Walking around downtown Cleveland on any given evening you may be left to wonder if folks haven’t all picked up and moved away from what has become known as ‘The Mistake by the Lake’.  The sidewalks are all but barren of anyone walking upright on two legs.  Passing by the Fat Fish Blue restaurant one is reminded of Cleveland’s southern connection and it’s deep rooted passion for the blues which is certainly an appropriate music format for it’s long suffering sports fans.  Perhaps, most peculiar though is that while the city’s population base has been cut in half from what it was in 1950, the general populace continues to find shelter at any one of its 3 major sports venues.    I use the word shelter very loosely, as Cleveland sports teams have been anything but a haven of comfort for its loyal fans in this or the previous century. 

In 1948 the curtain was lowered on Cleveland Indians World Series victories.  Coincidentally, the Soviet Union was also lowering its iron curtain on all things American.  The iron curtain has since been raised, and while the bubbly spilled from East Germany to the Eastern most regions of Russia, it has never flowed through an Indians dugout with championship flavour since the Indians beat the Boston Braves that year 4 games to 2.  No doubt there are still a few Clevelanders around who attended Game 5 of the World Series that year – a game that was attended by more that 84 000 at the new Municipal Stadium.  Hot on the heels of Jackie Robinson’s inspiring entrance to Major League Baseball, Bill Veeck then part owner of the Indians signed Lary Doby out of the Negro League 11 weeks after Jackie Robinson signed with the Dodgers.  Later during the stretch run, Veeck turned again to the Negro League in favour of Hall of Famer Satchel Paige.  Doby and Paige along with veteran Hall of Famer Lou Boudreau would lead the Indians to their last World Series victory. 

Few clubs have produced results of greater futility over the years than the Indians.  From 1960 to 1993, only 6 times did the Indians finish any higher than last place.  When a team spends so much time in the basement, it is only natural if their fans wonder if they will ever see the light.  Cleveland baseball fans have seen their team jettison to the playoffs more recently, twice making it to the World Series in the 90s.  This propelled an attendance record at newly constructed Progressive Field from 1995 to 2001 with 455 consecutive sellouts (a record that was only surpassed recently by the Red Sox).  This past year, while many prognosticators had picked the Indians to sit atop the A.L. Central division, the Indians provided us with little more than their best impression of the now defunct Montreal Expos in trading away arguably their 2 best players in Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez at the trade deadline.  Oh and did we mention they once again finished in last place this year – tied with the equally hapless Kansas City Royals.  Despite this finish, the Indians managed to attract an average of 22 357 fans in 2009.  Cleveland fans deserve better don’t you think? 

Will they find it in the Browns or the Cavs?  One thing is for sure, they won’t find it in the NHL, whence the Cleveland Barons left the scene in 1978 after a mere 2 years in Cuyahoga County. 

The Browns meanwhile continue to struggle and the days of championship football seem much farther removed than 1964.  The subsequent and more glorious days of Jim Brown, Brian Sipe and Bernie Kosar, are of little solace to the new generation of Browns fans and for those who do remember fonder times it still feels more in the distance than springtime in Cleveland on a cool November day.  The compounding success of Bill Belichek in New England after a much maligned tenure in Cleveland only seems to heighten Browns fans angst and as has the recent trade that awarded the N.Y. Jets the rights to USC star Mark Sanchez in what would have seemed to have brought an end to a string of Cleveland quarterback woes.  Perhaps, a sign of the times in Cleveland was the hiring and subsequent firing of George Kokinis this year.  Poor George lasted less than a full 10 months in his tenure as general manager, an indication that the Dawg Pound is growing more restless than a kennel being visited by Michael Vick.  After last night’s loss in Cleveland to their foremeost rival Baltimore Ravens – a loss that left the scoreboard operator wondering if he would still have a job if his work were solely tied to the Browns performance – the Browns Super Bowl may come in a mere few weeks when they meet the Detroit Lions for what could be a battle for last place and the 1^st overall pick in next years draft.  Maybe, just maybe, the Browns will then be able to place their saddle on someone like the Longhorns Colt McCoy.  This is what the Browns had in mind when they pinned their hopes earlier this year on Notre Dame’s Brady Quinn.  One thing we know for sure, they won’t be pinning their hopes on Mangini’s old partner Charlie Weiss.  Hmmm, we think we know for sure. 

That leaves us with the Cavs who have never won an NBA championship, but are no doubt the closest to bring home some hardware (and we don’t mean copper piping from the abandoned homes over in Cleveland’s Slavic Village district).  After an 0-2 start the Cavs have won 7 of their last 8.  And with wins over the Magic and the Heat on back-to-back nights the Cavs seem primed to at least find themselves in the Eastern Conference final this year with or without Delonte West.  In fact, after being indicted this month on 8 charges, it may be time for squeaky clean general manager Danny Ferry to say ‘Go West young man, Go West’.  If he is looking for reinforcements, I’m sure Shaq and his law enforcement resume will gladly oblige.  So here is hoping the fine folks down at Fat Fish Blue will have something to cheer about this year.  They deserve it, don’t they?

The Duke