Cleveland Is Championship Land

Cleveland Cavaliers logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Cleveland, Ohio.  The "mistake by the lake".  Punch line for generations of comedians (Bob Hope grew up here).  The place where radio DJ Alan Freed coined the phrase "rock and roll", and where its Hall of Fame now stands.  Home of this year's Republican National Convention.  Now the city has become known for something else . . .the home of the new NBA champions.

The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Golden State Warriors 93-89 at Oakland Sunday to win Game 7 of the NBA Finals, and the championship series four games to three.  LeBron James, who returned to Cleveland after winning two titles in Miami, accomplished his mission of bringing one back to his hometown.  He scored 27 points in the final game, and was the recipient of the playoff MVP award.

The Cavs, who had marched through the Eastern Conference playoffs with little or no resistance (Detroit Pistons, Atlanta Hawks and Toronto Raptors), became the first team in NBA history to win the title after trailing three games to one.  The Warriors, who had won a regular season record 73 games, fought tooth-and-nail during the Western Conference playoffs (Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder) just to defend their league championship.

Except for the final game, this was not the most exciting series to watch with blowouts being the rule than the exception.  But then the NBA decided to suspend the Warriors' Draymond Green for Game 5 on account of one too many flagrant fouls.  Some would say this was a turning point in the series, others decried the league for the timing of the suspension.  What it really accomplished was that Cleveland won the next three games.  And thirty million viewers watched Game 7 on ABC.

The city of Cleveland had not won a major men's pro sports championship in 52 years.  The original Browns (now the Baltimore Ravens) won the NFL championship over the Baltimore Colts (now based in Indianapolis) on the pre-Super Bowl afternoon of December 27, 1964.  Cleveland's baseball team last won the World Series in 1948.  The Cavaliers joined the NBA in 1970.  Their teams' defeats in the big game had names attached:  "The Drive", "The Fumble", "The Shot" and so on.

After over five decades of ineptitude and heartbreak, the fans of Cleveland have suffered enough.  Thanks to the prodigal son who came home, it's time to go celebrate that elusive championship.