The latest on the Cleveland dining scene with Doug Trattner
July 26, 2017Baserunning blunders nearly trip up Tribe: Between Innings
July 27, 2017Oh, Cleveland. How did we get here?
In terms of our beloved Cavs, the past week really… well, it really escalated quickly, didn’t it?
Last Friday afternoon, I was elbow-deep in a pitcher of watermelon margaritas at Johnny Mangos when an ESPN push notification popped up on my phone. I glanced over and saw a note that Kyrie Irving had asked the Cavs not to trade him. “Well… obviously,” I thought to myself. “Slow news day, ESPN?”
Minutes later, my phone blew up. Texts and tweets and general outrage over Kyrie were suddenly flooding in. Confused, I looked again. Oh.
How strong were those margaritas, Johnny?
I, like so many Cleveland fans, was equal parts baffled and heartbroken at the news that Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving had asked the team to be traded away. Didn’t he love us as much as we love him? Doesn’t he love it here, in beautiful, sunny Cleveland? Isn’t he happy returning to the NBA Finals three years in a row, one of which he hit the game-winning shot in Game 7, when the Warriors blew a 3-1 lead?
The answer to all three of those questions is, “apparently not.” Or, at the very least, “not enough.” So much time and energy, not to mention all the sports-talk listener calls, devoted to where LeBron James is heading in 2018—we, collectively, never saw this coming.
It’s a terrible feeling, knowing that one of our best players wants to leave. It sucks. The thought of Kyrie in anything other than wine and gold already makes my heart hurt. But if he wants out, he’s probably already as good as gone. The sooner we accept that fact—even if we don’t agree with his reasons why—the sooner we’ll all be OK, Cleveland.
So, now what? I’m no expert at this, but here’s how I’m coping. Let’s call it the “Handy Guide for Getting Over Kyrie Irving.”
In the Immediate Future
Wait and see. I’ve never been one for patience, but what more can we Cavs fans do at this point? The wheels are in motion, but nothing is final or announced yet. Quit over-thinking. Quit asking yourself what you could have done. Let’s take some deep breaths, and see what happens.
Distract. Hopefully you’ve noticed, but things are happening on the corner of Carnegie and Ontario. Instead of dreaming up more potential deals in the NBA trade machine, why not mosey over to The Jake and take in a game? Eat some amazing food, drink some good beer, cheer for the racing Hot Dogs… your broken little heart will feel better in no time.
Decide your fandom. One thing to consider: Do you love Kyrie enough to keep cheering for him, regardless of where he lands? If you do, great. You’re a Kyrie fan first and a Cavs fan second and that’s totally OK. If you don’t, SAME. Wish him well and prepare yourself for what’s to come.
If He Gets Traded
Don’t burn your Irving jersey. Bruh. For the love of God, don’t be that guy (or girl).
Don’t give it away, either. I can assure you that I eventually regretted the decision to aggressively donate my blue-and-orange LeBron throwback to the Cuyahoga Falls Goodwill on the morning of July 9, 2010. Don’t make a permanent decision based on a temporary feeling. For now, fold up that jersey and stick it in the back of a dresser drawer. Roll up your Uncle Drew T-shirt and shove it under your bed. Get that stuff out of sight, but keep it, OK? You never know.
Don’t be a dick. Depending on where he lands, Kyrie will more than likely end up facing the Cavs back at The Q sometime. Don’t boo him. Don’t tweet at him. Don’t send him snaps or leave hateful comments on his Instagram uploads. Please. Let’s give the guy, who gave us his first six years in the NBA, a little bit of respect.
Treasure the memories—and move on. Watch The Shot. Watch it again. Watch every single Uncle Drew clip you can find. We don’t have to love the fact that Kyrie wanted out and left, but we can love the time he spent here.
And, no matter what happens, we’ll always have 2016. Thanks, Kyrie, for everything.
