The Buffalo News, N.Y., Jerry Sullivan column.(Column)

Byline: Jerry Sullivan

June 12--Game Seven of the Eastern Conference finals between the Celtics and Heat drew the best cable ratings of any NBA playoff game since they began keeping records nine years ago. The three top-rated cable games came during that series. This does not come as a surprise. LeBron James has become must-see TV for sports fans. Love him or hate him, he's impossible to ignore. Ever since James decided to leave Cleveland for Miami, and to announce it during a self-aggrandizing, one-hour special on ESPN, he has become the most reviled athlete in sports.

So I imagine the NBA suits were rooting for Miami. No offense to the Celtics, a brave but geriatric bunch, but James is the story. Rooting against him is a sport all its own among a large slice of the …