Watching the Cavs lose to Detroit on Sunday, I watched in depression after the Pistons’ Rasheed Wallace smashed Zydrunas Ilgauskas in the head. As Z left the contest to get stitches, no one on the court stood up for their teammate. That bothers me. The football season just ended and the Steelers won the Super Bowl by displaying toughness, a hard hitting group that puts their opponents on the defensive.
The Pistons have been to the last two NBA Finals, winning one title, with a defensive attitude and a mental toughness which the wine and gold witnessed first hand the past two nights. Please note that both the Steelers and Pistons are very close geographically to Cleveland, which somehow makes it tougher to take for fans.
Why doesn’t Cleveland develop any tough teams?
The Brad Daugherty/Mark Price/Larry Nance Cavaliers of the early 90’s were a finesse team, getting to the Eastern Conference finals once, losing to Jordan and the Bulls. That group challenged the Pistons before that, but Rick Mahorn’s thuggish elbow to Price’s head ruined that season. Nobody ever retaliated from the Cavs.
The Browns of the late eighties were a brazen tough team, lead by cornerbacks Hanford Dixon and Frank Minnifield. Those teams emphasized defense, but were not known for their toughness on the lines. The secondary fueled the fire in those days. Don Rogers would have added to that, but he passed away due to drugs before he could make a true impact. The offensive on those teams did emphasize running early, but later it was the passing attack of Bernie Kosar that took center stage.
The closest thing we have had to having a team everyone hated was the Indians of the late nineties. Led by Albert Belle, Kenny Lofton, and Carlos Baerga, the Tribe was brash and cocky. They were young and good, and they let people know about it. Belle and Baerga were gone by the end of the 1996 season, and the faces of the team became guys like Jim Thome and Omar Vizquel, both nice guys.
You know why? Because Cleveland doesn’t want its heroes to have an edge. Sure, we supported the Tribe when Belle and Lofton were doing their thing, but fans seem happier idolizing a guy like Thome. Even today, we hear more fans complaining about Big Jim leaving than losing Manny Ramirez. Ramirez is a much better hitter, by far.
No one is questionning the athletes will to win. I have no doubts that guys like Vizquel, Thome, Kosar, and Price wanted to win. I feel the city thinks if management puts together a team full of good guys, they will win a title. Sometimes, you need an edge to win a title. Ask the Pistons and Steelers.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 