"Hulk Hogan is here! Hulk Hogan is in the building!"
"Yeah, but whose side is he on?"
"What?"
"Whose side is he on?"
"Hulk Hogan has betrayed WCW! He is the third man in this picture!"
Since the ESPN fiasco known as "The Decision" hooked viewers for one hour that they can at least erase from their DVRs, if not their retinas, many have come across comparisons and YouTube clips of Hulk Hogan turning heel (the wrestling act of becoming a villain) with the symbolism being made painfully clear. LeBron broke Cleveland's hearts in just as vicious a way as Hogan broke the hearts of wrestling fans (albeit naïve, impressionable ones, as wrestling fans have to be to truly buy into that the same way, but I digress) nationwide.
I would be remiss if I did not mention ESPN.com cult favorite writer Bill Simmons' role in this phenomenon. One video even went as far as poorly editing the audio and cheaply superimposing LeBron's face on Hogan's along with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh's faces on Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. The symbolism of the 2010 Miami Heat being the equivalent of wrestling's New World Order being formed was downright eerie.
Yet this very incident had crossed my mind way before that, even if it didn't work out quite as neatly. Last summer, Brett Favre felt like becoming a free agent, so he 'retired' from football once again without missing a start, as only he can do. This conveniently got him out of his contract with the Jets and freed him up to go to the team he really wanted all along: the purple and gold of the hated Vikings. To me, Favre in purple was the same thing as seeing Hollywood Hogan in black.
Now obviously the Jets don't hate the Vikings, but the team and the fan base he was so deeply attached to before them had a very pointed hatred of the horned purple helmets. Favre was keenly aware of this and had initially been asked to be traded to the Vikings from the Packers in 2008 once he felt they did him wrong. The request of course was denied, so Favre decided to hide away with the New York Jets for a year instead.
The plan worked, and strangely the city of New York would become the intermediary in both the Favre and James situations. But the true losers were the equally devastated and devoted fan bases of Green Bay, Wisconsin and Cleveland, Ohio, although they were for somewhat different reasons. Here is where we figure out who is the bigger sports traitor.
Service Time
LeBron began with the Cavaliers in 2003-04 and played seven seasons for them.
Favre had more than doubled that tenure in Green Bay with 16 seasons from 1992-2007.
Disadvantage: Favre
Roots
LeBron was Cleveland's birth son. Born and raised in Akron, Ohio, the Cleveland fans were well aware of LeBron's presence from his high school days. Many got to watch his high school games at St. Vincent-St. Mary's firsthand. By way of luck or conspiracy if you think like that, Cleveland won the first pick of the 2003 draft lottery so they could make LeBron a hometown hero for his pro career.
Favre grew up in Mississippi and played for Southern Miss in college. He adapted very quick to Green Bay's small-town folksy ways anyway and became an adopted son.
Disadvantage: James
Likability
This is, of course, before the respective turns for the worst. Aside from being a local product, LeBron James appeared by all accounts to be a standup guy, even if he needed to feed his ego by claiming he wanted to become a global icon after seeing what Jordan had accomplished through the media, could you blame him?
Favre was not homegrown, but he rubbed everyone the right way from day one. He identified with people and was known for "speaking from the heart" when talking to the media. Most athletes don't do that, they learn to guard themselves. Favre talked like a movie protagonist, and his free-spirited style of play was right out of the movie screens, as well. This, of course, only ended up hurting the Packers more when he left.
Disadvantage: Favre
Team Success
LeBron got the Cavaliers to the playoffs in each of his last five seasons with them, after missing them the first two seasons. In 2007, he almost singlehandedly got them to the first NBA Finals in Cavaliers history with an epic 48-point performance against the rival Detroit Pistons in Game 5. By scoring all their points through two overtime sessions and late in the fourth quarter, LeBron got them a crucial 2-point road win. Unfortunately, they were swept effortlessly by the machine-like Spurs. In '09 and '10, they were the top seed in the playoffs, but disappointed and failed to reach the finals.
Favre made the Packers a playoff team by his second season and won them a Super Bowl in his sixth. It was Green Bay's first since 1967. He then led them back to the promised land the next season, only to be upset by the Denver Broncos. This would be his last appearance in the big game, but they always were among the elite teams in the NFC.
Disadvantage: Favre
Individual Success/Dominance
In seven seasons, James won the league MVP in each of the last two seasons. He was an all-star six times in seven seasons, winning two All-Star Game MVPs, a scoring title, and a Rookie of the Year award.
Favre won the league MVP three years in a row from 1995-97, while making the Pro Bowl 11 times in 16 seasons. He won NFC Player of the year five times and was selected to the 1990s' all-decade team. Not to mention he stayed long enough to break numerous career records as a Packer, including one for touchdowns, as well as interceptions. In this case, we need to cut Favre's accomplishments in half to be fair.
