Two words:
Series. Over.
Does it surprise you in the slightest that Lebron put up a 37-14-12 game so sick that Man Crush Jay-Z was saluting him after the game? It shouldn’t.
“It’s win or go home,” Lebron said after. “There’s one thing we don’t want to see right now and that’s the end.”
The stat of the night is King James scored or had an assist on 31 straight Cavs points. From the end of the 3rd quarter until the game ended, Lebron had a hand in EVERY point they scored. As his boy Jay-Z might say, “I. Will. Not. Lose. Evah… Suckas.”
(via beekeeperssociety)
I hope we haven’t set a Sports Illustrated or Madden cover precedent here at Man Crush Baseball. We named Lebron Man Crush of the Week after his last second three and he hasn’t won since. Is he done? Are the Cavs in as much trouble down 3-1 as the Blackhawks are? I don’t think so.
Matt- If you think this series is over, you’re in for a surprise. I’ll give credit where credit is due. I’ve got man love for Superman and he was an overwhelming force down the stretch. Double digit points in OT is pretty undeard of. Even with the refs slobbing on Lebron’s knob to ensure a Kobe-Lebron finals so they could use all the puppet commercials they’ve made, Superman did what he had to do to get the W.
He made his free throws, proved why he’s defensive player of the year and threw down monster dunks (partly because that’s all he can do.) Let’s get some perspective. Most experts thought Dwight and his Magic would be lucky to win a game this series. Now up 3-1, the superstar that can’t usually close games has to close a series against the MVP, who’s hungry for a ring.. Lebron will watch Kobe take game 5 at home tonight and know he can do the same tomorrow.
After taking 39 of 41 home games in Cleveland this season, The Cavs go home facing elimination. Even with a sloppy game for Lebron in which he turned the ball over 8 times, the Magic needed a team-record 15 3’s to beat the Cavs in Orlando. The Cavs can only get better and the Magic can’t stay that hot.
Does it help that Mo Williams looked like hus puppy died after game 4? Of course not. Is he going to guarantee victory again? I doubt it, but I’ll do it for him. Cavs are taking game 5. Dwight Howard is not closing this series out in Cleveland. If the Cavs role players can get confident and fill their roles, the Cavs will steal game 6 and wrap it up at home in 7.
Superman vs. The King - Pt. 3
LeBron James may have dominated for nearly all four quarters of Game 4 on Tuesday night, but it was Dwight Howard who dominated when the game mattered most. And now it’s Howard who will likely be heading to the NBA Finals — NOT the reigning NBA MVP.
Dropping 44 points — to go along with 12 rebounds and seven assists — is rarely a harmful stat line for a team. But in this case, King James’ selfishness got the best of him. The Cavs’ star ultimately refused to pass the ball when the game was on the line and, when he did, threw the ball away. Bron-Bron performed his usual Oscar-nominated flops on Tuesday night and turned the ball over eight times. All of it is absolutely inexcusable for the “biggest superstar in the NBA.”
While LeBron struggled against his ego, Howard played like a man possessed in Overtime, scoring 10 of the Magic’s 16 points and racking up 27 altogether in the game. Howard also nabbed 14 rebounds and had three blocked shots. Howard led an Orlando defense that completely closed off the paint for King James in the waining moments of the game and prevented the star from getting to the basket.
These two players will continue to be compared for the next several years. But there will always be a few huge differences — LeBron will always be the top offensive player in the league and the lone star on his team, while Dwight will be the best defensive player in the league with (eventually) a championship ring.
Suck on that, LeBron.
Superman vs. The King
Everyone’s talking about Lebron vs. Kobe. It’s a fun debate, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves, we’re not at the finals yet. Superman is up 2-1 on King James and has home court advantage. Can Superman pull off the upset? Let’s put it to a man crush-off.
Watch the :35-:45 portion of this year’s dunk contest. Superman bows his head to Nate Robinson and lets the little man rub his nuts on his forhead as he posterizes him. Lebron looks on in a dapper yellow sweater, seeing the Kryptonite in action. Superman may have won last night’s game to go up 2-1 in the series, but this is the year of The King. He’s not losing again.
James scored 41 points with 9 assists and 7 boards in game 3. Looks like a damn good game on paper, but it was an Iverson-esque game. He scored a lot, but he missed 15 of his 17 jumpers and was 1-8 from downtown.