112 Comments
It is simple, whatever reasoning we give, fans do not like when their team is made worse. When a LeBron or Durant leave, there is wreckage in their wake. Less so for secondary stars like Irving, but it is still substantial.
All feelings of being upset come from the simple place that the team we cheer for will be made worse, which is a healthy and correct response (obviously, it can be taken way past healthy and will be by some).
https://s3media.247sports.com/Uploads/Assets/845/38/3038845.gif
Wish I had said that.
Yep, athletes never depict that they are completely invested in the city in which they play and tie themselves into the local fabric…
http://wfny2.shoutitoutdesign.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/haden-collage-cleveland-fan-2.jpg
I’ve been thinking about changing my avatar for quite a while but hard to find something just right… believe Marty’s onto something.
I so hope he keeps his number because you know one of the Cleveland T-Shirt companies will use the slogan for his return to The Q:
“No. 2 is poop”
I’m sorry, which of us said “never/always”?
Is that Colt McCoy?
This guy: https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9fa68808ba3c867d841e54e1d4ce6dec904d268dac8f9ff525e943a5639aa680.gif
You are claiming a non-existent emotional attachment between player and team, then player and city. My claim is that in most healthy scenarios, it is false. Emotion is born out of these situations because you have communities colliding. Sure, not always, and perhaps Kyrie is a rare case where he has spent his entire career here & hasn’t developed his own bond to the city around him.
This thread though is getting to a more philosophical point I have about sports. Emotion is a huge key to them and developed and hinged on the community they develop. Without it, we are apathetic about sports & the team (let’s face it, it is childish and silly to follow these as we do) and the players become robots.
It’s not how I follow sports & I truly don’t believe it is how humanity works.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/29de1151a32460995bbca35213d4f669bade3d9b1f8895a1378ab39163e76d44.jpg
Don’t do it. Your familiar avatar on these pages is the Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Jersey in the Window. Reassuring, timeless, steady, iconic, and a welcome sight.
That sound when dad gets home and rips off his belt because mom just told him what you did.
I was thinking, that little toddler voice you hear from several rooms away, “Uh oh…”
If you switch to a hipster beard and replace the cigar with a vape pen…or go to Spock…or an orangier Harv…you’re gonna see some pitchforks. That’s my two cents. Sorry sir
Glances longingly at the torchfork collecting dust on the wall.
Soon, Bessie, sooooon…
“You are claiming a non-existent emotional attachment between player and team…” No, did not write that, do not believe that.
Then I misread this paragraph in your opening…
Kyrie has nothing to do with us. He’s from a faraway place from which he left early and often for AAU, college, and untold number of other locales where the uber-talented compete. He must appreciate getting cheered here but doesn’t know us or “get” us. He’s not Sam McDowell, living with his family in a little house on Raymont Road in University Heights. He’s not Leroy Kelly, living with hundreds of middle class people in a Forest Hills high rise. Precious few of these guys need to be connected for financial or social reasons. And we don’t “know” them any more than they know us.
ouch. That thing where you once wore a bow tie ironically and now when you try to discuss post-punk they scream “shut up, Waldo.” That thing where someone gently says maybe better to not insert yourself into frisbee tossing on the college green because you’re the gray creeper that repulsed young you. That thing …
you misread or I wasn’t clear. Teammates have plenty in common, and competing/traveling/hours together create true and sometimes lifelong bonds. That’s the point: they personally know each other. I get a tiny taste of that when I sit on Sam’s porch steps, ogle his trophy wife, play catch with his little son, watch Sam shuffle off his couch with a beer and grunt at me. Even then, not in the area code of Duke Sims cleaning up his vomit after a night out.
And, I think players- especially those drafted and staying in the same city for the early portions of their career- develop “true” relationships with the community/city in which they are drafted.
The “gets us” stuff is always somewhat silly & used to for personal gain as often (or more) than it is genuine, but there is also real bonds that form too. There’s a reason Big Z still lives in Ohio, etc.