Disadvantage: Close, but James
Departure
LeBron and his people love to create publicity out of LeBron's greatness, which has gone from a business tactic to a personality defect as time went on. This led to LeBron deciding to contact ESPN and create his own bizarro press conference to announce which team he would play for in 2010-11. This gave time for all extra speculation while highlights of James dunks played on and on before it was time to talk. Prior to that mess, James had been accused of dogging it in a Game 5 home loss to the Celtics that Cleveland lost by 32 points. It would be his last home game in Cleveland, as they would lose in six games (with another uninspired performance by James in Game 6).
Favre went out with an NFC championship loss at home to the eventual champion Giants in overtime. The Giants were not expected to compete, but Favre was picked off by Corey Webster on the sideline with his last pass attempt. This became a 47-yard Lawrence Tynes field goal and the end of the line for Brett. He tearfully announced his retirement shortly thereafter, prompting the Packers to let backup Aaron Rodgers know he was their guy for 2008. Then Favre (surprise!) changed his mind and expected the starting spot to be opened back up for him by Packers management. Green Bay had had enough of his hemming and hawing and told him it was too late. Favre took this personally and an ugly war of words through the media ensued for weeks, culminating in his trade to the Jets after they refused to make a deal with the Vikings.
Disadvantage: Even
Fan Base Dependence
Cleveland is known for other things, but they have gone through economic recession recently. One other thing they are known for is sports heartbreak spread across three different teams. They have no championships in 46 years. LeBron was guaranteed to be the eventual answer to that problem. Now there is once again no end in sight. During this drought, no athlete in Cleveland sports has been as captivating and dominant as LeBron since Jim Brown. Brown left the Browns early, too, but he left them with some championships before going off to do Hollywood films. Bottom line: with their only Finals appearance, the LeBron era is basically all the Cavs franchise has ever had, and that ended prematurely without a ring.
Green Bay is known for absolutely nothing but football. There are no tourist attractions, little-to-no nightlife, just a lot of cold and snow year-round. They represent a romantic throwback to what a sports town used to be like before modern technological and societal distractions. They also have only one sports team to put all their heart behind. It goes without saying that Brett Favre became a God there for the better part of two decades. He also won a title with them.
Disadvantage: Close, but James
New Team
LeBron famously said he would be "taking his talents to South Beach" in order to play with his friends Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, party it up in the summer, and win gift-wrapped NBA titles for a few years as the hot new power trio. There has been a recent friendly rivalry with Wade's Heat since 2005, but little more than that.
Favre left for the Jets after having problems with Packers management about his starting job security. What he really wanted was to go to the Vikings, a team the Packers and their fans have hated for many, many years, but this wasn't allowed. Favre would end up a Viking, but the pain of this sight for Packers fans was slightly deferred by the extra year it took for this to happen. Even so, Favre got the sweet revenge he always wanted by defeating the Packers twice in close games last season and whooping it up with every TD the way a pro wrestler would. Of course, Favre had always done that, but in the moment, it was easy to forget.
Disadvantage: Favre
Potential
James left the Cavaliers in the prime of his career. Not only had he not led them to a title yet, but it is conceivable there was not one ring, but a whole dynasty to be had there if other pieces were added. The jump to Miami was one that has left Cavs fans suffering from a knife wound and serious blood loss.
Favre has proven he still has some good football left after his 2009 season with the Vikings. But how much could he possibly have left to give? The Packers cannot feel cheated with the amount of years he had given to them. Another title or two was possible, but unlikely with the closing window of Favre's career.
Disadvantage: James
Overall
Both fan bases have burned the jerseys of their prodigal sons when seeing them leave, and both seem equally hurt. After breaking it down by the tale of the tape, the tally is at four all, so I will have to cast the deciding vote. While Favre's situation may have ended up uglier and more drawn out, they also had Aaron Rodgers to fall back on. I will say LeBron James is the bigger traitor. And perhaps it's as simple as the fact the wound is more fresh, but Cavaliers fans, the entire deprived city that had so many hopes and dreams and economic needs, just had the plug pulled on it.
Aside from Hulk Hogan and wrestling, I will leave you with another analogy since fans develop such romantic attachments to their hometown athletes. This was the equivalent of a hopeless school nerd getting to date the hot cheerleader through high school, but never actually losing his virginity. Hopes are still high, though, because prom night is coming up. Then the cheerleader ditches him for a jock at the prom. They haven't made it to the hotel yet, but we can pretty much see where this is going.
No wait, this isn't the equivalent. This is way, way worse. The nerd still has college.
Overall Disadvantage: Close, but James
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