Cleveland fans can finally revel in championship glory
I’ve always wondered how I'd feel if I got to see one of my hometown teams win a championship.
And finally, after a lifetime of wishing, waiting and wondering if it would ever happen, I have my answer. And it’s surreal.
Now that the Cleveland Cavaliers have broken the city’s nearly-52-year title drought, it’s all just sporadic euphoria with random fist pumps and ear-to-ear grins with tears of happiness, all laced with complete shock and utter disbelief. So many feelings that it’s difficult to sort through them.
All I know is only a handful of things in my life have ever felt so completely gratifying. So significant. So sweet.
As the Cavs were completing their historic comeback from a 3-1 deficit against the defending-champion Golden State Warriors, I sat and waited for something bad to happen. That’s the Cleveland way. We never feel safe. We always anticipate doom and gloom. We hope for the best but expect the very worst.
So even after Stephen Curry’s desperation three-pointer clanked off the rim with 2 seconds remaining, and the ball trickled away along with the rest of the time on the clock, I still couldn’t comprehend what I was seeing. I even watched as a sea of black jersey’s began mobbing each other but refrained from celebration.
Then I watched LeBron James, my fellow Akronite, embrace Kevin Love with tears streaming down his face in an enormously emotional moment. That’s when it sunk in: The Cavs had won. But more than that, we had won. We had finally sidestepped disappointment. We were champions and free to celebrate at long last.
And, like James, I lost all composure.
Being that I’m certainly not the most championship-starved Cleveland sports backer (I was 7 years old when Earnest Byner fumbled at the Denver Broncos’ 1-yard-line in the 1988 AFC Championship Game), I’m positive that sentiment was shared by many other grown men and women.
If you're not a Cleveland sports fan, it's difficult to explain. We're not unlike all other sports fans when it comes to being generational, which is why the drought ending on Father’s Day seemed especially appropriate. It's just that we've had to wait longer than any market with at least three squads in the four main sports.
Cleveland has had it bad. It was the city where dreams died in an instant.
Red Right 88. The Drive. The Fumble. The Shot. The Blown Save. The Move. The 2007 American League Championship Series. The Decision.
Now those can be a thing of the past. We no longer have to wonder what it feels like.
We can celebrate together because we’ve finally reached it: The End.
Casey Moore is a Paste BN Sports staffer, working with the sports department on podcasts and social interaction during games. He is one of the many long-suffering Cleveland-area natives who still can't believe his city has a championship.