"Hey, if I saw myself in clothes like that, I'd have to kick my own ass."
- Adam Sandler, from the film 'Happy Gilmore'

(Photo credit - AP)

Just when you thought professional athletes -- and, by extension, professional sports -- couldn't get more outlandish, LeBron James comes along to try and top 'em all.

We all know what's going on by now: James, the most sought-after free agent in recent NBA history, is coming to his decision on his future tonight in front of a national-television audience. For one hour beginning at 9 p.m., ESPN will show, essentially, a LeBronfomercial.

No athlete's playing future has been built up more (no, not even yours, Brett Favre). No athlete, measuring by success, has earned this less.

James has given us incredible highlights over his first seven years in the NBA. He has an undeniable talent for basketball. What he did to the Pistons in Game 5 of the 2007 Eastern Conference finals -- scoring the Cleveland Cavaliers' final 25 points, and 29 of their last 30, in a double-overtime win -- is a feat we may never again see accomplished. He's just 25 years old, and he's one of the best players in the league. He can command a maximum-level contract from the Cavaliers -- 10 years ago, did you ever think you'd read that?! -- if he wants to stay in Cleveland.

That being said, LeBron James is not above the entire league. This ESPN special seems to be an attempt to dispute that claim.

(An aside: He's not the first superstar to try and upstage his whole league. Remember Game 4 of the 2007 World Series, Red Sox fans? Just when you thought it would be all about celebrating a second world championship in four years, you get to watch a mid-game report, given to Fox by agent Scott Boras, that Alex Rodriguez is opting out of his contract with the Yankees. Rodriguez was lambasted for his timing by the sporting media and Major League Baseball, and ultimately stayed in New York.)

When Michael Jordan retired, all three times, he called a press conference. When Kobe Bryant signed a seven-year deal with the Lakers in 2004, choosing them over the Clippers, Bulls, Nuggets and Knicks, he called a press conference. That, from my memory, was every bit as big as the LeBron sweepstakes. There were people who REALLY thought Kobe was heading to either Chicago or the other locker room in the Staples Center.

Here's the thing: When MJ retired -- every time -- he'd done more than LeBron James has done to this point. When Kobe signed his $136.4 million deal, he'd done more than LeBron James has done to this point.

They'd won championships. Multiple championships, in fact. To this day, James has no championships -- save the Eastern Conference title in 2007. Perhaps, if he had at least one championship in Cleveland, this TV special might be kind of permissible.

There's something to be said, though, for humility. When you make KOBE BRYANT look humble by comparison, you're doing something wrong. That's what James is doing by staging this Heisman Trophy presentation-like special tonight.

Now, we've been told that James will announce his decision in the first 10 minutes of the TV special, which will feature advertising that goes to benefit the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. That's very nice of him, and I salute him for it. At least some good can come out of this nonsense.

Doesn't it seem a bit forced, though? Couldn't he do the same by holding a public press conference at a Boys and Girls Club in or near his hometown of Akron, Ohio, charging $10 to $20 a head at the door -- all proceeds going to that Club or the national organization? That way, it could still be televised by ESPN, but it wouldn't take an hour and have the feel of paid programming.

As for the time issue: Who really wants to watch the entire hour, when all you want to know is where LeBron is going and why? In The Eagle's sports pod, we'll watch the first 15-17 minutes of the show tonight. After that, the volume on the TV gets turned back down, and we go back to our computers to put together Friday's sports section for you. I bet you won't watch the full hour, either. The last 40 minutes, benefit advertising aside, will just be LeBron selling LeBron.

My prediction, even following Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh announcing their intent to sign with the Miami Heat, stays the same: LeBron remains in Cleveland. The Cavaliers can offer him the most money, and he seems to be -- despite this ego and public relations slip-up -- a good guy who really wants to give Cleveland the elusive major sports championship it hasn't had since 1964.

What if he leaves Cleveland, though? How will that city's fans -- already punched in the gut by "The Drive," "The Fumble," Art Modell's move of the Browns to Baltimore, and the Indians' playoff gaffes in Game 7 of the 1997 World Series and Games 5-7 of the 2007 ALCS -- feel if they have to watch James not only leave Cleveland, but do it with a big smile and lots of fanfare on an hour-long ESPN special? How would that not be construed (or even misconstrued) as gloating?

