The Lebron James Channel

I wrote a piece earlier when this whole Lebron James story originally set sail, and while the coverage then warranted attention, what it has become now rivals some of the bigger stories of our decade. Very rarely will a storyline end with an ESPN special dedicated completely to it. You may remember when Brett Favre retired for the first time, his announcement was aired live and was followed by a well put together and nicely produced package highlighting his career. Last year a press conference was held by Tiger Woods as he was speaking for the first time publicly about his infidelity and ESPN along with all of the other networks carried it live. The ladder being shown on TV live as well as being aired on ESPN Radio, as shows were interrupted to cut to Tiger's riveting or, as I remember it, not so riveting comments. Though those stories were heavily covered around the clock, one element separates this from those, and that's the fact that Lebron has created this spectacle all on his own. Where he ultimately chooses to take his career is news and has been treated as such since July 1^st, it's the way he has chosen to go about his courting and how he will make his announcement that has many scratching their heads. The week began with one big name free agent switching cities as Amare Stoudemire went to New York from Phoenix. Though the move was intriguing, it didn't create the stir that was created today as both Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh chose to make Miami their homes for the next 5 or 6 years. They collectively did an interview with Michael Wilbon on why they chose Miami and how they feel about their futures. Nicely done interview closing the book on, what I'm sure has been a stressful time for the both of them. Lebron, on the other hand , apparently is too big of a deal to do a nice little sit down interview with an ESPN analyst, choosing instead to be the star on his own sitcom tomorrow night with the climax being his decision. I expect the culmination of that 1 hour special to feature balloons falling from the ceiling, and the host saying "And your next American Idol is…. . Oh, wrong show but I must admit the interest level is as high as the anticipation for his decision has crossed many barriers. During a time where the NBA is struggling to remain relevant, it has managed to put itself in the music scene, as Jay-Z visited Lebron as part of the New Jersey Nets ownership, and today has found it's way into another form of entertainment as Betty White and the cast of TV Land's Hot in Cleveland has put together a video urging Lebron to stay in Cleveland. So hey, maybe Lebron is as interesting as he apparently feels he is. Because with all of this said, there's only one thing left to say, and that's that I'll be watching.