I am a Cleveland fan. I ate dog biscuits in the 80s and cried, twice, when the Browns blew it, thus beginning a life-long hatred of the Broncos that has only waned recently with the hiring of Josh McDaniels; I sat on the edge of the old chair in our living room in Massillon, sure that the Cavs were gonna move on to the NBA Finals, only to watch Michael Jordan be Michael Jordan and make "The Shot;" I watched the Indians, with the most wins in MLB History, tank against the Braves, who went from worst to first, then, just 2 years later, Jose Mesa blows the save and Tony Fernandez botches a routine double-play and the MARLINS beat MY Indians in Game 7 to win the World Series; I watched those same Indians (well, not "same" as in same guys) take a 3-1 ALCS lead on the Boston Red Sox, only to blow it AGAIN; I watched the Browns spend ALOT of money on a campaign called "This Year" instead of the Cleveland saying "there's always next year," only to see them get like 4 wins; I watched the Cavs shock everyone and make it to the NBA Finals, only to get swept by the Spurs; I watched the Cavs fail to break a sweat to get to the Eastern Conference Finals, only to look like chumps against Orlando. Not to mention....OH YEAH...Art Modell, may he forever rot in hell, MOVED OUR FREAKING TEAM. So you'd think, especially since it is only May and the Indians are already eliminated from everything, I'd be ok with the fact the Cavs are gonna lose to the Celtics before ever reaching the Eastern Conference Finals. I'm not.
Let me tell you WHY I'm not. Is this the best team ever? No....not by a long shot. Shaq, god love him, is too old to be "Shaq," and any fool that thought he was gonna come in here and be "Shaq" deserves to be hit with a shalaly stick and laughed at. But he has come here and done what was expected of him. The rest of the team...eh, they're ok. Then there's Lebron...the King....back-to-back MVP seasons...the second-coming of Michael Jordan. Well I'll admit it, I have been preparing for him to leave the Cavs for two years now....I just never thought he'd do it while wearing a Cavs uniform. That was the worst performance by an MVP in any professional sport I've ever seen. Is he allowed to have an "off" night? I don't know...is he? Did Michael Jordan? Who remembers when MJ had the flu and put up AMAZING stats in the Finals? Oh I bet you could find some people in Utah that do...
What's my point, then? Why am I so mad? All those other collosal collapses, with the exception of the new-Browns, came while the team was at least TRYING. "The Drive" started on Denver's own 1 or 2 yard line and it was John Elway; "The Fumble" came after almost 30 points down and the Browns fought back to 1 yard away from tying the game; the Indians just choked, but an error can happen at any time; the Red Sox were juiced (Manny & Ortiz both juiced). But last night, the Cavs didn't even try. They looked like a high school team, in awe at the pure chance to scrimmage an NBA team. The best defense in the league was continually picked apart by an offense that throughout the season was metiocre, at best. The Celtics are old, and they're a group of guys playing like it's their last shot at a winner. The Cavs are playing like a team that is entitled to a championship because of phrases like "Win a Ring for the King" and "We Are All Witnesses." Witnesses....to what?
I lived in Denver for five years. I found it VERY easy to develop a hatred for the Broncos... AND John Elway.
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