In 2007, as I was heading back to school to start eighth grade, spirits were high among my classmates over the Cleveland Indians. After a strong 96-66 season, the team made their way to the American League Championship series. After winning games 2, 3 and 4, my class and the city were ecstatic. After a 43 year championship drought, the city was hungry for a chance to go to, and hopefully win, the World Series. Game 5 happened at Jacob's Field. A chance to win the series at home. The Tribe lost that game and went on to lose games 6 and 7. And that was that, the season was over.
Nothing comes easy to Cleveland. Being from here comes with a certain amount of pride for our city, even if there's always room for improvement. We leave the city to go to college or go on vacation and we will undoubtedly hear jokes from people about Cleveland. New York is the Big Apple, and Chicago is the Windy City. Cleveland, however, is the Mistake on the Lake. But we are a resilient city.
I have always felt that Cleveland was a great city that was simply getting an unfair reputation. Sure, we were suffering from a championship drought, but we still had one of the best hospitals in the world in the Cleveland Clinic, one of the best (oftentimes ranked as the best) orchestras in the world, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the second largest theater district outside of New York. We all knew that Cleveland was a great city with many great aspects. But despite these facts, we were still the butt of the joke.
Then 2016 happened.
We knew in 2015 that the Republican National Convention would be coming to Cleveland. And the city, regardless of political affiliation, was relishing the idea of putting Cleveland back into the national conversation. What we didn't know back in 2015 was the amazing seasons our sports teams would have. For the second consecutive year, our basketball team made it to the NBA Finals. But after losses to Golden State in games 1, 2 and 4, everyone counted the Cavs out. The familiar chorus of "there's always next year" started to be enunciated. But then, in a reverse of the 2007 Indians, the Cavs came back from a 3-1 deficit to win games 5, 6 and 7. Like I said, nothing comes easy for Cleveland.
People will often recount a "where were you moment." For my mom, it was the assassination of President Kennedy. For me it is 9/11 and Michael Phelps winning his eighth gold medal in Beijing. For Cleveland, the 93-89 victory in game 7 was a "where were you moment." A couple of weeks later, the Tribe broke a franchise record after winning their 14th consecutive game in an amazing 19-inning game against the Toronto Blue Jays. And currently they are tied for first in the American League standings.
Then, it was time for the RNC. With media hype about the potential for a riot both in and outside Quicken Loans Arena (the Q), many here began to worry that after an amazing few weeks of press, it was all coming to an end. But contrary to that fear, the RNC by all accounts was a huge success both in and outside the Q. RNC attendees raved about the city on social media. As a volunteer at the RNC, I had the opportunity to speak to delegates, speakers and media crews who were attending the event.
Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke told me, "Coming to Cleveland, I honestly did not know what to expect. Honestly, I love this city." In an elevator, I met a news crew from Virginia who told me how friendly our residents were and how it was much, much better than they had expected. And Sajid Tarar, who gave the benediction on Tuesday of the convention, thanked me for the incredible hospitality of Clevelanders.
And those protests? The clip that seemed to go viral was when a police officer engaged with a street performer in a dance off as opposed to a standoff. Some news channels showed a clip of police officers spraying a protester. What was left out was that the protester who had lit an American flag on fire in protest had inadvertently set their pants on fire and the officer was spraying them with a fire extinguisher to save them.
The city has seen more than its share of hard times. And still, no one here expects anything to come easy, even after this recent string of luck. But finally Cleveland is being held up as an example of how to gather 1.3 million people for the Cavs victory parade without an incident. It is being held up as an example how to peaceably gather and protest while hosting the RNC that welcomed over 50,000 attendees. We still have all the draws as before such as the Cleveland Playhouse Square, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the world famous Cleveland Orchestra. But we also now have a championship team with the Cleveland Cavaliers and one cannot forget to mention the Lake Erie Monsters for winning the Calder Cup as well. And, instead of the "Mistake on the Lake," people seem to be taking a new view of Cleveland. "A New Take of that City on the Lake" if you will. And finally the country, and the world, are seeing what Clevelanders have known all along: Cleveland rocks!
