So my good fiend and RtB citizen RD and I used to work together, see? I was his secretary many moons ago. We’re talking 20+ years past. Once in a while, there’d be the odd joke about the Chicago Cubs and the Cleveland Indians battling it out in the World Series someday — after which there’d be laughter, or saying something akin to shyeah right, or references to pigs on the wing.

Well, whaddya know.

This year, the Fall Classic will be played in two hardscrabble Midwestern cities that have sunk to terrible depths and somehow survived; two cities that, until 2016, have struggled to put out championship pro sports teams. I must admit it’s nice to experience it twice in one year (likely the last time in my life) with both the Cavs and Tribe getting to the final rounds, but I say it’s about time both US coastlines take a rest and watch the Rust Belt take a swing, savvy? It’s our turn.

Sports championship droughts are a “thing”; a title no one wants, but an “accomplishment” that’s often on the minds and lips of many. Chicago and Cleveland are semi-pros in this category, to wit:

MOST RECENT CHICAGO CHAMPIONSHIPS: Baseball (White Sox, 2005 — Cubs, 1908); Football, 1985; Basketball, 1998. Only the Blackhawks, with three Stanley cup wins in six years (2010, 2013 and 2015) can claim any kind of consistency. The Cubs haven’t been to the World Series in 71 years.

MOST RECENT CLEVELAND CHAMPIONSHIPS: Baseball, 1948; Football, 1964; Basketball, 2016.

A little thin on the dynasties, obvs. And of course, there are those who poo-poo pro sports as a whole, on account of the endless cash grab mentality on the part of owners, the violence of the hits, the vulgar salaries that push ticket prices ever higher, and the poor example many pro athletes set for kids. I know all that, too. It’s an argument for another day.

Today, we celebrate. Cubs or Tribe — matters not. Have I mentioned it’s our turn? Go Great Lakes!

1. Going through closets for clothing donations
2. Cleaning bathrooms
3. Emptying the oak desk in the parlor of various and sundry junk that should have been thrown out long ago
4. Dusting
5. Brushing the dogs
6. Lesson plans and shopping for fall music
7. Watching Game of Thrones and Penny Dreadful on DVR over coffee

But here it is, 8:30 a.m. and I’m still entertaining myself by reading about the Cavs, looking at videos and Vines and tweets, and basically trying to relive that moment on the couch last night, when I covered my eyes as Kyrie Irving took his own version of “The Shot,” basically sealing the deal in the final 10 seconds of the game. I stared in numb disbelief at the TV screen as the clock stopped and LeBron made that foul shot, and as time started again and two Warriors in a matter of two seconds missed 3-point attempts. Only this time, my numb disbelief wasn’t rooted in the tradition doomed to repeat itself year after year, when Cleveland teams either lose early on and never make the playoffs, or make the postseason only to either get swept or endure heartcrushing defeats like The Drive, The Fumble, The Catch, and Red Right 88. This time, I watched in dazed amusement as an actual Cleveland sports team rushed the court, and as grown men fell to the floor, crying for joy.

The Comeback.

Surreal.

Only three times since the NBA Finals began back in 1947 has a team won Game 7 while not playing on their home court. The Celtics won Game 7 in LA in 1969, and again in Milwaukee in 1974; in 1978, Washington won the seventh game at Seattle. Three times — until now.

I’ll get to the list of tasks at some point today…or maybe not. I might just make more coffee and enjoy a bit more of the shock. I imagine there are a lot of Cleveland fans running on extra java this morning. That’s OK; they’ve — we’ve — earned it.

Another sad King Cavalier

There’s always next year.

I really thought it might continue. The Thriller’s Black Hawks won the Stanley Cup, and I hoped it might be my turn to back a championship team of my own as well. Alas…

Why? Why do we feel such affinity towards a sports team? Why do we take their losses so hard and so personally? The reasons are plentiful, according to which opinion you read, but I guess mine centers around pride for an area that has certainly seen its share of hard luck, and for which a pro sports championship has not been won since I was five years old. It doesn’t matter which Cleveland sport you choose; the result is the same. They’re snake-bit, but that doesn’t stop the hope train from roaring to life at the opening tip/pitch/kickoff of each season. You’d think I’d be tired of that scenario after 35+ years. Naaah.

Being a sports fan is a dubious undertaking. A fan spends enormous stores of energy for an event over which he or she has absolutely zero control, and whose identity the favored players on the chosen team will likely never know. Reading derogatory comments after a stunning loss (and oh my, they are in plentiful supply on the Cavs social media pages this morning) hurts, offends, enrages. Why do we take it so personally? OK, why do I take it so personally? What will a championship win really do for me, and why would I most certainly feel a party to it being won, as if I might have had something to do with it?