Does that make Howard the hero? Not really. Superman was in foul trouble, as usual, playing only 28 minutes and fouling out on this atrocious call where he had a clean block on King James. The foul sent Lebron to the line for 3 free throws, but the game was as good as over with Orlando leading by 8 with less than 40 seconds to go.
The game was in hand, partly due to the man crush free throw exchange. With under two minutes to play, Lebron missed two free throws and Dwight made both of his. Dwight’s got the lead in the series, but he hasn’t shown the ability to close. He gets in foul trouble early and disappears in the 4th quarter. Lebron only gets stronger. He’s got Kobe in his sights.
Superman vs. The King - Pt. 2
There’s no question that LeBron James is the most physically gifted athlete and player in the NBA today. At a close second place in the category of “physical freak”, however, is Dwight Howard, aka “Superman”.
At 6-foot-11 and 265 pounds, Howard has become a dominant force in the league. He’s broken the mold of stereotypical big men and ushered in a new era and style of play. Quite simply, it’s the jump-as-high-as-you-can and have-incredibly-quick-reaction-speed era in the NBA — and Howard is the poster child for it.
Men wanna be him and women (and probably some men) wanna be with him. He doesn’t have the mega-superstar quality of LeBron because, well, he’s not the lone gifted player running his team. Howard doesn’t take 25 shots a game — but he shoots high-percentage shots, gets to the foul line and plays hard-nosed defense. Bron-Bron, on the other hand, shoots well from mid-range, but is an incredibly erratic free throw and 3-point shooter. He plays defense when he feels like it and is too cocky to be man crush-worthy in my book.
I can’t possibly argue that Dwight is the better player, because he’s not. But King James’ huge ego is too much of a turnoff for me. Dwight is a high energy, high emotion player who does some pretty good impressions and makes me giggle. He’s himself, and he’s not desperately trying to become the next Michael Jordan as LeBron is trying to do.
Man Crush of the Week: Lebron James
Lebron is here to take over the league. You wanna crown him? Yeah, go ahead and crown him. King James stepped it up a notch at every level of the playoffs. He exploded for 32/11.3/7.5 against Detriot sweep so embarassing Detroit gave Cleveland fans a discount for coming.
The greatest basketball player alive (sorry, Kobe) bumped it up to 33.8 a game and added 2.5 steals per in another sweep of Atlanta. He’s still writing the Orlando story, with his eyes on a match-up with Kobe.
- Lebron has kicked it up a notch in the Eastern Conference Finals. In Game one he poured in 49 points, dished 8, grabbed 6 and denied 3. Despite his inhuman effort, the Cavs lost. King James made a perfect pass and perfect tip, but his teammates couldn’t finish the job.
- The reigning MVP wouldn’t let that happen in game two.
A Cleveland news room was ready to give up on the Cavs season. They forgot about Lebron.
What is Man Crush Baseball?
It’s a fantasy league in the most literal definition of the word fantasy.
We took the concept of a Man Crush, combined it with fantasy sports and developed:
We’ll get the ten most suitable owners together for an online draft until we fill up our rostersto build a complete team like:
Scoring will be based on head-to-head match-ups of every pitcher and batter. We’ll have our readers vote on who would win each match-up and reveal the winners in a fantasy story describing the match-up:
Scorsese vs. Fitzgerald. Readers vote for Scorsese, so we write up the at-bat:
Scorsese throws a “Raging Bull” of a rising heater, blowing it by Fitzgerald, who takes a monster cut as his dreads slap him in the face. 0-1. On the second pitch Scorsese misses high and overblown with “The Aviator,” 1-1. He intimidates Fitz with chin music on the third pitch, with “Taxi Driver.” Fitz is shaking. Scorsese hasn’t let him take his bat off his shoulder. 2-1. Fitz unloads on “Bringing out the Dead,” just murders it, but it hooks foul. Dead ball. 2-2. Fitz bounces in the batters box, Scorsese wipes his glasses on his shirt. Scorsese winds up and spins a side-armed curve ball. Fitzgerald lunges early and misses horribly. “The Departed.”