Which I understand. But being in fan mode doesn’t make a double standard not a double standard. Nor does it negate the logical reasons behind a player’s decision. If people say, “he made our team worse so screw him”, fine. If you’re going to present a logical argument for why he’s wrong, horrible, insane, etc. you’ve got to expect a rebuttal.
They aren’t biting today… let’s just go bowling.
not saying it can’t happen, especially when they meet their wives here (Z, Ferry) though that doesn’t always work (Mitchell Schwartz, Thome).
Always awesome. From a nostalgia/emotional standpoint, top ten Browns for me, for sure.
(even overcoming his poor choices in the college admission process)
It’s called “Any Uniform Store That Already Does That”
I took my old Victor Martinez jersey to a baseball uni shop and got the name switched to Santana… can’t even tell.
Wait, what? Mitchell Schwartz took our Cleveland woman?! Shoulda never let her wok…
And donate the proceeds to the LeBron James Family Foundation
We need to organize a WFNY trip to Key West and look him up.
This is why it’s best to read all the comments before responding. I could have not wasted time replying below and instead just up-voted this.
I’m down. And somehow I think he’d be ok with us crashing at his place.
You could just call him and I quote “a selfish little troll” and refer to him as “KyMe” as Bill Livingston apparently did today. And that is where it goes way, way too far.
Part of the reason for my push back here is there is a new phenomenon from many in the media that are player-only perspective on their coverage and are shaming fans for being fans of the team. I agree that fans often have issues placing their emotions in proper context (and hence you get the rationalizing statements you see), but the emotional tie to the team is the base of sport fandom and is important.
Bode actually upvoted my last comment on this subject; thus, he agrees that the Browns should trade Joe Thomas. I think we have won.
Geez, man. I’m just going to chalk this up as you not knowing that his wife is of Asian descent, and therefore not an intentionally insensitive comment . . .
Yeah I get that, but the time it takes to look that up, drive over there etc. People are lazy. If you can stick something in the mail, and get it back in a week, it would probably be successful. Plus, if it take 5 bucks to ship each way, isn’t spending $10 to mail worth your time (and gas money) saved by just sending it through the mail? Not looking to become a millionaire off it, maybe just some extra fun money.
Dangit! I guess this is my Joe Biden “stand up and let ’em see you moment” to the disabled vet moment 🙁
Nah. It was a low blow, trickster tactic. As far as I can tell, she’s not Asian at all. I just wanted to make you squirm. Admit it; you panicked for a second or two. Gotcha, right in the soft, progressive underbelly.
http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view7/3475244/cute-cat-trick-o.gif
Well done…
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Damn you. I guess you got your revenge for me making you pull out all your teeth.
I have no issues at all profiting off of the laziness of others.
I wouldn’t read much into a Bode uptick. I only view them as an acknowledgment that my comment posted successfully.
“but the time it takes to look that up”
Ok, but isn’t that exactly how people would need to find you?
Forgetting, for a moment, that you’re taking the bait right off of my hook, you make a good point. Of my 17,695 comment votes, I’m pretty sure that Bode represents about 17,500.
Perhaps you just aren’t that interesting.
Also, he miraculously has made more comments than votes. I cannot even fathom how that is possible.
Whoops. In honor of me going to a meeting and missing this entire premise (yet somehow upvoting it), let’s have a meeting at the lake…
https://media.giphy.com/media/B6OvH9U08OXYs/giphy.gif
No idea what you refer to, I only upvote the best of the best comments. You are just graded on a curve relative to the rest of the internet.
Did you know? Comments in your profile are indeed how many comments you have made. Votes indicate how many people have given one of your comments an upvote. The amount of times you have voted is not tracked by Disqus.
in related news, Jeff Bezos officially is the world’s richest man
Run one 30 second Superbowl ad with monkeys (worked for the dotcom’s in the 90s)
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/73324bacbab3d98415c27735813b2070335c7cbc17a0967867c0a82c204e3764.gif