Greetings once again, my hiatus is over, and I'm back talking sports with an important announcement! As I am sure many of you are frustrated by my inconsistent writing of this blog, I have vowed a new rule of routine! Instead of having 6 posts in 1 week, followed by 2 months of absence, I shall from now on do my best to have at least one post a week, on Tuesdays! I know what you are thinking, but today is Wednesday! Well, I'm not off to a great start okay! Jeez. Plus, this week, followed by the next two, will be slightly hectic with exams and what not, but, nonetheless, I endeavor to meet this goal. So, be sure to check in every Wednesday, for a new post from this guy. Not to mention the strong possibility of a post from our other fantastic bloggers (especially once Elliot and Mooney get in the groove). But, here at Put it in Stone, we aim to please, and I hope to bring you some consistency, if nothing else. Just think! Now, when hump day rolls around, and you are feeling a bit glum, you can always log on to read some new sports opinions and shenanigans. What could be better?
Well, as promised, I hope to bring you some real sports insight. But, today I want to do something a little different. Normally, I offer you opinions, or I offer you predictions, or suggestions for my (our?) favorite teams. Instead, today I want to put something different in stone: A person.
While you get over that initial shock, I am going to waste an unnecessary paragraph with no actual content in it. Your eyes simply glaze over words that mean absolutely nothing, because in your head I know you are not really reading these words, instead your thinking Nate has jumped off the deep end.
Hear me out. Today, I want to put Antonio McDyess in stone. Why such an honor? Because here is a player who knows what sports is all about. Winning, fans, and team.
Lets travel back to a time, when televisions were only for the rich, but baseball was still a game of the commoners. Mickey Mantle was playing and winning World Series for the Yankees. The Mick was one of the greatest baseball players of all time. A real all around player, and a really likable player. In 1961, the Yankees gave him a contract for $75,000, which was the highest contract ever given to a baseball player at the time. For comparison sake, lets add inflation. That would be something like, $500,000 in today's dollars. Not quite the $140 million dollars CC Sabathia is looking for, huh? Times were different then (obviously), but what Mickey Mantle said in an interview after receiving such an "enormous" contract is timeless. He said, "I love this game so much, that I'd do it for free." Mickey Mantle, if I had a blog in 1961, I would have put you in stone then.
How many players do we see following in the steps of Mickey Mantle today? How many players love the game and love their team so much, that they are willing to forget the money and just play? I will give you one. Tom Brady. Remember when he restructured his contract to allow the Patriots to have more cap space? That selfless action allowed the Patriots to resign some key players, and go on to win several Super Bowls. I remember watching a 60 minutes special with him. Brady said, and Im paraphrasing, "In college, I got by on Subway coupons, anything else while I get to play football is just a bonus."
And now, added to the wall of fame is Antonio McDyess. He could have gotten paid a bigger salary in Denver. He could have taken a bigger salary from Boston or Cleveland. But he didn't. He stayed loyal to the Pistons and loyal to his goal of attaining a championship with the Pistons, his team. Instead of millions of dollars, McDyess will make the minimum salary exception. But, McDyess doesn't care about the money. We all know that he was bought out by the Nuggets, but for how much is not certain. Many have speculated that it was for far less than his actual contract's value. It is more than likely that he left a lot of money on the table.
I salute you Antonio McDyess. You could have turned your back on a team that traded you. Instead, you helped them get a superstar guard in Allen Iverson, at the cost to you of millions of dollars left on the table and a month of no playing time.
Now, contrast McDyess with Lebron James. Last night, Lebron played at the Madison Square Garden, where rumors and speculations that he might someday become a Knick ran wild. Instead of Lebron focusing on playing for his current team and becoming and NBA Champion, he allowed these ridiculous questions come from all sides, and seemed to thrive on it. He could have said, "I am a Cleveland Cavalier, and I will be in 2009. My goal is not a max contract, or moving to a bigger media market. My goal is to win now with MY team, the Cleveland Cavaliers." But he didn't. No, he spoke about lofty things like the Garden being the "Mecca of Basketball" and his New York shoe line. He loved the attention, he loved the thought of MORE attention, and most of all he loved the though of more money. Lebron, you may be a better basketball player than Antonio McDyess, but you aren't half the man or the teammate that Antonio is.
Look, this post isn't about how badly I would love to see Lebron in a Pistons uniform in 2010. This is a post about what the game SHOULD be about. Also, don't get me wrong, this isn't a rant about how athletes make to much money. No, instead, it's about giving credit where credit is due. But, also, its a post about remembering that even basketball is a team sport, and team should come before the individual. Antonio McDyess represents everything this game should be about: loyalty to a team, hard work (see: his return from multiple knee surgeries), and most of all love of the game. Lebron may represent a superstar, but with that comes an attitude, greed, and a loyalty only to the highest bidder.
Lebron and McDyess may be on opposite horizons of their career, but they weren't all that different once. McDyess was drafted as the second round pick overall. He won a gold medal with the Olympic Team, similarly to Lebron. McDyess was never the prima donna that Lebron most certainly is. Certainly injuries and age may have affected McDyess' perspective, but the fact remains that he is still being offered a lot of money for his services. He could easily let that go to his head. But, as opposed to Lebron James, McDyess remains loyal to the game and loyal to the Pistons, not himself.
Antonio McDyess, I hope my "award" can somehow come close to the example you set to the rest of the league. But most of all, I hope you made the right choice coming to Detroit, because nobody in this league deserves a championship more than you.
