I can't believe I'm not furious the Heat could win a ring tonight

Slowhand's subject matter may not pertain to the situation, but the hook for this song came to mind when trying to think of how I feel about the Finals

If you have ever read this blog before then you've seen any post I've done about basketball is usually straight on about how I hate the Miami Heat and LeBron James or a jab is taken at them somewhere. LeBron and his ego have been subject to a great deal of vitriol in my time writing both here and my old blog.  While he is the greatest talent in the history of the NBA, I loathe him.  To take a page out of Rashad Evans' book, I think he's fake.  He acts the way he thinks will make the most people like him. I don't like his sense of entitlement, marketing himself as the "king" then acting like he's so humble, doing ridiculous things to get attention then saying he doesn't want attention, dancing and flexing on the court, and I especially don't like the fact he openly quit on Cleveland in 2010.

But even after all of those rants on LeBron, I don't care about the Finals potentially ending in Game 5 tonight.  I probably won't even watch the game. I've been disillusioned with the NBA ever since 2007 where the Phoenix Suns were royally screwed by the NBA and then referee Tim Donaghy was arrested for betting on games. Honestly if Chicago hadn't drafted Derrick Rose the next summer I would have been done.  There have always been shady NBA conspiracies and Donaghy betting on games didn't seem like an aberration since the Lakers had 27 free throws in the fourth quarter along against the Kings back in 2002 and Dwyane Wade shot as many free throws (25) as the entire Mavericks team in Game 5 of the 2006 Finals and then only two less (21 to the Mavs' 23) in Game 6. I always believe every NBA series is rigged now, and I see more and more how the NBA is all about protecting stars no matter what and I don't like it.

My brother and I had this conversation on the phone the other night about how the Finals just don't seem to mean as much. He said basketball just isn't fun to watch really, and I agree. Even the Bulls are not fun to watch, but they need the support. I feel like I just watch it so I have something to do, not because I love it more than something like MMA. When Derrick Rose tore his ACL I said to somebody on Facebook that this is just speeding along MMA's rise as my favorite sport, a sentiment I echoed to my brother.  I hardly watched any games this season until the playoffs started. I'm getting so burnt out on the NBA, I don't even have the passion to flip over LeBron winning a title.

I want so badly to freak out about Miami closing in on their second championship and LeBron James getting his ring, but there is so much more I want to put energy in to.  Non-sports related things include:

• Lego Batman 2: This game is freaking sick. I don't like the Lego games but I got this since I'm a Batman fanboy and for the first time in a Lego game there is actual dialogue and not just "oohs" and "ahhs" and IGN gave it a good preview write-up.  It is so much fun. Playing as Superman, even in Lego form, is way more awesome and entertaining than I've found the NBA this year.
• Life by Keith Richards: I never read as much as I should and I've been plowing away on this book forever. I will finish it. I must.

That's what I'm looking forward to tonight more than seeing if Miami gets another trophy celebration or the Thunder step their game up.   Sports related things I care more about include:

• Silva vs. Sonnen II: Chael Sonnen took Anderson Silva to the limit in their first fight before being submitted in the closing minutes. Now Sonnen gets his rematch. Silva has massacred Vitor Belfort and Yushin Okami since coming through in the clutch to beat Sonnen, now everybody wants to see if the first fight was a fluke. Was Silva just hampered by a rib injury and being stubborn by wanting to submit Sonnen? Sonnen failed his pre and post-fight drug tests, so was him being juiced the reason he could bring it to Silva so hard?  This matters more to me than the NBA Championship since with Anderson Silva we're witnessing real greatness, not ESPN greatness, which I'll talk about in a little bit.
• The UFC in general: As my brother said on the phone, it is two dudes going toe-to-toe, no superstar calls or favorable treatment from the officials. You lose because you lose and that's it.  That is far more interesting to me than basketball by this point.
• Brock Lesnar's WWE situation: I want to know if these rumblings of the WWE being pissed at Lesnar are all a work or if they are legit.  Lesnar is a big-time, marketable star wherever he goes, but rumor has it he isn't getting along with the WWE and they want to job him out to everybody to make the UFC look bad. I am curious to find out if they are going to push Lesnar or just use him as a big bully who never wins a match.
• The NFL season: Never thought I'd see the day when I really care about football, but I'm actually pretty excited for this season. I don't really have one favorite team, I just have a bunch of teams I like and I've found I just like watching football in general so I am eager for the season to get under way.

