As a Cleveland sports fan, I'm still trying to grasp what it is about our three major sports teams that always seems to lead us fans up and down a roller coaster ride of emotions every few years.These gut-wrenching rides have taken place on the field. There were The Drive (Elway), The Fumble (Byner), and The Shot (Jordan). It has also taken place due to the misfortune of Cleveland being a mid-market sports city on a small-market budget. We've traded away All-Stars during their prime contract years (C.C. Sabathia, Cliff Lee) in an effort to gain SOMETHING, usually in the form of prospects, to avoid being outbid by major-market teams and being left with nothing to show for it (Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome).
Will it ever all come together for Clevelanders?
When it comes to the Cavaliers, we've never really had a true superstar with contract issues. Even with LeBron James, the contract wasn't the issue. You can't say the same for the Indians. The Cavs were in a position to pay James more money than any other team in the NBA. But he wasn't traded last season for two reasons: 1) the Cavs were in the hunt for an NBA title, and 2) based on what the Cavs could offer, and given the fact that he was so well admired throughout Northeast Ohio, we would have been crazy to trade him away on the thinking that he would leave for less money and opt to play for a city where he had no real ties.
At any rate, the Cavs made an attempt at a new contract prior to the 2009-10 NBA season. James said no dice. He wanted to see what other teams offered. The Cavs front office shrugged and said, "Okay, we'll let you play around with free agency. We know you're not going to Carlos Boozer us. After all, you are ONE OF US."
But way back then, James must have known deep down inside what he was going to do. He knew that Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh and him were going to play on the same team. The question was: Which team? Cleveland was still a possibility.
I think the final straw for James was during the Cavs' playoff run last season, when James had an apparent elbow injury (although MRI results were negative). During this phantom injury time, James was inconsistent on the court. One game he'd put up astronomical numbers. The next game, he'd play passive basketball and look disinterested. I remember hearing the home crowd boo him for the first time in his seven years with the Cavs. I believe at that point, something in James' mind changed. He still had the idea that he'd be playing on the same team as Wade and Bosh, only now he knew that Cleveland wasn't the city they'd all be playing in. Maybe there actually WAS some significance in him quickly peeling off his jersey and discarding it following the knockout game vs. the Celtics.
We should've known something sketchy was in the works when Toronto agreed to do a sign-and-trade with Cleveland for Bosh, but Bosh replied, "No way, I'm not playing in Cleveland." At that point it was obvious that James' run in Cleveland was over. Maybe we were just being too optimistic and keeping our fingers crossed.
In the day following James' announcement to leave the Cavs and play for the Heat alongside Wade and Bosh, the national media seemed to agree that Clevelanders were overreacting and handling the news poorly. The collective groan in the papers and on the radio and television was that Cleveland fans were treating James unfairly. Bloggers were begging us fans to "stop crying."
But what these people are not getting is the fact that James' decision to leave the Cavs and continue the prime years of his career playing for the Heat is not what has Cleveland fans this upset. Would we have shared a feeling of being "let down" or "disappointed" had James announced his decision via Twitter or some other instant media source? Sure. But the reason that this level of uproar has been so deafening is because of the way James went about his announcement.
Was there really a need to hold an hourlong national primetime special announcing this decision? No, there really wasn't. What James did was unprecedented, unwanted, unwarranted and unneeded. He strung us along and dropped a LeBomb.
I've thought a lot about if there has ever been a similar situation in sports history (even minus the TV special), where a hometown sports icon leaves his or her respective team to make less money in order to play on a star-studded roster with one goal in mind: winning championships to bolster a personal resume.
This has never happened. Sure, players have left bad, mediocre, and even in some cases good teams, for monetary reasons. And typically, when players have left their teams for the opportunity to win a championship, the moment has come during the twilight of their careers as a last-ditch effort to get a ring before retiring.
Never has a player, who was born, raised, drafted and invested in their local community to the point James was, left their home team/city/state during their prime years like James has. James stated during "The Decision" interview that his heart is still in Northeast Ohio, but I just don't believe him. His mansion is still there, but that's about it. This move had disloyalty written all over it.
Can you imagine the buzz and backlash Joe Mauer would have gotten had he opted for free agency to hear pitches from the Twins, Yankees, Mets, White Sox, Dodgers and Marlins? Mauer keeps everyone on the dark as the free agency signing period approaches. The Minneapolis-St. Paul community would have been in an uproar (and so would have the national media) had this situation unfolded, and had Mauer ultimately signed with the Yankees for less money than the Twins offered so that he could "win championships."
But that situation never happened because Joe Mauer is loyal. He understands what it means to his community to play for the Twins. He's their homegrown golden child, much like LeBron James was to the greater Cleveland-Akron metropolitan area.
What James did was give up. He looked down the road toward the end of his career and thought, "If I play out my entire career in a Cavs uniform, I might win one title, maybe two. But one or two titles aren't enough. I want to make history. I want my legacy to be that I won more titles than MJ, more titles than Kobe. And I just can't do that in Cleveland. Just don't see it happening."
Whereas Mauer looked down the road toward the end of his career and thought, "I WANT to play out my entire career in a Twins uniform. I WANT to win titles for Minneapolis-St. Paul. If we win three or four, that's awesome. But then again, if we win just one, that'd be great too. I realize I'm an important figure to this community and I enjoy living and playing here, and that's what is important. If at the end of my career I don't have any World Series rings, yet I've had fun and enjoyed all my years playing the game I love, I will be happy. I will be content."
And with no World Series rings, Mauer would still go down as being one of - if not THE - greatest catchers in MLB history. He would be forever known as a great individual player, but an even greater team-oriented guy. See Tony Gwynn, Cal Ripken, etc.
In 2003, James picked up a city that was in need of a boost. He created a buzz and lifted a city's spirit. This was/is a city that was/is experiencing some of the worst there was/is to offer during tough economic times. Northeast Ohio has been hit hard, but James gave families a reason to smile and have a good time. He single-handedly boosted the economy. With his move to Miami, James has let the City of Cleveland down, very hard. And yes, I understand that the NBA is a business and that James was a free agent and that it was HIS decision. That's all fine. But we were slammed! We did not deserve it. For seven years we've given James everything and more. Treated him like a king. So let's not kid ourselves. Cleveland was slapped in the face and pushed out of the airplane with no parachute on the national stage. Absolutely uncalled for!
And for that, he cannot be forgiven.
