Headlines...."ahhh... the serenity"

04/04/09 - From the Associated Press, ESPN.com - LeBron James became the seventh player since the ABA-NBA merger in 1976 to earn rookie of the year and MVP honors in a career…"I'm 24 years old and I'm receiving this award, I never thought it would happen this fast," he said, standing under three state title banners he helped win for the Fighting Irish. "I never dreamed about being MVP, but if I said I didn't enjoy this award I'd be lying. Hard work pays off and dreams do come true."

The more I learn about the NBA, the more I learn about the NRL.

When you think about it, basketball and rugby league are quietly similar: they are both built on end to end action and lots of scoring; they both rely on team play for a team to compete, but are decided by individuals; their players are bigger then life characters who, because of their backgrounds, reflect society and, because of their notoriety and wealth, transcend it at the same time; officiating determines the speed, quality, and flow of the game; they are both pop-culture epicenters; and MOST EXPLICITLY, they both have struggled because of a perceived thug image.

All though they seem to have nothing in common, structurally, they are identical.

They are like … I just spent 10 minutes trying to think of a better comparison then apples and oranges … and I did: they are like porn and music—structurally similar in that they are: great in the moment, better live, easily overplayed, individualistic in terms of tastes, controversial, date easily, original in their heydays (60s and 70s) but now repetitive and formula based, and liked to some degree by everyone.

The way I see it, the Aussie sporting landscape mirrors the American, only its ten years behind culturally, and thirty years behind financially.

Follow me here: the AFL is the NFL, best run league with the most passionate fans and the strongest cultural presence in the nation; the A-League is the MLB, a sport everyone remembers playing when they were young but not really relevant with the key demographic; the NRL is the NBA, huge in some areas, culturally powerful but not always in the good way, should be more popular but always seems to get bad breaks, and it struggles to market a increasingly black dominated sport to a wholly white audience; the Super 14 is the NHL, it used to be popular but the nature of the game and viewing experience on TV has killed the majority of its appeal, still internationally popular; and the ANZ Championship is the NIT.

So if we are to believe that the Australian sports industry will someday grow into a pseudo-replica of the multi-billion dollar cultural institution that is the American sports industry, then wouldn’t the sports leagues evolve and grow in a similar fashion?

If we assume this, then the NRL is in a similar place to where the NBA was in ’99-’00. The last ten years were some of their best (NBA: Jordan’s best years, the Dream Team; NRL: great grand finals in ’99, ’01,’03,’04,’05, a 4 to 6 series split in the State of Origin, dominance by the Kangaroos), and at the same time some of their worst (NBA: the '98 lockout, narcissistic players, explosion of money, drugs, and a thug image; NRL: Gasnier’s txt messages, the Bulldog rape scandal, the Bulldog salary cap scandal, the new “threat” proposed by rugby union money, a prevalent binge-drinking culture).

Now however, they are on the verge of a new decade and a new attitude.

They have some young stars in the early parts of their career who are just starting to establish themselves (NBA: Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Tim Duncan, Paul Pierce, Allen Iverson; NRL: Inglis, Folau, Slater, Hunt, Peter Wallace, Jamie Soward), an assortment of All-Time stars who retired or are on their last legs (NBA: David Robinson, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippin, Reggie Miller, Gary Payton, Charles Barkley; NRL: Fittler, Sattler, Tallis, Johns, Webke, Steve Menzies, Lockyer), and they worked out how to promote themselves (NBA: Jordan transcended the sport and pushed it into the international mainstream, shorts below the knees became popular, the loss of the afro; NRL: the Johns brothers and Wendall Sailor transcended the sport, shorts above the knees are now popular, haircuts with the racing stripe).

I told you they are the same. To put it in terms of apples and oranges: think the Sgt Peppers Album and a Jenna Jamison film—culturally transcending, pioneering for their time, and they never get old, yet they are always better if you forget about them for a while. Structurally the same.

The great thing for the NRL is the next ten years should be full of bliss and good fortune the same way ’01 to ’09 have been for the NBA.

Disregarding the Artest melee, things have been great for the NBA this past decade: huge growth in Asia and Europe; a flurry of international talent; the restoration of classic rivalries; two legit dynasties; and, MOST IMPORTANTLY, a influx of classy, talented, highly marketable, socially aware and responsible young stars—namely, the ’04 and ’05 draft classes.

They (LeBron, Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Deron Williams, Chris Paul, Dwight Howard) are a product of growing up watching the success of professional, good character, responsible, stars (Kobe, Shaq, Duncan, Billups) and the failure of showy, selfish, bad character, stars (Iverson, Carter, Marbury).

The NRL has those, professional, good character, responsible stars in place right now (Folau, Wallace, Soward, Stagg, Jennings, Inglis), and they are experiencing success and fortune. So in theory, the next crop of players -- who are closer to the pro-athletes then ever before and more in tune with professionalism now because of the Toyota Cup – should be great character guys.

You can see the seedling of this phenomenon in the likes of David Taylor and Justin Carney.

LeBron’s crowning as the NBA’s MVP is the ultimate personification of this evolution in league culture and attitude. I don’t know how it will be symbolised in the NRL in 2019 but if my absurd theory is right, the NRL can look forward to a “We’re going to Bonnie Doon” level of bliss over the next ten years.

Brisbane Sports Fan