Quick Hits for July 17, 2014

15 seconds of shame

The World Cup came to an end Sunday and with it goes one of the best modern sports traditions: crowd shots. We’ll miss those clips of beautiful women, elaborately costumed fans and sobbing Brazil supporters. The crowd shots got so ridiculous that we half-expected that N.C. State fan rubbing his nipples to make an appearance.

A dead lede

Cal Thomas of Tribune Media Services opened his Saturday column like this: “Frank Sinatra’s song about Chicago, ‘My Kind of Town,’ ‘a the town that won’t let you down,’ seems dated in light of last weekend’s shooting spree that left 16 dead and dozens wounded in 53 separate incidents.” Dude, when writing ledes, don’t do it your way.

Return of the King

LeBron James announced Friday he was returning his talents to Cleveland, completely shaking up the entire NBA. James did it in a classy, heartfelt essay in Sports Illustrated. Everything about this story is completely perfect, a rare bit of news that is almost totally satisfying. LeBron did that for us. Now will y’all get off his lawn?

Beyond the pale

Ed Sheeran topped the BBC’s 1Xtra Power List released Friday. Sheeran’s a good singer, so what’s the problem? The list was charged with naming “the most important UK artists on the current black and urban music scene.”  This is like if LL Cool J topped a list of the best 20 country singers. It’s just confusing and offensive.