May 24, 2013

Championship parade down West Market anyone?

April 16, 2012 by 15 Comments

The other day I had one of those moments when your thought process kind of spirals out of control. I think everyone has them from time to time. (At least I hope so.)

I was watching the Cavs play the Washington Wizards, and began thinking about that ‘rivalry’. The best of the recent playoff series against Washington was no doubt in 2006, when the Cavaliers got into the playoffs for the first time in the LeBron era. Cleveland won that series four games to two, but the final two wins went to overtime.

The starting line-ups for Saturday night’s game were Gee, Parker, Thompson, Harangody and Sloan for the Cavs, and Singleton, Vesely, Seraphin, Crawford and Wall for the Wiazards.

Not exactly the names that roll of the tongue when you think of the Cavs/Wizards clashes. For either side. So that got me thinking about the LBJ era teams, and then eventually to James himself.

I won’t pretend to know who is going to win the NBA Finals this year, but it seems the Heat will have as good a chance as anyone heading into the tournament. While thinking about that further, I could see LeBron dribbling out a Heat victory and winning the title that eludes us in Cleveland to this day.

Further down the rabbit hole my mind wandered, to the post-game comments by a now 27 year old LeBron James, who says something to the effect of “It’s been a long time coming, but finally Akron has a championship to celebrate.”

Again, please do remember that this is all just a strange semi-conscience rambling of my mind. But it doesn’t seem out of character or context with something that LeBron might actually say, and believe does it?

So that’s where all this has led me to.

I grew up in Akron. Spent the first 24 years of my life there. Most certainly I still consider myself a ‘son of Akron’. And unless I am waaaaaayyyyy off-base, I’m pretty sure a Miami Heat championship with LeBron on the team won’t really be ‘celebrated’ in Akron.

Sure, there will be those still close to James and his family and friends that will celebrate. But I can’t really envision the Target on Arlington road selling a lot of Heat championship t-shirts.

So please LeBron, if the Heat do manage to win the title this year, please keep the celebrating to Miami.

Related Posts

Zemanta
Filed Under: Cavaliers, General Tagged With: , , , ,
  • dwhit110

    Hypotheticals built on hypotheticals make for strange post topics

  • Return of the (ALex) Mack

    Go Thunder?  Bulls?  Celtics?  Pacers?  Spurs?  Lakers? Clips?  Anyone but Miami

  • Jason

    As a fellow Akron native and Cavs fan… I’d rather have a parade down West Market for Mark Price, Larry Nance, Craig Ehlo, and Co before celebrating a Miami championship… We’re not THAT desperate.  That said, I think it’s time we move on.  Lebron is an overall good dude who doesn’t owe me anything.  I wish him well off the court and hope the Cavs beat him on the court.

  • Jack

    An overall good dude?

    Your standards are staggeringly low…

  • mgbode

    you can have your parade in 2014 with Irving and MKG leading the way :)

  • Return of the (ALex) Mack

    Don’t forget Lester Hudson 

  • porckchopexpress

    Having just read the “Justin Blackmon didn’t start masturbating on radio to prove how much he loves Cleveland” article, I have to say please let this go.  I feel like Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting. 
    Porck; Hey Cleveland? This? This isn’t your fault.
    Cleveland; I know
    Porck; No, its not your fault Cleveland
    Cleveland; Not you Porck!, Not You!
    Porck; Its okay son, its not your fault.
    Cleveland; (crying) Why did he leave?? What did we do?

    Cleveland it isn’t your fault.  Had Lebron stayed we’d still be battling very tough teams with odd combinations of castoffs and role players, and knowing what we know now there is no way to know if Lebron would even be “the man” we needed.
    Cleveland it isn’t your fault.  You can’t go around judging every other athlete that does/doesn’t play here through the lens of the Decision.  Let it go, move on.

    And just to show I’m a hypocrite who hasn’t just let something go.  Rick, if you are truly an Akronite at some point after “The Decision” you had to roll your eyes at how a town that has spent its entire life looking down at us all of sudden started calling Lebron a “hometown” guy.  If there is one thing Lebron ever said that I eternally agree with its that as high schoolers every time you ran into Cleveland kids they treated you like you were from a 3rd world country.  Then all of a sudden these same kids grew up and were furious that “one of their own would leave”.

    Uggh where’s Sean when I need him?

  • porckchopexpress

    And how many millions have you pumped into Akron charities?  I taught in the city for 3 years during his time in Cleveland, and I can say if there is one thing that hasn’t changed since he went to Miami its the fund raising he tries to do for Akron.
    I have no problem rooting against him, I admit I hope he doesn’t win a title because I’m a Cavs fan too, and can’t rationalize wanting him to win.  Basketball aside he loves his hometown, which happens to be as different a city from Cleveland as Muncie Indiana, and he does make an effort to support his town, which makes him not totally bad. 

  • porckchopexpress

    you can have your parade in 2014 with Irving and Drummond leading the way (fixed that typo for you)  :) :)

  • mgbode

    he can wave the towel from the end of the bench, sure.

  • mgbode

    well, by 2014 Drummond may have learned his first post move.  hmmm, I think he’ll need more than 1 to win a title though.  ok, his first rookie contract will be up in 2017 and it’s on the 2nd deal that most big men are coming into full contribution for a good team.

    so, 2018, if Drummond doesn’t completely bust.  which, of course, is what I think he will do.

  • mgbode

    the Justin Blackmon thing has more to do about Cleveland than LeBron though. LeBron wasn’t the first bad thing that happened to Cleveland in sports.

    one of the things that I found comical after I first left the northshore was coming back and talking sports.   other places, sport talk was completely “homerized” in that everything was the best and fluffy and positive.  then, there’s Cleveland where everything is the worst and “what if’s” are all about the past negatives (normal everywhere) and future negatives (ummm, not as normal).

    now, I have no problem with it.  i think it’s part of what makes our city.  we are a constant underdog and we have created the image, the protective shield and it’s part of what makes the city so collectively united in defense of it’s sport teams and city to outsiders.  and, this includes prospective athletes.

    but, it’s not “all about LeBron.”  it’s been apart of the culture before he came to the Cavs and, while he added his own chapter to it, it’s still here now.

  • Chucky Brown

    hey now,

    Akron’s one of my favorite southeastern suburbs

  • Mike Bogucci

    I don’t think that LBJ is “an overall good dude”.  However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that he is “not totally bad”.  Both of these statements can be true.  And of course, he’s certainly not throwing money around in any sort of effort to improve his image, is he?  Of course he does it soley out of the kindness of his heart.

  • http://twitter.com/bKnEwStAsH $t@$h -Mr. 3 Spliffs

    Miami bitches!!