Le Basketbawl

There has always been one TV Sportscaster that New York Vinnie has looked up to since he was a little boy. That man was the Late Great Howard Cosell. Yes Cosell could get obnoxious and controversial (kind of like New York Vinnie) but he was one man who lived up to his motto! Cosell was the guy who always told it like it was! He pulled no punches when something ticked him off he let you know. Howard Cosell was no diplomat but he could get to the heart of the story. You may have loved him or despised him but one thing for sure you knew he was for real!

New York Vinnie has never been afraid to call someone out when he feels that person deserves it. If you are a regular reader of this page you are well aware that Vinnie is not afraid to ruffle some feathers! If the emperor is not wearing clothes then New York Vinnie will scream it from the rooftops!

But New York Vinnie likes  to consider himself a fair man and when someone does something to correct a mistake I am the first one to give them praise. So under the category of Better Late Than Never New York Vinnie wants to congratulate Nike for finally being Frickin smart enough to do what they should have sone long ago.

The Associated Press reported Friday that Nike has decided to do the right thing and give back the two video-tapes to the cameramen who shot the infamous footage of Xavier player Jordan Crawford dunking twice on LeBron James. By doing this they can finally put this issue to bed and James will have one less  Frickin headache this Summer to deal with.

The tapes were shot earlier this month at a Basketball camp held at the University of Akron. The confiscation of the tapes made the issue a lot hotter than it would have been had they just stayed out of the way. They would have gotten some TV play for a couple of days and by now they would be forgotten. But Frickin Nike made it a big deal when they took  the Frickin tapes.

Earlier this week a sports website released a cell phone video of the dunks and in New York Vinnie eyes they weren’t all that spectacular. I have the feeling lots of folks felt this way and that may have led to Nike finally doing the right thing.

Nike released a statement to the media on Friday. It stated “It was never about the play or the player, it was always about our media policy. The interest in the tapes has greatly overshadowed the focus of the camp, which is to help young athletes improve their skills, and that is regrettable. It was Nike’s decision to take these tapes based on our media guidelines, which we will continue to enforce.”

New York Vinnie is not a mind reader. I do not know what the real reason was behind them taking the tapes. However my Pops has told me since I was a toddler Honesty is the Best Policy! By Nike finally doing the right thing they can put this mess  behind them!