Cleveland sports have hit another milestone - the Indians are heading into game 4 of the ALCS with the Boston Red Sox. The crazy part, you may wonder? They're ahead 2-1. And they still have two more games in Cleveland.
I don't want to start tooting the horn quite yet, but Cleveland sports have a reputation of getting pretty serious in the semi-finals. Take the Cavs, for example. They dominated the semi-finals and choked in the finals. It's the Cleveland Curse. We do a great job in the semis, making everyone think it's all over. We're finally going to get our long awaited championship. Sadly, the outcome is usually this: a series of close losses to be excused by a "bad call" or "monkey business."
I attended Game 3 of the NBA finals held at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland this past June. It was the first ever NBA finals game to be held in Cleveland - and I was there. After battling a fellow bidder on eBay and dropping almost $200 for my ticket, I was there - nosebleed and all. I gave a dollar to a guy holding a cardboard sign that said, "Why lie? I need beer," and I took a cliche picture with the NBA Finals photo backdrop.
The game was intense. There was a Spurs fan sitting just behind me who would cheer every so often when he didn't think any of us Cleveland fans were listening. Little did he know, we Cleveland fans live for the moment when we can talk crap or tell a fan of an opposing team to "shut up and go back home." We jumped on him before he could even finish his sentence.
Sadly, the Cleveland Curse reared its ugly head when LeBron James went for the game-tying three pointer at the buzzer. He was fouled, naturally, but it wasn't called. We all just stared in disbelief - like another quarter was about to be played.
The Cavs were swept in the Finals when the Spurs clinched game 4 and the Cleveland Curse had taken its toll again.
Let's move on to the Indians now, shall we?
This season has been nothing but beautiful. Despite the after the All-Star break slump, the Indians have been powering it out for the majority of the season. They battled the Detroit Tigers for the winning spot in the Central conference.
All analysts aside, the Indians went on to defeat the Yankees 3-1 in the series. They have played steadily against the Red Sox and I have no doubts this will continue.
I will continue my obsession with Cleveland post-season play on Thursday, when I'm getting a real live nosebleed at Jacob's Field. I like to think I'll see the Indians pass on to the World Series for the first time in 10 years. And then, I'll work toward a nosebleed at the World Series - maybe to see them win the series for the first time since 1948.
No matter how many times you blow it, Cleveland, I'll always be there to hope this year is different.
So long, Cleveland Curse - you're not welcome anymore.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Sunday, June 3, 2007
The King James Hype isn't so much Hype anymore
It's good to be a Cleveland fan. Because it's times like these that we learn to love our teams again. Cleveland Pride is something that runs thick through the veins. Although our seasons keep our hearts racing, we've finally come out on top.
If you check the date on this post, you'll notice that it is the day after the Cleveland Cavaliers won the NBA Eastern Conference Championship (well, a mere 2 hours after the fact). I would like to begin by saying this: The Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team is a Dynasty in the making. Giving up only 4 games this post-season, I forsee the NBA Championship to be in owned by the city of Cleveland...very quickly.
Watching this six-game series against the Detroit Pistons, I discovered many things. I have compiled a list just for simplicity's sake:
1. LeBron James is going to be the best basketball player to ever play in the NBA. Even better than Michael Jordan.
2. Anderson Varejao is probably the most picked-on player in the NBA.
3. Despite the fact that he's getting old, Zydrunas Ilgauskas (ZEEEEEEEE) could out-rebound anyone who tried.
4. The Cavs would have been 82-0 if Daniel "Boobie" Gibson would have played the entire season.
5. Rasheed Wallace is the biggest cry-baby in the NBA. And seriously, if he wants to be a leader, not just for his team but also for the NBA, he needs to keep his mouth shut. Swearing at a referee is completely unacceptable - and unnecessary.
6. I don't understand how the Pistons are not the leading team for technical fouls in the NBA.
7. LeBron James really is THAT amazing. You should understand now why they have the Witness campaign.
8. Cleveland fans really are the best one's around.
9. I dislike celebrities who are in any way associated with the Detroit Pistons...especially those who show up at the games.
10. Drew Gooden should donate his little fleck of hair to Rasheed Wallace.
Anyway. My point is, this six-game series really kept me watching. I prayed. I wore my #23 jersey. I turned the channel on the nights we lost games because I was so disgusted with the manner of play. I talked stats for hours with my friends and family. I wanted to reschedule a final so I could go to the game. I finally realized my Cleveland Pride is back.
