Jonathan Heatt's Blog: Teaching Snapping Turtles - Posts Tagged "lebron"

Ohio's prodigal son returns

LeBron's decision to return to Cleveland didn't surprise me. I expected it. Even hoped for it. The symbolism was too strong: it proves Everyone has the capacity to change.

Or maybe he'd still be in Miami 'if' Wade didn't age at the same rate of cats. 'Ifs' don't matter in real life, the only thing that matters is that LeBron is back in Cleveland to handle unfinished business. Even more important, he aspires to inspire people to make Northeast Ohio a better place.

This is called Growing Up, folks. And the prodigal (yet spoiled) son of Ohio seems to recognize that his elevated sports platform has the potential to do more than just enrich him. Let's hope this isn't a calculated PR stunt.

LeBron winning a championship in Cleveland would be the city's best sports story of all-time, but an even better story would be him having a positive socio-cultural impact on Cleveland.

His move back to Cleveland has major implications for any Ohio person who moved away for better opportunities. People may think twice about leaving Ohio now. Granted, not everyone can play basketball for a living, but the only way to make home better is by staying to make home better...not moving away then bitching about it. LeBron merely took a four-year long spring break...his college analogy of living in Miami is for the flamingoes.

I will be interested to see how this move plays out. LeBron could help make Northeast Ohio a better place to live and raise a family. Or maybe I'm a blind optimist and he merely moved back to be on a better team and sell more Nikeys. We'll see...(or not, blind optimists are blind, after all)

Until then, I applaud his decision...I just wished he would've made it before my book was published. He has a prominent place in my Bitch-Slap List chapter.

But now I would put him on my Pat-on-the-back list. The move back to Cleveland couldn't have been an easy decision, and any man that trades in beaches & palm trees for snow shovels & lake-effect weather deserves it.

Cleveland fans should forgive him. He was an ambitious young man with more ego than sense. Whoever never acted like an asshole can cast the first stone.

[Regardless of what happens, blindly rooting for a city's sports team doesn't make a city great. It's what people DO for a city that does.]
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Published on July 11, 2014 17:52 Tags: basketball, cleveland, lebron, nba

Teaching Snapping Turtles

Jonathan Heatt
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