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Bernie Kosar reacts to LeBron James deserting Cleveland Fans


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http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/blog/index....browns_qua.html

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio - It was more than 12 hours since Bernie Kosar watched "The Decision," and his voice still cracked as he fought off the tears talking about LeBron James leaving the Cavs for the Miami Heat.

 

"It brought back all the memories," said the former Browns quarterback. "I saw the ball on the ground from The Fumble, the catch in the end zone at the end of The Drive... I even felt some of the same things that I felt when the Browns moved."

 

But most of all, Kosar felt for Cleveland sports fans - because he is one of them.

 

"I had this sick sense inside, like when I was cut [by the Browns in 1993]," said Kosar. "All the old emotions came back, watching LeBron."

 

A native of Youngstown who wanted to play for the Browns and helped the team make that happen when he entered the college draft, Kosar finds it hard to believe James would leave the Cavs.

 

"He's from here [Akron]," said Kosar. "I really thought that as an athlete, your ultimate goal would be to win a title for your hometown team. That's what drove me when I was with the Browns. I wanted to finish what I started."

 

It never happened, as Browns fans know ...

 

"The Drive, The Fumble ..." said Kosar, his voice trailing off.

 

He thought about James being only 25, how he had plenty of time to re-sign with the Cavs and keep pushing for that title.

 

"I felt for [Cavs owner] Dan Gilbert watching that show," said Kosar. "I think of all the money that he spent – he tried to win at all cost for the Cavs fans, the town and LeBron. Then to see LeBron was even willing to take less money and help Miami's salary cap – that had to hurt."

 

Kosar admitted being a bit surprised by the harsh tone of Gilbert's letter criticizing James, but he understood it – and appreciated Gilbert's passion.

 

"I like an owner who cares, and Dan really cares," said Kosar. "I think he wants us to know that he won't quit, despite what happened with LeBron. It's time for all of us in this town to rally around each other and our teams."

 

What about James?

 

"I'm disappointed by this," he said. "I would have loved to sit down and talk to him. I tried at times, but I was never able to get to him. He has a lot of people around him."

 

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http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/blog/index....browns_qua.html

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio - It was more than 12 hours since Bernie Kosar watched "The Decision," and his voice still cracked as he fought off the tears talking about LeBron James leaving the Cavs for the Miami Heat.

 

"It brought back all the memories," said the former Browns quarterback. "I saw the ball on the ground from The Fumble, the catch in the end zone at the end of The Drive... I even felt some of the same things that I felt when the Browns moved."

 

But most of all, Kosar felt for Cleveland sports fans - because he is one of them.

 

"I had this sick sense inside, like when I was cut [by the Browns in 1993]," said Kosar. "All the old emotions came back, watching LeBron."

 

A native of Youngstown who wanted to play for the Browns and helped the team make that happen when he entered the college draft, Kosar finds it hard to believe James would leave the Cavs.

 

"He's from here [Akron]," said Kosar. "I really thought that as an athlete, your ultimate goal would be to win a title for your hometown team. That's what drove me when I was with the Browns. I wanted to finish what I started."

 

It never happened, as Browns fans know ...

 

"The Drive, The Fumble ..." said Kosar, his voice trailing off.

 

He thought about James being only 25, how he had plenty of time to re-sign with the Cavs and keep pushing for that title.

 

"I felt for [Cavs owner] Dan Gilbert watching that show," said Kosar. "I think of all the money that he spent – he tried to win at all cost for the Cavs fans, the town and LeBron. Then to see LeBron was even willing to take less money and help Miami's salary cap – that had to hurt."

 

Kosar admitted being a bit surprised by the harsh tone of Gilbert's letter criticizing James, but he understood it – and appreciated Gilbert's passion.

 

"I like an owner who cares, and Dan really cares," said Kosar. "I think he wants us to know that he won't quit, despite what happened with LeBron. It's time for all of us in this town to rally around each other and our teams."

 

What about James?

 

"I'm disappointed by this," he said. "I would have loved to sit down and talk to him. I tried at times, but I was never able to get to him. He has a lot of people around him."

I must admit I felt badly for you guys ... Its like endless Agony. I DO hope it continues through the Football season though , sorry , LOL . But would I would LOVE to see you guys somehow put a team together on the Hardwood to Stun LeBron and his all star henchmen. Go Cavs... Good luck it will be needed.

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I must admit I felt badly for you guys ... Its like endless Agony. I DO hope it continues through the Football season though , sorry , LOL . But would I would LOVE to see you guys somehow put a team together on the Hardwood to Stun LeBron and his all star henchmen. Go Cavs... Good luck it will be needed.

 

Why would you want us to suck, you need us to be good. Let's face it, you cannot go without the Browns.

