Cleveland

The Sports Illustrated cover jinx is in full swing right now as the Cleveland Cavaliers have lost 2 games to the Orlando Magic, the first 2 games they have lost this post season. In this weeks Sports Illustrated there is a great story by Joe Posnanski about the city of Cleveland and their sports stories. As a die hard Cleveland sports fan myself it is hard for me to believe the SI cover jinx right now because they are just being a Cleveland sports team.

There is a couple that is going through a divorce in the city of Cleveland and the only thing that they are arguing about is who gets the legal right to their son. The judge asks the boy "Do you want to live with your mom?" The son says "No, she beats me to much." The judge then asks "Do you want to live with your dad?" The son states "No, he beats me too." The judge then says "Well who do you want to live with?" The boy states "The Cleveland Browns because they don't beat anyone."

That is just one of the many Cleveland jokes that you can hear around the state of Ohio along with many others, but it is true. The Cavs right now are bringing Cleveland fans back to their roots of getting their hopes built up and then crushing all their dreams. It has been 45 years of frustration since any Cleveland championship. Why has it been so damn difficult for this city to win a championship, well lets take a look at the top 5 heart stopping moments in Cleveland sports history:

5. 1986 AFC Championship Game: "The Drive"- I was 4 years old but still remember this game and just thought to myself what happened.

4. 1987 AFC Championship Game: "The Fumble"- I was 5 years old but remember that Earnest Byner was and is still one of the most loved Browns player ever.

3. 1989 NBA Eastern Conference First Round Game 5: "The Shot"- This was the dagger in all of Cleveland sports fans, especially since Michael Jordan was the one that hit it.

2. 1997 World Series Game 7: The Cleveland Indians were one of the best teams of the mid 90's and they were playing the very young Florida Marlins. Edgar Renteria got a base hit off of Charles Nagy and made it 50 years, now 60 years since a World Series Championship.

1. 2007 ALCS: The Indians were a surprise team that year and had a 3-1 advantage over the Red Sox, at least we had a 3-1 lead instead of 3-0 like the year before.

It is tough being a Cleveland sports fan, but you get used to it, as Leon Bibb said the night of LeBron's shot; "There is always next year."