The Top Five Reasons Why Lebron James Will Stay in Cleveland

5. LeBron is not that frustrated. Contrary to popular belief, LeBron is not upset with how things are going in Cleveland; not enough to want to leave, at least.

After all, the Cavaliers have had four straight winning seasons and just made the playoffs for the third year in a row. Though LeBron's supporting cast may be plagued by inconsistency, the Cavs have been doing quite well compared to other "one-man" teams such as the Raptors during the Vince Carter era or the post-Shaq Lakers.

If LeBron is frustrated, he hasn't really expressed it. He's been asked many times about rumored trades and signings and, generally, he always responds with the same basic statement.

"I think it'd be great to have (player) on my team. They could really contribute, so I think we should consider them. Still, even if we didn't, I'm confident that we would still be successful with the current roster."

Notice the key word; "consider." Many so-called journalists will take the liberty to interpret such statements by James to suggest that he is pressuring Cleveland's front office to get a deal done. This simply isn't the case.

Never has LeBron James openly criticized GM Danny Ferry for making (or failing to make) a roster change, nor has he openly challenged Ferry to make a certain deal. LeBron understands the way trades work and how the Cavaliers are in no position to make a blockbuster trade.

This team, as ugly as it may look sometimes, has been relatively successful. Though LeBron doesn't have his Championship yet, he knows that it's not realistic to expect it right away. Even Michael Jordan had to wait until his 7th season to get his first ring.

4. LeBron knows that the Cavaliers are committed to winning. Owner Dan Gilbert is no cheapskate. Even though Cleveland is considered a small market team, they have ventured well into the Luxury Tax to maintain a formidable roster.

Despite the fact that they largely turned out to be disappointments, free-agent signings of Larry Hughes, Donyell Marshall, and Damon Jones were considered by many in the press to be really good moves at the time. Former all-star center Zydrunas Ilgauskas was also re-signed, prompting LeBron to sign a contract extension.

The recent trade in February upped the Cavaliers payroll even more. Though they won't necessarily be in great position to make any big trades or signings this summer, they have a few expiring contracts that could prove very valuable next February. If no big trades are made, they could have the potential for some cap space in the summer of 2009.

The Cavaliers organization knows that it will have chances to make major roster moves before LeBron reaches free agency, and there is no reason to believe that they will be stingy when it comes to putting together a championship-caliber team.

3. The Cavaliers will be tailor-made for LeBron. Cleveland has an advantage in the sense that they know what role LeBron wants to play on the team and the skills needed in the players around him.

Not only are the Cavaliers committed to winning a championship, they have long-term plans to build a team around LeBron James so that the supporting cast plays to his strengths.

Drafting Daniel Gibson is a good example. On any other team, Gibson would be a drastically undersized shooting guard. However, teamed with a ball-handling LeBron, Gibson's outside shooting from the PG position spreads the floor.

Though LeBron could contribute on any team, he must have quite a bit of comfort in knowing that his current team intends to surround him with nothing but complementary players.

2. Northeast Ohio is Home for LeBron. Don't forget that LeBron is a family man. His mother, girlfriend, and two young sons are all living in Ohio and he's not likely to uproot them all for a move to another city.

This is the place where he grew up and the place where many of his family and friends, closer even than Jay-Z, still live.


LeBron's large house in Bath, Ohio, just outside of Akron, is almost finished. Judging by the size of it, he's probably planning on staying there for a while.

LeBron has taken it upon himself to organize many regular charity events in the Cleveland-Akron area and apparently identifies himself as a benefactor to his hometown community.

1. Money. Think the lure of money will trump all these things? Well, in a way, you'd be right. However, it still works in favor of Cleveland.

Unless there are major changes when the collective bargaining agreement with the league is renegotiated in 2010, the Cleveland Cavaliers will be able to offer more money to LeBron James than any other team in the league. Not only that, but there's no reason to believe that they won't offer him as much as possible.

Broncos pick Tim Tebow with 25th pick

The Denver Broncos coach made the former Heisman Trophy winner a first-round NFL draft pick Thursday, a bold move that surprised many in football, but not Florida coach Urban Meyer.

Tebow helped Florida win two national championships in the Gators’ run-heavy system, but many wondered whether he was worthy of a first-round selection because his skills may not translate to some NFL teams’ passing-centric offenses.

Tebow, he said, “has all the traits you’re looking for in terms of toughness, competitiveness, he’s intelligent, he’s won a lot of games, he’s a leader, he works hard, he’s got all the intangibles you look for in a player at that position.”

The Broncos traded three picks to Baltimore for the Ravens’ first-round pick, then took Tebow at No. 25 with two more polished quarterbacks, Texas’ Colt McCoy and Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen, still available.