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http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/blog/index....browns_qua.html

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio - It was more than 12 hours since Bernie Kosar watched "The Decision," and his voice still cracked as he fought off the tears talking about LeBron James leaving the Cavs for the Miami Heat.

 

"It brought back all the memories," said the former Browns quarterback. "I saw the ball on the ground from The Fumble, the catch in the end zone at the end of The Drive... I even felt some of the same things that I felt when the Browns moved."

 

But most of all, Kosar felt for Cleveland sports fans - because he is one of them.

 

"I had this sick sense inside, like when I was cut [by the Browns in 1993]," said Kosar. "All the old emotions came back, watching LeBron."

 

A native of Youngstown who wanted to play for the Browns and helped the team make that happen when he entered the college draft, Kosar finds it hard to believe James would leave the Cavs.

 

"He's from here [Akron]," said Kosar. "I really thought that as an athlete, your ultimate goal would be to win a title for your hometown team. That's what drove me when I was with the Browns. I wanted to finish what I started."

 

It never happened, as Browns fans know ...

 

"The Drive, The Fumble ..." said Kosar, his voice trailing off.

 

He thought about James being only 25, how he had plenty of time to re-sign with the Cavs and keep pushing for that title.

 

"I felt for [Cavs owner] Dan Gilbert watching that show," said Kosar. "I think of all the money that he spent – he tried to win at all cost for the Cavs fans, the town and LeBron. Then to see LeBron was even willing to take less money and help Miami's salary cap – that had to hurt."

 

Kosar admitted being a bit surprised by the harsh tone of Gilbert's letter criticizing James, but he understood it – and appreciated Gilbert's passion.

 

"I like an owner who cares, and Dan really cares," said Kosar. "I think he wants us to know that he won't quit, despite what happened with LeBron. It's time for all of us in this town to rally around each other and our teams."

 

What about James?

 

"I'm disappointed by this," he said. "I would have loved to sit down and talk to him. I tried at times, but I was never able to get to him. He has a lot of people around him."

 

Great statement by Bernie, I always knew where his heart was......and I now know where LeBron's heart is at the bottom of the piss well

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this is a perfect example of how a hometown hero should be. you gotta love guys like bernie! and props to wknr and wtam for their extensive coverage of this whole situation. those 2 stations basically went 24 hour cleveland sports talk so us fans could express our anger and dissapointment.

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Sigh, I really miss satelite tv and even more so do i miss STO. What was said on All Bet's Are Off?? I would love to know. Love ya Bernie!!

 

abao doesn't come on friday and saturday so we won't know what bruce has to say about letraitor till this evening.

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Sigh, I really miss satelite tv and even more so do i miss STO. What was said on All Bet's Are Off?? I would love to know. Love ya Bernie!!

 

living in ny is tough especially when f.ucked up shit like this happens. all i've got is the internet. believe me venting onto a laptop is nothing like sitting amongst 50 other people who have the same beliefs as you, having a couple of drinks and screaming vulgarities at the top of your lungs. man i need to get back home. ho hum. :wacko:

 

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living in ny is tough especially when f.ucked up shit like this happens. all i've got is the internet. believe me venting onto a laptop is nothing like sitting amongst 50 other people who have the same beliefs as you, having a couple of drinks and screaming vulgarities at the top of your lungs. man i need to get back home. ho hum. :wacko:

 

 

well, then head home! Were waiting on ya!

plus, you'll be closer to the stadium of believeland!

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Sigh, I really miss satelite tv and even more so do i miss STO. What was said on All Bet's Are Off?? I would love to know. Love ya Bernie!!

 

drennan was on last nite. he pretty much had the same criticisms that everybody else had about letraitor. he was visibly upset with the whole debacle. on a number of occasions he refferred to lebron as a piece of dirt and refferred to the "decision" as the betrayal.

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cavs fans boo lebron for missing a free throw and then cry when he leaves. It's only basketball though so screw it, it's not even a good filler sport for football off season. Burning jerseys and shit, lol so childish.

 

only a small amount of cavs fans booed him for missing freethrows. cavs fans had a right to be upset, but some of them took it too far. we do need to move on and not let the decision of one man become so important to us. he's gone and that's that.

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I find it comical that people really think an elite player leaving their town is a traitor but yet an elite player coming to their town is just fine (keep in mind that player left his previous town to come to your town).

 

The bottom line is that no matter where LeBron plays/lives his life will be the same/similar. He will make tens of millions, he will have a $20M home, he will have all his ho's and entourage, and he will own the town from an NBA perspective..........so whats the motivation to leave Cleveland?..................He wants to win it all and that won't happen in Cleveland.

