If you haven't heard of the Cleveland Cavalier's recent championship win (can you believe that it only happened a week ago!?), you most certainly live under a rock. The win against The Golden State Warriors, the Cav's rival and the defending champs, was a monumental, historic event. In a surprising turn of events, the Cavs came back from a 3-1 deficit in the finals series to win the championship, and be carved into history as the first team to ever achieve such a win. This win ended the so-called "drought" in Cleveland, where no major sports team in the city had won a championship in fifty-two long years.
Being a Clevelander, born and raised, I know how deeply rooted the joy of the Cavalier's win is. Growing up in Cleveland, you know that the city's sports teams have had many great athletes. Though there have been some exciting teams throughout the years, none have been able to bring home the win. Over the years, Cleveland has become famous for the failures and the "almosts". "Red Right 88", the Tribe's loss to the Braves in the '97 World Series, "The Shot", "The Fumble", and "The Drive" , are just a few of the long list of disappointments that Cleveland sports fans have endured. Time and time again, fans have been taught to believe, but never get their hopes up too high. It is typical Cleveland luck to come so close to victory, and lose at the last second. Though I wasn't alive for some of these more famous Cleveland sports disappointments, I grew up hearing about them from my parents, relatives, and ESPN. I watched videos of Cleveland's "so close" moments, and just like every other true Cleveland sports fan, I believed that our time would come. As the years went by, and drafts and losing seasons came and gone, I soon learned the motto of "next year". Sure, we lost this year, but next year will be better. Since we are doing so bad and losing so much, at least we will get a good draft pick! But this year was different, the Cavaliers broke Cleveland's curse!
Fifty-two years is a VERY long time to not have a championship win. In fact, it had been the longest time without a win from any other city in the United States. Even so, we knew our time would come. The energy around Cleveland since the Cav's win has been amazing. After Kyrie scored the winning three, and final buzzard went off, Northeast Ohio went absolutely nuts. That night, the streets in Cleveland and the surrounding suburbs were filled with people screaming with happiness. People shot off fireworks. Someone even told me that the neighbors down his street gathered together and started singing. The scene downtown was insane. The streets had been filled with thousands of people watching the game, and once they had won, people celebrated all night in a (mostly) peaceful manner! The news channels were there to capture the scene, and I saw adults, even grown men, sobbing, uncontrollably with pure happiness. We have waited our entire lives to see a championship win, and when it finally happened, we were all in shock!
The atmosphere in Northeast Ohio in the days that followed was indescribable. Everyone was looking forward to greeting their sports heroes, and were anxiously anticipating the championship parade. The day after the win, I braved the large crowds waiting hours in line to buy championship gear. With so many people waiting for so long in the lines, I thought everyone would be cranky, and the scene would be Black Friday-ish in nature, with much pushing and craziness. To my surprise, everyone was in a great mood. People were kind to one another, and more friendly. Everyone in line was talking to each other, and even willing to give up one or two shirts to someone who waited in line and wasn't able to get one. Everywhere, people were more happy, more talkative. Everyone felt more connected, because we all had one thing in common: we were a city of champions. Driving down the street, people were blasting the song We are the Champions from their cars.
The Championship parade that followed Cleveland's historic win seemed like something out of a movie. Though the parade wasn't scheduled to start until 11am, I arrived downtown at 6 am. To my surprise, the streets of Cleveland were already starting to fill up. People had camped out close to all night in order to secure their front seat to the festivities. As we waited, and the time slowly crawled by, I saw a scene similar to the one I described earlier. People were kind to one another. When a few friends and I walked away from our spot for about an hour and came back, the people who were standing near us had saved the spot for us. People exchanged numbers so that they could send each other great pictures that they had gotten. People moved out of the way to let either children, or shorter people, have a better view. This win had given everyone a new, better perspective of the way we should act towards others, and what it means to be a Clevelander. Perhaps the most important thing I learned at the parade is that no one parties like Cleveland parties! With an astounding 1.3 million people in attendance, that feel of the city was purely amazing. Until you experience such a large amount of people gathered together, peacefully, for such a momentous and exciting event, you will never understand what such an experience is like. (While there was a shooting after the parade, that event itself was peaceful).
The Cavs win also helped the city's businesses. Stores all around Cleveland and the surrounding suburbs were constantly filled with customers, buying championship gear almost before it was even off the trucks. Restaurants, hotels, and stores, in downtown Cleveland were booming the last few weeks due to the immense amount of people who have been traveling to the city.
The Cavs win has been one of the most exciting events that has ever happened to Cleveland and Cleveland's sports fans. The moral of the city is the highest I have ever seen, and our mindset has changed. We won, and the years of hoping and believing without reward have finally paid off! Congratulation Cleveland, THIS is next year! The curse has truly been broken, and WE are the Champions!! Let's continue our winning streak because, it's Tribe time now!
