Speaking as a homer Cleveland Cavalier fan that I am (I was born and raised in Cleveland although I now reside on the west coast) I say good-riddance to LeBron James and all that comes with his status and brand. LBJ chose to leave the city that Rocks and Rolls and head to perceived greener pastures in Miami, Florida. He will play with the best individual player in the league Dwayne Wade (although Wade has yet to win a MVP award like James, and is commonly referred to as the 3rd best in the league behind LBJ and the Black Mamba, he does have 1 skill that trumps the ‘King’ and that skill is being able to ‘close out’ games when the game and pressure is at its highest and most critical…Lebron has yet to master that skill consistently, especially come playoff time), he’ll also be playing with the great 'unknown' in Chris Bosh. We know he was very good in Toronto where he had no high expectations but can Bosh do it in South Beach when the lights and responsibility will be greater? Don’t know yet but good money says bet on C.Bosh deferring to the latter 2 come crunch time, he doesn’t strike me as a player that knows how to perform n ‘big’ games. I could be wrong but that’s my gut feeling
My town, my city suffers another gut wrenching loss in the world of sports, this time off the field/court but nevertheless it stings like a Michael Jordan jump shot or a John Elway touchdown pass. It’s safe to say it will be years-maybe decades before the city and Cavalier team recovers from this expected-unexpected departure by the Ohio Prodigal Son. Lebron and his family/friends will be lucky if they’ll be able to drive through Northeast Ohio and fill up his gas tank without getting shanked or shot at any time in the near future, hopefully it never comes to that but I can tell you this he and his enormous Nike Brand Ego will never sell a sneaker in that part of Ohio ever again…but I’m sure he knows that already, he’s a smart guy, right? He saw all this coming, right? Well I digress…..
So here’s the end of my open letter to my favorite city in the world, keep your head up and keep it moving and proving Cleveland, we’ll bounce back and we’ll be better for it. We're a hard working blue collar town with a ton of integrity and not a lot of glitz and glamour and I'm very proud of that reputation. I know you’ve heard this tired as pep speech before but it’s a reality when you’re a Cleveland sports fan…’Hope for the Best but Prepare for the Worst’…at some point all of this losing and disappointment will end and we’ll celebrate with a championship parade in downtown Cleveland. Let’s hope it happens before the next millennium, I’m tired of waiting plus I’m starting to get gray hair in my nose and pubic region…
……by the way if the Browns and/or Indians want to chime in on this discussion and try to win a championship in the next half century that would go a long way in easing some of this Cavaliered pain and anxiety
p.s.
Dan Gilbert, owner of the Cleveland Cavalier, I loved the DISS press release you wrote to Lebron James….it was self-centered-selfish-and very bias….exactly how a letter of that magnitude should come across. You stuck up for the city of Cleveland and its loyal fan-base and even though you came off looking just as classless as Lebron, he had the nerve and naivety to have a prime-time special announcing his decision-really?-I thought he might have been making an announcement about finding a cure for cancer, you were in the moment and you did what any jilted lover would do, you snapped back without thinking everything through, Dan you might regret what you wrote at some point down the road but as of right now, it all seems like justified karma.
It comes down to this when Lebron decided he was leaving the Cavs he should have walked in to Gilbert's office, looked him n the eye and expressed himself, shake hands and depart peacefully with a heavy heart; that's how a Man handles his biz, instead he ignored the owners repeated phone calls and the Cavalier organization found out when the rest of the world found out...that shiznit ain't cool!
Mr. Gilbert your statement to LBJ was a fun read and I don’t have a problem backing you and every single word you wrote. See u next NBA season boss-dawg, I would advise you to invest in a Shrink or some type of therapy; the next few seasons are going to be brutal! I will Ride and Live for C-Land until the wheels fall off or at least until the River burns up again!