 

 

hold on. what's that???? did someone hear something??? yeah me neither.

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I find it comical that people really think an elite player leaving their town is a traitor but yet an elite player coming to their town is just fine (keep in mind that player left his previous town to come to your town).

 

The bottom line is that no matter where LeBron plays/lives his life will be the same/similar. He will make tens of millions, he will have a $20M home, he will have all his ho's and entourage, and he will own the town from an NBA perspective..........so whats the motivation to leave Cleveland?..................He wants to win it all and that won't happen in Cleveland.

 

 

Really?

You mean if like the Taliban offered you more money than whatever you make here you'd take it? :ph34r:

 

Anyway he was a scumbag by all accounts around here in the Akron area and sure he has the right to do what's best for himself.

He was a asshole about ti and deserves whatever ill treatment he gets.

 

Why should the fans owe the arrogant prick respect?

 

WSS

 

 

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cavs fans boo lebron for missing a free throw and then cry when he leaves. It's only basketball though so screw it, it's not even a good filler sport for football off season. Burning jerseys and shit, lol so childish.

 

 

Oh look, it's a Barfing hard dude. No wonder he is defending Letraitor!

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I find it comical that people really think an elite player leaving their town is a traitor but yet an elite player coming to their town is just fine (keep in mind that player left his previous town to come to your town).

 

 

 

What elite player drafted by his hometown team, left for less money to play in another city.

 

I bet you cant name 1

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I find it comical that people really think an elite player leaving their town is a traitor but yet an elite player coming to their town is just fine (keep in mind that player left his previous town to come to your town).

 

The bottom line is that no matter where LeBron plays/lives his life will be the same/similar. He will make tens of millions, he will have a $20M home, he will have all his ho's and entourage, and he will own the town from an NBA perspective..........so whats the motivation to leave Cleveland?..................He wants to win it all and that won't happen in Cleveland.

 

Stone, here's the difference. It's extremely rare (I'll let others look it up) for a player in any sport of LeBron's caliber to play in the area they grew up in. Kosar is absolutely right when he said "I thought it was every kid's dream to play for the hometown team." How'd you feel if Crosby was from Pittsburgh and did an infomercial on ESPN to say he was playing for another team? I can guarantee you this- if LeBron was from California there wouldn't have been 1\2 the backlash he's getting.

 

As to not winning it all- how do you know that for certain? It will come out eventually that the Cavs were trying mightily to get LeBum's good pal (and perfect compliment) Chris Paul into a Cavs uniform- it didn't work out.

 

There's a couple of links to excellent articles over on the Cavs Forum (That I won't repost here) it wasn't the Cavs that failed LeBron- LeBron's afraid if he doesn't win a lot of Championships NOW he's blowing his chance to be The GREATEST Ever. The guy finally let his ego get out of control, he's not just bigger than the Cavs and NE Ohio, he's bigger than the NBA. LOL, if he stays with the Heat, Wade will always have one more ring than he does. Gilbert's tirade was spot on, and expressed what a lot of Cavs fans feel. Gilbert gave LeBron everything he asked for- Shaq, Jamison, put the team in cap hell- and then LeQuit walks away from the mess HE helped create. Seems no amount of a$$ kissing was going to be enough to keep LBJ happy in Cleveland. We should have seen the warning signs- the Yankees and Cowboys caps that scream FRAK- the jersey # change- can't wear #23 in Chicago! The quit in the Boston series- LeBron's stuck here if the Cavs win the NBA title. You wonder if deep down, the guy really wanted to be here in the first place. What's more- there's going to be a lot of not so pretty stuff coming out about LeBron- like his habit of putting a twenty down on a $2,000 tab- or just stiffing checks entirely, (you should be honored by my mere presence in your establishment) and why he didn't go to the Bulls (a much better bet, especially with Boozer on board) to win the NBA title next season. Answer: Reinsdorf wouldn't let LeBron's Posse ride on the team plane, and give his buds cush do-nothing jobs in the front office.

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Come on......you don't really believe that "less money" thing do you?

 

Besides, the entire idea of Bernie chastising someone else is a joke. I'm gonna go out on a limb and bet that LeBron won't end up a broke drunk with little or nothing to show for his professional career.

 

Much less money, around 20 mill from the contract and he's going to have to share the marketing down there with Bosh and Wade.

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Bernie should have called Troy Aikman and had him set up a meeting with LeBron. After all, as an Akron native and Cowboys, Bulls and Yankees fan, maybe LeBron would have listened.

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Why would you want us to suck, you need us to be good. Let's face it, you cannot go without the Browns.

dont really want your squad to suck ...just vs. The Steelers...lol. HOWEVER... a couple yrs of Success and Ya ... I will want your guys to suck. Because you all will be Unbearable. hmmmm.... perhaps that is how you feel about us.