Wherever James goes, one thing is clear: He's going to have to win, and soon -- for two reasons. One, he's commanding a lot of money. The fans in his next destination -- be it Cleveland, Miami, Chicago or New York -- will want to see a return on their team's investment (namely, the Larry O'Brien Trophy).

More importantly, though, is this: He's going to have to earn this spectacle.

-M.S.

I'm not a Bruins fan -- but that doesn't mean I wasn't affected by Boston's epic collapse in the Eastern Conference semifinal round.

I have no favorite hockey team. I simply love the sport itself. One of the best privileges of my job is the opportunity to cover things like Hennessy League hockey and the NHL's Winter Classic.

With my love for hockey comes my respect for all its traditions. One of those traditions is the playoff beard.

It's widely believed that the Stanley Cup champion New York Islanders of 1980 began the tradition. Many of the players simply didn't shave once the playoffs began -- until after their six-game victory over the Philadelphia Flyers in the final.

Here's a shot of Ken Morrow with his playoff beard.

For the last 30 years, the NHL has seen its share of impressive beards during the playoffs -- and it's also seen Sidney Crosby's sad excuse for a beard.

Here are, in my opinion, the five best playoff beards:

5. Lanny McDonald

McDonald, a Hockey Hall of Famer, finally won the Cup in his last season, with the 1989 Calgary Flames. He'd be higher on this list, but the beard wasn't as well-known as McDonald's sweet moustache.

4. Mike Commodore

The 2006 playoff season wasn't very memorable. It was the first playoff season following the league-crippling lockout of 2004-05, and the Carolina-Edmonton final -- while being an epic seven-game series -- barely registered on the American television radar.

What it did give us, though, was Commodore's fiery monstrosity of hair. If you were dressing for Halloween, and wanted the "rugged backwoods clown" look, this would be the way to go.

3. Scott Niedermayer

Niedermayer won his fourth Cup with the 2007 Ducks. Luckily for humanity, the team held off winning a Cup until it had shed the Disney-movie image.

The beard would merely be garden-variety if not for the salt-and-pepper look. It's a beard tailor-made for those awful commercials with Keith Hernandez and Clyde Frazier. Niedermayer makes the list for having the guts to show his age through his facial hair.

2. Scott Hartnell

Look at that thing! The name "Jesus Bigfoot" comes to mind. So does Chewbacca. So does Tom Hanks in 'Cast Away.' No wonder the Flyers are still going strong.

1. Clark Gillies

You have to respect one of the innovators. A native of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Gillies wore his beard through four consecutive Stanley Cup wins with the Islanders. It's a simple, rugged, manly beard. Not too heavy, but substantial. Exactly how it oughta look.

I draw a lot of inspiration from all five of these guys during a time like this. You see, I don't just respect the tradition -- I embrace it.

Since I don't have a favorite team, I select a random playoff qualifier every year, and wear the beard for them. I don't shave until they're out. Last year, it was the Chicago Blackhawks. A quick playoff exit made it easy.

The Flyers are not making it as easy this year.

Currently, they're up 2-0 in the Eastern Conference finals against the Montreal Canadiens. Their defense is stifling, they're attacking the goal like madmen and goalie Michael Leighton is an impenetrable fortress. They look like champions.

With this beard (and that old helmet), I do not. Observe:

But hey...at least I've got Sidney Crosby beat, right?

