Putting Lebron into Context

Guy 1: "Lebron will never be as good as Jordan."

Guy 2: "Well, he has the potential to be better."

Guy 3: "He does a lot of stuff better than Jordan though."

The debate is relentless. Is Lebron James better than Michael Jordan? Can he be become better? Will he become better? Obviously, only time will tell, but I think there is a way to put Lebron James into context. They say history repeats itself, but sometimes, in repeats itself in different ways.

There's a fierce debate north of the border (i.e. Canada) concerning who the best hockey players in in all the land is. Like the basketball's counterpart debate, the face-off has been narrowed down to two. Gordie Howe played in the forties, fifties, sixties, seventies, and even season in the nineties with an IHL (International Hockey League), a now defunct minor league. Howe was tough and skilled. Few players on the ice could shoot, skate, nor score as well as he could. He is probably the best Detroit Red Wings ever, given that players such as Steve Yzerman and Nicklas Lidstrom are also Red Wings Alumnus, that is saying a lot.

The name everyone is more familiar with is Wayne Gretzky. Gretzky was a lot like Howe. Except, he was small and not very physical. Gordie Howe was known to not let anyone push him around. However, Wayne Gretzky only got into one fight in his over twenty season career. He didn't do that great. However, there were few players as skilled as Gretzky. He was a fluent skater, a dazzling stick handler, and most of all, a dominating scorer.

Gretzky scored more NHL goals than Howe. However, if you add the goals that Gretzky and Howe scored when not playing in the NHL, Howe has the upper hand. Numbers don't provide a very concise comparison. For example, some argue that that the NHL in the 1950's was much more competitive than it was in the seventies. However, Gordie Howe scored a large number of goals in the seventies, when he played in the WHA. A minor league, and not nearly as competitive as it was in the seventies. There's so many different variables that these arguments are normally settled the same way. Each player had his own special attributes.

So how does this apply to basketball. The simple truth is that Jordan and Lebron played in different eras and with different styles. There is no better of the two; it's a child's argument. Lebron has many years left in his prime and will develop into a legendary caliber. At the end of the day, the predicament in hockey, can be adequately applied to basketball.

Source(s):
- Gordie Howe - Stats - NHL.com - Players
- Wayne Gretzky - Stats - NHL.com - Players

Wimbledon Review

Big names fell, and the hometown hero won the Wimbledon this year. The women's side lost it's star power quickly. Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams both failed to progress to nor past the semifinals. While big names such as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal lost in the early rounds of the Wimbeldon, competitive stars such as Novak Djockovic and Andy Murray. In the end, Britishman Andy Murray won in an heart warming, exhilarating finale.

Nadal fell first, foreshadowing the rise of the rest at the Wimbeldon. Federer was next, defeated in four sets. In the Women's tournament, Sharapova lost in the second round. Serena Williams made a sizable run, but lost out in the fourth round to finalist Sabina Lisicki. Many big names fell, but two were left stars were left to battle in the finals.

Andy Murray, the boy from Dunblane, Scotland, the site of a school shooting in 1996 faced Novak Djockovic, ranked number one in the world. It took three sets for Andy Murray to win his first Grand Slam. Andy Murray was the first Britishman to win the Men's Wimbeldon in 77 years. He also won the Olympic gold medal last year at Wimbeldon. ESPN's Outside the Lines did a very well thought out feature on Andy Murray's journey.

The third Grand Slam of the year is through with, there's one more to go. Will the US Open feature more upsets, or will the stars shine in New York? Only time will tell how the world of tennis will continue to reveal itself.