The fact the Cavaliers won the NBA championship is both good and bad for the other teams in Cleveland.
More good than bad, certainly, but still some of both.
The title has shown the Browns, who haven’t captured an NFL championship since 1964, and the Indians, whose last World Series crown was way back in 1948, that it’s possible to win it all in Cleveland.
And the way the Cavs did it, being the first team in NBA history to come back to win a title after being down 3-1 in the Finals, was good, too, for it showed the Browns and Indians the incredible mental toughness it takes to navigates all the ups and downs of the playoffs to be a champion. It was the blueprint on how to do it, in fact.
In addition, when a team in a city wins a championship, some of that good karma seems to rub off on the other clubs for whatever reason. The stars begin getting aligned in just the right way for them, too.
But here’s where the Cavs’ success this season is, in a sense, bad: It puts a tremendous amount of pressure on the Browns and Indians to produce. With the Cavs proving that it can be done here, the Browns and Indians can’t make excuses anymore for not winning it all. They can’t have just a little bit of success. They’ve got to have a lot of success, as in going all the way. They will indeed be held to a higher standard now. Losing in the Super Bowl or the World Series will get them only a pat on the back and a “Nice try, now come back and finish the job next season,” comment. There will be no parades, or coronations. That is now saved only for championships, just as it should be.
And because Cleveland is a football town first and foremost, the Browns may be held to a bit of a higher standard than the Indians. I don’t think new Browns head coach Hue Jackson will shy away from that challenge. He hasn’t shied away from anything in the five-plus months since he’s been hired.
With that having been said, then, what would it be like if the Browns won the Super Bowl? For a lot of people around here, that would be the title of all titles that could be won in Cleveland.
And as far as the crowds for a parade, if the Cavs drew 1.3 million people, would a Browns championship attract 2 million? Could that many people fit along a parade route in Downtown Cleveland? Only if the parade route were longer so the people could be spread out over a larger area.
The Cavs’ plane from the West Coast after the Game 7 victory over the Golden State Warriors was welcomed back home by 10,000 people. Wow!
But keep in mind that in 1980 as the Kardiac Kids were marching toward their first AFC Central championship in nine years, and their first playoff appearance in eight seasons, their plane was welcomed back home twice by over 10,000 people, the first after they beat the Oilers at Houston over Thanksgiving weekend, on Nov. 30, to begin to take control of the division race, and then on Dec. 21 after they defeated the Bengals at Cincinnati in the regular-season finale to secure the division title.
I know, I know, I’m getting way, way, WAY ahead of myself here. The Browns haven’t had even as much as a winning record since back in 2007, when LeBron’s star was soaring in his first stint with the Cavs. That seems like a lifetime ago. To think that the Browns have had eight consecutive losing seasons since then is depressing to the nth degree for fans here.
So the Browns have a lot – a WHOLE lot – of work to do. It won’t be easy, or quick, but they have to get the process started this season by taking some steps forward. Every season counts. Every season must include progress, and the sooner it happens, the better.
And the title won by the Cavs at least makes it seem like the Browns have a better chance now of doing the same thing than they did a month ago.