- Watching Rafael Palmeiro point his finger during a Congressional hearing on St. Patrick's Day 2005 and proclaim that he never used steroids -- "Period" -- and then seeing him suspended for a positive steroid test in August.
- The Mother's Day Massacre of May 2007 -- thanks to a bullpen that cost the team $42 million in the offseason. (Red Sox fans know this as the "Mother's Day Miracle." Never call it that in my presence.)
Another low moment, to be honest, came when I read Sunday's Eagle. The editorial "Baseball is back," while written to help get Red Sox and Yankees fans excited for the 2010 regular season (and they should be excited for it), was a swift boot to the behind of fans of both the Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays.
In the interest of full disclosure -- don't worry about me. I have the OK of the editorial board to blog about this. Let's face it: There are bigger issues in Berkshire County than Major League Baseball.
That being said: It seems as though the editorial neglected to note that the Orioles ARE figuring out how to compete with the big-money Sox and Yanks in the AL East. After so many years of the cries from fans that owner Peter Angelos was hell-bent on trying to spend with the two big boys on the block, it seems there is a blueprint for success at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
In 2007, Andy MacPhail was hired as president of baseball operations. MacPhail built two World Series champions as general manager of the Minnesota Twins, and knows what it takes to win in the American League. When he showed up, the irresponsible big spending stopped. Gone were the kind of contracts given to past-their-prime names like Palmeiro, Sosa and Javy Lopez. What returned was a commitment to winning the right way, the way the Red Sox and Rays have -- by building the minor-league system.
The first move may have been the biggest of all.
With the No. 5 pick in the 2007 draft, the Orioles picked switch-hitting Georgia Tech catcher Matt Wieters. The five-tool player nicknamed "God" by his Yellow Jacket teammates skyrocketed through the Baltimore minor-league system, making his debut last season. He's widely seen as one of the top three young players in baseball, and has the spotlight pointed at him as the main player in the Orioles' rebuilding process.
In 2008, the O's took pitcher Brian Matusz with the fourth pick. The left-hander is a major part of the Baltimore pitching staff of the future, alongside Brad Bergesen, Chris Tillman, David Hernandez and Jake Arrieta.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't much of the Boston starting lineup home-grown? Jacoby Ellsbury in left field, Dustin Pedroia at second base, Kevin Youkilis at first, pitchers like Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, Jonathan Papelbon...so, if the Orioles are on this path, why not admit it?
The editorial notes the ridiculous idea of realignment to save the less-successful teams in the division from having to compete with Boston and New York. No real Orioles fan (and no real Blue Jays fan, either) thinks this is a solution.
Where, if I may ask, were any Orioles higher-ups quoted as saying they wanted realignment? Which Orioles players have said on the record that they preferred the AL Central Division? Show me those quotes, and I'll deride those who suggested a move. If the Rays can win an American League championship coming out of the East, so can the Orioles. And the Orioles -- thanks to the formation of regional cable network MASN -- can afford to retain talent that the Rays can not.

Red Sox and Yankees fans will be quick to note that they never see Orioles fans when they go to Camden Yards (the best stadium in baseball, if you ask me). This is a real Catch-22. The fans won't show up in droves until the O's become one of baseball's big-name franchises again, but the O's won't truly become one of baseball's big-name franchises again until the fans show up in droves, the way Red Sox fans do.
In short, patience is the order of the day -- from Orioles fans like myself, and from my beloved employer's editorial staff. The O's are on the right track. It took the Red Sox 86 years to finally build another world champion. It won't take nearly that long for the AL East to have a fourth competitor to join the Red Sox, Yankees and Rays.
Play ball, indeed.

Thursday was the Individual race here in Vancouver. I'd had some shaky performances on the range in shooting the previous two days, so I needed to sort that out first and foremost, as an Individual is heavily weighted toward the superior shooter. I spent a little bit of time doing SCATT laser training with my coaches on Wednesday night and used the remaining time during zero on Thursday morning to shoot a few extra clips, just to make the mechanics smooth. The day was sunny and a warm one inside our one-piece powerweb racing suits, so I was grateful it was also the one race in which we're allowed feeds. With temperatures dropping a little lower at night during the past week, the tracks held up surprisingly well even when the sun came out. They probably became just a little slower as the snow was churned up and the top layer turned to water. At least we started in the morning instead of the after the men.

-- L.S.

A couple of other things that were on the Berkshire County sports landscape on Feb. 22, 1980...

- Monument Mountain's Todd Lane (101 pounds), Louis Ely (108) and Geoff House (141) advanced to the Division II state semifinals in wrestling. At that time, Berkshire County had nine wrestling teams, and the Spartans were the county champions.
- Wahconah's girls basketball team was celebrating its first North Division championship, while Lee was the South Division champion.
- The Hennessy League had a whopping NINE hockey teams in two divisions. Pittsfield High School and Drury were the division champions.

So...what do YOU remember about Feb. 22, 1980?

- M.S.

This article originally appeared on www.fasterskier.com. You can follow Laura Spector year-round at blogs.fasterskier.com/lauraspector. FasterSkeir.com is a Williamstown, Mass.-based company that provides year-round coverage of cross-country skiing, biathlon and Nordic combined.

"I was actually not feeling nearly as fresh as I could have hoped to be. But although it wasn't the strongest race of the year for me, the experience was something that's never been equaled for me before. I started in bib number 9 as the first North American, so when the crowd heard that over the loudspeaker they went crazy. I've never before seen the crowd cheer so loudly for a North American, and it made me truly grateful to have a huge group of family and friends out there supporting me at the biggest event of my career. It's great to have the races so close to home this year because it makes their trip out more manageable.