I'm so tired of basketball because of this 24-hour media cycle we live in.  ESPN has ruined the game for me.  When guys like LeBron James are on a roll like he is now, organizations like ESPN start talking about all-time greatness and where players like that stack up.  They did it big time when Kobe Bryant won his MVP in 08 then titles in 09 and 10.  But they talk about all-time greats yet only take a snapshot of a current player's career and start defining their greatness.  That is ESPN greatness. ESPN was giving LeBron so much coverage when he was only in high school and this is what fed into him being hyped as the next big thing.

It just bothers me that the fact it took LeBron so long to rise to the top will never be mentioned again if they win tonight because ESPN has to prove they were right about LeBron being King all those years ago.  Suddenly there was no quitting aginst Boston, no choking in the Finals and those are two pretty serious things.  And if they lose, then LeBron wasn't aggressive enough. If they still somehow lose the series then it is all LeBron's bad. If they win the title this year but not next year LeBron maybe isn't as great as we thought again and suddenly he's not the guy you can build a dynasty around, but should they win then he was the guy all along. It is the same, predictable coverage all of the time and I find myself not interested in it at the moment.

For all of my impassioned tirades on how I can't stand the Heatles, I don't really care that they could win the championship tonight. I'm not happy about it and you will never hear me say they deserve it. Make sure that part is clear. I'm not going to write off LeBron saying they will win eight titles and it would be easy. Or all of that shit the big three talked to Team USA after they got together saying they would best the '95-'96 Chicago Bulls' 72-10 record. At least Dallas shut them up last year and made them see they had to work for it, but still there should be no shortcuts to a title.  But whatever. The NBA wasn't going to let Miami fall flat anyways; I mean Christ they called a flagrant foul on Tyson Chandler for an illegal screen in which LeBron flopped and pretended like he got shot.

In regards to superstar calls, it of course is not just limited to Miami, they just get the most since they have three stars. And that is what takes out a lot of the fun in the NBA. It just comes down to who has the bigger star and who is going to flop and get to the line more.  It is just not fun to watch. I should have known something was up after hardly watching any games during the regular season, but then I realized what was going on when I didn't really feel that excited for Games 2-4 of the Finals.  There were parts of the games that made me mad, but as a whole I don't really care about this series.

Honestly I'm worried more about if Rich Franklin or Wanderlei Silva will have to retire this weekend after one of them loses their fight than I am about if the Thunder can come back. The Thunder have made stupid mistakes, the Heat have capitalized, and the bitter fan in me will always wonder if Miami would even be there if Derrick Rose hadn't torn his ACL and Avery Bradley didn't need shoulder surgery.

Last year when the Heat went up 2-1 I was furious and I was hoping so bad Dallas came back. This year when they went up 2-1 I didn't even bother watching Game 4 until the last few minutes.  I've become one of those fans. The loser who just checks in on the last few minutes since he's too preoccupied to just watch the whole game.  I fell asleep during Games 2 and 3.  I just don't seem to care. I want to care and I want to be so mad about this all, but really aside from getting frustrated for a minute watching the game, I don't care.

There is a serious possibility I won't be watching the NBA Champion crowned for the first time in 8 years.  From Game 7 of the Spurs-Pistons in '05, all the way to Dallas shutting up the Heat last year I've seen it all. But tonight I think I'll play Lego Batman or watch a movie. I don't need to hear Mike Breen yell "BANG!" every time any player hits a shot in the 4th quarter. I don't need to see Mario Chalmers pretend he got shot every time he drives to the hoop because he wants a foul call. I don't need to see James Harden choke like he's LeBron or something.  Just doesn't interest me. And like Eric Clapton sang, "I don't know why I don't care."