How would you like to be Lebron James? I have never seen such a dramatic fall from popularity to public vitriol that Lebron has experienced since he decided to take his “talents to South Beach,” as the now infamous phrase goes. Teaming up with D-Wade and Bosch seemed like a sure way to win an NBA championship, but now the Heat are just 12-8 and they are playing like a team with 3 good forwards and no point guard or center–which is a big problem in basketball. Perhaps more importantly, hating Lebron has spread from Cleveland and has become something of a national pastime for sports fans everywhere. Nike, which is one of the best marketing companies in the world, even tried to revive Lebron’s image with the “what should I do?” commercial, but their efforts just led to a series of mocking responses like this, this, and this video.
On Thursday night, Lebron took his talents back to Cleveland and helped the Heat rout his former team by scoring 38 points in three quarters. Cleveland fans booed every time Lebron touched the ball and I can’t help but wonder if Lebron is starting to regret his decision. It seems like a common theme in all sports, whether we are talking about an NBA superstar or an eventer considering a horse or coaching change, that the grass never turns out to be quite as green on the other side as we expected. Now for some eventing notes:
—Rolex will be selling tailgating spots along the cross-country course in 2011. Tailgating has always struck me as a great way to let sports fans combine their love of watching sports with their love of consuming several hundred pounds of booze and food. Prices range from $275 to $325 per spot which means that the break-even point for buying a spot is somewhere around 150 to 200 beers. As I always like to say–what could go wrong?
–In some of the strangest horse news that I have ever seen, two long-distance riders who were planning to ride around the world had to cancel their journey because their horses were abused while awaiting the beginning of the journey in France. Apparently the horses were sent to a trainer in France who had been recommended through friend while the riders, CuChullaine and Basha O´Reilly, made their final preparations at their home in the US. Just before starting the journey the O’Reillys discovered that the horses had been starved and physically abused. That would be like a US rider shipping their 4* horse to England and showing up a week before Burghley to find out that their horse had been starved. How could two experienced horse people be so wrong about who they trust with their horses and how could they not check on their horses even once during the entire time they were being starved? According to the report, no one has ever ridden around the world in a horse, which makes sense if you think about it. Like I said, it’s a really weird story.
—Wild mustangs are being offered for adoption this weekend at the University of Tennesse at Martin. The mustangs are part of the Bureau of Land Management’s relocation efforts. It’s a sad story that so many horses need homes, but I am sure that anyone who is willing to invest a little time and effort into domesticating a mustang will gain a great pet and friend in the process.
Noon update: as a couple of commenters have pointed out, ‘pet’ was a poor choice of words if it implies that Mustangs cannot be given second careers in sport horse disciplines–they can and many have found successful careers as event horses. Check out the BLM’s website for nationwide and online adoption information.
—All semen collection centers are not created equal. Sometimes there are just too many possible jokes.
–Fear not Eventing Nation, I promise that those two awful empty gray squares at the top of EN will be filled with pictures as soon as I get them from our corresponding writers. Do you like the having the pictures at the top with the Cavalor banner? The alternative that I considered for that space was posting links to two or three of the biggest stories from the preceding few days on EN for quick access. We have a couple more tiny changes planned for the site today, including a slight reorganization of the sidebar.
—Eventing Radio this week features Lucinda Green
It’s going to be an action packed day on EN today. In fact, I’m not sure how we are going to fit everything in, but we will succeed with skill, vigilance, and a little luck. See you soon…
