Hey, you can spell 'world' without N-Y-C

Maybe it's because I live in Ohio, and nobody -- but nobody -- belittles my state. (Unless I'm doing the belittling. Goes without saying.)

Maybe it's because the alleged star of this story is the city of New York, either Manhattan or Brooklyn, and nothing -- but nothing -- bugs me more than the beatification of all things New York.

LeBron is safe and sound in Ohio. Sorry New Yorkers, he has no need for you. (Getty Images)

Or maybe it's because the whole idea is stupid, and I seem to be the only person who gets it.

All of the above, probably.

Because LeBron James isn't going to New York -- not to the Knicks, not to the Nets, not to anyone -- in 2010.

That's not the party line, of course. The party line in NBA circles has LeBron opting out of his contract with Cleveland after the 2009-10 season, with the Knicks and the Brooklyn-bound Nets already doing what they can to gussy themselves up. That was one of the biggest storylines to come out of last week's NBA Draft -- the Knicks' and Nets' efforts to shed salary, improve their young talent and in general make themselves more marketable for the LeBron Sweepstakes in two years.

The unspoken shot at Cleveland, and therefore Ohio, and probably the entire Midwest, makes me want to puke.

Bunch of bumpkins out there. LeBron needs to play in a real city.

The assumption that LeBron would leave Cleveland for New York (or Los Angeles or Chicago) is so 1990s. A decade ago, the argument would have made all the sense in the world. If a superstar wanted to be treated and feted like a superstar, he had to go where the media was. That was New York, or Boston, or L.A.

Now the media is everywhere. The Internet is everywhere. Television cameras go everywhere. And something else that cannot be overlooked:

Wherever LeBron James plays, that city is a major media market.

The NBA could plant a new franchise in Wichita, and if the Cavaliers traded LeBron James there, Wichita would be on television so much you'd be sick of it. And I mean no offense to Wichita. If CBSSports.com tells me tomorrow to move from Cincinnati, and gives me a choice between Wichita and New York, I'm picking Wichita. Unlike so many in the media who believe the world revolves around Manhattan, I don't need New York.

Neither does LeBron. Why would he? To get himself a $90 million Nike deal? He got one of those out of high school, some small city called "Akron" in the nothing state of "Ohio."