“The Denver Broncos are getting a winner,” Meyer said. “Tim will show on the field what he is capable of doing and more than anything Tim has a competitive fire that will constantly push him to get better and do whatever he can to help his team win.”

The Broncos gave up choices in the second (No. 43), third (No. 70) and fourth (No. 114) rounds to move back into the first round and draft Florida’s southpaw quarterback, whom McDaniels had raved about last week.

Although it’s highly unlikely he’ll be the starting quarterback in five months’ time, Tebow will begin his NFL career Sept. 12 in his hometown of Jacksonville when the Broncos play the Jaguars in the season opener.

Even the Tea Party Doesn't Take Her Seriously

Why do we have the boob tube? Because we all are tired and angry at the end of a work day in which the only thing you are proud of is the salary. Marx said religion was the opium of the masses. Well so is TV and we like mind candy trash such as Palin. The GOP wouldn't engage in politics of personal destruction if it didn't sway those poor lost souls who believe Beck, Palin, Limbaugh and Hannity.Having a person who viciously attacks Democrats and is easy on the eyes is too tempting for the GOP leaders. They can condone the violent turn that their lunatic fringe is currently engaging in—and which Palin has encouraged as far back as in the 2008 campaign, so obviously the GOP is for anything that incites their base—anything they think will provide them with a partisan advantage.

Game Of the Year.....?

Continuing where the first Mass Effect left off, Mass Effect 2 is a straight up sequel with the storyline building on the events of the first game. On patrol to hunt down any remaining geth, Normandy ends up running into something alien, something far more than it could chew. Cue explosions, epic space battle video clips consisting of Normandy getting shot to bits by the mysterious vessel. Normandy ends up as a wreck and while most of the crew manages to escape in time, Commander Shepard, failing to reach the escape pod in time, ends up missing and presumed killed.

Main character getting killed 15 minutes into the game usually complicates the story. Mass Effect 2 solves this by fast forwarding several years and we find out that the stories of the death of Commander Shepard were somewhat premature. A secret "Lazarus Project" by Cerberus, a shadowy pro-human organization, manages to reconstruct and revive our hero from what little of the body was recovered at the Normandy crash site. Turns out Cerberus has a job and for that they need Shepard and only Shepard. Illusive Man, the mysterious lead figure of the organization fills in some of the blanks and presents his case - humanity needs Shepard as a threat even more dangerous than the geth is looming. Human colonies are being attacked, inhabitants abducted by an unknown enemy and nobody is taking the threat seriously.

Hot Movie of the Month....Kick-Ass

Can superheroes be made, not born? It's a question 'Kick-Ass' tackles head-on.

Adapted from the comic books by Mark Millar and John S. Romita Jr., 'Kick-Ass' turns preconceived notions of herodom on its head, as it follows your normal, everyday comic-book loving geek, Dave (Aaron Johnson,) as he dons a tight-fitting wetsuit and mask and acts the part of his revered superhero.

Dave soon discovers that being a vigilante isn't as easy as it seems. But thanks to the power of viral video, the do-it-yourself upstart -- and his alter-ego, Kick-Ass -- quickly become a worldwide phenomenon.

This newfound notoriety also gets him in touch with fellow characters Red Mist ('Superbad's Christopher Mintz-Plasse), as well as Big Daddy and Hit Girl (Nicolas Cage and Chloë Grace Moretz), a father-daughter duo who aim to take down the crime circuit of a local mobster.

An unabashedly R-rated film directed by Matthew Vaughn ('Layer Cake'), 'Kick-Ass' exhibits strong language and violence that should serve to give parents pause before allowing their kids on this big-screen comic book adventure. Scene-stealer Moretz in particular beats up bad guys with a bloodlust beyond her years and unleashes heaping amounts of profanity (including one Crass Word That Shall Not Be Named) that could make sailors blush.

But you don't have to take our word for it. Here's what the critics had to say:

Entertainment Weekly: "An enjoyably supercharged and ultraviolent teen-rebel comic-book fantasy that might be described -- in spirit, at least -- as reality-based. ... Is it a problem that 'Kick-Ass' is by far the most violent movie ever to feature kids as heroes? Parents should consider themselves warned, though personally, I just wish that the film had ended up a bit less of an over-the-top action ride. It didn't need this much slam-bang when it had us at real-life superheroics."

New York Magazine: "In schizoid fashion, I both spluttered and enjoyed myself. ... 'Kick-Ass' is a compendium of all sleazy things, and it sings like a siren to our inner Tarantinos."

Roger Ebert: "Shall I have feelings, or should I pretend to be cool? Will I seem hopelessly square if I find 'Kick-Ass' morally reprehensible and will I appear to have missed the point? ... This movie regards human beings like video-game targets. Kill one, and you score. They're dead, you win. When kids in the age range of this movie's home video audience are shooting one another every day in America, that kind of stops being funny."