Once I made it out of the stadium and past all the noise I had to figuratively pinch myself and remember the race at hand. I came through the first lap feeling as though I had paced well, and looking back at the analysis, I actually skied a decent time. As most of you have probably already read, the organizers put fertilizer down on the course to help compact the snow, as warm temperatures and rain had caused it to become deep and slushy. This made a huge difference and the course was actually somewhat fast in many places, not to mention that our wax techs turned out some excellent skis considering the variability in conditions throughout the course. Our team of technicians has been doing considerable research over the past four years at this venue to turn out some Bauer grinds designed especially for these conditions.

The crowd was cheering wildly as I approached the range, but I realized to my relief that it was for a Canadian just leaving the start, so I convinced myself that I was all alone on the shooting range. I missed my last shot and it was when I got up off the mat that I realized how beat my legs were. They started to burn on the first uphill after the stadium and when I tried to jump-skate the next big hill, they simply didn't want to respond. It was disappointing and tough to face the fact that I was going into one of the most important races ever on the tired side. The training has been so focused yet minimal this past week, but it seems that it just wasn't enough of a taper for me this time. In the end, I missed one target each in prone and standing but finished out of the top 60, so I won't be starting the pursuit on Tuesday. Instead, I'll use the next four days to get the rest I need in order to start the Individual on Thursday, our longest race at 15 kilometers, refreshed."

-- LS

- Of course, Leitch earned the praise from his classmates with his third-period glove work Wednesday night. Wahconah has one of the toughest offenses in the league, and it threw everything it had at the St. Joe's net in the third period. Leitch was up for the challenge - and so was the Crusader offense, finding ways to give its goalie some breathing room late.

- By comparison, Taconic's win over Mount Everett was so slowed by penalties that it made St. Joe's-Wahconah feel like a 4-on-4 game.

- Just a quick reminder that Wahconah's girls basketball boosters will dedicate their program to late coach "Boog" Powell at Thursday night's girls basketball game against Monument Mountain. I'm told by Wahconah softball coach/expert hockey scoreboard operator Ken Pease that Spartan coach Tom Kinne, a good friend of Powell's, will speak during the ceremony.

-M.S.

There was a decent crowd at the game, including a lot of students. The fans were into it, too - even getting worked up on simple glove saves.

In honor of the new season, here's a favorite song of mine from the late Warren Zevon, whose talents are appreciated by at least two Eagle sports staffers.

The song is called "Hit Somebody (The Hockey Song)." The lyrics were written by noted sports columnist/author Mitch Albom. If you listen to the song, you may recognize the guy yelling "Hit somebody!" in the chorus. (In case you don't listen to it, I'll just reveal his identity: David Letterman.)

The song is so good, director Kevin Smith ("Clerks," "Mallrats," etc.) - a big hockey fan himself - wants to make it into a movie.

Anyway, here's the song, from Zevon's 2002 album "My Ride's Here."

- Matthew Sprague, Eagle sports editor

- Ashley Raftery's solid service was no surprise to Lee volleyball coach John Warner after Wednesday night's three-set sweep at Monument Mountain.
She's had that kind of success since the start of the season.
"Her serve percentage is somewhere between 83 and 85 percent serve-in," the coach said. "Phenomenal serve percentage. She didn't miss a serve the first three matches of the season. She has been ... very reliable. She's got depth on her serve, it's got penetration, it's a biting serve. It's one of the effective weapons we have."

- Despite staying unbeaten, Warner still sees room for improvement.
"We need to hone our blocking," he said. "As we head forth into the postseason, the offenses become much more potent. We need to establish a double block on some of the more potent hitters, and the middle block is a little late. As we progress, the speed of the hitters becomes that much faster."

- Piazzo said he wouldn't trade his current Monument team -- which has already qualified for Western Mass. tournament play -- for any other team playing right now.
"I'm very, very comfortable with this team," he said. "I really like these girls. I can't imagine them being any more tenacious. We need to work on a couple things. I'd like to find our team's Michael Jordan -- the person who can score those final points at the end of the game to put it away. That's our goal between now and the end of the season."

- In the middle of a hotly contested set, Piazzo wasn't above a little comedy. In between points, a couple of Monument players were slipping on a spot in the front row. Piazzo, who was out on the court to talk to his players during a stoppage of play, did his best to fake a slip on the spot before drying it with towels himself. That brought a decent ovation from the Monument fans in attendance.

