The LeBron James saga has morphed from outrageous, ridiculous and tasteless to political, racial and (still) ridiculous.
On Sunday, Rev. Jesse Jackson, never shy of putting himself in the spotlight, condemned Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, saying Gilbert sees James as a “runaway slave.”
Jackson was upset with Gilbert’s letter to Cavaliers fans in which Gilbert called James “cowardly” for bolting Cleveland for Miami as a free agent. Gilbert also accused James of quitting when the Cavaliers were bounced early from the playoffs.
That letter led Jackson to issue a release from his Chicago-based civil rights group, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. Jackson called Gilbert’s letter “mean, arrogant and presumptuous.”
“He speaks as an owner of LeBron and not the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers,” Jackson said. “His feelings of betrayal personify a slave master mentality. He sees LeBron as a runaway slave. This is an owner-employee relationship — between business partners — and LeBron honored his contract.”
My thoughts:
Trivia time
Switching gears to a lighter topic, today’s trivia has to do with baseball’s All-Star Game. Who was the Rockies’ lone all-star representative in 1993, their inaugural season? (Answer below).
Polling
Last Thursday’s “Lunch Poll” asked readers to chime in on a nickname for the Rockies in the wake of all their recent comeback victories. Of the suggestions I suggested, “Jim Tracy and the Heartbreakers” scored with more than 25 percent of the vote. However, “other suggestions” got the most votes (more than 33 percent).
Among the best suggestions: LoDo Mojo, Cardiac Rockies, Purple Hearts, Colo-rally Rockies, Denver Defibrillators.
Not sure if any of these are going to catch on.
These suggestions, though, definitely won’t: July-tober, Comebackies, Ninth-inning Rockstars, Spilly’s Hillbilliez, Late Boomers, Rack’em, stack’em Rockies.
Quotable
“We’ll form our own Big 3” — The Hornets’ Chris Paul, reportedly making a toast at Carmelo Anthony’s wedding over the weekend in New York. Paul was supposedly making reference to himself, Anthony and the newest member of the Knicks, Amare Stoudemire. The gossip coming out of the shindig is that all three will come to the Big Apple to play for the Knicks.
Want more on Melo’s nuptials?
Reader’s rant
“Really, how could the manager choose anyone else? I think the only ones questioning his selection were the sports media, but they’re always looking for a controversy. In any case, well deserved.” — Robert Anderson, posting on The Post’s story about Charlie Manuel selecting the
In case you missed it
Bob Sheppard, the voice of Yankee Stadium for 56 years, the man with the silky voice, the man whom Reggie Jackson called “the voice of God,” died Sunday at age 99.
The New York Times has a and his place in baseball history.
Trivia answer
First baseman Andres Galarraga was the Rockies’ lone pick.
Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1720 or psaunders@denverpost.com
