Unloveable Cleveland?
You ever date someone who was out of your league? You know, someone just above your pay grade. Maybe he or she was coming off an abusive relationship, or was very lonely or maybe they felt misunderstood and unappreciated or maybe she was really a man playing duck-and-cover, but regardless, they were with you and you just kind of felt innately insufficient. Your insecurities would manifest themselves whenever you would be introduced as a couple. “She? Is with him? . . . That makes sense.”
Maybe it wasn’t even true. Maybe the other party felt happy, even lucky to have you. That’d be great, but it wouldn’t help if you didn’t believe it. It’s a tough place to be. You spend half your time convincing yourself you’re beautiful enough on the inside to overcome your other deficiencies and the other half of the time trying to convince your soon-to-be ex the same. The desperation is ultimately a turn off. Maybe you had been good enough after all.
And maybe, if instead of being just a single desperate person, you were an entire team in a city of desperate people and you had a PR department that had video editing software:
If you are a fan of the NBA at all, or watch Sportscenter, or Larry King, or listen to NPR, or – ok, basically, if your head doesn’t reside inside your colon – you know by now that LeBron James is an NBA free agent. While July 1 was the official first day of NBA free agency, the frenzy surrounding LeBron has swirled all season and we are only now in the midst of its climax.
James has spent his seven year NBA career with the Cavaliers in his hometown (or exceedingly close to his hometown, Akron.) And personally he has been very successful, twice winning the NBA’s MVP award. But his teams have fallen short. The Cavs reached the Finals in 2007, but were unceremoniously swept by the Spurs. Since that year, the Cavs have failed to achieve even that.
The Cavs have failed, it’s true. But not from lack of trying. They’ve remade the roster multiple times over the past few years. They have sacrificed long-term stability and talent in an effort to win “now.” These moves seemed like they would help and did help in the regular season, but somehow the whole hasn’t equaled the sum of the parts come playoff time. And sadly, LeBron and Cleveland have remained without a championship.
We're good enough; we're smart enough; and gosh darnit, people like us!
LeBron is not without culpability in those roster decisions. Undoubtedly, the team asked for his input. His failure to commit to the organization long-term limited their ability to make moves and hurt them in drawing free agents. I don’t know if LeBron will factor his complicity into his free agency decision-making process. That’s a nuanced view of things and it’s probably easier for him to say, “Hey, you didn’t give me good enough teammates to get it done.”
I am a Cavs fan and a native Clevelander. I love it here. I know it’s not for everyone. Some people like all their seasons sunny and 80 and that’s fine. There are many mid-January mornings when I’m scraping ice off my car that I wouldn’t mind a little more sunshine. And some people don’t like it when their rivers catch fire. That doesn’t bother me as much as 40-year-old jokes. And there are those who hate Drew Carey. Okay. He seems like a nice guy, but it’s understandable.
But the thing that irks me is the utter contempt with which some would besmirch my hometown. They find it so despicable that they can’t envision LeBron staying here, even though he grew up here. They think that even though he was born and raised here and most of those whom he holds nearest are here, the place is somehow not “big” enough to contain him. He is somehow short-changing himself by not moving on to the “bigger city.” Give me a break. I mean, I know living in Cleveland is the number one cause of death in these United States, but the criticism is a little much.
In short, I hate where you live too. Now stop trying to sign LeBron.
