Consider me a budding fan of Cavs' owner Dan Gilbert
Journalists around the country are calling Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert unprofessional.
The fact is that they're the ones who are unprofessional.
Gilbert is more Dan the Man than Dan the Maniac.
Sports fans everywhere should herald Gilbert as a hero for referring to LeBron James as Cleveland's "former hero."
That was the truest truth spouted during the NBA's mind-bending week of free-agent negotiations, manipulations and commitments.
Does anyone believe that any other NBA player, owner or executive meant the gibberish he blurted?
"We're interested in signing in five places" - "This player was our top priority at his position" - " 'The Decision' is about raising money for Boys and Girls Clubs" - "I wish my former team well" - "We wish our former player well" -
Poppypoop!
Now, not everything Gilbert wrote in a letter to Cavaliers fans made sense. His guarantee that the Cavs will win an NBA title before James was the heart trumping the head.
But that's OK. These are bitterly emotional times for Cleveland/Akron generally and Gilbert specifically, so wild-eyed proclamations are understandable.
Most of the rest of what Gilbert wrote was terrific: Calling northeast Ohio "the region (James) deserted," the days leading to James' televised marriage to the Heat "a narcissistic, self-promotional buildup," and best of all James' exit from the Cavs "a cowardly betrayal."
Gilbert even implied that he has sordid secrets to reveal about James, and I for one can't wait to hear them.
Bravo, Dan the Man!
So much sports balderdash is blabbered these days, and so much of it comes from gutless owners afraid to offend.
Gilbert's outburst is so refreshing that if the Ricketts family hadn't already bought the Cubs, I would endorse the Cavs' owner to get them.
Speaking of Tom Ricketts, it would be nice if he blasted White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf for letting Ozzie Guillen keep communicating with Carlos Zambrano.
Speaking for Reinsdorf, it would be nice if he hammered James and Dwyane Wade for leading on the Bulls.
Who knows whether smiling Rocky Wirtz will bark, much less bite, when the Blackhawks are wronged? Who knows what the silent McCaskeys really think about anything?
Reinsdorf used to be willing to indiscreetly say what he really thought, like the time he went snipe for snipe with George Steinbrenner.
The best shot came not long after the Yankees' owner labeled Reinsdorf and fellow Sox owner Eddie Einhorn "the Katzenjammer Kids."
During the 1983 All-Star Game festivities Reinsdorf cracked back, "How do you know when George Steinbrenner is lying? When you see his lips are moving."
Great stuff, but you don't hear much of it anymore from Reinsdorf - who has become mellow and philosophical - or from many others in sports.
Everybody seems more inclined to reconcile than to hold justifiable grudges, and what fun is that?
Too many franchises honor players who forsake them for greener grass. Too many fans cheer players who abandoned them for glitter. Too many players forgive clubs and fans who were disloyal to them.
Rational or not, Gilbert honestly expressed how he feels about LeBron James.
Way to go, Dan the Man!
mimrem@dailyherald.com