Windy's most depressing article yet

[JSS2306]

I wouldn't disagree with what your saying. It was just a poorly formed article based on - at best - a flimsy foundation. It's like he was sitting around his house and this idea happened to come across his mind and he wrote something without truly analyzing it.

The bottom line is people are leaving Ohio because they can't find consistent work. That is not the case with Windhorst and it's not the case with LeBron. Windhorst had steady work - he left to make his mark on the big stage of ESPN. Nothing wrong with that, it's just not the same as the other 99% of the people who have fled Ohio for better economic conditions.

James situation obviously isn't remotely close to any other native Ohioans. Thus, it really does appear as if Windhorst is making attempts to humanize James and justify his actions. Again, he needs to stick to why writing about the Heat and James' posse and leave it at that.

I too left NE Ohio for work. Now reside in VA.

I met someone special but also found that there is plenty more well paid jobs. I don't make 100k or anything... but after finishing school I found it nearly impossible to find a job in the blue collar trade that I was pursuing without experience in Cleveland.

With that said, I would love to live closer to my father and still make ends meet in Cleveland but I simply could not.

I do however run long distance and I find myself listening to Phil Collins for the first 2k before a Heat game and Oasis the last 3k imagining I just hit a huge jumper in LBJ's face while Cleveland storms the court and hoist me on their shoulders.

So for any over weights in Cleveland this is your motive to get out and get active.

Sponsored by LeBron Dick Riding Haters of America and JonFromVA.

 

[johnny]

Well as long as Windy is talking about fleeing to Miami for job opportunities, if you're bored check out http://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.us.htm. Look at the national unemployment rate compared to Ohio, Cleveland, and Akron and then compare it to Florida and Miami's. I'm too lazy to post the stats myself.

Not saying everything is peachy here, but the Cleveland area has been showing some signs of stronger economic recovery than much of the rest of the nation. The future is foggy here, but Cleveland will still be my first choice after graduating college and looking for a job.

 

[Mr. Orange]

Look, if you have an inferiority complex and need to be "sucessful" by living in New York/Miami/Chicago, that is fine. To each his own, but why shit on Ohio? Does that help you feel better about yourself? We are raised on TV and shoveled shit from marketing executives who program us to feel inferior and fill that void by consuming. It looks like it is working.

You can't move away from yourself. Remember that LeBron you asshole.

but for the record, I hate the winters in Cleveland. Also lived in Cbus in college and fucking hated the Cbus summer. I am not sure which is worse. I chose the shitty winters and summer on the lake over mild winters and mind-numbing summer on the Sciota . Oh and getting away from all the fucking hicks in Columbus... :chuckles:

Edit: I realize I just shit on Cbus. Sorry Cbus. There are plenty of hicks in Cleveland too. But our poor outnumber our hicks, so it's not as blatant of a problem here.

 

[BuddyCowley]

Got about three posts into the thread, and didn't even look at the article, then realized that I don't give a shit what people have to say about LeBron, or that chump Windy.

Context doesn't make a difference.

 

[Surge]

I too left Ohio, mainly due to meeting my wife here, and job opportunities. I wish with all my heart that I had my job and my house in Ohio. I just took my wife and 6 year old up to my parents place for a week around Memorial Day and they love it there. (She was raised here in Fla)

There is nothing wrong with Ohio, and to keep trying to shit on it shows extreme ingorance. I will always love Ohio, and will most likely be returning there someday.

Fuck you cold cut. Fuck you...

 

[abraxas]

Someone give this guy a cheeseburger.

Was this a "Randy" and Mr. Leahy reference? Classic....

Here's my take on the article. Had this been merely half of the story, it could've been a compelling article. The other half unwritten is not just some simple guy from Akron, but as he referenced, a local hero like none ever before. Lebron ran from a destiny that was sitting right in front of him, that would've lead to both his purported accomplishments of winning championships and his more likely authentic accomplishments of becoming the reigning global icon he's always dreamed of being. No matter what happens in his career I do believe his legacy is tainted by this decision. Windy chooses to compare him to regular schmoes like us who can't get into a private plane and fly to Miami or Vegas for a night a couple times a week, and who get anything we want from our employers including making sure all our friends and families are taken care of for life. There's really so much more of course - but the final thing that is missing here is that not only did he turn his back on his destiny for forever heroship in Ohio, he did it by embarrassing us in front of the world and treating us with complete disrespect.

Windy leaves all that out. He might try and compare my time as a busser at a cafe when I was 20 in Cleveland and being sick of my job and just deciding not to show up anymore and eventually leaving town for a new crappy job elsewhere...yeah, I'm sure they really were pissed, for about 5 minutes until they picked up the application of some other schmoe...but it completely misses the point. Windy even remotely comparing himself to Lebron is just embarrassing.

