As the seasons change, and frigid football in Foxboro bequeaths headlines to balmy baseball in Scottsdale, we the reporting public seek out every cannon fodder outlet mall in the country for sports-inspired survival tactics.
It is, after all, February, and we’re awash in the wake of Super Bowl Sunday, eagerly anticipating the madness of March.
So what’s next?The who is easy. Check out Sports Illustrated’s quasi-angelic cover boy. Download ESPN Motion and listen to his Sunday Conversation. Tune in to the NBA on TNT and watch him play. Or pay attention when the stand-ups stand down during Comedy Central commercial breaks and the young man answers Nike’s Air Jordan XX ad campaign’s most pressing question:
Will you be next?
The question ultimately reaches out to the masses. To every street ball legend-in-the-making tearing up the Harlem asphalt. To every young farmhand knocking down jumpers between never-ending rows of corn stalks. To boys and girls. Black and white. The dreamers and the driven.
And LeBron James appears to be the first one to even approach answering it correctly.
The youngest player to do just about everything. To be a No. 1 draft pick. To win Rookie of the Year. To lead his team in scoring. To record a triple-double. To be the face of a major company, a franchise and a league.
To be the next Michael Jordan.
LeBron James is 20 years old, equal parts basketball player and rock star. That’s what happens when you’ve been The Next for more than two years and you continue to live up to the hype. When dozens of instantly gratified rising stars explode into flames before beginning to approach the legend and you continue to welcome the challenge, slamming it down one alley-oop at a time.
With a full week to digest ESPN The Magazine’s proclamations for the Next class of 2005, here’s my take:
Adrian Peterson, Running Back, Oklahoma
Freshmen simply don’t do what Peterson did in 2004. They don’t run for 1,925 yards in one of the nation’s premier conferences, churning for 1,365 of them after contact. They don’t force their offensive coordinator to about-face from pass-happy roots with the defending Heisman Trophy winner under center.
Last fall, Peterson usurped Jason White as Oklahoma’s first option; 11 100 yard games and three 200 yard performances will do that. In the process he reshaped the face of a program neck-roll-thick in national dominance and finished second to USC’s Matt Leinart in Heisman balloting. He is the fabled Boobie Miles of Friday Night Lights fame, down to his Texas roots.
He’s been called an “all-timer” and appears NFL-ready after a single season in Norman.
The big question(s): can he even approach his 2004 success as a known commodity without a proven passer under center? Did Oklahoma lose some of their swagger after being dominated by USC in the Orange Bowl? Can he stay healthy? Shoulder injuries prevented Peterson from finishing several games late in the season; he underwent outpatient surgery in mid-January and will miss spring ball.
Carlos Beltran, Center Fielder, New York Mets
Over seven seasons in Kansas City and Houston, Beltran produced yearly averages of .284, 27 home runs and 104 RBIs. Do those numbers add up to a seven-year, $119 million, no-trade clause contract?
No.
But the .435 average and 8 home runs in 12 games for Houston last post-season apparently do.
The quintessential five-tool player is only 27, entering what many project to be the power-prime of his career.
The big question(s): can he do it in New York. Kansas City was never close to contending and Houston was the little-ball-club-that-almost-did a season ago. Will Beltran catapult the Mets to the top of the NL East or regret not punching his ticket to the other end of the subway?
Dwyane Wade, Guard, Miami Heat
Next year’s runaway winner for supporting actor, Wade has been dubbed “The Flash” by his super-hero-obsessed partner in victory, Shaquille O’Neal. After graduating third in a rookie class headed by LeBron and Carmelo Anthony, Wade has now moved past the struggling Nuggets forward and taken a seat at the right hand of The King.
It’s Wade who dictates the tempo in Miami, keeping the Big Aristotle happy while pacing the Heat in scoring at 23.5 points per game. Add 7.3 assists and 5.2 boards a nights and it’s easy to see why Shaq loves his new running mate.
The big question(s): is Wade beating his head against the ceiling of his potential, or does he simply need a bigger room? Miami’s success ultimately hinges of Shaq’s creaky lower body, and he’s already asking for a reduced regular season role. Can the Heat, the head of a weak Eastern Conference class (despite their showing in yesterday’s All-Star game), play with the West in June?
Mike Williams, Wide Receiver, Soon to be NFL team
Remember this guy? Amazing to think how USC could have been any better last year, but the best receiver in college football didn’t play a single down. After a botched early-entry attempt into last year’s NFL draft (in the wake of the Maurice Clarett saga), Williams was left without a team in 2004.
Now he’s the ultimate sleeper. At 6’5″ and a newly defined 229 lbs, Williams has been clocked at 4.43. That combination, coupled with record-setting productivity at the college level should make him a top-10 pick in April.
The big questions(s): issues surrounding his waistline have followed Williams since 2003. He’s been rumored to have carried more than 250 pounds at one time. And he’s not a burner, admitting that his best 40s were run on fast tracks.
Ben Roethlisberger, Quarterback, Pittsburgh Steelers
Rookie of the Year. 14 consecutive wins to start his career. Led the league in jersey sales. A line of beef jerky and several sandwiches bearing his name. He’s elusive, even at 6’5″ 242 pounds and he’s still growing on the field. And he’s got “it,” whatever “it” is.
The big question(s): Will Jerome Bettis return for another season? If not, can Duce Staley stay healthy for 16 games? Was Big Ben’s erratic performance in the playoffs rookie nerves coupled with a tired arm, or did defensive coordinators finally figure out how to play the kid?
Sidney Crosby, Canadian Junior Hockey sensation
The 17-year-old Crosby averages a goal per game for Rimouski Oceanic of the Quebec League. He’s a scrappy, 5’10” 185 pound play maker would led the Canadian Junior Leagues in scoring last season and spearheaded Canada’s gold-medal performance at the World Junior Championships.
The big question: Will the NHL get things resolved in time for Crosby to make headlines with the big boys next season?