It’s because he doesn’t mind making fun of himself in front of millions of people.

We used to think the same thing about LeBron James, as evidenced by his superb “The LeBrons” campaign, and his solid performance on Saturday Night Live. So despite the fact that Washingtonians en masse hope that all of the bad things in life happen to LeBron and LeBron only, I’m actually rooting for LBJ to come to his sense, and turn an embarrassing five seconds of dunk footage into another gem of a marketing campaign.

LeBron James shouldn’t mind being dunked on, because it’s just another way for him to put money in the bank.

Picture it. Puppet LeBron is seated in his living room and in walks Puppet Kobe.

Puppet Kobe - “How’d you spend your summer, LeBron? I know you have lots of home videos from your vacation.”

Puppet LeBron frowns up his face, and goes about lifting weights or something.

Or, Nike shows the actual video footage, and at the end of the dunk, we see the tape rewound and played over and over again. The camera pans away to Puppet LeBron with a remote in a dark room, controlling the footage.

In walks Lil’ Dez.

Lil’ Dez – “Don’t you think this would’ve been a lot easier on youtube? LeBron? LeBron? LeBRON!!”

Those are just a few ideas, but the marketing gurus at Nike specialize in turning moments of tragedy or embarrassment into moments of light humor and triumph. Should LeBron James and Nike remain silent on the issue, it would spawn fan furor and reaction throughout the season.

You can just hear the chants of “You Got Dunked On! Clap-Clap-ClapClapClap” in every arena the Cavaliers visit this year. YouTube reenactments, all kinds of T-Shirts and signage. Remaining silent is not in James’ or the Nike brand’s best interest.

But should they make a joke out of it, the story turns in his favor. It goes from him being a preening, self-absorbed clown to a self-deprecating, down-to-Earth guy. He sells more shoes. He earns more fans. And his face gets out in front of a moment that, added to the debacle of not shaking hands with opponents earlier in the summer, could further tarnish his pristine rep among casual NBA fans.

LeBron James, in his great care for managing reputation and image, knows well that nothing good can come out of this. The best way to treat it going forward is to play it exactly how it is; as a big joke. It’s happened to some of the best in the world, but he can be the first in the world to actually make big money off of it.

All it takes is a puppet, a video tape, and some humility.

Technorati Tags: LeBron James, Nike

God, I hope he adds dominating power forward to that repertoire.

Technorati Tags: Javale McGee, Washington Wizards

Charm City’s native son and Virginia Tech standout guard Malcolm Delaney was one of hundreds of witnesses to the “LeBron James-Got-Dunkes-On” Internet sensation of yesterday.

YES LEBRON GOT DUNKED ON… FACE @ FACE WIT @ HANDS N IT WAS NASTY.. I had front row seats cuz I was playin.. Lmao..

Unfortunately, you can’t see the Tweet itself, because he smartly screens those who follow him. But if you can’t trust a man who is “jus grindin’ to get to this next level,” who can you trust?

Technorati Tags: LeBron James, Malcolm Delaney

Forget the fact that it can bring Preakness-like revenue into the city, it’s racing cars in the streets of Baltimore. I have never watched an entire car race on television, and have never been to a NASCAR or IndyCar event. But if this thing came to Charm City, I’m there.

Having played a decent amount of hours of Cruisin’ USA in various arcades throughout the Mid-Atlantic, I think it would be thrilling to watch cars cut the corner of Light and Pratt Streets. The potential of the car cutting too sharply and vaulting itself into the waters of the Inner Harbor is too much to resist.

Please, oh please make this happen, Baltimore.

At any rate, here’s the latest production out of the Wizards big man of the present and future, JaVale McGee.

Technorati Tags: Javale McGee, Transformers, Washington Wizards

All around them, the Wizards are watching the Eastern Conference retool for an epic battle for conference supremacy. Rasheed Wallace to the Celtics. Shaquille O’Neal to the Cavaliers. Even Vince Carter to the Magic is a significant move in terms of capable play on the perimeter.

What have the Wizards done? Passed ‘Go’ for $2.5 mil and set their sights on Rasho Nesterovic?

This is not going to end well. Even if Epic Vale grows exponentially in his offensive game, even if Nick Young becomes Latrell Sprewell 2.0 under Flip Saunders, there won’t be enough experience in the lineup to match up with the old guard of the Celtics, the emerging talent of the Atlanta Hawks and Chicago Bulls, or the usual suspects in Orlando and Cleveland.