Welcome to Man Crush Baseball. E-mail me if you want to be involved, have a man crush suggestion, a rule suggestion or anything:
-Zack Teibloom
Teibs84@gmail.com
Why Man Crush Baseball?
t’s not a gay thing. It’s a respect thing. It’s an “I see what you’re doing and I like it” thing. It’s a man crush. I have a lot of them. I scream when Jack White sings. I don’t look away when Jason exposes his Segel in “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.” I shake my head side to side when I listen to Paul McCartney. I was Dan Marino for Halloween seven years in a row. These man-crushes define us.
You find yourself wanting to be him. Or be with him. Either way, it’s a totally heterosexual attraction. So what if I get goosebumps every time Andy Samburg looks straight into the camera on SNL? Who cares if if I got teary eyed during “The Wrestler” when Mickey Rourke aka Randy “The Ram” dropped the Ram Jam on the Ayatollah. And why does it matter if I still wear my Michael Jordan basketball camp t-shirt from 6th grade? Man crushes can make you do some crazy things.
Urban Dictionary defines the man-crush as “A man having extreme admiration for another man, as though he wants to be him” or “When a straight man has a “crush” on another man, not sexual but kind of idolizing him.”These are our idols. These are our man crushes.
The active Man Crush Baseball league roster
Here’s the initial group of Man Crushes we came up with. Give it a once over and tell us who we’re missing. Who are you “mushing” on that we failed to mention?
Players must be active in their category and real life people. No Muppets, retired legends or anime. We’ll have a wing in the hall of fame for that.
Musicians
- Paul McCartney SP
- Neil Young SP
- Dave Grohl SP
- Bob Dylan SP
- Lil’ Wayne SP
- Jay-Z SP
- Anthony Kiedis SP
- Kanye West SP
- Thom Yorke 2B
- Jack White 3B
- Beck SS
- Justin Timberlake 2B
- Andrew Bird 2B
- Dave Matthews LF/RF
- Girl Talk CF
NFL
- Tom Brady SP
- Peyton Manning SP
- Jay Cutler SP
- Peyton Manning SP
- Eli Manning SP
- Drew Brees SP
- Matt Ryan SP
- Tony Romo SP
- Michael Turner SS
- Adrian Peterson 2B/3B
- Brian Westbrook SS
- Brian Urlacher C
- Chris Johson 2B
- Marion Barber 2B
- Clinton Portis SS
- Jason Taylor LF/RF
- Randy Moss LF/RF
- Troy Polamalu CF
- Devin Hester CF
- Hines Ward LF/RF
- Larry Fitzgerald LF
NBA
- Lebron James LF/RF
- Dwayne Wade LF/RF
- Chris Paul CF
- Kobe Bryant LF/RF
- Kevin Durant LF/RF
- Dwight Howard DH
- Carmelo Anthony LF/RF
- Brandon Roy SS
- Steve Nash SS
- Rajon Rondo SS
- Ray Allen LF/RF
- Paul Pierce LF/RF
- Shaq DH
- Yao Ming DH
- Tim Duncan DH
Actors/Directors
- Robert Downey Jr. LF/CF
- Jason Bateman LF/CF
- George Clooney RP
- Brad Pitt 2B/SS
- Hugh Jackman LF
- Jake Gyllenhaal SS
- Paul Rudd SS
- Andy Samberg CF
- Brad Pitt 2B/SS
- Jason Statham SS
- Daniel Craig LF/RF
- Jon Hamm SS
- Paul Rudd SS
- Tom Hanks RP
- Quentin Tarrantino RP
- Bill Murray RP
- Jason Bateman LF/RF
- Orlando Bloom LF/RF
- Jason Segel 1B
- Kiefer Sutherland 2B/SS/3B
- Steve Carrell 2B
- Wes Anderson 3B
- Steven Colbert 2B
- John Stewart 2B
- Zach Galifianakis C
- Seth Rogen C
- Will Ferrell DH
- Bill Hader SS
- Mickey Rourke DH
- Tracy Morgan DH
MLB
- A-Rod SS
- Albert Pujols 1B
- Evan Longoria 3B
- Brandon Webb SP
- Tim Lincecum SP
- David Price SP
- John Papelbon RP
- K-Rod RP
- Roy Halliday SP
- CC Sabathia SP
- Mariano Rivera RP
- Hanley Ramirez SS
- Derek Jeter SS
- Chase Utley 2B
- Chipper Jones 3B
- Kevin Youkilis 1B/3B
- Carlos Quentin LF
- BJ Upton CF
- Manny Ramirez LF
- Carlos Beltran CF
- Alfonso Soriano LF
- Ichiro CF
- Ryan Braun LF/RF
Olympics/Individual Sports
- Tiger Woods SP
- Michael Phelps SP
- Usain Bolt Pinch Runner
- Lance Armstrong SP
- Andy Roddick SP
- Rafael Nadal SP
- Roger Federer SP
Other
- Barack Obama RP
- Rahm Emanual RP
The categories we’ve pulled from so far are: Actors and directors in TV and film and MLB, NBA and NFL, Olympic/Individual Sports and others. If you would like to see another category, let us know. Happy Man Crushing.
