i think they made a serious error in judgement. i don't think they are guilty of covering up anything. that's the difference.
and i'm sorry that being tied 1-1 in the nba finals with home court advantage for the remainder of the series with basketballs most dominant player who picked your team over all others is such an unfortunate situation. it must have been excruciating to watch your team win 53 games and have one of the top records since the all star break. i mean, i can't even imagine the pain of having the top pick in the draft to playing in the nba finals in just one season in the most difficult sports league to build a championship team. such pity that two other bonafide all stars who fell on your lap are injured though.
You're not a Cleveland fan. You have no clue what you're talking about.
Let me give you a history lesson.
I'll go team by team.
First lets take the team with the least amount of history to go thru, the
Cleveland Cavaliers.
Now the Cavs started out in 1970 as an expansion team. And they played like it. They had terrible records.
The Cavs did little as a team for nearly 20 years. They won the 1975/76 Central Division title and beat the Washington Bullets in the playoffs that year. Nicknamed the "Miracle at Richfield" However, they lost in the Eastern Conference Finals.
In the late 80s however, the Cavs became real good. In fact the future looked so bright for the Cavs that Magic Johnson (yes that Magic Johnson) declared that the Cavs would be the team of the 90s.
What happened? Well, we all know. Michael Jordan happened. Jordan averaged more points vs the Cavs than any other team in the NBA. And during the 89 playoffs hit his famous "Shot" over Ehlo in game 5 (Playoffs only went 5 back then).
Time and time again the Bulls beat the Cavs in the playoffs, twice in the Eastern Conference Finals.
By the mid 90s the Cavs had to rebuild. They tried so hard to get a superstar player for the team. Since no one would come to Cleveland they had to trade for one. They traded for Shawn Kemp. Kemp at the time was mega star, one of the top 5-10 players in the league. In his first year with the Cavs he did decent and the Cavs gave him a HUGE contract. The rest is history. The very next year he showed up to camp estimated 50-60lbs overweight. He never was the same again. At the same time it came out how many kids he had and the Cavs were stuck with him and his huge contract. The Cavs eventually traded Kemp but the damage was done. The Cavs become a terrible team. Then in 2002 they were lucky and won the NBA Draft lottery and got LeBron James.
Cleveland finally had its hero, the player that would finally end the curse. He would be the one. He made the finals in 2007 but got crushed by the Spurs. After that came a series of losses in the playoffs.
Then in 2010 LeBron went on National TV and said he was leaving. He was quitting and taking his ball somewhere else. how that made people feel I can't even begin to describe. Imagine if JoePa walked out on Penn St. It was a killer blow, just another brick in the curse wall. Cleveland had to watch and James went on to win 2 Championships....somewhere else.
The Cavs again were terrible. The next season they tied the all time professional sports record with 26 straight losses.
Now talk about today. Yes LeBron came back to great applause. Yes the Cavs are now great again and could win the championship this year. But when you see the history of Cleveland sports, you know not to get your hopes up. Love got hurt, now Irving is out.
The Cleveland IndiansThe Cleveland Indians started out as many different names. It was in 1914 when the team was named the Indians.
The Indians had many famous players play for them in the early 1900s. Among them, Shoeless Joe Jackson (still holds a couple team records) and Cy Young.
In 1920 the Indians got to the World Series. It was the 1st ever broadcast on the radio. Indians beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 5 games to 2 in a 7 game series (back then they played all the games).
It would take the Indians 28 years to get back. It was 1948. The Indians during the 40s and 50s were great, but kept getting beat out by the hated Yankees for the World Series. The Indians vs Yankees was a bitter great rivalry long before the Red Sox vs Yankees was. In 1948 the Indians beat the Boston Braves for the title.