Maybe the Wizards are playing this to make the seventh or eighth seed in the playoffs and see what happens in the next two years or so. We know they had many injuries last season, but at full throttle, they were only the fourth or fifth best team in the conference under tenured coach Eddie Jordan. New system + old players = ?

Washington is used to question marks, but that doesn’t make it any better to deal with. If Ernie Grunfeld believes that the Wizards are competitive enough to contend deep into the playoffs with the roster as built and the addition of some underachieving, past-his-prime big, he’s virtually insane.

Technorati Tags: Washington Wizards

Steve McNair was a man of few excuses, and his life will be celebrated for taking very little and making a whole lot for the world to enjoy. When power conference schools wanted to convert the high school quarterbacking phenom out of Mt. Olive, MS to a defensive back, he took his talent to Alcorn State, where he turned the SWAC into a personal symphony of domination from under center.

When the Houston Oilers drafted him in 1995, there were very few excuses made in his two-year wait to be named full time starter. Two years later, with a new city and new name, he led the team to one of the greatest games in Super Bowl history.

Three years after collecting a 2003 MVP award, the Tennessee Titans didn’t want McNair on the premises of their practice facility. He would sign with the Baltimore Ravens, giving the club its first legitimate claim to good quarterbacking in franchise history. He underperformed, but the team excelled. He would retire after that season, without excuses.

McNair was not a man without flaws. He had brushes with the law, and whispers about his fidelity, while never fodder for media attention, where widespread from Nashville to Baltimore. But they were always overshadowed by his definitive genuineness; his longing to help people, and his drive to be as nice of a person as he could be.

Steve McNair did not live a life of excuses, and the lack thereof for his death will continue to make the coming days and weeks even harder to live with.

Technorati Tags: Baltimore Ravens, Steve McNair

Technorati Tags: Baltimore Ravens, Steve McNair

The Washington Times is now in on the fun, recounting a conversation Mitchell had here in Baltimore with Jerry Coleman. Among the choicest of the sour-grapes:

* On having to change his style to remain on 980: “If I can’t be me, I don’t want to be there anyway.”

* On the behind-the-scenes decision making: “I know a lot of things that went down prior to [his firing] that proves it had nothing to do with the economy.”

* On the Redskins under Dan Snyder: “What have they really done in the playoffs to make people believe they’ve gotten better? Nothing.”

* On Redskins fans: “Fans believed more what I said than they believed the message of the people they put in place to give the message out.”

* On who’s the better GM – Ozzie Newsome or Vinny Cerrato: “Ozzie Newsome, hands down. He knows football. He doesn’t look at football as being fantasy football.”

Here are a few critical things to remember about this situation; primarily, that Brian Mitchell is a hostile guy with bitterness against a team that cut him years ago. Interestingly, it’s the same team with an ownership that controls 980, which has the right to eject an ignorant former player with anger issues should it see fit.

Can you imagine another station employing the service of Brian Mitchell?It certainly wasn’t perspective that made him a draw on 980; it was his status as a former player, and his tough guy persona. I revile Washington football, and even I thought he was often too tough on his former squad.

Locally, who would take a chance on a guy with a history of bickering with current players on air, and bashing his former employer? Maybe JFK, as they are siphoning off local media types left and right these days.

B-Mitch’s bad attitude is growing old, rather quickly. Even though it has been a pleasure to listen to criticism of the Daniel Snyder subsidiary, the bitter tangents that made him tolerable as an analyst now make him worthless as a bitter outsider.

Technorati Tags: Brian Mitchell, ESPN 980

I even commented as much beneath the post.

But thinking about it, I realize that Gary Williams isn’t the moral knight that he, or Terrapin faithful would make him out to be. Were he that kind of guy, he wouldn’t have such an idiotic stance on graduation rates at College Park, a stance that likely contributed to the dubious conclusion of Chris McCray’s career at Maryland.

The real reason Gary Williams decries cheating so much, and dry snitches without dropping names on other coaches? It’s because it is impossible for him to do so. Bob Wade sullied the program to a point of permanent residence on the NCAA’s watch list. Were the attention of the Association not so transfixed on Maryland, if Williams could tap into the hotbed of Metro-area talent with more than promises of playing on national television against the best the ACC has to offer, then he too would cheat.

And he too would be annually competitive for national championships.

So it’s a bunch of crap when you hear Williams speaking out against the ills of basketball. It may sound good when you first hear it, but when you think about it, you realize it’s more a vent of frustration than a commitment to playing a game outside of its new rules of engagement.

Technorati Tags: Gary Williams, Maryland Terrapins