Eyes drooping this morning? Tough time focusing on work?
Yep. Me too.
It’s understandable. The Cleveland Cavaliers are NBA champions.
It’s been more than 50 years since a Cleveland sports franchise has brought home a world championship.
The last time it happened, Jim Brown was busting through opposing teams for the Cleveland Browns. Paul Warfield was a rookie when the Browns claimed the 1964 NFL title, a couple of years before the Super Bowl was even created.
Just over an hour’s drive from Cleveland, north central Ohio sports fans have long identified with that angst. Bernie Kosar led the Browns to the cusp of three Super Bowls, but just could not get past the Denver Broncos. The Indians, oh so close so many times, came up just short in the 1995 and 1997 World Series losses.
There’s no longer a need to recite the history of The Drive, The Shot, The Fumble, The Decision, etc. The self-loathing of each passing sports season is gone. Let the news be spread, the curse of Cleveland at last is dead.
LeBron James shoveled the final heaping of dirt on that dismal legacy on Sunday night, recording a triple double to power the Cleveland Cavaliers past the Golden State Warriors 93-89 in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
Some are calling it the greatest upset in NBA Finals history, for a number of reasons.
It’s the first time in 19 tries a team has overcome a 3-1 deficit to win an NBA Finals series. Golden State also owned the greatest regular season record in league history at 73-9. The Warriors lost just two home games the entire regular season, yet the Cavs beat them twice in Oakland, in Games 5 and 7. Finally, it’s the first time in the two-year tenure of coach Steve Kerr that Golden State has lost three straight games.
All of those things happened on the sport’s biggest stage, and in stunning fashion.
Naturally, prodigal son James was the series’ unanimous MVP, and lead sidekick Kyrie Irving hit the big shot to give the Cavaliers the lead for good with less than a minute remaining. Cleveland’s defense did not yield a single point in the final four minutes of the deciding game.
These are the details that will be replayed repeatedly for years, even decades to come.
So take note the non-sports friends among us. If you have a friend, a co-worker, an employee, a boss who is having a little trouble focusing this day, this week, this month.
This is where their imaginations have gone. No longer is dancing after a Buckeyes’ championship the only release.
This is what winning a professional championship feels like. The Cleveland fan base was finally rewarded with that title that has so long eluded it. Many no doubt will make the journey north for the victory parade on Wednesday.
Next comes Browns’ training camp, and a potential Indians playoff run in the fall, not to mention another Cavaliers’ run next year.
But for now, finally, spread the news, relish the moment, a championship is home in Ohio.
