Weekend Tube Review: Criticizing LeBron

↵While Friday’s action was rather enjoyable, it didn’t compare to the Sunday afternoon Game Seven battle between LeBron James and Paul Pierce. ABC’s team of Breen, Jackson, and Van Gundy did their best to not make themselves the story and let the action speak for itself as the two stars attempted to each will their team to victory. Mike Breen even had the right level of criticism for James in the end after the star missed two shots and a free throw in the waning moments. It’s always hard to find fault in someone who scored 45 points for your team, but as Breen correctly pointed out, “You can’t miss free throws at a time like this”:↵

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↵After a dominating performance from Big Brown on Saturday, NBC got exactly what it wanted: A Triple Crown attempt at the Belmont Stakes in early June. While NBC did an excellent job showing just how great Big Brown was with various camera angles, it was the pre-race debate between New York Times columnist Bill Rhoden and analyst Gary Stevens that was the broadcast’s highlight.
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↵Stevens raised issue with Rhoden’s comparison of Horse Racing to “Death Sports” such as Bull Fighting and Dog Fighting and the following exchange went down:
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↵“You can breed an animal to do anything. That’s different from any other thing, any human sport that we cover.”- William Rhoden
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↵“How can you compare Thoroughbred Horse Racing to Death Sports. Bull Fighting, you compared us to Greyhound Racing. I won’t even go there.”- Gary Stevens
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↵“Tell me why it’s not!”- William Rhoden
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↵“Dog Fighting. We’re breeding to kill? We’re breeding to kill?! No.”- Gary Stevens
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↵“This industry, Gary, is dangerously close. It’s in that cathedral. It’s dangerously close.”- William Rhoden
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↵“You are wrong sir!”- Gary Stevens
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↵Both bring up great points in the argument and these days it’s all about perception. I can see how Horse Racing is approaching that “cathedral” in some people’s eyes, and while I don’t necessarily agree with Rhoden, it’s definitely an issue. The group went on to brainstorm a few ideas on what needed to change including a horse age limit, banning drugs, surface changes and whip banning.
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↵“I’m looking for an amen from my deacon over here.”- Mark Jackson
↵“You were, like, in a monologue I was just letting you go.”- Jeff Van Gundy
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↵“Adam Dunn is so strong he blows bubbles with beef jerky. He crushed that ball.”- Chip Caray
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↵“He’s sticking his landing like a great gymnast.”- Jeff Van Gundy
↵“What do you know about gymnastics?”- Mark Jackson
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↵“Whatcha gonna do when the ball is swung to you?!”- Mark Jackson doing his best Hulk Hogan
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↵“You know what I like about that, he ran around the bases.”- Joe Morgan
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↵Here’s a stunning double knockout during an MMA fight on Friday night in Indianapolis:↵

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