The Drive, The Fumble, The Shot and the Return of the King

When we hear those words that are listed above we think a lot of things we think about Michael Jordan’s game winner over the Cav’s and well this writers personal favorite, John Elway’s 98 yards to jubilation and Ernest Byner’s gift to the City of Denver. What most forget to think about are the lasting effects on a city’s sport psyche. The poor city of Cleveland which doesn’t rock when it comes to the sports scene can really be summed up into one scene which of course is the opening to the Movie Major League. Which we see the smoke stacks and factories of this blue collar town while the citizens discuss the outlook for this years Indians and that outlook is not to good just like majority of the teams in the city. Cleveland has not won a major championship since 1964 when The Brown won the NFL Championship. That’s a long time for one town to sit and wait on the door step of penta-champ status. Yeah, the have been on the cusp but how many times can you be on the cusp and get your heart trampled and not loose you will to root?

Finally the King has returned like Otto Graham before him Lebron James has the city believing again al be it with a little hesitation. Nike has a great ad campaign centered on Lebron and the fans baring Witness to his abilities to defy gravity ala Jordan but are they just going to witness and colossal collapse? I can’t see how that is going to happen. I got faith that finally the city can rejoice in a series win which might just propel this team which is made up of has-beens and underachievers with one all out star to a place in the NBA finals. Call it crazy but I would rather take James year 3 over Jordan year 3. The man just elevates his team they seem to get in a zone and keep on going.

I think the only way the Pistons can win this game is if they somehow get John Elway and Jose Mesa to sit on there bench. The sheer cosmic force of those two could single handily destroy the city and leave a radioactive cloud above the skyline for years to come. I don’t see that happening. James vs. Shaq and company starts Sunday.