Work finds me in Boston this week, and I thought that the Red Sox Nation would be more openly pleased on the day that George Steinbrenner died. The Yankee owner since 1973 died after suffering a massive heart attack in his Florida home today at the age of 80.
Even though he hasn’t been formally in charge of the team since 2007, he is the Yankees, with 7 World Championships, 15 managers, and 11 American League pennants. He was loud, belligerent, a manager killer. He was a winner though. Locally, people forget that he had a small ownership interest in the Chicago Bulls back in the 1970s and 1980s until a group led by Jerry Reinsdorf purchased the team.
He earned money from the team, and he spent money on the team, taking an $8.7 million investment and turning it into a $1.5 billion enterprise. As a Chicago sports fan, I always wished we had an owner like Steinbrenner (and no New Yorkers, not jealousy toward the Big Apple) was that he did everything he could to win. He spent; often overspent; sometimes on the wrong player; but, more often than not, he spent his money wisely. Compared to Bill Wirtz, the McCaskey family, Reinsdorf, and the Wrigley family/the Tribune Company, Steinbrenner spent on the best players in the positions the Yankees needed. The Cubs sign players like Alfonso Soriano and tried to turn him into a lead-off man.
Sons Hal and Hank Steinbrenner may run the team, but “the Boss” was always hanging over the team like a cloud and he will continue to do so in death. At least he got a chance to see last year’s title team. Hate the Yankees (and most of us do, and hope they never win another title); but you have to tip your hat at Steinbrenner’s will to win. (And how typical for Steinbrenner to overshadow baseball by dying on the same day as the All-Star Game.)

I used to read an excellent movie magazine called Premiere; it had enough gloss for the ordinary celebrity magazine (with little tabloid stuff) and enough business insider material to satisfy anyone who doesn’t read Variety. But the magazine “jumped the shark” in one of its last issues, when it featured numerous pictures of Lindsay Lohan in various iconic poses as Elizabeth Taylor in “Butterfield 8,” Marilyn Monroe and others. I barely knew who she was (the Indignant Children weren’t around yet), but here she was being pushed as an upcoming star. A couple of months later, Premiere was history, and now, so is Ms. Lohan.
She was OK in a small part in the Emelio Estevez film “Bobby,” but she was no star by any means. Too often, I have had her bad behavior in my newspaper, or on television. She was in a lesbian relationship, then she wasn’t. She was drinking and drugging all over the place until she was finally incarcerated last week for 90 days. Of course, if she hadn’t been famous and in the Los Angeles legal system, she would have been jailed long ago.
Some people ask whether Lohan can resuscitate her career. Personally, you can’t measure my indifference using scientific notation.

I did not watch the LeBron James telethon last night; for one, I don’t see much in the evenings that doesn’t involve The Wonder Pets; and second, I knew it was going to be a travesty. I should have known (and would have avoided much earlier) that the “show” was going to be ridiculous because of the presence of Stuart “Boo-Yah” Scott, by far one of the most vapid and useless of all of ESPN’s hosts.
From what I heard, it was even worse that I could have imagined. James surrounded himself with his children, tried to sound remorseful to Cleveland even as he stabbed them in the heart.
For those who live in a cave, James made official the rumors that he would be joining Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh with the Miami Heat. Obviously, James is a coward who believes that the job of an NBA owner, besides signing huge paychecks, is to build a team around LeBron James, and that the Heat would spend millions on three players (which will leave them little if no money to sign good complimentary players) shows that Miami will do what Cleveland tried and couldn’t pull together – a team to carry James to a championship.
You heard me – James wants the other players to carry him to a title. An old Shaq couldn’t do it; so it’s up to Boch and Wade to boost James to a title. Imagine what Magic, or Kobe, or Jordan would say to this attitude? James has shown that he cannot carry a team on his back like the very best players in NBA history, so, with Pat Riley willing to build “dream team 2” on South Beach, LeBron James, instead of trying to boost himself into one of the best to ever play, he now admits that he wants to be Scottie Pippen for the new millennium – a complimentary player; very good, but not able to be “The Man.”
But the “Heat” is definitely on. If James, Wade and Boch don’t win a title next season or the season after, all three will be the laughingstock of the league. People in Miami are a laid back bunch and so I doubt if the fans in Miami will put pressure on, but right now, even with the signings, I don’t see today’s Miami Heat being able to defeat the Celtics (especially since they’ve added Jermaine O’Neal) and they certainly can’t defeat Kobe’s Lakers.
I’m not fan of Kobe Bryant, but he has more heart, determination and drive than LeBron James could muster in his life. And that’s why he wins titles while James has silly television shows.

