Note: This is a Typical Cleveland Fan post. There are two versions of the Typical Cleveland Fan. There's the one before the season who declares the Browns are going to the Super Bowl with Brady Quinn as the QB. And then there's this one. ... Put on a coat, it's going to get bitterly cold in here. Actually, it's just going to get bitter. But put a coat on anyway. This is Cleveland; it's cold out.
I swear I'm not calling out LeBron James. I love him like gray skies love Northeast Ohio. I'd give my sense of smell so that he'd stay here his whole career.
But. Dude. Come on now. You too?
My life has been filled with false sports idols. Albert Belle. Manny Ramirez. Jim Thome. Brady Quinn. Kenny Lofton. Mark Price. Brad Daugherty. CC Sabathia. Bernie Kosar. ... are you seriously going to add your name to this list?
And just what is this list? It appears to be a random list of great players (or semi-terrible in Quinn's case) that I liked for various reasons throughout my life. And yes, that's exactly what it is. Whether I love or hate these guys now is irrelevant. At one time, I believed in all of them and thought they would be the guy that would lead Cleveland into the winner's circle. And all of them failed. Every last one of them. I was like Jacob in "Lost," hoping the next guy would be The One. The guy that would prove everyone wrong. That things could change. He would win. Here. Cleveland.
Nope. None of them.
And I'm only 25! That's just under half of our title drought. People like my uncle have been kicked in the nads more times than bad guys in kids movies.
Our last title was 1964. And who was on the team? Jim Brown. The last TRULY great athlete our city had before LeBron. There were other really awesome ones, like the names listed above, but none like Jim Brown, and none like LeBron. So .... Brown = Title ; Brown = LeBron; LeBron = Title?
Um, right? ... [Rewatching Game 2 against Boston.] ... Uh oh.
Come on! ... I tell myself ... He's now a two-time MVP of the NBA! He is flat out the most gifted basketball player breathing. He imposes his will on teams. And he's STILL playing with a cast of characters that shrink when it matters most. He has to do it all by himself!
I kind of agree with myself there. But here's the unfortunate truth everyone: Because LeBron is the best player on earth, and because he can, does and should impose his will on other teams, the burden is on him to win the title. Period. Heavy is the head that wears the crown; and if a guy tattoos "King" and "Chosen One" on himself, then his head should feel like Shaq after a trip to McDonalds. All TRULY great NBA players win titles, no excuses. Clearly, LeBron has time to win a title for the next decade, (Probably on another team. I mean, right?) but a trend is starting to develop here. This team has had the best record in the league for two straight years, so it's not like everyone on the team is a total stiff. At some point, these failures and sad or pathetic or gut-wrenching losses have to be the fault of LeBron, right? I mean, if he is TRULY great, and if he's coaching the team and not Mike Brown, and if the team has taken on his personality, and if he is their leader, and if they defer to him at all times..... then it's ALL on him. Good, bad or Game-2-level truly pathetic.
If LeBron fails again, which I now believe he will, (Yup, I'm that guy. Sorry. I want to be wrong. Please prove me wrong. Anybody.) put his name on the wall next to Cliff Lee and Brian Sype and Ernest Byner and all the other losers I mentioned. Good guys? Yes. Great athletes? You bet. Legendary Cleveland athletes I'll tell my grand kids about? Absolutely. Ultimately a bunch of losers? Unfortunately, yes.
But my real thesis behind this entire post: If LeBron fails again, then he should definitely re-sign with the Cavs this summer. Not because he owes us a title or because he'll have unfinished business or because his favorite pizza place is here. It's because he's truly one of us. Seriously. Our homegrown savior, born and bred to play basketball better than anyone else, drafted by us, worshiped by us—who ultimately fails in the end. Now THAT is a true Clevelander.
Wow. That was brutally bitter. I apologize. I hope this looks stupid in a month. Go Cavs.
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