the one thing about football that’s changed over the years, which I think is really hard for someone like me who has played a long time to watch,” Brady stated. “It’s not being taught the right way. A quarterback should only throw the ball to certain places because your receiver is in danger of getting hit. For example, when I used to play against Ray Lewis, I wouldn’t throw the ball to the middle of the field because he would … hit (our receivers) and knock them out of the game. And now every hard hit is a penalty on the defense. I feel like they penalize defensive players for offensive mistakes.”
“They’ve almost moved the protection of your opponent to you, as opposed to where it should be, which is on yourself. If you’re a quarterback, you gotta protect yourself and your players. It shouldn’t be the responsibility of your opponent to protect you. … It creates really bad habits for players, because you feel like I can basically do anything. I can run and not slide. I can throw my receiver into any coverage and not have any repercussion for it. … In the end I think it’s a really disservice to the sport. Because the sport isn’t being played at a high level like I believe that it once was. It actually deteriorates because you’re not teaching the players the reasons and the fundamentals of what the sport should be.”
Brady isn’t afraid of the truth. Corporate media is.
Y.A. Tittle set an age standard that stood for 50 years. It will now be surpassed three times in less than a decade.
Football has changed. You basically need written permission from the head referee to hit the quarterback. Receivers have no fear of catching the ball over the middle of the field. Referees love throwing pass-interference penalties for inconsequential contact.
Let me repeat: I love Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. I really do. Because of the way he handled COVID and his feisty interview with Pat McAfee about the vaccine, Rodgers is my new favorite NFL player. I want him to win a second consecutive MVP award. It will be a victory for the unvaxxed.
Rodgers and Brady are the most valuable players in the NFL. My point is they’re not the best or most impressive players.
Here’s my list of the best and/or most impressive players this season: Colts running back Jonathan Taylor, Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons, Pittsburgh pass-rusher T.J. Watt, Cleveland defensive end Myles Garrett, San Francisco defensive end Nick Bosa, and Patriots corner J.C. Jackson.
Rule changes have exaggerated the value of NFL quarterbacks. Football needs a Best Player award. The best football players are a lot closer to age 30 than 40. Football is still a young man’s game. A Best Player award would recognize that.