Conversations with Marva

About This LeBron Situation…

Everyone that knows me knows how much I like LeBron James. I have watched his career ever since ESPN took to showing his high school basketball games on their channel. More than that, I have been a Cavs fan since the days of World B. Free. Put the two together, and I was in basketball heaven.

For the past seven years though, that heaven has had a cloud over it. No championships, no rings, no Black Mamba vs. The King games…my heart sank every year. Maybe this makes me a true Cleveland fan, as those of us who love them, watch them, root for them know the pain that we feel in our hearts when the team comes up empty. This year, however, the pain is a little different, a little deeper, a little more nerve-racking.

This year, in July specifically, LBJ will let the world know where he is going to spend the next years of his career. It doesn’t look good, Cavs fans…it doesn’t look good. Especially if you believe the story about one of his teammates smashing his moms.

Look, I’m not here to argue yes or no on that rumor…and it is still just a rumor. My heart says he will stay, but my head says he’s going away. And once again, there will be knife in my heart where pride and joy should be. Once again, Cleveland will lose.

I don’t live in the city, so I can’t attest to the atmosphere. I imagine that folks are walking around slowly, with their heads hanging down low, because they fear what is going to happen. I imagine a lot of cloudy days and rain, with an occasional strong wind that could possibly knock someone over.

That strong wind is LBJ. He can make or break this city with his decision. That is not such a good thing. No one should have that much invested in one person…but I understand. I understand the attachment, and I will feel heartbroken if LBJ decides to leave. But just as my love for Shaquille O’Neal has led me from Orlando to Los Angeles to Miami to Phoenix to Cleveland, I will eventually come around and root for the team he is on. Because you can’t ignore the talent and skill of LeBron James. Even if you hate him, you still have to admit that he’s pretty good.

I just want him to be pretty good in Cleveland.

If You Ask Me, I’m Ready…

I had almost given up on AKeys. When her last album came out, “The Element of Freedom,” I was so unsure about the direction she was going in, that I didn’t even give it a full listen. Bogus, I know…but there was something different about her, and it took me a while to warm up to the changes.

That is, until I heard Un-Thinkable (I’m Ready). From the first moments of the song, I was hooked. I’m all about tunes that take you someplace, and this song takes me to a moonlit beach with the wind blowing softly on my skin. It is sensuous; hell, it is sometimes downright lustful. But in a way that makes you remember that love requires you to take chances.

This song is a reminder that you have to close your eyes, and leap off the cliff. No matter if the space below you is filled with jagged rocks and mountainous terrain…just jump. Someone might just be there to save you.

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