Then in 1954 the Indians won 111 games an American League record. A record that stood till the Mariners broke it in 2001. The Indians played the NY Giants in the World Series. In game 1 Vic Wertz crushed a drive to deep center. The Giants played in the Polo Grounds. The field was terrible, the size was a joke. Down the lines at hte Polo grounds were just 258 feet. However, to dead center it was 470. Wertz's drive was ran down and caught by Willie Mays. Known as the "Catch" forever in Baseball. In extra innings Giants player Monte Irvin hit a ball that barely got over the 258ft mark down the line for a game winning home run. Wertz's ball went an estimated distance of 450ft.
Indians never recovered and were swept by the Giants. The Indians would then go down hill and stay there for decades. In the 80s they were the joke of the MLB. In 1987 Sports Illustrated actually predicted the Indians to make the world series. They lost 101 games.
It was till the mid 90s with the opening of Jacobs Field the Indians actually became a good team again. In 1994 the Indians were just 1 game behind the White Sox in the AL Central when the strike ended the season.
In 1995 the Indians won 100 games in a 144 game season. They were the best team in MLB. They went to the World Series for the 1st time since 1954 and faced the Atlanta Braves. The Braves had home field for the series just because it was the NL's turn. The Braves pitchers dominated the Indians in Atlanta due to the NL umpires calling strikes way out of the strike zone. Indians lost to the Braves 4 games to 2. HOF Eddie Murray said years later if it wasn't for the NL umpires the Indians would've won the Series. Want proof? They played 3 games in Atlanta with NL umpires. The 2 teams averaged 4.3 runs combined a game. The 3 games in Cleveland with AL Umpires the teams averaged a combined 9.6 runs a game. In Atlanta the Indians scored 2, 3, and 0 runs in the 3 games. In Cleveland they scored 7, 2, and 5 runs.
It was the only World Series the Braves won all the years they went in a row.
In 1997 the Indians again made it to the World Series. They played the Florida Marlins.
In Game 7 the Indians were up 2-1 heading to the 9th inning. In came closer Jose Mesa. Mesa had set a record that year. He had saved not 20, not 30, not 40, but 48 games in a row without a blown save.
Well, he blew the save in Game 7. The Marlins tied it and won it in the 11th.
The Indians then had all their good players leave via Free Agency. Players like Albert Bell, Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez all left for more money.
The Indians were sold to a family, the Dolans who immediately upon buying the team said they had to cut payroll cause they couldn't afford it. The payroll at the time was around $90 million. The Indians became mediocre.
Then in 2007 thanks to some trades and great prospects coming into their own the Indians found themselves back in the AL Championship series vs the Red Sox. Indians were up 3 games to 1. Indians lost the next 3 games. Red Sox went on to win the World Series.
The Dolans are not popular in Cleveland for their lack of spending and constantly complaining about having no money to spend on players. Since 2001 the Indians have only made the playoffs twice in 2007 and in 2013, they lost the 1 game Wild Card game.
The Indians haven't won the World Series since 1948. Only the Chicago Cubs have gone longer in MLB.
The Cleveland Browns. Still the most beloved team in Cleveland. However, I will even admit, people are getting restless.
The Browns began in 1946. They were formed by coaching legend Paul Brown. The Browns joined the AAFC, the All American Football Conference. This wasn't the NFL. However, the Browns dominated. They won 4 straight championships. They even went undefeated in 1948.
However, the NFL refuses to acknowledge the AAFC. They don't count any records or championships from that league.
The AAFC folded after the 1949 season. The Browns then joined the NFL in 1950. The NFL hated the AAFC and wanted to make an example of the so called Championship from that league. So the Browns 1st ever game in the NFL was vs the defending World Champions. The Eagles of Philly. The game was also played in Philly. Well the NFL was in for a wake up call. The Browns crushed the Eagles 35-10.
Browns went on to win NFL World Championships in 50, 54, 55, and 64.
In 1964 the Browns had Jim Brown, the greatest (IM0) player in NFL history. Browns made it back to the NFL Championship game in 1965 vs the Green Bay Packers. The Packers won. But the Browns lost more than a game. Jim Brown decided to retire....at age 29. Think about that. Jim Brown retired at 29. Think of what his all time numbers would be if he played another 3, 4, 5 years. Think about the championships the Browns could've won.