- The Thunderstix craze apparently isn't limited to Los Angeles Angels fans (though it'd be just fine, frankly, if it was). A couple of Spartan students figured out halfway through the match that a couple of empty Mountain Dew bottles can serve as a substitute for the noisemaking props when you bang them together.

- Matthew Sprague, Eagle sports editor

In soccer, players from the top two teams are also dueling on the top of the goals list. Wahconah's Darcey Sullivan is on top of the girls' soccer goals list, and she'll only grow her lead after her electric performance on Friday night in Wahconah's first game since the passing of girls soccer coach/girls' basketball coach/athletic director/youth sports leader Robert "Boog" Powell. McCann, by virtue of its strong Tri-County showing is the only school with multiple players.

In golf, the scoring championship looks to be a two-man race between Barrett Ramsay, who made his debut as a fresh face two years ago with a Western Mass. title, and Garrett Alibozek, the new kid on the block and the freshman out of Hoosac. Expect this one to go down to the wire. Strangely enough, the first player from the current top team in the county, Jon Jewell, of Wahconah, stands fifth.

This isn't so much Chicago's fault, though, as the fault of recent history.

Atlanta hosted the 1996 Summer Games. Salt Lake City hosted the 2002 Winter Games. Vancouver gets the upcoming 2010 Winter Games. That's three Olympics for North America in the last 13 years. The U.S. has hosted two of them. South America has never hosted an Olympic Games.

If New York City couldn't land the Olympics, Chicago wasn't going to, either.

I also believe that, while politics play a large role in the IOC's ultimate decision, there was little that American politics (or politicians) could do to help the Second City. The President showed up in Copenhagen with the First Lady - and Oprah - to help pitch a possible Chicago Games. None of it mattered. Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and the rest of the 1995-96 Bulls could have been there, and a win wasn't going to happen for Chicago.

In the end, I think it was a case of bad timing for the Windy City.

What a victory (and a challenge) for Rio de Janeiro and the country of Brazil, though. Talk about an extended view on the world stage - Brazil had already landed the 2014 World Cup. Now it gets the Summer Games in 2016.

For Americans, the question is this: Is there a city vying for the 2018 Winter Games? (Denver/Colorado Springs, perhaps?) How about the 2020 Summer Games? (How would the Olympics look in Dallas/Fort Worth?)

- Matthew Sprague, Eagle sports editor

After an abbreviated Week 1 of the golf season, Mount Greylock and Taconic look like the teams to beat for the second consecutive year.

Both are unbeaten (The Braves are 2-0, the Mounties 1-0) and also lead the county in scoring average.

Also once again, the early leader for the scoring championship comes from Greylock.

Last year, All-Eagle MVP Dylan Dethier walked away with the scoring crown. This time around, Taylor Dunn's +1 against St. Joseph's leads the league early on.

Look for weekly updates to the list here, along with occasional updates on our High School Extra page, which will run Thursdays during the fall season. As the season progresses, I also plan to have the standings listed here as well.

--Chris Carlson

I know it's only one playoff series, and there's a long way to go before the B's can vie for the Stanley Cup. But the view from here is the Bruins looked awfully impressive in disposing of their long-time rivals.

They played strong positional hockey, for the most part, giving the Canadiens few passing lanes for breakout plays, and won all the battles for loose pucks, which resulted in those David Krejci-Michael Ryder goals last night. They also maintained their composure, and when was the last time you could say that about a Bruins' team?

The Canadiens, on the other hand, were disappointing. They took the play to the Bruins at some points, but every time the B's began to roll they folded. Their defensemen had a horrible series. Too many bad clearing passes, and failures to clear rebounds in front of Carey Price. Sure their best defenseman, Andrei Markov, couldn't play, but really, that's no excuse. Teams that care suck it up during the playoffs. The Celtics lost Kevin Garnett, who means a lot more to them than Markov means to the Habs, yet they're still compete. This is the first time that I can remember that the Bruins had a decided talent edge on the Canadiens.

Time to break up the gang in Montreal. Go Habs Go!

Brian Cogswell, the Lenox athletic director, said last night that Nicole Patella, an assistant with the team last year and the daughter of former coach Fred Lafave, will take over the team next year. Lafave had coached the team for the past 13 years and a total of 17 years. During his career with Lenox, coaching both boys and girls, he won a state record 628 games.