The Indians, mind you, have also been trucking right along this season. These past few weekends (aka the Battle of Two Cities) have kept us all on the edge of our seats waiting to see who can outscore who. Despite the 4-run loss the Indians experienced tonight, the Cavs picked up the slack and kept the wins even. And I couldn't be happier.
Thank you, Cleveland athletics, for giving me something to smile and talk crap about. I love being a Cleveland fan.
If you check the date on this post, you'll notice that it is the day after the Cleveland Cavaliers won the NBA Eastern Conference Championship (well, a mere 2 hours after the fact). I would like to begin by saying this: The Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team is a Dynasty in the making. Giving up only 4 games this post-season, I forsee the NBA Championship to be in owned by the city of Cleveland...very quickly.
Watching this six-game series against the Detroit Pistons, I discovered many things. I have compiled a list just for simplicity's sake:
1. LeBron James is going to be the best basketball player to ever play in the NBA. Even better than Michael Jordan.
2. Anderson Varejao is probably the most picked-on player in the NBA.
3. Despite the fact that he's getting old, Zydrunas Ilgauskas (ZEEEEEEEE) could out-rebound anyone who tried.
4. The Cavs would have been 82-0 if Daniel "Boobie" Gibson would have played the entire season.
5. Rasheed Wallace is the biggest cry-baby in the NBA. And seriously, if he wants to be a leader, not just for his team but also for the NBA, he needs to keep his mouth shut. Swearing at a referee is completely unacceptable - and unnecessary.
6. I don't understand how the Pistons are not the leading team for technical fouls in the NBA.
7. LeBron James really is THAT amazing. You should understand now why they have the Witness campaign.
8. Cleveland fans really are the best one's around.
9. I dislike celebrities who are in any way associated with the Detroit Pistons...especially those who show up at the games.
10. Drew Gooden should donate his little fleck of hair to Rasheed Wallace.
Anyway. My point is, this six-game series really kept me watching. I prayed. I wore my #23 jersey. I turned the channel on the nights we lost games because I was so disgusted with the manner of play. I talked stats for hours with my friends and family. I wanted to reschedule a final so I could go to the game. I finally realized my Cleveland Pride is back.
The Indians, mind you, have also been trucking right along this season. These past few weekends (aka the Battle of Two Cities) have kept us all on the edge of our seats waiting to see who can outscore who. Despite the 4-run loss the Indians experienced tonight, the Cavs picked up the slack and kept the wins even. And I couldn't be happier.
Thank you, Cleveland athletics, for giving me something to smile and talk crap about. I love being a Cleveland fan.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Is security to blame?
In light of the Virginia Tech shootings, I'm going to try and keep this as non-political as possible. However, I feel that I should voice my opinion about the events and what most analysts believe to be a sure-thing fix for the future of universities.
Like every other college student I know, I have been glued to my television and computer screens for the past two days just waiting for more developments on the Virginia Tech "Massacre". As the investigation is steadily slowing down in the way of recent developments, FOXNews and CNN have resorted to interviewing students, parents and faculty of VTech, as well as political and disaster analysts.
The general consensus is that VTech officials should have done more between the time of the first shooting and the second. As much as I agree with this statement, I really don't know what else could have been done. If they would have sent an email out sooner without first going into the investigation of the first shooting, it would have induced mass panic and perhaps given the shooter more targets to aim at. In fact, the shootings could have taken place outside where there were more students and less opportunities to escape.
Also, putting a university on lock down is not something that a university administration and security force can physically carry out. Virginia Tech is not a small school and to rope off the entire campus would have taken 20 times the amount of people that were on hand.
Another "great idea" people seem to have is that of putting metal detectors in the buildings to make them secure. Here is where my rant begins:
- Firstly, yes, I believe that metal detectors are necessary for security purposes IN HIGH SCHOOL OR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SETTINGS. I do not think putting a metal detector in a college lecture hall will prevent anything from happening. Okay, so what if someone sets the metal detector off with the gun they have inside their coat? While Mr. Security Guard is busy patting the individual down, that individual whips out the gun and takes ownership of the situation. That metal detector sure helped out.
- Secondly, if we keep upping the technology of security, people who want to commit these sort of crimes are just going to up their technology to commit them. WE CANNOT STOP THEM. For example, let's take into account the car bombings that happened at the World Trade Center in 1992. So, that was a big deal and we upped our security to make sure it would never happen again. Less than ten years later, two planes smash into those same two buildings. What are they going to do next, put a repelling forcefield around the buildings to make the planes bounce off of them if they try to come too close?
