Cleveland Wins the Title
Let’s review the successes, or lack thereof, of Cleveland’s sports teams, prior to the 2016 NBA Finals:
Cleveland Indians — While its all-time win percentage ranks a strong 7th, success has eluded the club in the post-season. It is tied for the fewest World Series wins and appearances (2, with the Cubs, and 5, with the White Sox, respectively) among pre-expansion era clubs (MLB didn’t expand between 1901 and 1960), with the last win coming in 1948. It’s most successful regular season team was the 1954 version, who won 110 of 154 regular season games. Of course, it then got swept by the Giants in a series famous for Willie Mays’ catch. It built a powerhouse in the ’90s that lost its only two World Series appearances, the second after blowing a 9th inning lead in Game 7. In 2007, it led the Red Sox 3 games to 1 in the ALCS, before dropping the last three games 7–1, 12–2, and 11–2. The Sox of course went on to win the World Series in a sweep. In between the ’50s and the ‘90s, it was probably best known for the ill-fated 10 cent beer night promo, and the movie Major League.
Cleveland Browns — For a period of almost 20 years, the Browns were the model, and most successful, franchise in football. Formed in 1946, it won the AAFC title in each of its 4 seasons, then the NFL title in 1950 after the leagues merged, the first of 4 NFL titles. Unfortunately, the Browns run of success ended just as the American public’s sporting consciousness shifted from baseball to football. After winning the 1964 title, they lost the final the subsequent year, then suffered a series of early playoff exits and misses as the Super Bowl years began. They made it to three conference title games in the ’80s, losing three times to Denver, two of them in heartbreaking fashion. They had Bill Belichick as coach in the ’90s, and let him go. A year later, they moved to Baltimore. After a two year hiatus, a new Cleveland Browns team was born. It’s had one playoff appearance and two winning records in 17 years, and may be most remembered for its string of first round quarterback busts, from Tim Couch to Johnny Manziel.
Cleveland Cavaliers — Formed in 1970, it was most notably prior to the late ’80s for its owner whose tendency to trade first round picks for mediocre players inspired a rule change. Like Cleveland’s football team, its basketball team of that era is most known for a heartbreaking loss. Many more forgettable years followed until they landed local phenom LeBron James in 2003. In 7 years, the Cavs failed to surround him with a strong supporting cast, which did not stop him from lifting the team to a finals appearance. In 2010, he bolted in the most public way imaginable, a one-hour prime time special, where he announced he was “taking his talents to South Beach.” Without LeBron, the Cavs sunk back to the bottom of the league, but found good luck. They won the first overall pick in the draft lottery three times. After four years, four finals appearances, and two titles, LeBron announced he was coming home in the summer of 2014. They traded two of those first overall picks to Minnesota for Kevin Love, who promptly struggled to fit in with the team. The Cavs, missing Love and the other first overall pick, Kyrie Irving, lost the 2015 final to the Golden State Warriors, who looked set to establish a new hegemony atop the league.
Cleveland Barons — The Oakland turned California Golden Seals of the National Hockey League moved to Cleveland in 1976. Two unremarkably seasons later, they were merged into the Minnesota North Stars, becoming the last franchise in the big four to be folded.
In total, Cleveland’s teams went 146 full seasons between championships in the big four sports leagues (51 for the Indians, 48 for the Browns, 45 for the Cavs, 2 for the Barons). While the God Hates Cleveland meme might be entertaining, the truth is that Cleveland sports teams have mostly been the victims of bad management with some bad luck.
This all happened at a time when the bottom fell out of the economy in the Cleveland region. Long an industrial powerhouse, it has suffered as part of the wave of deindustrialization and offshoring that has decimated the former manufacturing hub now known as the Rust Belt. The area has remained stagnant or lost population over the past 50 years even as the country’s overall population kept growing. The city suffered a beating in the public consciousness. It is more famous for the Cuyahoga River Fire than it is for the Cleveland Clinic. The revival of its urban core doesn’t get a fraction of attention that Pittsburgh’s or Detroit’s does, even though it’s faring better than the latter. Next month, it hosts what could be the most contentious political convention since 1968. It’s been a rough few decades for Cleveland.
Yet, long considered the most tortured sports city, Cleveland finally has a moment in the sun. It happened in the most dramatic way. The prodigal son leaving, then coming home (the dream of every struggling city or region). Becoming the first team to overcome a 3–1 deficit in the NBA Finals. Defeating the single season record holder for wins on their home court. The Catch, The Drive, The Fumble, The Shot, and The Decision have been supplanted by The Block.
Sports is not be the economic saviour of cities that owners and boosters like to think it is. It does, however, shape the morale, image, and consciousness of locals and outsiders alike. After five decades of heartbreak, Cleveland finally has its moment. Cleveland has its big win. An outsider like myself cannot understand what it means, only appreciate.
