Bleachers' Brew: Making mountains out of baseball caps

(from this Monday's issue of the Business Mirror)

Making mountains out of baseball caps
by rick olivares















So what’s the fuss over LeBron James’ wearing a New York Yankees cap?

People were insulted? C’mon. Get a life!

Even before James played an NBA minute as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers he was already a New York Yankees fan. Just because he’s the face of the Cavs does that mean he should root for every hometown boy? It would be nice were it not for freedom of choice. So it’s also wrong for him to root for the Dallas Cowboys of which he’s also a professed fan? Tell that to Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde who left Akron to pursue her rock star dreams in London, England (where she found it and more).

Cleveland is also the home of the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame, should people be upset because James’ ipod has rap music on heavy rotation? Should James have been more circumspect of wearing a Yankees cap to the Indians-Yankees game? Maybe, but what’s wrong with showing whom you are rooting for? It’s not like it’s the first time he wore that cap with the interlocking “N” and “Y.”

Cross-border allegiances are nothing new. Towards the end of Michael Jordan’s run with the Chicago Bulls, a very conspicuous presence on the courtside seats of the United Center was one Jack Nicholson, he of the Boston Celtic-hating heart and defender of the Los Angeles Lakers’ purple and gold. Who wasn’t a Jordan fan during those days? Oh, right there was Isiah Thomas and Bill Laimbeer and the second edition Bad Boys in the New York Knicks.

In the final playing day of last season’s Spanish La Liga, among the fans at the Santiago De Bernabeu was tennis star Rafael Nadal. The clay court specialist is actually from the island of Mallorca whose team was playing Real Madrid that day. But Nadal was rooting for the Spanish giants who went on to claim the title that day by virtue of a 3-1 comeback win.

One of my favorite bookstores is the Strand in Union Square, New York. When I was living in the Big Apple, I would pass by the bookstore -- which would look right at home in Diagon Alley – at least once a week. In the basement where you’d find the hardcover and coffeetable books, there was this clerk who worked the information booth who always wore a Boston Red Sox cap. One time unable to contain my curiosity, I asked him why he did so. Surprised that I had the temerity to ask him such a question he cast me a stupefying glance (perhaps he’s been asked that once too often) and replied icily, “Because the Yankees suck!”

New York’s allegiances are divvied up between the Yankees and the Mets although there is a fraction of New Yorkers who root for the Red Sox. For the most part, everyone is left to their own devices until their teams face each other in fields of play. Heck, a couple of years ago, the world famous Rockettes from Radio City wore – gasp – the uniforms of the hated Red Sox! Was this because the Curse was finally lifted and that the Yankees have been in decline since Rudy Giuliani was Mayor?

Yesterday, Manny Pacquiao (congratulations on your win) was up against Marco Antonio Barrera, but do you think that every Filipino was in his corner? Nope. Many people are of mind that Manny has become swell-headed and that he needs humbling. Some are envious because they’re not a part of his posse while some are just anti-anything. Is rooting for the Mexican traitorous? Not at all. Whoever they’re rooting for is fine. It’s only people who look for angles that make issues about race, creed, and baseball caps.

O o O

Remember when Charles Barkley said that he shouldn’t be anyone’s role model just because he dunks a basketball? Well, he was both right and wrong. Right because not every athlete is of role model material. Wrong because of their standing in society, athletes have the opportunity to exert a positive influence not just on children, but also in their communities (e.g. Dikembe Mutombo who put up a modern hospital in his country of Zaire or Ren Ren Ritualo who opened a pre-school in Quezon City).

Stephen Jackson, long-perceived to be greedy (see his miscalculation of the free agent market when he left the San Antonio Spurs but initially found no takers) and a malcontent (see his tenure with the Indiana Pacers) seems to have found a home with the Golden State Warriors. He’s just been promoted to team captain now that Jason Richardson is with the Charlotte Bobcats. But of course, here’s where we find out if he’s in the mold of Jerry Stackhouse (who has come a long way from being a journeyman malcontent to become an upstanding citizen in Dallas) or the next Latrell Sprewell (who played with an overly misplaced attitude that eventually saw him out of the league).

And there’s Marion Jones -- the latest in a long line of fallen stars who have been caught or admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs to win. While it may be true that despite the drugs, one still has to go out and do the deed, it still gives an edge over the others. It’s sad because winning in the Olympics is seen as the pinnacle of sports achievement and Jones won five medals, a record for female athletes in the Summer Games.

In last week’s column Open Season, I forgot to add a line that UAAP Commissioner Ed Cordero said in relation to the post-game taunts and heckling that has sparked fights or other unsavory scenes. It’s a line borrowed from the movie Coach Carter (that also happens to be a true story), “When is winning not enough?”

In the case of Marion Jones and other athletes who cheat, “Is winning everything?”