Eli Manning is going to get paid and it’s fine – WFNY Podcast – 2015-08-19
August 20, 2015Cleveland ranks 16th on ESPN list of best-dressed sports cities
August 20, 2015Happy Thursday, folks, thanks for doing some WFNYing today — brave souls, each and every one of you.
After last week’s so-so but mostly uneventful preseason opener, the Browns have their second preseason game tonight against the Bills in what feels like should definitely be the Great Lakes Classic. As we watch Josh McCown audition for our hearts and try to show he can lead the team to eight wins, don’t forget to lower your expectations. I tried renaming the Browns quarterback position earlier this week, and maybe you’ll find it slightly amusing and helpful in making the season five percent more enjoyable once you release whoever passes the ball this year for the Browns from the suffocating standard set by quality NFL quarterbacks.
I couldn’t help notice the contrasting stories about Miami, Florida, and Akron, Ohio, I read this week. The Miami story was from Robert Andrew Powell, writing for Grantland, and talked about the con artists who infiltrated the Miami Heat’s network to con the team, the city and even the players (including recent Cavs Mike Miller and James Jones). But it’s largely about Miami, and the atmosphere that fostered these grifts.
Hustlers operate everywhere, but they seem to do their best work in Miami. … Hustling is in this city’s DNA. It’s hard not to get caught up in it.
“There’s very little old money in Miami,” says Billy Corben, director of Cocaine Cowboys and other documentaries about Miami excess. “Everyone’s nouveau riche. If you’re in New England, your last name is your entrée; you can’t just pop in somewhere like the Great Gatsby and throw money around. In Miami, nobody cares. It’s such a transient population. There’s such a permissiveness. As long as you have that cash, doors open for you.”
…
“Miami is a honey trap, let’s be real,” says Corben, the filmmaker. “It promises glitz and gloss and glamour, but it’s a hollow shell and a money pit in the end. Miami very rarely fulfills the promise. It’s selling the dream. But they don’t come true just because you buy them.”
Meanwhile, Akron’s own Zac Jackson touched on what LeBron James means to Akron.
There are bad things going on in Akron, not far from St. Vincent-St. Mary, in fact. There are worse things going on closer to where LeBron lived and went to elementary and middle school. The economy isn’t what it once was. The schools and the neighborhoods aren’t what they once were. Akronites, though, are still full of pride. They know LeBron’s story. They know his coaches, his family and his journey. When things got ugly between LeBron and Cleveland, LeBron claimed Akron. The city claimed him, too, then, now, and forever. What he’s done, and is doing, in Akron can change lives, brighten futures and provide hope in places where it hasn’t existed in a while.
He’ll win an NBA title in Cleveland, maybe as soon as 10 months from now, and partly because it’s been so damn long, no one is quite sure how Cleveland will react. That’s the mission of LeBron the basketball player, the swoosh-laden global superstar, the ambassador of basketball and all things Akron. When the Cavs win that title, there surely will be a parade in Akron, too.
I think Zac may be a little presumptuous about this whole “NBA title in Cleveland” thing, but the contrast between Miami and Akron seemed in-your-face to me. Obviously I’m biased, and the contrast was only evident to me because I’ve already devoted a lot of thought to the matter. And there are con artists around every sports franchise, and artificial people in every city on earth.1
Miami’s a great place, sure. But the whole city is a hollow artifice. The solution to problems in Northeast Ohio is to toil in the face of long odds and make the best of what you have; in Miami it’s to pretend you have more than you do. Miami is a Rick Ross song. Akron is Bruce Springsteen song. Miami is Scarface. Northeast Ohio is Tommy Boy.2
There are many, many things wrong with Akron, Cleveland, and Northeast Ohio — but a lack of authenticity is not one of them. Not many people have accused 330-ers of being inauthentic. But the difference between Northeast Ohio3 and Miami is why LeBron’s decision to go to Miami was so offensive, and may also be why he returned to his home region after the stint in Miami. I’m sure there are a lot of real Miami Heat fans, but there are also a lot of people who want people to think they’re Heat fans. I think James saw that difference between his home and Miami, which may have motivated him to come back and even to engage in his impressive charitable efforts. James may have needed to leave in order to realize this, recalibrate his values, and become the more philanthropic person he is today.
Your random Calvin and Hobbes strip of the day. It’s almost football season, which means Browns season. Come on Browns — all Will wants this season is something to talk about with his old man, and reader Harv seconded that with a request for “watchable mediocrity,” and I third that with a virtually identical request for 75 percent competence. 75 PERCENT COMPETENCE! COME ON BROWNS WE CAN DO THIS!
And now for the random 90s song of the day. In honor of my Beats trademark-carrying device err, I mean earbud headphones malfunctioning this week (they were a gift), and the release of Straight Outta Compton and his new album Definitely NOT Detox aka Compton within the last few weeks, it’s time to give Dr. Dre some play.4
I haven’t represented rap, hip-hop, R&B, and boy bands in this space (my deepest apologies to the Carter boys), but it seemed as appropriate a time as any to run some Dre. Scott and Andrew already talked about Compton, but when 2001 came out in 1999 (deceiving to tR90sSotD, I know), it was instantly mind-blowing and the most coveted piece of contraband in middle school. And all these years later, the Doctor is “Still D.R.E.” Back to alt-rock next time. (Warning: Language.)