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I find it comical that people really think an elite player leaving their town is a traitor but yet an elite player coming to their town is just fine (keep in mind that player left his previous town to come to your town).

 

The bottom line is that no matter where LeBron plays/lives his life will be the same/similar. He will make tens of millions, he will have a $20M home, he will have all his ho's and entourage, and he will own the town from an NBA perspective..........so whats the motivation to leave Cleveland?..................He wants to win it all and that won't happen in Cleveland.

Here is the Difference , LBJ is a Native ... i totally understand the Hurt felt by Cavs Fans. And LBJ was just totally Cold Blooded the way he went a bout it.

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Good reply and I agree with a lot of it.

 

A couple points.....history is what says he couldn't win it all in Cleveland, that and an organization in turmoil after last season. History said the JORDAN Couldnt win in Chicage

 

There's no question LeBron is a major a$$hat.............so why all the tears over his departure? Come on Stoney he was thought of as Family by Many many Cavs fans Hometown Connection

 

There's also no question that Gilbert is as dumb as dirt.......no matter if 100% of every word he said is true he is flat out stupid for saying it and even stupider for the way he said it. What big name player will want to play under Gilbert after that? Gilbert sounds like a jilted teenager.......he bends over backwards to keep LeBron, makes a huge issue out of how hard they tried to keep him, and then when they lose him he comes out and tells the world what an a$$hat LeBron is. It's like the cute high school girl who dumps the guy......he begs and stalks her, makes an a$$ of himself and when she finally tells him to hit the road he tells everybody how big of a beeyocth she was. Gilbert Screwed up... No Doubt Shoulda kept that Crap to the Cavs Board room.

As far as the home town aspect...........it's non-existant.....this is a job.....it's a business.

 

 

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I find it comical that people really think an elite player leaving their town is a traitor but yet an elite player coming to their town is just fine (keep in mind that player left his previous town to come to your town).

 

The bottom line is that no matter where LeBron plays/lives his life will be the same/similar. He will make tens of millions, he will have a $20M home, he will have all his ho's and entourage, and he will own the town from an NBA perspective..........so whats the motivation to leave Cleveland?..................He wants to win it all and that won't happen in Cleveland.

 

 

It didn't happen here because he just simply wasn't quite good enough apparently. They were certainly good enough in the regular season given they had the best record the last two seasons, and home court advantage throughout. The problem was he just didn't step up enough to take control and win and bring a title here....despite having the tools around him to do so Yep, that's right. He had plenty of the tools necessary to win a title. He just didn't bring it home, because, in reality, he really didn't like to being the leader on his team. He wasn't comfortable with the yoke around his neck, and he will actually be quite happy to defer to Duane Wade as the Alpha Dog on that team.

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Good reply and I agree with a lot of it.

 

A couple points.....history is what says he couldn't win it all in Cleveland, that and an organization in turmoil after last season.

 

There's no question LeBron is a major a$$hat.............so why all the tears over his departure?

 

There's also no question that Gilbert is as dumb as dirt.......no matter if 100% of every word he said is true he is flat out stupid for saying it and even stupider for the way he said it. What big name player will want to play under Gilbert after that? Gilbert sounds like a jilted teenager.......he bends over backwards to keep LeBron, makes a huge issue out of how hard they tried to keep him, and then when they lose him he comes out and tells the world what an a$$hat LeBron is. It's like the cute high school girl who dumps the guy......he begs and stalks her, makes an a$$ of himself and when she finally tells him to hit the road he tells everybody how big of a beeyocth she was.

 

As far as the home town aspect...........it's non-existant.....this is a job.....it's a business.

 

A couple of points on your points: the organization wasn't in "turmoil". It simply made changes. Perhaps changes for the better in fact. Chris Grant may have been an improvement over Danny Ferry (that remains to be seen, but its by all means possible). Byron Scott is pretty univerally held in respect as a coach...moreso than Mike Brown was. And the only "turmoil" about the team had to do with the actions of LeBron. Everything was done by the team to placate him and try to satisfy HIM, so yea, there is some resentment about his "Betrayal".

As for Gilbert: he is now a folk hero amongst nearly all fans everywhere...and amongst many or most major league sports franchise owners.

As for the home town aspect.....we take pride in our home town, we have enthusiasm for our home town, we defend out home town just like we do our country. Maybe that is why you have so much trouble understanding us. Maybe you come from a place where they have no pride, enthusiasm or support for your areas. You can take a job, or you can shove a job. You can take a business, or you can shut it down. That doesn't change our loyalties.

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