The Xth Commandment in NYC

Given that 10 is a nice round number, nevertheless let's imagine that Moses only came down from the mountain with, say, eight commandments ... Which ones

Frank Deford | Jan 6, 2010

The Xth Commandment in NYC /

Given that 10 is a nice round number, nevertheless let's imagine that Moses only came down from the mountain with, say, eight commandments ... Which ones wouldn't make the cut? Well, certainly since nobody anymore keeps the sabbath holy -- especially football teams -- that one has already gone by the board. And then, I think if something else had to go it would be that business about coveting.

Compared to thou shalt not kill or steal, for instance, coveting seems relatively small potatoes ... except perhaps in New York, where coveting has run amuck. In New York sports, the conversation is always about what players some other poor, little city has that we want -- that, in fact, we deserve to have in New York. The Yankees feed this attitude by simply taking whomsoever they desire, like King David just grabbing Bathsheba for himself from poor Uriah the Hittite. If the Mets don't go out then and pillage a small franchise of some superstar that fans covet, everybody gets furious at the Mets for not being properly rapacious. But all this baseball coveting is nothing compared to how New York covets LeBron James.

He will be a free agent on July 1 , and all of Gotham believes that it is written that James must then come play -- yea, save -- the woebegone Knickerbockers. James himself feeds this frenzy by playing coy, but the LeBron le fever has been stoked even more by, of all things, Tiger Woods. You see, Mr. Woods --who himself showed us a thing or two about coveting -- is no longer the golden boy for Nike. King James has succeeded to that position, and the conspiracy theory goes that now that he's No. 1, Nike desires him in New York, where he will give more exposure to the swoosh.

There was even a hoax on the Internet last week that Nike had already produced a sneaker for LeBron in Knicks colors with "I love New York" printed on the sole. And Big Apple coveting has reached new heights with the wishful theory that because LeBron makes so much money from Nike and other endorsements, he should gladly take next-to-nothing in salary when he comes to New York, so then, with the money saved, the Knicks could bring in yet another big-time free-agent, like Chris Bosh or Dwyane Wade. Especially when playing with other people's money, New York coveting knows no bounds.

Ah-ha, but the issue is complicated. First, there is no longer any consensus that, in a cyberspace world, a star athlete needs to perform in a media capital, like New York. I mean, LeBron James' Cleveland jerseys are already huge sellers all over the world. Moreover, his whole identity is tied to Cleveland. He was born and raised nearby in Akron and never went off to college. For him to abandon the unfashionable land of his nativity to go to glitzy New York might reek of disloyalty and hurt his pristine reputation. Why, you could even say then that LeBron would be bearing false witness against his old neighbors.

Published Jan 6, 2010

FRANK DEFORD

Frank Deford is among the most versatile of American writers. His work has appeared in virtually every medium, including print, where he has written eloquently for Sports Illustrated since 1962. Deford is currently the magazine's Senior Contributing Writer and contributes a weekly column to SI.com. Deford can be heard as a commentator each week on Morning Edition. On television he is a regular correspondent on the HBO show Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel. He is the author of 15 books, and his latest,The Enitled, a novel about celebrity, sex and baseball, was published in 2007 to exceptional reviews. He and Red Smith are the only writers with multiple features in The Best American Sports Writing of the Century. Editor David Halberstam selected Deford's 1981 Sports Illustrated profile on Bobby Knight (The Rabbit Hunter) and his 1985 SI profile of boxer Billy Conn (The Boxer and the Blonde) for that prestigious anthology. For Deford the comparison is meaningful. "Red Smith was the finest columnist, and I mean not just sports columnist," Deford told Powell's Books in 2007. "I've always said that Red is like Vermeer, with those tiny, priceless pieces. Five hundred words, perfectly chosen, crafted. Best literary columnist, in any newspaper, that I've ever seen." Deford was elected to the National Association of Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame. Six times at Sports Illustrated Deford was voted by his peers as U.S. Sportswriter of The Year. The American Journalism Review has likewise cited him as the nation's finest sportswriter, and twice he was voted Magazine Writer of The Year by the Washington Journalism Review. Deford has also been presented with the National Magazine Award for profiles; a Christopher Award; and journalism honor awards from the University of Missouri and Northeastern University; and he has received many honorary degrees. The Sporting News has described Deford as "the most influential sports voice among members of the print media," and the magazine GQ has called him, simply, "The world's greatest sportswriter." In broadcast, Deford has won a Cable Ace award, an Emmy and a George Foster Peabody Award for his television work. In 2005 ESPN presented a television biography of Deford's life and work, You Write Better Than You Play. Deford has spoken at well over a hundred colleges, as well as at forums, conventions and on cruise ships around the world. He served as the editor-in-chief of The National Sports Daily in its brief but celebrated existence. Deford also wrote Sports Illustrated's first Point After column, in 1986. Two of Deford's books, the novel, Everybody's All-American, and Alex: The Life Of A Child, his memoir about his daughter who died of cystic fibrosis, have been made into movies. Two of his original screenplays have also been filmed. For 16 years Deford served as national chairman of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and he remains chairman emeritus. He resides in Westport, CT, with his wife, Carol. They have two grown children – a son, Christian, and a daughter, Scarlet. A native of Baltimore, Deford is a graduate of Princeton University, where he has taught American Studies.