Cleveland a Losing City With Championship Asperations

(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

107-106.

That score was the last thing that Cleveland fans saw as they funneled out of the Quicken Loans Arena. The Cavaliers have lost their first game of the playoffs.

In my 25 years of being a Cleveland fan this has got to be the third worse feeling that I have ever had; the second being the 2007 ALCS in which a 3-1 lead disappeared in the blink of the eye. And the most disappointing loss was in 1997 when Jose Mesa blew the World Series.

Back to basketball. Before last night's game the glorious national media dubbed the Cavaliers and Lakers as the NBA Finals match up, something that excited fans of basketball all over and especially in Cleveland.

What the national media really did was destroy our hopes for a title. Too bad for us. Now the media has in one night made the Magic their favorites for the NBA Finals from the East.

It was a 180 turn from the previous day. But while most Cleveland fans are quick to also judge their team out, as I did last night, there is hope in the loss to the Magic. That hope is that this team is not un-beatable.

And just like Mike did in '89 it seemed the Lewis did the same in '09—taking the heart out of a desperate city.

Cleveland saw, behind a national media ready to dig their claws into the Cavs, their  rock, their symbol of hope brighter that the north star, fall down to the ground in pain after the most amazing playoff performance of his young career. And now as it should be, the attention falls on to the Magic who's only obstacle to the finals is their own collapse.

As the Magic fans bask in the glory of a one point victory, Cavaliers fans sit and wonder when the Browns play again. But for all you Cleveland fans, neither Jose Mesa nor C.C. Sabathia are on this Cleveland team.

Tomorrow is a word that all Cleveland fans know and use as comfort food. But for the Magic fans that read this, tomorrow should be a word that you should fear.

The King is going to do whatever it takes to move on. And neither the defensive player of the year nor the quick shootering of a primer player in the NBA is going to prevent him from reaching the promise land, or so we hope.

As for as tomorrow, that word will never be utterd in Cleveland as a way to deal with our pain. Tomorrow will only be used by fans of the opposing team to help them cope with a loss.

I am glad the media is writing this Cavailers team off now. Because their passion has never been higher and this city by lake will hoist up the Eastern Conference Banner next year.

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