On the heels of Bernie Kosar being brought back into the mix in some made-up way with the Browns, new Indians manager Manny Acta seems to be entertaining the idea of adding Sandy Alomar to his coaching staff (based on pure speculation from Paul Hoynes, but for the purposes of this post, just go with it).
I have no idea if either of these hires will pan out. Kosar may get hopped up on Oxycontin and trade Joe Thomas to the Saskatchewan Rough Riders for all I know. But it doesn't matter because both of these hires are awesome. I'd also like to request Mark Price and Brad Daugherty being brought back to coach the Cavs. And I truly believe Acta shouldn't stop with Sandy and reach out to Orel Hershiser and Carlos Baerga in some capacity too. Hell, scrape together some bail money and let's go get Albert Belle.
You see, here in Cleveland, we don't win championships. Our teams usually have losing seasons, and if they do have a winning season, they find some way to tragically fail, which ends up turning the winning experience bitter. So why keep doing it? Why even follow in the first place?
One big reason is tradition. Our sports teams are embedded into our cultural and personal identities. Year in and year out, from one season to the next, we cheer, root, bitch, moan, get jacked up for no reason and then start bitching again. Because of this, the players that wear our city's name become intertwined into these traditions and this personal identity—for better or worse. We take it personal when players like Jim Thome or Carlos Boozer leave for more money, and we adore long-hated rival players like Jamal Lewis when they stupidly come here. Along the way, some players transcend the laundry they wear. Jim Brown, Bob Feller, Austin Carr. They cease to be people or athletes and become symbols of our past. If you want to get real deep, you could say they embody part of personality—that Cleveland-tradition-loving part of us.
Bernie and Sandy are two of those guys. In my mind, they represent our city and our collective sports history for a particular place and time. So when they get hired back, however minimal the role and however terrible they may end up being, they are back! For good or bad, they are one of us. They are a part of that tradition.
Our teams will lose and they will not win championships. So, knowing that, let's lose with the one's we love—the one's that represent who we are as a city.
A city full of losers!
(Wait...on second thought...)
No comments:
Post a Comment