Cleveland is the next Boston: Why each of the 3 major sports teams will have a championship by the year 2010

            Let’s face it.  Cleveland has been suffering pretty badly since the Browns last championship in 1964.  Some say there is a curse in Cleveland, but I disagree.  In order to succeed, even in any area of life, you need to fail.  Some of the best sports teams and especially players have failed many more times than they have succeeded.  Those teams and players have bounced back no matter how bad the defeats they have faced in the past.  That is why in the next few years, the sports media will be talking all Cleveland.  LeBron will finally get his ring in Cleveland, the young Indians talent will come together and take down the World Series, and the Browns finally will make the Steelers games a rivalry again while moving on to defeat the weaker NFC in the Super Bowl. 

            I see Cleveland taking a similar road to what Boston sports teams have taken.  Prior to 2001 Boston really had not seen much success in their professional sports clubs.  The Patriots did not have a Super Bowl ring yet, the Red Sox had to deal with the “Curse of the Bambino” and Buckner’s error while not winning a World Series since 1918, and the Celtics had their last successes at least 15 years in the rear-view mirror.  Times looked pretty bad for the Boston teams at the turn of the 21^st century.  But then all of a sudden Boston was the happening sports city of the United States by winning 3 Super Bowls in 4 years, 2 World Series in 4 years, and the Celtics are currently back at the top of the NBA.  All 3 of the major teams, Red Sox, Patriots, and Celtics, are now continuous contenders for their own league championship title.  This kind of situation is right on the horizon for Cleveland. 

            Cleveland rocks when it comes to the Browns.  The sellout crowds haven’t changed, but the team definitely has.  After having only one winning season since 1999, the Browns made it to double digit wins in 2007.  Only a tough conference kept the Browns out of postseason play in ‘07.  Once the team makes it to January football they will be a dangerous opponent for top tier clubs such as the Patriots and Colts.  With a Pro Bowl quarterback and all-star receivers, Cleveland finally has a high-powered offense back.  Once the defense improves with the help of new defensive coordinator Mel Tucker, the Browns will finally add a Super Bowl Championship to their pre-Super Bowl era titles.

            “It’s Tribe Time Now” was the 2007 MLB Playoffs slogan for the Indians, and no other phrase could say it better.  Last year’s American League Manager of the Year Eric Wedge looks to make up for last year’s heart-breaker to the Red Sox after being one game away from the World Series before losing 3 straight.  The Indians haven’t won a World Series since 1948.  The high-powered offense of the 90’s has now become more of a balanced ball club with a stronger starting pitching rotation to turn their championship drought around.  Power hitting Travis Hafner looks to bounce back from a lack-luster 2007 season while the rest of the young team uses last year’s experience to their advantage this year.  The Indians have most of their star players locked up with long-term, less expensive contracts and have room to make a couple good trades with the team’s player depth.

            King James and the Cavaliers are at their highest point in franchise history.  After making their first ever NBA Finals appearance in 2007, the Cavs look to make an even stronger run this season.  A blockbuster trade in the middle of this season brought the team back to the top of the Eastern Conference.  Once healthy with added depth to the bench, LeBron and the Cavs will be able to make a run for the Finals again.  They currently are a 4 seed behind the Pistons, Celtics, and Magic, but still are dangerous enough to upset the Celtics and Pistons in the conference semi-finals and finals.  The Cavs must be able to renew a 2010 expiring LeBron James contract and will most likely get him to stay as long as the team keeps surrounding him with a championship caliber team.

            Cleveland will soon end its championship drought by going all the way with not just one of the teams, but all 3 teams before the start of next decade.

Mistakes by the Lake

The opinion editorial that I read was on ESPN.com by Kieran Darcy and talked about the 10 most torturing moments in Cleveland sports history. Darcy started off by stating that Cleveland was #1 as the most tortured sports city in America. I agreed with that. The list had a couple issues with the order moments were put in. Modell’s move from Cleveland was put too low on the list and should have been number one. Also, the miracle of Richfield team should have been put ahead of the Indians losing the ‘95 World Series. Overall the list was summarized well while showing how badly the Cleveland teams choked. The Indians in 1997 had to be number one because they were the closest to a championship by losing the final game of the World Series in extra innings.

All-Star Dunk Competition ‘08

I’m glad I remembered to turn on TNT at 8pm on Saturday. It was All-Star Saturday in New Orleans and they had the events that lead up to the All-Star Game on Sunday (which LeBron James won MVP, again). The first two contests were kind of boring. There was a skills challenge where each player goes through an obstacle and aims for the quickest time. Then there was the competition with the teams of 3 including a current NBA player, a retired NBA player, and a current WNBA player. The best were the last 2 events which included the 3-point shootout and the dunk contest. The 3-point shootout was entertaining in that Daniel Gibson of the Cavs was in it, but came 2nd to Jason Kapono. Then finally came the dunk contest. It had to be one of the most creative dunk contests ever. Gerald Green’s first dunk was called the birthday cake. He set a cupcake that was lit with a single candle on top of the flat part of the rim. Then he went up to dunk and while in the air, Green blew out the candle. You couldn’t really see it when it was shown live, but in slow motion the dunk looked crazy! I couldn’t stop going nuts over it until 5 minutes after the commercial break. Then the best dunk of the night went to Dwight Howard. Dwight did one of the best dunk contest dunks of all-time without using a prop. He first tossed the ball in the air and when it bounced back up to rim level, Dwight tapped the ball with his left hand to bank it off the backboard and dunked with his right. The announcers said that was one of the top 5 dunks of all-time and I agree. Apart from not having LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, and many others that deserve to be in it, this year’s dunk contest was one of the best and will lead up to a more anticipated 2009 all-star Saturday.

Never Give Up Hope

My dad talked to a Detroit sports fan a couple weeks ago and the person was just amazed at the fans of Cleveland. In Detroit, the fans know when their team is going lose and has a really slim chance to win. They have a more realistic and less passionate view for their teams. Everybody at the end of the year is covering their heads with bags at the Lions football games and before the Tigers became competitive, nobody attended the games. But in Cleveland there is always this hope that no matter who the opponent is, we are going to win. You see fans packing Cleveland Browns Stadium and going crazy all the way to the last game of each year for the Browns who have only since the return in ‘99 have made 1 playoff appearance and average a 6-10 losing season. As long as the Cavs have LeBron and Indians keep the young talent, fans will believe a championship is coming to Cleveland.