593 words about how little I care about Johnny Manziel

All the camo hats and lewd bumper stickers you could ask for.

If you've never actually seen or been inside a Flying J, I'll try and describe it for you. It's basically like as if every FW: FW: FW: FW: FW: email your grandma has ever sent somehow came to life and opened a gas station. They're not just gas stations though they're also trucking hubs with showers, food, and all that shit. They feature the finest garments and entertainment a roadside gas station can have. Growing up in central Ohio there was one on the way to basically anywhere so naturally I might have stopped at it once or twice. It wasn't until many years later I realized the error in my ways, that I might now be paying Johnny Manziel's paycheck. I could go for one of those showers now. This has nothing to do with anything really except that I didn't learn until shamefully late in my life that the Browns owner Jimmy Haslam owns these things.

This NFL off-season has been a race to see who can not care about Manziel the most as well as who can be the most tired of all the coverage. Literally every time the guy does anything you can bet the next day will feature podcast after podcast of first, everyone saying how sick they are of him followed by two hours of explaining every detail of what he did wrong and what he should have done differently. We are reaching truly meta-levels of tiredness now, as I'm writing about how I'm sick of hearing everyone else write about how they're tired of Johhny Manziel. Cool.

The latest thing that happened that no one cares about and yet everyone cares about was when owner Jimmy Haslam spoke that the Browns expect more out of Manizel. Paraphrasing it he said he(Manziel) admitted he made mistakes and that the Browns are excited to see what he can do on the field. Pardon, my scoff but isn't Haslam that last person who should be criticizing someone for their actions off the field. Is he not the person whose very company has been under investigation for fraud with several guilty please already entered? I mean I get the two aren't really that comparable but it just doesn't sit well with me.

At any rate Manziel has been consistent in his right to party saying, again I'm paraphrasing: I'm 21 if I want to have a night life I can, if I want to have my picture taken with rolled dolla billz I can, and if I want to party with the Biebs, I can. Sidenote: I still think it's hilarious that the partying with Justin Bieber is the worst thing Manziel has done this off-season. Not even the suspected drug abuse got people this riled up. Do whatever the fuck you want but for God-sakes don't hang out with Bieber.

What every single person in the world is waiting for is for football season to start though I can't help but wonder why people think this will take away the focus on Manziel. If anything it's going to heat up. If Hoyer does bad there will be unbelievable pressure to start Manziel. Then, if Manziel does bad everyone will blame Bieber and his late-night shenanigans. The Browns should have known the circus they were inviting to town when they drafted him which makes their perceived surprise about all of this even more unbelievable. Not even the return of Lebron can take all the focus off of Manziel. I think his return covered him up for about two weeks.

Lebron goes back to Cleveland

Like a lot of people I'm a big softie for sentimentalism and the idea that some day Lebron would go back to Cleveland to right the wrong and bring a city that's been dying for winning in any sport a title or two was an idea I've been in love with for a long time.

From the moment the Spurs destroyed the Heat last month there has been non-stop speculation that Lebron was going to explore his options. Once he opted out of his contract that speculation was turned up to 11 on the dial. Was he opting out to get a better contract that would be more friendly to the Heat so they could get some help like Carmelo? Or was it because he was getting ready to return his talents to Cleveland. 

From a pure basketball angle Cleveland is actually a better choice than Miami right now. The Heat roster is aging and saddled with bad contracts specifically Wades'. Pat Riley is nothing if not loyal to his players, in this case to a fault. Cleveland on the other hand is young and improving. Kyrie Irving is a star set to become a superstar and with the now likely trade of Wiggins for Love that team could be very good. Oh and now they have Lebron. 

For his return to Cleveland, Lebron has decided to post a low key essay on his reasons rather than the brash press conference from 2010. In it he describes how Cleveland will always be his home, how he is at heart simply a guy from Northeast Ohio, and how ultimately he wants to help the kids there; To show them that there is no better place to be from. He wants to raise his kids in his hometown. I think Lebron is a genuinely good guy. The Decision was a mistake but he has owned that. Is he a bit arrogant, sure, but you can be when you're the best in the world at something.  It was never in doubt that Lebron would someday return but so soon I think has caught some people off guard. 

He briefly mentions Dan Gilbert saying that the two have worked out their problems, meeting as men. I'm interested in knowing more about that. What exactly was said between them? How did Gilbert apologize for his infamous letter? I hope these details come out over time. 

Lebron's return will set forth a domino effect and by the end of today we could see Bosh as a Rocket, Pau Gasol as a Spur and Carmelo... Likely still as a Knick. Speaking of which I'm sick of hearing people complain that Lebron waiting so long to do this was because he's selfish, that he owes other basketball players the right to know what he's going to do so they can make their own decisions. I don't know why he waited so long, maybe like Broussard said it's so Gilbert could properly make amends because of the letter. But the notion that Lebron owes others to make this decision quickly is garbage. Lebron is in business for himself and the only factor in what he does should be if it's best for him. The other players should make their decisions based on what's best for them. Bosh should have taken that deal from the Rockets the second they offered it instead of waiting around to see what Lebron will do. He will make way more money than he could with the Heat and plus his skills will be much better utilized there.

 Remember when Summer was the dead time for sports?

I'm happy for Lebron and Cleveland. Cleveland fans have suffered for decades between the Cavs and Browns. But now with Lebron back home and Manziel as quarterback Cleveland may still lose some but it will definitely not be boring.