I have gotten myself into quite the uproar this evening over something that matters none.
In tonight's headlines on ESPN, the great Dennis Rodman having his jersey retired is taking a backseat to LeBron James getting heckled. That's right. One of the most under appreciated basketball players of all time is taking a back seat to King Dipshit being called a doo-doo head.
Official word count given to tonight's headlines: LeBron's multi-bazillion dollar ass being called a few names - 159 words. Dennis Rodman getting his jersey retired by the Detroit Pistons = 89 words.
In my mind, that's total bullshit. But in this type of world, the ever changing, fast-paced "forgot you existed (even though it's only been a few hours)" lifestyle , this is normal.
Rodman, in my humble opinion, was a better basketball player than 95 percent of today's NBA. He didn't just rebound-- he got in your head. He was an amazing shut-down defender, and he was never a "me first" type of player--only a me-first guy in front of the media (which is smart--that's who they love to talk about. Talk equals MONEY).
He was a role player and an all around great. Case in point: Rodman = Five NBA title rings. LeBron = ZERO rings.
Yet despite Rodman's team-player attitude on the court (where it matters), he will always take a backseat to the flashy assholes with no rings and bunch of meaningless scoring titles.
Such is life.
I'm going to end this now because I'm extremely sleepy........bottom line is this.....
Team players, role players, defensive masterminds, guys with FIVE fucking rings and know how to WIN..... there's no love for this type of player anymore. This is old news. You either win the championship AND the scoring title, or be limited to 89 words.
If you're good enough to accomplish both feats, AND be heckled by a poor schmuck who PAID to see your dumb-ass play ball.... a FAN who makes only 1/1,000th of your paycheck and should, by having helped pay your super-ridiculous salary and inflated your spoiled ego, have every right to call you out......
Then and only then can you be considered great enough to earn 159 words in an ESPN headline.
You are right. This is also a great analogy for everything else in life. The media chooses who succeeds. Not the person that works their entire life to get to where they are. Rodman will never be known for his great talents; he will only be known as a freak. But if he didn't act that way off the court and in front of cameras, he may not have been remembered at all. It's disgusting what we have to do as a society to get the appreciation we deserve. Good read.
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