Cleveland. The 216. The city of champions. A family.
A lot of people will say that Cleveland is overrated.
"They won a championship so what?"
"Only good because LeBron is there."
"The Indians aren't even good."
A lot more is said on a daily basis from people who don't even live in Cleveland. It's one of those "I'm from here so only I can talk bad about this place." Because no one really understands just how important Cleveland is to all of us living here.
No one really understands how amazing this city is. It may not be the best and it may be a little shady in some areas, but it's home. It also may be doing construction every single time you drive into it but that's besides the point. It's our home and it's our family. Some people will understand and some people won't but here's a breakdown of everything that's happened the past 18 years because that's all I remember.
In 2003, we drafted LeBron James right out of high school. We finally had someone that could bring great things to our city. We were ecstatic. He brought us a division title in 2009 and a conference title in 2007. We were finally getting somewhere with our sports teams.
About 7 years ago, we got some pretty awful news. LeBron was going to Miami. The kid from Akron was leaving to go to a championship team. He left behind a family. And a lot of people were not happy. We held jersey burning sessions. A lot of them. But slowly we got over it. We drafted Kyrie a year later and we thought we were going to be fine. We weren't going to win a championship but at least all of the Cleveland sports teams wouldn't be complete jokes anymore. Except the Browns. We don't talk about that.
The next 3 years were uneventful. We didn't win any championships (obviously), but we were content. We weren't awful, we just weren't the best. But we accepted it. Then the 2014-15 season came around and everything changed.
LeBron announced he was coming back to Cleveland after 2 championships with Miami. He was going to bring us home a championship. The first year we made it to the Finals but lost to Golden State starting a feud that will most likely go on forever. And then we did it. After 52 years, we brought home a championship. The Warriors blew a 3-1 lead.
Another good thing to happen to Cleveland in 2016? The Indians clinched their 8th Central Division title and 6th American League pennant. We went to the World Series. We lost to Chicago but we actually made it.
In 2017, we again went to the Finals. And again we lost to Golden State. It was heartbreaking to us. But we never stopped believing in the Cavs. We're there with them until the end. The Indians had the best winning streak in the MLB and we made it yet again to the postseason. Eventually, they lost to the Yankees but again we supported them because we're with them until the very end.
We were dealt a devastating blow when Kyrie said he was leaving for Boston. Even more heartbreaking? He acted like we were nothing to him. Like we hadn't supported him through everything. Like we hadn't welcomed him into this family.
It was a blow to us. We were upset. But we moved along. We got over it. And here we are today, with a winning streak of 11 games for our Cavs and a baseball team that's ready to go win us a World Series title.
After the 2016 championship, we became known as Believeland. Why? Because we never stopped believing in the Cavs. We never stopped believing in the Indians. We never stopped believing in our family. That title is something I'm extremely proud of. I'm proud to be from Cleveland. And yes we do have a really horrible football team but can your city throw away its pride and hold an 0-16 season parade? Didn't think so.
More importantly, I'm extremely proud of where I come from. I've learned to work for everything in my life. Nothing is handed to me, everything is earned. I've also learned that family is everything. No matter where I go, I know I have a whole city of people that are just like me. That will support me. And that's why we aren't just a city of champions, we're a family of champions.
