I was raised the right way. My father instilled in
me what any good father should. I'm not talking about being honest,
trustworthy, and respectful. I mean he taught me that a man loves his teams, he
sticks with his teams for the rest of his life, and those teams better damn
well be the teams for his town. I live in Canton, Ohio, home of the Pro
Football Hall of Fame and sports heartache. In my 31 years of life the Cavs,
Browns, and Indians have never won a championship. They have only made it to 3
championship series. Hell if the Indians don't win the World Series this year,
it will be 50 years since any Cleveland sports team has won it all. No city
with multiple sports teams has gone longer. Even cities with one sports team
like Green Bay, Wisconsin and San Antonio, Texas have won multiple
championships in that time frame.
I have seen a lifetime of fan pains in my short 31
years. In Cleveland we have a list of THE's. They all have names but they might
as well be called THE Groin Punch. The Drive, The Fumble, The Shot, The
Decision..... All have hurt me deeply. Being a Cleveland sports fan is like
being Charlie Brown trying to kick a football. We tell ourselves that the team will change.
They will stop pulling the football away and stop making draft picks like
Gerard Warren and Vitaly Potapenko. We assume that for once when we trade a Cy
Young winner we will actually kick the ball and get one actual All-Star. Our
teams always seem to be in year one of a five year plan and we patiently wait
as each new coach, general manager, and player will be the one to pull us out
of this fifty year great depression.
This season the Cavaliers blew a 26 point lead
against the lowly Suns. My 8 year old step-son had to go to bed before the end
of the game. I tucked him in and we discussed how the Cavs were going to get a
good win. The next morning I had to tell him that our team had blown the game.
He seemed devastated to hear that the Cavs somehow managed to gag up such a big
lead. I was not surprised. I had seen it countless times over countless
seasons. The wound was still fresh for him. He then said something that made me
realize that he was doomed to continue my fate, "There is no way they will
ever do that again." The Cavs would go on to lose two more games this year
after blowing leads of 20 plus points and had the worst winning percentage of
any team in the NBA when leading after three quarters. My Cleveland teams, OUR Cleveland teams had
already turned an 8 year old into Charlie Brown! He was already telling himself
that they would change and things would get better. He was in a relationship where he gave love
and received only pain. I have done to him what my father had done to me. I thought I was doing the right thing. I
thought I was raising him right. I now know that one day, many years from now,
he will sit and think how much he loves these teams and how much he hates me
for helping him fall in love with such terrible partners. “AAUGH!!!”
Feedback is welcomed below or at mattferrell75@gmail.com
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