The Browns didn't recover from Brown retiring till the late 70s. It was in 1980 the Browns became known as the Cardiac Kids.
The reason for calling them that was because of the way the Browns won. They won always at the end in dramatic fashion. Always winning dramatic drama filled games. They won the division and even had a Christmas song made for them.
The Browns played in the playoffs the wild card team Oakland Raiders. The game was one of the coldest in NFL history. The wind chill in Cleveland that day was near -40.
The Browns found themselves trailing 14-12 with just a couple minutes left in the game. Well this is what the Cardiac Kids did. Brian Sipe moved the Browns down the field. With just 45 seconds left and on the Raiders 13 yard line the Browns decided to take a shot at a TD and if it wasn't there then kick the game winning FG.
The play call was Red Right 88.
as Brian Sipe threw the ball in the end zone for Ozzie Newsome. Mike Davis, Raiders safety got in front.
The Browns lost 14-12. The Raiders would go on and win the Super Bowl.
It took the Browns till 1986 to recover. They had hometown hero Bernie Kosar at QB. The Browns went 12-4 and were the #1 seed on the AFC playoffs. After a thrilling 2 OT win vs the NY Jets the Browns faced the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship game in Cleveland.
Down 13-10 going into the 4th qtr the Browns scored 10 straight points. Then on the kickoff after taking the lead the Broncos fumbled the ball but recovered at their own 2 yard line. the Browns were up 20-13 with under 5 minutes to go and Denver had to go 98 yards.
The rest of course is history. Elway did "The Drive" That tied the game up at 20 with seconds to go. In overtime the Broncos kicked a FG to win (a FG that a lot of Browns fans say to this day was no good).
The following year in 1987 the Browns again played the Broncos in the AFC Championship game. The Browns got down big in the 1st half. It looked like a blow away. The Browns made a massive comeback in the 2nd half. With just over a minute to go the Browns had cut the Denver lead to 38-31. Inside the Broncos 10 the Browns were driving to tie the game just like Denver did.
Kosar saw an opening and changed the play to a run. It was Ernest Byner who got the ball and had a wide open lane to the end zone. The Browns were going to tie the game. Then at the 2 yard line a Denver DB knocked the ball out of Byner's hands. "The Fumble" happened. Broncos recovered and ran the clock out, taking a safety at the end to make the final score 38-33.
The story of the Denver DB is an interesting one. 1st he wasn't suppose to be there, Browns WR Webster Slaughter missed the play change by Kosar and didnt block him. But the more interesting part is that he didn't even play for Denver until week 8 of the season. He started with the Oakland Raiders. He was cut and picked up by Denver mid season.
The Browns again played Denver in 1989 in the AFC championship game and were blown out 37-21.
The Browns made the playoffs a couple times in the 90s but didn't do much. Then in 1995 it happened. The unthinkable happened. It was announced that owner Art Modell would move the team to Baltimore.
Browns fans fought hard to keep their team but the NFL ended up making a deal. The Browns would return as an expansion team in 1999 but the current franchise would move to Baltimore.
Baltimore's 1st 3 draft picks (which would've been for the Browns had they stayed) were Johnathan Ogden, Ray Lewis, and Jamal Lewis.
The Ravens ended up winning the Super Bowl and Browns fans had to watch Modell hold the Lombardi Trophy while they had no team.
The Browns did return in 1999 and well know what they've been like since. A joke, terrible, a God awful franchise.
Only 4 NFL Franchises have never been to a Super Bowl. The Jacksonville Jaguars, The Houston Texans, the Detroit Lions, and the Cleveland Browns.
The City of Cleveland hasn't won a championship in 18,450 days. or 51 years, 5 months, and 15 days.
The professional sports teams of Cleveland have gone 143 seasons without a championship.
The next closest is San Diego at 103
If you think we aren't cursed. Thats on you.
Jan 13, 2020 17:38:49 GMT -5
May 1, 2022 14:04:40 GMT -5
