LeBronathon Finally Over

I'm ashamed to say that not too long ago I was obsessed with a girl that, to put it nicely, was not so in to me. However, I neglected all of the signs that pointed towards this and kept my hopes up. She flirted with me every once in a while, invited me to just enough parties, smiled, and so on, just enough that it made me think I had a chance.
Finally, I became fed up with reading into all the signs and decided that I was going to ask her out. I did get one date, which I guess is the equivalent of a meeting with LeBron. Thinking about it, it served the same purpose, gave the illusion that you had a chance.
LeBron made his choice tonight, and as it had been reported since earlier today, he chose the Heat. I had warmed up to the idea by the time of the announcement so it didn't shock me, or anyone really. However, will all the bullshitting and posturing that has went on this offseason, there was part of me that believed the "LeBron to the Heat" rumors were constructed to make him look like the good guy when he chose Cleveland.
That didn't happen so I have to write about the next best thing: How this press conference could have been made better. Let me preface this by stating I understand public relations, so I'm fully aware that none of this could have happened. LeBron had damaged his image enough leading up to the press conference.

Instead of Jim Gray asking the easy questions that LeBron was clearly prepared for, we should have added some better drama to the mix. Gray asking, "Are you a nail biter?" and "You mean you didn't make up your mind until this morning?" don't do it for me.
It should have been designed like the NBA lottery. Have LeBron stand at a podium holding five cards with the Heat, Cavs, Bulls, Knicks, and Nets logos on them. Have Stu Scott or who ever he wanted lead up to the pick, "And LeBron has eliminated...," and he pulls out the Nets card first. Then after that he could the Bulls and Knicks in either order, leaving only the Cavs and Heat.
Then, instead of picking the team he is going to play for he picks the team that he isn't going to play for, thereby softening the blow by not having to announce the Heat. It would be exactly like that great moment at the end of the NBA Draft lottery when it's down to the last two teams. The last team celebrates not by finding out they won, but that the other team lost.
It would be fitting. It seems like this sweepstakes is full of losers.
Here's to being an NBA fan and anticipating how this team will work out. The Bulls fan in me is happier he signed with the Heat rather than the Knicks or even Cavs, but I'll discuss that in a future post. For the time being, let's all be content with a Yankees-like team that we can all hate. Oh, and that the circus is over and we can get back to the real reason we were interested in the first place: we love basketball.