The 2015 Cleveland Cavaliers and Enjoying the Ride

I‘m attending the Cleveland Cavaliers game tonight as a fan. At some point after it’s conclusion I might have to put my commentary hat on and try and make sense of it all, but that will be long after I’ve finished waving my “rally towel” and (hopefully) celebrated a Cavs victory.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed it this year on the podcast or here on the pages of WFNY, but I’ve decided to enjoy the ride that is the 2015 Cleveland Cavaliers regardless of the outcome. Of course I want the same (positive) outcome as everyone else, and it will be a shame if this Cavaliers team isn’t able to achieve its ultimate goal of winning a championship. At the same time, I recognize how difficult it is to accomplish that lofty goal. There are so many moving pieces, from trades and injuries to chemistry, coaching and rotations. The Cavaliers not only have to make adjustments between games but from quarter to quarter, and they largely have to all be the right moves. This isn’t making excuses for the Cavs if they don’t achieve a championship. Of course I’ll be disappointed like the rest of you. I just don’t want to let that failure, if it does occur, cause the rest of this year to be defined as a failure.

I’ve had too many good times already.

Despite losing to the Knicks, I can’t remember a more fun time in the city of Cleveland than the first night of LeBron’s homecoming. Attending the Wine and Gold scrimmage with Scott Raab before the opener was amazing, meaningful, and emotional. Then, I took my then-four-year-old to his first Cavs game when Kyrie Irving went off for 55 in a victory over the Blazers. That was a life-affirming kind of moment I hope we’ll never stop talking about. It was extra special because Kyrie’s amazing performance was such a perfect backdrop for something I was going to celebrate regardless of the outcome or the fact that LeBron James didn’t play.

I don’t even know exactly how it happened or how I’ve been able to maintain this attitude about the Cavs. In prior eras of being a sports fan, I would have gotten caught up in the David Blatt nonesnse. I might have drawn comparisons to Cleveland teams holding onto coaches too long, even when they could see the writing on the wall. I worried a bit about the Andrew Wiggins for Kevin Love trade, but never so much that I couldn’t appreciate just how good a chance the Cavs had to excel in the playoffs this year.

I’m not promoting this attitude as what is best for anyone else. I know for a fact that it’s a drastic departure from everything I’ve ever been as a sports fan. It’s also a pretty drastic departure from how I treat the Cleveland Browns most of the time, so I don’t even think it’s consistent across the entire sports landscape. I’m just embracing the ride with the Cavs. Why fight it?

So many times in my life as a sports fan, I’ve bought into the promoted gravitational pull that is designed to hype fans into a frenzy. For me, that frenzy manifested itself in a more angry fan that couldn’t put up with losing or adversity. Meanwhile, I didn’t have any control over the outcome anyway, including the coming and going of players. Maybe that’s really at the heart of this too. Maybe I’ve finally realized that I’m completely at the whim of millionaire players, billionaire owners, and GMs who just desperately want to navigate the waters between and keep their jobs.

I’m sure it’s a combination of a lot of things, but regardless, I’m “All In,” just like the Cavaliers promotion says. This is a team with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. Yes, Kevin Love is out, but this is still a phenomenal team and has been for most of this year. It’s worth being celebrated, and we, as fans, deserve to celebrate whether they win it all or not. So that’s what I’m going to do.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a towel to wave and a voice to lose tonight’s game.