The Oldest College Newspaper in Pennsylvania

The Lafayette

The Oldest College Newspaper in Pennsylvania

The Lafayette

The Oldest College Newspaper in Pennsylvania

The Lafayette

Mike’d Up: LeBron’s continued dominance and Toledo sex scandals

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By: Michael Kelley ’14 & Mick Kowaleski ’14

On Tuesday, LeBron James became the first player in NBA history to have six straight games with over 30 points on 60 percent shooting.

Kowaleski: There have been few players in NBA history who have done what LeBron is doing: toying with the rest of the league. Wilt Chamberlain led the league in assists one year just to show everybody that he could if he wanted to. Michael Jordan would gamble the night before a game, or play golf hours before a game, and then go out and drop 40. LeBron is on that same plane right now.

The man scored 30 points on 11 field goal attempts against the Clippers. Most people consider the better half of Los Angeles one of the top three teams in the West, and LeBron scored 30 points. On 11 attempts. Preposterous. It’s obvious to anyone watching him now that the man is on a different planet. Once, Kobe Bryant was in the discussion for best player in the NBA. When the Lakers played the Heat, it was painfully apparent that he was playing catch-up with King James.

I said before the season even started that LeBron has reached a comfort zone that will make the Heat nigh unstoppable for the foreseeable future. He’s trying to become a flawless player, honing his passing, postgame, and defense. He’s got Magic’s vision, Shaq’s physicality, and I’ve never seen a perfect basketball player before, but James is making me nitpick for faults. If people haven’t seriously considered him a rival to MJ’s throne, it’s time to start. The Chosen One is eliminating all doubts.

 

Kelley: By any chance did you read an ESPN.com commentary between J.A. Adande and Israel Gutierrez before writing this, Mick? Your first paragraph sounds a bit familiar … Get your call outs here. [Editor’s note: Mick did, in fact, steal that segment, but did it out of forgetfulness, not laziness]

Regardless, you speak the truth. For years, I and other basketball addicts imagined a more attack-hungry version ofLeBron, one that went to the rim every play. And after this six game stretch, we now have reality: dominance unseen before in the NBA.

Believe it or not, the highlights of LeBron from this record-setting stretch have been relatively routine basketball plays. Of course, there have been the monstrous dunks—a staple of LeBron’s play. But the other highlights? Simple layups, put-backs, hook shots, the occasional jump shot. It’s incredible.

Are we witnessing LeBron in his prime? Or is there more greatness to follow? How much higher is his ceiling? The older basketball fans have always spoke about the magic of watching MJ in his prime, leaving us younger guys a bit jealous. But now, we may be witnessing a player even more special. Enjoy the ride, people, the era of LeBron is in full swing.

 

Toledo University’s track coach, Kevin Hadsell, has resigned from the program after reportedly dating an undisclosed number of female runners.

Kowaleski: I mean…I can respect this. Props to this guy.

Seriously, though, I wonder how pervasive this is in women’s sports? There are plenty of males coaching female sports, and very few women coaching men’s sports. How many guy coaches are giving their female athletes some…extra playing time? The problem that I have with Hadsell, who is 42 years of age, is not that he was dating the athletes. They are of age, and are totally capable of making their own decisions. It was the preferential treatment he was giving to those who he was dating, or those who paid him the extra attention that he wanted.

Apparently, he would make derogatory remarks about some runners’ “muffin tops,” which is ridiculous to anyone who’s ever seen a track athlete’s build. He’d discourage them from taking birth control because he said it made them gain weight. This guy is being painted as a cult leader, and has been dating Rocket runners since the early-2000s. Wait, that’s actually kind of impressive…

NO. HE’S A BAD MAN.

 

Kelley: Ahhh, good ol’ Deadspin uncovering yet another scandalous story. If you get a moment (or twenty minutes), read the story. It’s fascinating.

What stuck out to me was that despite the years of manipulation by Coach Hadsell, there was no athlete on the team brave enough to come out and disclose the information to those with the power to stop it. There was a so-called “cover-up culture” among the athletes – either people were too uncomfortable discussing the matter with each other, or they were worried that school officials wouldn’t believe their claims over the word of a coach who was some sort of campus legend.

We’ve now seen this type of fear prevalent in multiple sports scandals, most notably the Penn State child molestation cover-up. There, too, people who knew of the situation were frightened by the power of the institution, despite the sickening acts that occurred. It is a problem that remains throughout athletics. As more cases like this get exposed, it leaves one wondering, how many more are there?

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