There was the inevitable backlash after LeBron James’ television show last night. Here in Chicago, the Bulls quietly moved on, with a nucleus of Derrick Rose and Joaquim Noah and turned to the rest of the available players. The Bulls will be good, I think. The Celtics resigned their aged, but still dangerous nucleus of Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, and signed former All Star Jermaine O’Neal. They’ll be a force, still.
The funniest response came from New Yorkers, who acted like anyone who doesn’t want to play for the lowly Knicks is crazy. These morons actually felt betrayed.
Of course, I feel most for the fans of Cleveland. They never get a break: John Elway’s march to the Super Bowl over the Browns; numerous playoff appearances by the Indians with no titles; the most indelible image of the Cavaliers before James was Craig Ehlo being scored over by Michael Jordan. And to have the local boy leave town had fans burning James jerseys. Add to that the bad economy that has hit Cleveland hard, with tons of foreclosed properties; these poor people need some good news. They needed a LeBron James to step up and share in their pain and in their resurgence. But LeBron has to do “what’s best for LeBron.” Maybe he couldn’t stay there, what with stories that his mother was sleeping with Cavalier teammates…
Now, LeBron James may be the most hated man in Cleveland today, right up there with Art Modell, who moved the original Browns to Baltimore. They have every right to be angry. If I were James, I would have had the mansion packed and left town before the announcement came out.
Second most amusing responses came from Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert. First, he posted a letter on the Cavaliers web site pledging that the Cavs would win a title before James does. As Robert Duvall said to John Wayne in “True Grit:” “that’s bold talk for a one-eyed fat man.” The Cavs have been unable to win up to now, and with James gone, the cupboard looks awfully bare. The Heat have to be considered contenders just on the base of the three signings. The Cavs have a major league rebuilding job to do. Good luck.
Then, in an interview with the Associated Press, Gilbert stated the obvious: that James quit on the team during the Celtics playoff series. I think that goes without saying – it was one of the most woeful performances by a superstar in big games in NBA, and perhaps sports history. But that page has turned; that chapter’s over. Good!

I for one didn’t think the Miami Heat would resign Dwayne Wade, much less attract Chris Boch to the team, but Heat GM Pat Riley has pulled another miracle, his first perhaps since coaching the Showtime, Magic Johnson Lakers. Even though neither man knows the exact numbers on his deal, the question now goes to LeBron James. Is it possible that the Heat have enough salary cap room to sign all three?
James has gone to ESPN to get time on Thursday night to announce his decision, but the Knicks went on and signed Amare Stottlemyre to a 4 year, $100 million deal, so, if James picks the Big Apple, he’ll have company. And if he comes to Miami, one has to wonder if Dream Team 3 is playing in South Florida?
On the other hand, if King James comes to South Beach, would there be enough basketballs for all three of them? Could they coexist? Would it be the biggest threesome in the NBA since Magic, Worthy and Jabbar, or will they be a disappointment?
And locally, what about the Bulls? They made all of this cap room in preparation for the big free agent move this summer, and what if they get no one? Or at least, none of the “Big Three?” Will they have any chance to compete?

Now that “Dollar” Bill Wirtz has gone to the great “cheapskates” meeting in the sky and son Rocky showed what Chicago would be like with a Stanley Cup, it leaves only one franchise in sport as the worst run, most mismanaged in all of professional sport – the Los Angeles Clippers.
Owner Donald Sterling has taken top draft picks and turned them into busts or had them leave and become stars. The team has tried different coaches, players, almost everything trying to match the success, attention, and high star power of the audience for the other LA team, the Lakers.
So, now the Clippers have hired ex-Bull head coach Vinnie Del Negro. Del Negro was a first time head coach, with no experience, hired on the cheap by the Bulls, but he did try hard and he did have the good sense to surround himself with experience assistant coaches. Del Negro has the distinction of being the only head coach to take teams to the playoffs in his first two years, but with a sub-.500 record each year, but the Bulls didn’t win enough, and arguments with former GM, now chief executive John Paxson, one of which reportedly had the two men nearly coming to blows, was too much for the team, who jettisoned Del Negro a few weeks ago.
I thought that would be the last head coaching job for Del Negro, at least in the NBA. Basketball, like the other major sports, tend to take care of their own, so I wasn’t really worried about Del Negro starving or anything; I just thought he would be an assistant for awhile, gain more experience, and then come back in 2-3 years a much better head coach. But, leave it to Sterling to make yet another bad move and the Clippers will remain irrelevant for another decade.

I’ve been covering sports for almost 20 years and following them for nearly 45, and yet, I’ve seen some things this week that I never thought I’d see:
• A Wimbledon Men’s Singles Final without Roger Federer. We should have seen this coming with Federer’s difficulty in his first round match, being down 2-sets to none before fighting back, but then it seemed like the old Federer. He breezed through his second and third round matches and it looked like he would face Nadal in their continuing but injury interrupted rivalry. But Nadal has fought his way to Sunday’s final against Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic. Federer won’t be joining him, having lost to Berdych -4-6, 6-3, 1-6 (huh? – one game?), 4-6. Many people have been waiting for the end of Federer’s run, but I’ve not been one of them. I wonder if it’s age, a temporary situation, or is the beginning of the end of one of the most dominant streaks in men’s tennis history?
• Speaking of tennis, one of those ubiquitous Russians knocked off Venus Williams in straight sets, stopping yet another all-Williams final. Serena will be playing tomorrow against No. 21 Vera Zvonareva. Serena already has 12 Grand Slam titles and she is the favorite to repeat as Woman’s champion. I guess that’s no surprise.
• The real shocker is that four-time champions Brazil lost to the Netherlands in the World Cup. The Netherlands, who have never been known for their soccer acumen, is now 2 games from its first ever title; and Brazil is going home. Wow!
• We knew Dustin Byfuglien was leaving the Blackhawks, but I thought that meant that Kris Versteeg would be staying. The salary cap challenged Hawks were cutting salary, but the deepest team in the recent playoffs are going to be looking to the plethora of prospects, draft choices, and perhaps never-wases to fill the rest of the lineup. Versteeg left for Toronto in a five player deal. Then, the Hawks sent restricted free agent Andrew Ladd to Atlanta (who are becoming the Blackhawks south), and fan favorite Adam Burish signed as a free agent with Dallas. I am going to the Blackhawks Convention at the end of this month, but there’s going to be a lot of guys who were standouts on the reigning Stanley Cup Champion who will be noticeably absent.