By Andrew Zuhosky
Where were you on Fathers’ Day when the Cleveland Cavaliers ended 51 and half years of frustration and captured Cleveland’s first major sports championship after beating the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals?
I remember where I was on that night. I was in my room watching that game. When the final buzzer sounded in Oakland, I let out a loud, ‘OH, MY GOD! THEY WON!’
To be honest, when that game ended, I thought that I’d weep tears of joy.
As I listened to the radio coverage that night and watched the Cavs’ championship parade on June 22, I thought to myself, ‘Man, it would be great if Cleveland could celebrate another championship in the near future.’
In fact, Cleveland sports already instilled a winning culture earlier in the spring, even before the Cavs won it all in California.
In June, the Lake Erie Monsters, now the Cleveland Monsters, gave the city its second title in less than a month, when they defeated the Hershey Bears in overtime of Game 4 of the Calder Cup Final, the championship series of the American Hockey League.
As previously stated, the Cavs battled back from a 3-1 series deficit to beat the Warriors in the NBA Finals, which set off several days of celebration and excitement.
Even for a day or two after the Cavs won it all, it still felt like a dream to me. I felt that once the next morning rolled around, I would look at the news and see the headline ‘Warriors repeat as NBA Champions.’
When the knock at my door came, and my mother asked me if I wanted a Cavs championship T-shirt and ball cap, I thought to myself, ‘Hey, wait a minute! This is real! It actually happened!’
Now, two months later, the question is, ‘Can it happen again, not just for the Cavaliers, but for any of the Cleveland teams?’
Let’s take a look at the Cleveland Indians for a brief moment. This baseball team has been on a tear throughout the season, and they’ve had the lead in the American League’s Central Division for practically the whole summer. They have certainly been a great team to watch this season.
I don’t want to come off as a jinx, but the way that the Indians have played this year, I really believe that they could take on the Chicago Cubs or the San Francisco Giants in the World Series and contend for the championship.
If the Indians get into the World Series, the opening game takes place Oct. 25, the same evening as the Cavs’ ring ceremony and Opening Night in the NBA. The first two games of the World Series would also be in Cleveland, because of the American League All-Stars winning last month’s All-Star Game.
Imagine the logjam around the TVs at bars in Cleveland that night if the Indians make the World Series. Imagine the traffic jam in Cleveland that day, too.
In football, the Cleveland Browns have Robert Griffin III as the new starting quarterback. Could the Browns make the NFL playoffs and play their first postseason game in over a decade and win a playoff game for the first time since New Years’ Day 1995? Watch the season and find out.
Welcome back to all returning students and welcome to all freshmen who are experiencing college for the first time.
Good luck to everybody this year.