Peoria Chiefs Cash in on Heat Hate to Sell Tickets, Make Scene

COMMENTARY | It appears the disgust over LeBron James and the Miami Heat has crossed beyond the sport of basketball. The Chicago Cubs Class-A affiliate, the Peoria Chiefs, will hold a "LeBron James 2011 NBA Championship Replica Ring Giveaway" Thursday. Of course, all you astute readers know that LeBron and company didn't actually win a 2011 NBA Championship ring. Therefore, the giveaway is a joke. The Chiefs also claim they will be giving out replicas of James' Finals MVP award, another phantom trophy.

On the same night, the team plans to honor the six titles won by the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls throughout the '90s. CBS Chicago mentions the Chiefs are attempting to see if they can skip the fourth inning in honor of James skipping the fourth quarter throughout the Finals. Chiefs president Rocky Vonachen said, "We aren't sure if the league will allow it. But if LeBron doesn't need to show up for the fourth, maybe we won't either." The team also plans to allow people to learn the Heimlich "to help prevent themselves, or those around them, from choking in a big situation." Ouch.

Here are a few observations on my part, seeing as I live in Peoria and am familiar with the Chiefs. First, this whole charade is humorous, even if a tad classless. Second, I have not the slightest idea what LeBron and the Heat losing the Finals has to do with Class-A baseball. And third, despite the contempt that many feel toward James and the Heat, it is ironic that such a charade comes from within the Cubs organization -- a franchise long considered to have written the book on choke artistry. Bear in mind, this is coming from a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan.

I can also tell you that Chiefs don't sell real well in Peoria, despite the presence of a beautiful stadium, especially for a Class-A team. And I suspect this whole humor routine is just a way to boost some ticket sales for the game on the 16^th. The team can't bring in the fans, so they choose to cash in on something generally more unanimous: hatred of the Miami Heat and the joy of seeing them lose in the Finals. While I do certainly see the humor, seeing as I laughed pretty heartily when I read the article, it really is a fairly low move on the part of the organization.

But then again, LeBron's season was full of fairly low moves.