- Jimmy Haslam and Dan Gilbert have come under more than some federal scrutiny for their business practices — something that seldom happens without a good reason. [↩]
- Yes, I know Bruce is from New Jersey. [↩]
- Yes, I’m conflating Cleveland and Akron somewhat. [↩]
- Amos Barshad’s profile on N.W.A. manager and Cleveland native Jerry Heller is also absolutely worth a read. [↩]
23 Comments
In the broadest terms, I agree with your appreciation that authenticity is more common here in the Rust Belt than in some of the sunnier places.
I lived in Sacramento for about 10 years, and I never really felt that I fit in there like I do here. There was just a general sense of guarded superficiality about people and a desire to project an image that I was never comfortable with. Not a lot of self-deprecation or laughing at yourself. Being cool was important, and some people worked hard at it.
Certainly there were some great, down-to-earth people, but I was glad to move back here, and I’ve never regretted it.
For the rest of the country, Cleveland IS NE Ohio.
When I relay to people down here where I grew up, I invariably become “the guy from Cleveland”.
I’m an old school 216er…Stark County was 216 when I grew up there.
But, that’s ok I guess. We’re all in this together.
NE Ohio for life!
The wifey, a life-long Savannah native, has forbid any talk about relocating to NE Ohio. lol
After 12+ years now, I rarely even get specific regarding my hometown unless I encounter another fellow Ohioan–otherwise, I just go with Cleveland or NEO.
(And props to the original 216. The 330 thing has just never felt quite right.)
That description sounds eerily like what I’ve experienced in this area of Florida. Definitely a lot of people taking themselves very seriously and looking out for theirs. Not much warmth or sense of connection. For a state so reliant on the hospitality industry, it is surprisingly unwelcoming in many ways. The facade falls away quickly once you settle here instead of passing through. Of course you meet exceptions, and I’m fortunate to have a few very dear friends here, but it is decidedly not “home”.
You’ve described the myth and reality of “Southern Hospitality”.
It exists for, and only in the minds of tourists. Southern Hospitality is nothing more than vendors/businesses being nice, so people will spend their money, and then come back and spend more.
Also known as the SEC Network
People want to know why the SEC is so successful.
Live down here. You’ll get it. 😉
A lot of people I have met aren’t even aware of where Cleveland is exactly. I want to be mad and challenge their geographic knowledge, but honestly I can’t blame them.
Authenticity is one of those words that really doesn’t mean anything.
After LBJ made the switch back the the Cavs, the local Foot Locker started selling Nike Summit County gear.
Summit County!
I was probably the ONLY person in the city that even knew what that was. Freakin Summit County in Savannah GA. LOL
Ohio’s 16th congressional district REPRESENT!
Do you have another choice?
I don’t understand, unless perhaps you’re quibbling over a strict definition of a word (I do that too).
I think most people understand it to mean that someone is a nice person who is generally truthful and not a poser or phony.
The C&H linked to Browns feelings is a great idea. Please keep this segment going.
Buckeyes are usually nationally televised 😉
It is a term that is so subjective that it is rendered useless.
Clevelanders are authentic to other Clevelanders. Other groups who come close to living up to that subjective standard are also deemed authentic. I’m sure people in Sacramento feel that other Sacramentoites are authentic because they think that their social norms, like admitting that you care what others think rather than pretending like it’s no big thing, are authentic.
Poser? Phony? Authentic? What do they mean? I get it if you’re using it to mean something simple like “factually true”. But that’s not what people are really trying to convey.
It usually translates to – “We live life this way with these values and norms. We consider this the correct, proper way to live. This makes us better than everyone else because they do things differently. That makes them dishonest and somehow morally less than us.”
I would think it would be difficult to ignore the defending national champions even for the SEC!
I can tell you that your statement is a bit false. I live in Atlanta and moved down here around the time OSU and Michigan played in the 1 vs 2 game. I went to a local sports bar where they had every SEC team playing and when I asked the bartender if they would change one of the stations to the OSU game the guy said “Son, this is SEC country…if you want to watch that then go back up north”. I was kind of dumbstruck and didn’t respond. I just left and watched it at home. Later I found a few OSU alum bars and just hung out there but even today that sentiment is the same with most people in the south.
You can never go wrong with Calvin and Hobbes.
That was a 1 vs 2 not a National Championship game or a game even a defending national champion so what exactly is false?
I meant more of anything non SEC. Apologies. Defending champions or not I still have people telling me that OSU would be a “.500 team” in the SEC.
I live in Cincinnati, and we often deal with other parts of the US. Many non- Ohioans seem to think anything Ohio = Cleveland. Except for Pete Rose = Cincinnati and the Buckeyes = Columbus. Cracks me up.