I don't know about you all, but I don't live in Ohio anymore - but if I could've been offered the chance to do what Lebron was in the position to do, I would've made every effort to do it. Lebron didn't do it, there's no rationalizing that.

 

[tedginnjr]

This thread is an embarassment...

No, LeBron didn't leave for money, he left because it was better for his career... two very different things. It's hard to argue that he does NOT have a better chance at winning championships in Miami... which in the NBA is synonomous with career success. All of this is clear in the article.

Just because you can make a living in Cleveland doesn't mean it's the best career decision. People can find finance jobs in Cleveland, but if they want to go the best place for their career they'll head to New York. I know many people that have moved to Philadelphia for the same reason in the medical field.

Not defending James' decision, but sometimes making a career move isn't for money. This wouldn't be the first tme someone took a paycut for a less stressful job.

 

[MDLT]

This thread is an embarassment...

No, LeBron didn't leave for money, he left because it was better for his career... two very different things. It's hard to argue that he does NOT have a better chance at winning championships in Miami... which in the NBA is synonomous with career success. All of this is clear in the article.

Just because you can make a living in Cleveland doesn't mean it's the best career decision. People can find finance jobs in Cleveland, but if they want to go the best place for their career they'll head to New York. I know many people that have moved to Philadelphia for the same reason in the medical field.

Not defending James' decision, but sometimes making a career move isn't for money. This wouldn't be the first tme someone took a paycut for a less stressful job.

But people are leaving Cleveland/Ohio because of the lack of jobs and the ability to earn more income elsewhere. There's all kinds of interactive maps and studies out there regarding migration within the U.S. that points to people fleeing particular cities directly due to the lack of jobs and poor income - it's all about the money. That's where the analogy doesn't work.

Now, Windy might have argued that people like he and LeBron will often travel to bigger markets to reach the pinnacle of their profession, but that's not what he discusses and if that was his attempt, it was very poorly developed. I've taught a couple undergraduate courses, and if someone submitted this as an essay, as a bottom line I would say it needs more background and supporting information. Simply not a good enough analysis. Fortunately for Windhorst, he only had to submit to the Washington Post.

 

[Lyst]

What a piece of shit. Wish I didn't read this junk.

Just because you had to grow up in Akron doesn't mean you brand everywhere else in Ohio not fun to live in.

 

[PIP]

People just care far too much...

How this truly effects one's life is beyond me...

 

[JDeezy]

People just care far too much...

How this truly effects one's life is beyond me...

I was your 3,001st thanks.

 

[Jon]

I too left NE Ohio for work. Now reside in VA.

I had friends in Northern Virginia and a job offer plus I never much cared for the Ohio winters, so it was an easy choice; but I still enjoy returning and visiting the Cleveland area. And perhaps it's that last clause which is most relevant. IMO, the best things about Northeastern Ohio have little to do with the city of Cleveland itself - it's just that we chunk it all together.

 

[brownindian]

If only Windy wrote this article as a political case to convince Ohios to pressurize their Governors and law makers some more. I find it dumb that we have such high taxes even when we have a high unemployment rate. Also what do our lawmakers do when some one wants to open up a Casino Industry in Ohio ? Prevent its construction by not seeing eye to eye with the builders and the jobless.

Windy's article is a lame one - but it does indicate that there is a serious problem with Ohio that needs to addressed. That will not solve the Cavs woes but it sure will help Ohioans.

 

[CavsFaninNJ]

It's just a lame attempt and trying to mix real life and entertainment. Lebron is a big time entertainer. That's it.

What did Michael Jackson have to do with the poor jobless people of Gary Indiana aside from being a sense of pride for them. Let's see you take pride to the bank.

That's all Lebron is.

I'm tired of people mixing sports and real life.

Like I said before, the realer angle is how Windhorst, a working man, left Ohio for a bigger market. Maybe he wanted to write the article about himself but obviously had to chose Lebron? lol. shrugs

 

[Montana]

Garbage article. People always forget that while Lebron jetted off to Miami to chill and coast to 8 easy championships, he left his children and their mother behind in (gasp!) Akron. So I guess not everybody leaves Ohio.

Article on Windhorst from November: http://www.tampabay.com/news/article1135241.ece

"We're not in Cleveland anymore," Brian said. He paused before finishing the thought. "I wish we were."

"I'd love to be able to talk to LeBron the way I did years ago," he said earlier this month in Miami. "But I haven't been able to be human beings with LeBron for about six years now.

Maybe Lebron started acknowledging his existence and treating him like a "human being" again, hence the positive articles. Or maybe ESPN stepped in and handed out some writing "guidelines."