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September 10, 2010Clippers Rally Late, Fall Short in Extras as Yankees Take Game Two 5-4
September 10, 2010Could the city of Cleveland, Ohio possibly have a “rivalry” with the city of Miami, Florida?
Though not even close to being a regional rival like that of Cleveland-Pittsburgh or Ohio State-Michigan, it appears that the city of Miami is taking a page out of the Washington Wizards book by stirring up a little drama. The difference here is that this one may actually carry some weight with fans in the buckeye state as the last two months may have served as fuel to the proverbial fire.
Though it may date all the way back to 1997 when the Cleveland Indians were upset by the Florida Marlins in the World Series – thank you, Jose Mesa – it really picked up some steam in 2002 when the Buckeyes topped the star-studded Miami Hurricanes for the Division I National Championship game. Willis McGahee knee injury, fumble recovery by Maurice Clarett, debatable pass interference call in waking moments… this game may have truly been the one that put the Ohio-Florida rivalry on the map.
Fast forward to 2010 and we now have a few more rungs in the latter to Sports Misery, USA. LeBron James “took his talents” to South Beach, Ohio State will play host to the Hurricanes for the first time since the 2002 matchup, and the Indians and Marlins are primed to repeat in the upcoming World Series. Okay, maybe not the last one, but the Browns are heading down to Raymond James Stadium on Sunday, so that sort of counts. Doug Lesmerises of The Plain Dealer went as far as grouping in the recent high school football game between Dwyer (about an hour away from Miami) and Cleveland’s Glenville – the game ended on a very controversial string of calls that landed in the Tarblooders favor.
Regardless, this opportunity was seized by some Miami, Florida faithful, as they have taken to the printing press. The point of the operation? Apparently to tell Cleveland that LeBron James went to Miami because the Hurricanes were allegedly robbed eight years prior.
“I can report that the Heat only signed LeBron as payback for Ohio State stealing the national championship from UM,” Miami Herald columnist Greg Cote joked. “If not for that terrible call, LeBron would still be in a Cavs uniform.”
In the case of the Washington Wizards, it was a one-sport, one-team deal. They hate (hated?) the Cavaliers and LeBron James. With Miami, there is some excellent overlapping when factoring in both professional and collegiate athletics. Venn diagrams, ahoy!
Naturally, regardless of the year, the sport or the game, it all appears to boil down to the common denominator of LeBron James. James, who may or may not grace Columbus with his appearance on Saturday, continues to support The Ohio State University despite his departure to the respective patios (or VIP rooms) of The Delano and Mansion. After all, Terrelle Pryor told the world that LeBron “is a Buckeye.” Perhaps this adds some more heat to the rivalry?
Or perhaps there is no rivalry at all…
28 Comments
Wouldn’t a rivalry with a city mean that other city’s (or heck, even the entire state’s) teams have, you know, regular season fans or something?
Yawn. Couldn’t care less about Miami & Florida. I’m not mad at the Heat. Sure they pushed the rules and got away with it but they were smart too. No, as a good Clevelander, I reserve my hate for LBJ and his handling of everything. Oh, and the Ravens and Art Modell too. Yeah, and Pittsburgh sucks.
The first game the Cleveland Browns ever played was on Sept. 6, 1946, in the AAFC. The Browns crushed the Miami Seahawks 44-0.
On Christmas Eve 1972, the Browns came closer than anyone had to spoiling the Dolphins perfect season. We lost a first-round playoff game to Miami 20-14, but we had the lead halfway through the fourth quarter and we stayed in it right up until the end.
(Thanks to the Plain Dealer’s excellent Browns site, which contains the paper’s stories of every game the team has ever played.)
The pass interference call was controversial, but it was not “debatable.” Gamble was held before the ball was thrown and mugged while the ball was in the air. The problem with the flag was its timing, not its correctness. Another thing that has made that [correct] call so hard to swallow is that Miami’s football program never bounced back from it.
“The pass interference call was controversial, but it was not “debatable.””
Tell that to the people that think it should’ve been a “defensive holding” call
Despite everything that happened to Clarett afterwards, I still remember that strip after the interception…an amazing play by a freshman…
If you want to talk about a new rival, how about Boston? The Celtics and Red Sox have crushed Cleveland teams’ dreams in the last 5 years. They stole Manny, as well.
