It is what it is, but it's still crazy

Pardon this interruption of sports' regularly scheduled insanity.

Isn't that what the pursuit of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and other NBA free agents has become?

As insane, I say, as Joey Chestnut stuffing his face with 54 hot dogs over 10 minutes in 90-degree temperatures.

Seriously, unless stars have blinded you at some time in the past few days you had to notice how disconnected sports are from real life.

The economy is barely breathing, fears of a double-dip recession are growing, and NBA free agents stand at the foothills of a gold rush.

Insane indeed.

Fourth of July weekend signifies that Americans are free to be financially excessive in whatever area we want.

It would be nice if the area were education, cancer research or the war on hunger, but that isn't the case.

We have chosen to be sufficiently breathless waiting to find out which basketball players will wind up where, whether any will wind up here, and how thrilled we'll be to pay higher ticket prices to watch men play a kids' game.

Folks, let's just say that NBA teams are about to distribute Monopoly money like Blago distributes profanities.

My goodness, the Atlanta Hawks offered Joe Johnson $120 million to stay with them, and he didn't feel compelled to immediately accept.

The Knicks are making a maximum contract offer to Amar'e Stoudemire as if he weren't injury prone, hadn't won anything significant yet in his career and didn't have a troubling apostrophe in his first name.

Wealthy owners like Jerry Reinsdorf traveled to northeast Ohio for an audience with King James as if he were Pope James, all groveling at his feet for the privilege of dropping millions of dollars into his collection basket.

Insane by any standard but sports'.

While proclaiming that the country's future depends on educating our children, the overall mood seems to be to pay more to athletes and less to teachers.

Listen, this isn't meant to minimize what athletes do to earn a living. They work hard preparing to practice, practice hard preparing to play, and play hard preparing to parade.

But a six-year, $120 million contract to the likes of Joe Johnson?

Just think of how hard dry cleaners work in steamy shops where air conditioning does little good. Think of truckers long-distance needing to pop West Coast turnarounds to stay awake. Think of construction workers dragging into happy hour to ease the aches.

Of course, July Fourth celebrates our freedom to be paid an honest day's wages and then spend it on whatever we choose to, like Bulls tickets.

We yelp at higher taxes to help fund vital services for kids, the elderly, the poor and the handicapped. We struggle to find money for law enforcement, fire fighters and sanitation workers.

Yet actors receive millions for playing parts and athletes receive millions for playing games.

It isn't right. It isn't wrong. It just is. Maybe our lives are so stressful that we'll ante up whatever it costs to be entertained.

Heck, didn't the Declaration of Independence mention life, liberty and the pursuit of LeBron?

Anyway, now back to sports' regularly scheduled insanity.