As a Cleveland fan, I’ve endured unending jabs at school, mostly by students whose favorite teams have beaten “us” the night before. (I’m used to it, believe me.) Many behave as if they owned the winning team, and were paying back some long-ago slight by smashing my team into the dust. The hubris. The nerve. How dare they trounce my perennial chumps?

I know. I’m just jealous and disappointed and, quite possibly, a sore loser. Of course there are other things in life to celebrate, and I’ll get over this. That’s how it always goes — ask me how I know. I’m looking on the bright side, as Vegas odds have predicted what every Cavs fan wants to hear, but again, it’s Cleveland, so…

The Curse continues, but hey, at least we dominate one ESPN list. Yeah!

Life goes on, ja? The milk’s on the floor — no amount of boo-hoo is going to make last night un-happen. At any rate, I can relax and not worry about a Game 7. Time to enjoy the summer for real! The Js last night and today, the A-Team Thursday and Friday all day — a good week ahead, even though it’s already Wednesday. Hope yours is good, too, especially if you’re a Warriors fan. *sigh*

Pity party over. Time for breakfast. Go Cavs!

You’re singing it now, aren’t you. haha

This is for all the salty morons who say the following (as seen on countless social media photos, just this morning):

1. Y’all love LeBron now. What if he don’t do it for you? You be burnin his jersey again?
2. BANDWAGON CAVS FANS. Where was all this “All In” s*** last season?
3. Never seen such [obscene idiom meaning “adoration”] for a thug player like Dellavedova.
4. If Cleveland didn’t have LBJ, they’d be sitting at home right now.

Well, here you go.

1. If LeBron “don’t do it” for us, it won’t be entirely his fault, Einstein. And with regard to his leaving Cleveland and coming back: It happened; he said he was young and made the decision he thought was right for him at the time. (Turns out it was right for him.) Betrayal in the eyes of fans, yes. Hurt feelings, yes. IN THE PAST? YES. Holy cow, I hope people don’t make me pay for every mistake I’ve made or selfish thing I’ve ever done. This is a total case of “they hate us cuz they ain’t us.” If the haters had the best player on the planet, they’d be loving him, too. So shut up and get over it. Fifty-one years without a single championship in any pro sport entitles us to some bragging rights at the moment.
2. I swear, if I read this ignorant tripe one more time…Have you ever paid more attention when your team started to win, than when they were week-in, week-out losers who never made it past the division basement? If you answered no, then you’re A) lying, or B) well, I dunno…lying. I don’t follow soccer that much, but you can bet I was rooting for the USA in the World Cup last year. Does that make me a bandwagon soccer fan? Who cares? I love the USA! True, teams need bolstering from the fan base when they’re losing. But again, this isn’t high school basketball, when you personally love the people who play, and you have a relationship with them, and you’re in tune with them on a more intimate level. These guys are paid for what they do, and they’re supposed to do it well. Every fan of every team ever will have to admit that their “All In” embers die down a bit when their chosen team suffers losing season after losing season. Some of us have been Cleveland sports fans for multiple decades (*raising hand*), and we haven’t given up. But losing erodes enthusiasm, and hello, winning fires it up. Human nature, so yeah. You’d do the same.
3. Oh, get off it and give officials some credit. If they saw flagrant fouls — especially in this new age of replay in pro basketball — do you think they wouldn’t have been called, maybe once? And do you think Dellavedova is the only player in NBA history to get away with a foul? Truth is, everyone tries it. It’s like holding in football: they could throw a flag on every play. Delly dives on the floor for possession of the ball, all-out rugby style, with no regard for his personal safety. How often has the NBA seen something like that, game after game, from one player? Of course it’s crazy to watch, and it’s a wonder he’s survived this long in the series. It’s rough and violent, but not illegal. Still…funny how Kelly Olynyk is just a “tough player” when he ends Kevin Love’s postgame season clearly on purpose, but Delly’s “dirty” because of his scissor-leg move? Shut it. That, or go to basketball officials’ school and get your own bad self out there.
4. Duh.

Look. Cleveland may lose this thing. Heck, they will probably lose this thing, because it’s Cleveland. But if you’re a fan of just about any other pro team, you’ve been where we are right now. You’ve experienced having your team win it all; we haven’t. Give us some room and shut your yap.

#All In

Anybody have any?

I’m not telling anyone who I’m rooting for to win, because whichever team I pick — matters not the sport — always loses. So shhhhhhh. Be vewwy quiet.

Besides, I’ve always felt that until MY team plays in the Super Bowl, it’s just another football game, which explains why I never have any plans for Super Bowl Sunday. (And likely never will.)

Now you just have yourself a fabulous Thursday, because you know what tomorrow is.