Indians 5, Blue Jays 4: Don’t Stop Believing
July 8, 2011WFNY Podcast: The Decision, Trading JJ, and Tribe’s Second Half
July 8, 2011Today is kind of an empowering day for me. As we look back on one of the most unnecessarily awful days in the history of contrived sports story lines, I don’t feel all that badly about it. Once you get over the shock of it happening and the anger at the perpetrator, all that’s left is reflection. You perform kind of an unstructured after-action review of what happened, why it happened and how you can do better going forward. Mind you this isn’t an after action review of anyone but myself, given the overwhelming number of judgements that have been levied against those that were responsible for “The Decision.” Mostly, I am left with the feeling that I couldn’t have done much differently, and that feels pretty liberating.
Yesterday, I was discussing whether or not we were stupid for not knowing Cleveland was going to lose out, regardless. In hindsight we certainly looked pretty stupid. Then again, I don’t think anybody truly had their finger on the pulse including all the “insider” puppets who were having their strings pulled throughout the dog and pony show presentations in Cleveland.
The generally accepted Cleveland logic that all the contractual features available to the home team being important turned out to be true. I can hardly feel responsibility for not being able to predict that those features would be traded in dealings subsequent to the decision to leave. As far as I am aware, the way that transaction was molded retroactively was pretty unique.
Everyone had heard of sign-and-trades, but nobody was expecting a “departure” that would be migrated into a “trade” at a later time. If anything, I guess I should feel stupid for thinking I could figure out what was going to happen in a league where Keith Van Horn could be traded after he had already retired.
And so, it went. The league is now locked out and all the rules could change. It is hard to argue that they probably should too. Even before “The Decision” as the Cavaliers finally took the plunge into ridiculousness by trading Zydrunas Ilguaskas for Antawn Jamison before getting him back, I was ready for the league to change its rules regarding player movement. Little did I know just how much I would want the league to change just a few months later after free agency rules and “The Decision” had resulted in one of the most ridiculous consolidations of talent – all at once – in the history of professional sports, let alone the NBA.
In the end, nobody really got it right. Even those who predicted Cleveland would lose out didn’t have any idea how it would go down. Giving those people credit for being “right” would be like picking a golfer and then giving your buddy credit for guessing “the field.” Guessing and being right isn’t worthy of praise in my book. Just ask anyone who tries to bet the Super Bowl coin toss with me. It ain’t gonna happen.
So, what are the rest of you Cleveland fans thinking today other than “Go Tribe!”???
12 Comments
Thinking how LeBron is so September 10th.
/Scott’d
thinking Deron Williams should have had an hour special so he could announce he is ‘taking his talents to turkey’
I’m thinking how much I’d like to play professional basketball for the current league minimum salary. Call me J-Scab
I’m just wondering why I cared so much in the first place. I can tell im in my late 20’s and getting used to this Cleveland thing now. Moving on gets easier every year. Your last sentence sums it up best…go Tribe.
And when the Indians are done, go Browns
as far as i’m concerned craig, there’s nothing to think in the world of cleveland sports right now OTHER than “go tribe!” (with maybe a little bit of “way to go camp colt” and “i hear there’s a baseball game in akron in a couple weeks in which i may eat an exorbitant amount of hot dogs at”)
His choke job in the finals was the final aspirin I needed. Moved-on.
Honestly, don’t care that much. It feels a LOT longer than just one year ago. Moved on, culminating with his choke job in the Finals, and now it’s “COME BACK NFL!!” and GO TRIBE!!
A year ago I was thinking that James was definitely going to stay in Cleveland. After all, no one would be cruel enough to set up a national TV broadcast and then dump us. NOBODY could possibly jerk around a team, a city, a region like that. Not possible.
Oh well, at least he torpedoed up his marketing career.
I wanted my absence in these comments to signify my lack of interest in this tired subject, but then realized that my absence would neither be felt nor would my important sentiment be acknowledged.
Therefore, please hereby register this comment as my formal absence from this discussion, intended as an audibly silent disregard of this topic as having any meaning whatsoever.
Good day.
Robbie, my feelings exactly. I lot of my built up anger and bitterness left when Dallas one. We got to watch him fail in another city with new teamates, and it was fun to watch. While I will never be rooting for him or Miami, I honestly feel even if they win next year it wont bother me much.
Yep – MeBron’s vanishing act in The Finals (“choke” is just not the right word for it, since “choking” implies actual effort and attempts to do the job – and MeBron didn’t even do THAT) was all of the redemption I needed. I was able to point to that series and say, “THAT’S what we saw in Game Five against Boston – only he supposedly had an elbow injury then” — and people understood it. Until then, there was a narrative of “You Clevelanders need to get over it, because MeBron DID bless you for years.” That meme’s dead and buried forever, and now there’s a legitimate question of “if, not when” about him.
The Indians have been a big help, too, of course.
Over it with the finals loss. That was a critical piece of this. That said, I still have a small part of me hoping that the claim the Cavs will win it all before the King does is vindicated. I like that Gilbert let it fly on that one at the time.