Zack and Matt's Original Man Crush Teams
Zack’s original man crush team:
Line-up:
1. Paul McCartney SP- The best songwriter of all time is the headliner of headliners this festival season.
2. Girl Talk CF The mash-up master gets the ladies in a frenzy like no other. Can you say spillover?
3. Lebron James RF How can you not admire King James. I took him with the #1 pick in fantasy and he’s done nothing but amaze me.
4. Larry Fitzgerald-LF You saw the playoffs this year, right? It’s only natural that L.F. plays left field. Imagine the home runs he’d rob.
5. Jack White 3B I’ve gone so far as to call him the most bad-ass rock star of the 21st century. I was given a framed picture of him by my blog partner. Sometimes I pet it.
6. Jason Segel- 1B He’s been on three of the best sitcoms of the last decade and a handful of brilliant comedies. When we talked, he told me I had an awesome outgoing voicemail message. You do the math.
7. Beck 2B I’ve been mushing on him since “Loser” and he’s been prolific ever since.
8. Paul Rudd SS- Clueless. Wet Hot American Summer. Stella. Knocked Up. 40 Year-old Virgin. Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Role Models. Friends. “I Love You, Man.” Had enough?
9. Seth Rogen C- No one laughs at their own jokes as much as he does. Except me. He’s far funnier.
Starting Pitchers:
Paul McCartney See: The Beatles
Dave Grohl I didn’t know what a frontman was capable of until I saw him w/ Foo Fighters at ACL.
Jay-Z All he’s done since “retiring” is drop my favorite rap song of the decade “Roc Boys (And the winner is…)
Neil Young: The
Long relief: Michael Phelps The night he won the 8th gold in the Olympics, but could not have been less suave on every talk show after. The bong pic made him human enough to keep around for long relief. You know he has the stamina.
Closer: Barack Obama- Who else would you want with the game on the line?
Tooch’s original man crush team:
1. Derrick Rose CF - Quickly rising to the top and asserting himself as the premier rookie man crush.
2. Andy Samburg SS - A young player with an amazing amount of potential. I just ate a grape and…oh god, here we go again. Not to mention the double plays he’ll turn with Timberlake.
3. Michael Jordan RF - The ultimate. We all grew up loving him and we still do.
4. Carlos Quentin LF - The best slugger in all of Chi-town
5. Mickey Rourke 1B - His stats have skyrocketed following “The Wrestler” and “Sin City.”
6. Will Ferrell DH - The king of comedy for the Judd Apatow generation.
7. Justin Timberlake 2B - Sure his solo stuff has been fantastic. But he had me at “Bye Bye Bye”.
8. Steve Carrell 3B - Still the big attraction for Thursday night TV, though his movies have brought things down a bit.
9. Ringo Starr C - Value has dropped a bit since demise of the Beatles, but “Shining Time Station” upped the ante.
Bench: Harrison Ford-3B, Eric Clapton-1B, Bret “The Hitman” Hart-DH, Jonah Hill-C, Tracy Morgan-RF, Brody Jenner-SS
Starting Pitchers:
Jay Cutler - Residents of the Windy City could not be happier with this gun slinging, long-banged quarterback.
Bill Murray - I don’t care how old he gets, he’ll forever be a golf course groundskeeper and a Ghostbuster to me.
Barack Obama - Cannon for an arm and never needs a bailout.
Tim Lincecum - Off to a bit of a slow start this season, but this fireballer is one of the best young arms in MLB.
Relief Pitcher:
Bob Dylan - He’s the ageless wonder. He’s never blown a save in his entire career and he never tires out. He’s relied on herbal medication to help prolong his career.