Do people in Miami realize Cbus and Cleveland are two different cities? My guess is probably not since they can’t even read the game start times on their tickets and end up showing up in the second half. Seriously, that shirt is a dumb analogy.
Can we collectively stop saying that Lebron “supports” TOSU? We all know he’s there trying to plant seeds in Pryor to sign with LRMR.
He “supports” the Buckeyes the same way he “supported” Kentucky basketball with John Wall there. Let’s see how many Kentucky games he goes to this year.
@8- Exactly.
As a non-OSU fan, this is not my fight.
Wait, where are the Venn Diagrams??? I was told there would be Venn Diagrams!!!
Whoa, my comment somehow jumped Robbie and Friscohio to land at #11, even though their comments were there when I posted mine…
How can you have a sports rivalry with a city whose fans could care less. I just moved to south Florida and you wouldn’t even know there are any sports teams here besides the dolphins.
Mr. Cleveland, I remember that 1972 Browns/Dolphins playoff game, including {censored} Mike Phipps and his 5 interceptions. The Browns also blew a lead to the Dolphins in the 1985 playoffs, but no one cares about that one anymore either.
In truth, there is no Cleveland/Miami rivalry. This is just a silly attempt to fill up newspaper space.
“rungs in the latter”
latter?
That call for pass interference was a no-brainer. In fact, I think it actually showed up in a book later on as one of the best calls of all time. I can’t verify that though.
I liked the Cavs/Wiz rivalry. Too bad Wizards couldn’t stay healthy to make that more competitive. The one year both Butler and Arenas missed the series with season ending injuries and the Cavs swept them.
does anyone else wonder if that call would be still such a big deal if Porter hadn’t hesitated and thrown the flag right away?
Anyone who watched the game knows the Hurricanes shouldn’t have even gotten the ball back to bring it into Overtime.
This is gonna be a dog fight but 1 sided. Ohio is going to destroy miami. Also I put money on cavs winning their first game vs. miami. Watch it happen, no vacationing teams are going to beat our blue collar teams.
Just throwing out a stat for all the Homers.
If they lose to Miami tomorrow, they will be 1-6 in their last seven games against ranked NON-Conference opponents. If they win, well that would be 2-5! What a great record!
So please, continue to believe this program is the greatest program ever!
I mean TP is a great role model!
Cannot hate Miami Heat or blame the team. Hell, if we could’ve got the 3 Egos on the Cavs, we’d all be thumbing our noses at the naysayers and jumping for joy. I blame Lebron for his handling of the situation, and for the false pretenses surrounding his loyalty to the city/state/fans.
Needless to say, no idea why he’d want to “be a Buckeye”. Hasn’t Miami/Florida won more championships, hmmm Mr. Bandwagon? Really, we’d like you to just go away.
Is there a rivalry? In the sense that I am REALLY PISSED I’m gonna miss the game on TV, cuz it’s gonna be a good one and I DO NOT want my team to lose to Miami. So, it’s a petty rivalry.
You might as well wear an “I’m with stupid” with the arrow pointing at your face t-shirt.
For a rivalry to be real you have to play the other team at least every other year, not once a decade.
As for LeQuitter, he became DWade’s bitch and not worth talking about anymore. Even if Wade and his two ho’s LeQuitter and Bosh win the next ten championships it’s Wade’s team, they’re just extra parts.
Why not throw in that the Marlins sole a world series from the Indians. You have every other Ohio city and sport included in this “rivalry”. There is no rivalry. Miami U players are thugs, the Heat bought their team, and no one in Florida supports the best team in baseball, the Rays. The state of Florida lacks true sports fans, so it’s hard to have a rivalry with no one.
Now the Bobcats in the National Championship game, that would really be something.
Interesting argument, but I can’t make the connection, personally. I actually rooted for Florida in 2003 vs the Yankees. The Buckeyes aren’t a Cleveland team. And, I’m not upset with the Miami Heat. I’m upset that he left, period.
That t-shirt is lame. Ohio University did not play in the 2002 Championship. Ohio State did. And they won. Hopefully, they will tomorrow. Go Buckeyes!
pretty sure the rivalry should be with the city of New Orleans…you know hurricanes….New Orleans? ZING….too soon? Maybe… :/