After nailing the Super Bowl, I decided to take a couple of weeks off from prognosticating, prophesizing and a lot of other really big words that simply mean “giving my opinion to whoever will listen”!!

As I was enjoying my self-induced exile, I couldn’t help but listen to the experts bringing up the same old stale questions and comparisons that they always do when football finally ends and we’re stuck with the NBA to entertain us.  So you know which topic always grabs the headlines…

Is LeBron James the next Michael Jordan?

Is it just me, or is this really one of the dumbest questions ever asked every February?  Why do I think it is a dumb question, you may ask?  I could go with the standard answer that Jordan lovers all say – “Michael has six rings and LeBron only has one.”

Or I could go the route of the James gang – “LeBron’s scoring at a faster pace than anyone has before, he’s breaking scoring records left and right, and he’s gonna’ get his rings, just you wait and see!”

But I’m going with the intelligent, non-emotional answer – “Wait until LeBron’s career is over, then we’ll talk!”

Am I alone on this?  Isn’t the question just a tad bit premature?  We had to endure this question ten years ago, only with Kobe Bryant’s name inserted where James’ name is now.  Now that we’re at the tail end of Kobe’s career, are any of these same experts saying that Kobe was the next Michael?  No, of course not.

Not to take anything away from the incredible talents that Kobe possesses.  He will always be included in top 20 lists of all time, but he most certainly did not have the impact on the league or the sport of basketball that Michael did.

And it’s simply too early in LeBron’s career to even discuss the comparison.  James is currently surrounded by an enormous amount of talent, which means he should have his rings inside of the next decade.  He’d better, if anyone wants this conversation to be taken seriously.

Let’s remember, when Jordan came into the league, he was on a very bad Chicago Bulls team.  He was given the task to resurrect them from the basement of the standings all by himself.  And he gave it a good try, scoring 50 or more points countless times.  Yet the Bulls kept losing.

It was only when he realized that he must become a complete player that things began to change.  He recognized that success would only come to his team if he ensured that his entire team was involved in the game plan and not simply additional fans tasked to stand around and watch him perform his magic.  So he began sacrificing the scoring stats for assists, steals, rebounds, etc. and got his team mates involved in every game.  Ironically, his scoring stats weren’t impacted all that much, since the opposition could no longer triple-team him and get away with it.

Bring into the picture a very good supporting cast and one of the best coaches ever, and you have six championships.  Let’s not forget, this probably would have been eight rings, if Jordan hadn’t taken two years off to play minor league baseball.

So now we see LeBron’s career blossoming in Miami, after several years of near-misses in Cleveland.  We see him racking up the assists, rebounds, steals, etc.  We see him shooting better than 40% from three-point range.  We see a very good supporting cast and a pretty good coaching staff.

But he’s not in the position yet to warrant this discussion.  Come back in ten years, after he’s left the game, and we can compare apples to apples, or at least as close as possible, considering the two players never played against each other or each other’s opposition.

It’s almost like asking “Who was the better home run hitter, Babe Ruth or Hank Aaron?

No I wasn’t really asking that question.  Stop arguing.  You’re never gonna’ resolve this.  I should have quit while I was ahead.  Okay, on to the next one.

Will the NFL be extinct in twenty years?

You haven’t heard this one?  Well then, let me be the first to welcome you back from your stay under that rock.

Yes, there are actually continual conversations going on about the future of the NFL.  With all of the discussions and lawsuits going on, due to the ‘concussion’ thing, there are actually people out there that believe that the NFL will be gone in twenty years or less.  Most of those people are actually hoping they’re right.

Good luck with that one!!

Do you really believe that arguably the biggest money-generating sports machine in the world will be closed down?  I mean, this is a sport that is popular because of the violent contact involved.  The players in the league are the modern day gladiators.

Will changes be made so that concussions are not so prevalent?  Absolutely.  Will concussions in the game go away?  Of course not.  Will broken bones, torn ACLs, or dislocated shoulders go away?  No?

Why not?  Because this is a violent game played by extremely big and strong athletes.  They are playing “TACKLE” football, not two hand touch.  The goal is to prevent the opposition from moving the ball forward, while doing everything in your power to move the ball forward against them.

There are going to be injuries.  So the league will do their studies, gather their data and implement changes that appear to move the league in a direction of becoming safer.

Meanwhile, injuries will continue, lawsuits will be filed and the game will continue to generate more money that most other sports combined.

The NFL isn’t going anywhere!!

There are several other stupid questions circulating out there, but I’m going to stop here for now.  Otherwise I might become too sarcastic (I know, hard to believe), and I wouldn’t want to offend anyone out there (he-he).  Maybe I’ll follow up in a couple of weeks with some more.