I've Been Waiting My Whole Life for the Cleveland Cavaliers to Win the Big One
Being both a journalist and lifelong fan of the team you cover is a unique balancing act that carries its share of challenges.
I'm rooting like hell for the Cleveland Cavaliers to win their first-ever NBA championship.
If this statement makes you question my credibility on the topic, go ahead. I've been with Bleacher Report covering the Cavaliers for six years. I've been a fan of the team for well over 20. You may call it unprofessional. I call it loyalty.
Because this isn't about me. It's about us.
Growing up in Northeast Ohio watching the Cavs, Indians and Browns hasn't been easy. The highlight of these past few decades has been witnessing teams simply reach a World Series or NBA Finals, only to fall short due to injury, a blown save or an overall lack of talent.
After so many miserable endings here in Cleveland over the past 52 years, we've begun to grow numb to the pain. Losing has pierced its way into our blood, no matter how much we've fought it.
Somehow, this year feels different.
For as much as other cities may complain about their own title droughts, no one can hold a candle to Cleveland. I know, I know. You hear this all the time these days, but it's true.
Over the last 52 years, an almost unimaginable 146 seasons have passed without a professional sports championship in Cleveland, according to ESPN Stats & Info. The city with the second-longest drought is San Diego, which is still 37 seasons behind.
The Indians last won a World Series in 1948, the Browns won the NFL Championship in 1964 but have never even appeared in a Super Bowl and the Cavaliers are without an NBA title in their first 45 years. I'm not going to list all of the individual heartbreaks along the way.
You're probably all too familiar with them already.
This Cavs team has a chance to do what no other team in franchise history has accomplished before. It can't erase the past half-century of ineptitude, failures and misfortune, but it can darn sure make us forget about it for a while.
Northeast Ohio is a special place. A lot of people who were raised in the area grew up watching sports heroes pour their hearts and souls into their teams. Players like Mark Price, Bernie Kosar, Kenny Lofton, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Larry Nance may not mean much on a national level, but to us, they're like family.
"I'm definitely rooting for Cleveland," Price told me last summer before the Cavaliers battled the Golden State Warriors the first time.
"I developed a relationship with the city. If you've ever played in Cleveland and had some success, they treat you in such a way that, you know, it's just a special place."
To win a title now, to be able to finally taste the ultimate victory, would arguably be appreciated here more than anywhere else.
We got a whiff of success in the late 1980s and early 1990s with Price, Nance, Brad Daugherty, John "Hot Rod" Williams and Craig Ehlo. After putting up with some awful seasons during the early 2000s, the Cavs gave us perhaps the greatest hope of a championship in the past 50 years from 2003 to 2010.
Again, we were teased. In July 2010, that promise turned to torment.
LeBron James was our chance at a title. He was the closest entity there was to a basketball Jesus, sent to Akron, Ohio, in order to redeem all of the past sports sins of the area. "CHOSEN 1" is stretched across his back, a tattoo and also a reminder of the burden he carries.
When he left, we spewed hatred. We held a grudge. Then, like every other time after a major disappointment, we recovered. A championship now would make all four of those miserable years he was gone and the decades of failures before that worth it.
Let the rain wash away
All the pain of yesterday
I know my kingdom awaits
And they've forgiven my mistakes
I'm coming home
I'm coming home
tell the world I'm coming...
When thinking about what a championship would mean to Cleveland, the state of Ohio and all of the fans in the region, these are the words that continually drift to my mind. After James announced his return home in July 2014, Skylar Grey recorded a special version of her hit song dedicated just to him.
While this song was originally written bearing no relation to LeBron, the Cavaliers or Cleveland in general, it became the unofficial theme to his return and the chance at a title once again.
If the Cavs defeat the heavily favored Warriors, there's no telling how much good it would do for the area. If only momentarily, a title would shine a positive light on a fanbase and area so often looked down upon by the rest of the nation.
The most important part of a championship in Cleveland? Family.
It would mean generations of fans celebrating together. This includes those in their early 50s who have never witnessed a title and kids who are just now old enough to appreciate one. It would mean a relief to those who have suffered though heartbreaking losses for years, and a fresh start to children whose fandom is being passed down from their parents.
Most of us are fans because our parents and grandparents were first. We carry on their traditions and hope to someday pass them down to our own children.
For me, Game 7 falls less than a week before my daughter celebrates her first birthday. This means she has a chance to witness a championship—something the rest of us have waited decades for in Cleveland—before turning one year old.
I want the Cavs to win a title for her and for all the other families that share the common bond of being a Cleveland fan. For 146 straight seasons, we've watched, hoped, wished and been let down.
But 2016 could be different. There's always this year.
Greg Swartz is the Cleveland Cavaliers lead writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @CavsGregBR.
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