Every time I run into someone in a downtown bar that knows about the site, one of the first things I almost always hear is that "Moot Points" is their favorite column and that they "love that Hiko dude".  This week's column is further evidence of why that praise is deserving as Hiko weighs in on the LeBron James Yankee Hat soap opera.  And talks about the depths he will sink to in the name of love.  It's Moot.

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Loyalty Is Fleeting

Most of you haven’t heard about it yet, but, alas, LeBron James was at Game 1 of the ALDS wearing a Yankees hat.

Seems he’s been a NYY fan since he was very young (read: 6 months ago). He’s also a Dallas Cowboys fan, and grew up rooting for the Michael Jordan Bulls.

I could express to you my thoughts on this phenomena, or I could relay an e-mail conversation between myself and my boys Blue and DJC.

DJC: Lebron in a Yankees hat in Cleveland is BAD.

I heard on Mike and Mike "that's like cheating on your wife with your high school girlfriend because you have known her since you were a little kid."

Hiko: That's a stupid analogy, because if you never liked the Indians, then they're not your wife.

Knowing his celebrity, LeBron should've just stayed away.

DJC: Cleveland is his wife. Not the Indians.

You are right though - he should have stayed away.

Hiko: OK, Cleveland is his wife. And the Indians are his wife's friend he doesn't really care for.

I guess I just don’t get why this is a big deal.

Blue: Cleveland is his wife and the fans should have broken one off in him. He's a moron. How many Indians fans are Cavs fans in your estimation? All of them!!!!!

He'll be wearing a Tribe hat if the Indians win the series! And then I'll call him a front runner! What a Jagbag.

Hiko: Blue, if you were suddenly given great athletic abilities, and drafted by the New York Knicks, would you be wearing a Yankees cap right now?

Blue: No, I'd wear something discreet - Indians boxers or jock. Probably not an Indians hat. The guy was born in Akron, how the F$&*^ could he be a Yankee fan?

Ironically, I drove into work this morning following a car that had the following license plate: D JETER. I saw it and gave him the big FU with a huge grin from my car. What a great way to start the day!!!

Hiko: OK - we all agree that someone in the spotlight like that should be more discreet.

Who cares if he was born in Akron? There's a crapload of non-Indians fans around here. Steelers fans proliferate like roaches. People have reasons for liking the teams they do. Some grew up in other areas, some have parents that rooted for other teams, some have personal reasons (like the woman I work with whose son plays for the Jaguars).

But most of them are frontrunners.

Why does this happen? The Indians were really hard to like when we were growing up because they sucked so much. That's what's happening to the Browns now - kids in this area just aren't Browns fans anymore because they've been terrible for so long and their parents don't care enough about sports to instill in them that sense of loyalty to the home team.

You have to love the team in the first place in order to love them through the hard times.

Kid at daycare wears a Steelers jersey all the time. His mom works there, so I grill her on how she could let this happen? Does she like the Steelers? No. Does her husband like the Steelers? No. Are they from Pennsylvania? No, they're all from NE Ohio. So why is your kid wearing a Steelers jersey? He likes them because they won the Superbowl a couple years ago, and they always beat the Browns. And you guys allow this? We're not really into sports, so we let him like whoever he wants.

Blue, you're an Indians fan because of your dad, and your kids will be Indians fans because of you. My kids will be Browns fans (the only ones at the school apparently) because of me going out of my way to instill that loyalty.

But when no one does that for kids... They usually pick the best, flashiest, most famous team out there, because it's easy to root for a winner.

There's stinkin' Cowboys fans everywhere. And Lakers fans. And Yankees fans. It's not like LeBron's the only one.

When we were growing up, the Indians sucked, and my dad didn't care a thing about baseball, and neither did I. I left Ohio in 1991. I've never come around to the Tribe because - until this year - they've never ever been any good when I was living in Ohio, and I stopped paying attention to baseball after the '94 strike. So all that excitement that was associated with the Tribe in the 90's - I didn't experience one ounce of that. No one in Miami gave a crap. No one in California gave a crap.

Maybe this is the year I'll finally learn to appreciate the Indians.

But this still doesn’t bother me like it does you guys.

DJC: I get what you’re saying, but when LeBron was 10 the Indians were in the World Series!

Hiko: Maybe it was too late - he was already a Yankees fan. The kid with the Steelers jersey is 7. He’s probably already lost.

DJC: Question – would it bother you if this were a Browns-Steelers playoff game, and LeBron showed up wearing a Steelers jersey.

Hiko: Oh, hell yeah. I’d crucify the bastard.

Never claimed I wasn’t a hypocrite.

They ripped LeBron on First Take on ESPN. Skip Bayless' point was that LeBron is all about image, and he doesn't want to associate himself with Cleveland. I hope that's not it... but I can see it...

Blue: Yeah, I can see it too - him disassociating with Cleveland and frankly that pisses me off. He'll be a Knick before we know it. Get us a ring first, jack.

Hiko: He's stuck here ‘til 2010. If he can't get it done by then, then let him go to the Knicks.

Hey man, I get the love for NY. It's a great town. But that ain't where you live/work right now, and you should remember the mantra "Don't shit where you eat."

PS - Good luck selling that monstrosity you just had built.

DJC: Sounds now like it does bother you.

Hiko: Maybe you’re right. F*** that dick.

***To finish off the LeBron discussion, I was sitting at a bar watching the Indians game Friday night, and there were 4 guys near me discussing the Yankees Hat Incident™.

One guy said, “It doesn’t matter, in Northeast Ohio, that guy’s always gonna be a hero. No matter what he did - unless he killed the President - he’d still be a hero.”

The second guy said, “He’d probably be an even bigger hero if he did kill the President.”

They all laughed.

Now now, Mr. CIA, I didn’t say it. I’m just relaying a story. Don’t blacklist the messenger. If you wanna put the beatdown on someone, put it on that guy.

I’m pretty sure his name was Ben Roethlisberger.

***My girlfriend, Elektra, and her friend, Persephone, were talking the other night, and they decided that we all should go to Howl At The Moon. Persephone had never been before, and Elektra made it out to be the funnest place this side of Funkytown. Oh, they have those craaazy piano players singing those lude songs, and everyone can sing along, and they call people up on stage, and they embarrass them, and it’s JUST SO FUN!

Thus, it was determined that we all should go up on Saturday night and spent the night in Cleveland.

Now, I’ve been to Howl At The Moon several times, usually in conjunction with bachelor parties. It’s a good place to pick up a gaggle of giggling girls, usher them into the limo, and let the festivities begin. So, yes, I will agree that it’s a decent place to go if your mission is to hook up with a drunk drunk drunk girl. Other than that, it kind of sucks.

However, it’s not such a great place to go to with your girlfriend and her friends, especially when you have more than a passing desire to watch the Ohio State-Purdue game, and there’s very little chance any sporting competitions will be featured as the songsters croon Piano Man and Old Time Rock and Roll.

The things I do for sex… I mean, love.

So, if you’re feeling a little daffy, you don’t care about watching an OSU football game against an undefeated and ranked opponent, and you want to watch middle aged housewives drink themselves into a frightening sexual frenzy – come join me tonight at the Flats.

If I don’t see you, I won’t blame you at all.