- Thirdly, if we really want to eliminate school shootings and terrorism, PAY ATTENTION TO THE SIGNS. Cho Seung-Hui was a troubled student. He wrote a terribly graphic and disturbing screenplay for a creative writing course and was referred to campus counseling. Did anyone make sure he went? Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were members of the "Trenchcoat Mafia" and did really strange things. Why didn't anyone tell them it wasn't okay to be involved with this stuff? Timothy McVeigh was a meth-addicted head case. Did anyone try to help him cope after his years in Desert Storm? And for God's sake, there are thousands of WELL-KNOWN terrorist organizations in the world - Why aren't we taking some kind of action to stop them directly?
My bottom line here, readers, is that if we all do our part and pay attention to our surroundings, WE can prevent these things from happening.
So I challenge you, as my reader, to do something nice for someone - at least once a day. Because if we all just helped one another out, this world wouldn't be so difficult to fathom. No one would fight, no one would hurt and no one would suffer.
I put my faith in a lyric written by Garth Brooks:
"As long as one heart still holds on, then hope is never really gone."
My heart, soul, prayers and thoughts go out to everyone truly suffering from the VTech shootings. Perhaps one day, we may all be at peace. Keep holding on.
Like every other college student I know, I have been glued to my television and computer screens for the past two days just waiting for more developments on the Virginia Tech "Massacre". As the investigation is steadily slowing down in the way of recent developments, FOXNews and CNN have resorted to interviewing students, parents and faculty of VTech, as well as political and disaster analysts.
The general consensus is that VTech officials should have done more between the time of the first shooting and the second. As much as I agree with this statement, I really don't know what else could have been done. If they would have sent an email out sooner without first going into the investigation of the first shooting, it would have induced mass panic and perhaps given the shooter more targets to aim at. In fact, the shootings could have taken place outside where there were more students and less opportunities to escape.
Also, putting a university on lock down is not something that a university administration and security force can physically carry out. Virginia Tech is not a small school and to rope off the entire campus would have taken 20 times the amount of people that were on hand.
Another "great idea" people seem to have is that of putting metal detectors in the buildings to make them secure. Here is where my rant begins:
- Firstly, yes, I believe that metal detectors are necessary for security purposes IN HIGH SCHOOL OR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SETTINGS. I do not think putting a metal detector in a college lecture hall will prevent anything from happening. Okay, so what if someone sets the metal detector off with the gun they have inside their coat? While Mr. Security Guard is busy patting the individual down, that individual whips out the gun and takes ownership of the situation. That metal detector sure helped out.
- Secondly, if we keep upping the technology of security, people who want to commit these sort of crimes are just going to up their technology to commit them. WE CANNOT STOP THEM. For example, let's take into account the car bombings that happened at the World Trade Center in 1992. So, that was a big deal and we upped our security to make sure it would never happen again. Less than ten years later, two planes smash into those same two buildings. What are they going to do next, put a repelling forcefield around the buildings to make the planes bounce off of them if they try to come too close?
- Thirdly, if we really want to eliminate school shootings and terrorism, PAY ATTENTION TO THE SIGNS. Cho Seung-Hui was a troubled student. He wrote a terribly graphic and disturbing screenplay for a creative writing course and was referred to campus counseling. Did anyone make sure he went? Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were members of the "Trenchcoat Mafia" and did really strange things. Why didn't anyone tell them it wasn't okay to be involved with this stuff? Timothy McVeigh was a meth-addicted head case. Did anyone try to help him cope after his years in Desert Storm? And for God's sake, there are thousands of WELL-KNOWN terrorist organizations in the world - Why aren't we taking some kind of action to stop them directly?
My bottom line here, readers, is that if we all do our part and pay attention to our surroundings, WE can prevent these things from happening.
So I challenge you, as my reader, to do something nice for someone - at least once a day. Because if we all just helped one another out, this world wouldn't be so difficult to fathom. No one would fight, no one would hurt and no one would suffer.
I put my faith in a lyric written by Garth Brooks:
"As long as one heart still holds on, then hope is never really gone."
My heart, soul, prayers and thoughts go out to everyone truly suffering from the VTech shootings. Perhaps one day, we may all be at peace. Keep holding on.
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