A King Falls

Even though I was born in Utica, New York...I lived in Cleveland from the time I was six until I married and moved away at 22. I went to grade school and high school in Cleveland, and then to college in Kent, Ohio. Wherever I have moved and lived, Cleveland is still home.

I rooted for the Cleveland Indians and remember when the gas stations used to give away a baseball booklet and individual photos of each baseball player.

I rooted for the Browns football team and remember the winning days of the Browns of the late 50s and 60s, and of course Jim Brown. I rooted for the team through every quarterback including Brian Sipe, #17, who led the Kardiac Kids of the 80s. Another favorite, Bernie Kosar, who was born in Boardman, Ohio, made sure that he played in Cleveland, only to have the owner, Art Modell, get rid of him.

In 1966, Modell took the Browns out of town and relocated them to Baltimore. The city of Cleveland hated Modell for that. The same fans filled the stadium for every game, and were loyal to the team until the owner dished the fans and the town. Until the football league brought back a new team to Cleveland in 1999, the fans during the football seasons would go to the bars and watched reruns of the old Browns football games. Now that was true loyalty.

Currently, Cleveland has lost one of the best basketball players in a manner that would parallel the Modell fiasco. Granted LeBron James left to play for the Miami heat after seven years of being with the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team. When James first came to the team, he promised Cleveland fans a championship but he never could deliver on that promise. The fans still loved him. This month after playing the season for Cleveland, James became a free agent. The fans waited a long time for his free agency to begin and that was when the circus began...and James played the game like a pro. Looking back at it now, I realized he never had any intention of staying in Cleveland. It was all staged. He finally made his decision on national television, the ESPN network in particular...that was when he delivered the final nose thumbing to the Cleveland fans, when he announced that he would be playing for the Miami Heat.

The town was let down once again but this time on national television, even before informing the Cleveland Cavaliers Management of his decision. Of course the owner wrote a scathing letter to the fans about James. I understood how he felt, but I wish the owner hadn't done that. Jesse Jackson has now weighed in with is feelings. Let me say this Jackson, the owners anger had nothing to do with race or slave ownership. Why don't you speak up about the Black Panthers spewing their hatred toward the white people when you can think straighter?

I saw Lebron James play in person once in a preseason game and I've watched him on television. I am in awe of how he played and what he has accomplished for a man of 25. He is a native Ohioan from Akron. The Cavaliers basketball team was the first and only NBA team he ever played for. He is a gifted player and a wonderful athlete and someday he just might win the NBA championship ring that he visibly lusts after. He did win back-to-back MVP trophies, he loved Akron, and he gave back to the community, both in Akron and in Cleveland.

He also dubbed himself King James and the Chosen. He even has those tattooed on his body. Outside the Cavaliers Quicken Arena...there used to be a 10-story picture of him with his head thrown back and his arms outstretched after his pregame powder toss. The words on the picture mural - WE ARE ALL WITNESSES, followed by the Nike check symbol. It was a famous picture to the fans and visitors and they loved it. It came down on July 12, 2010.

Now James has taken his game to Miami with two other big name players. This was planned for a long time. Regardless of his leaving and going elsewhere to get his championship ring...he left a town sad. In reality, we are the ones who bought his line of the"King" and the "Chosen" one, who bought his merchandise, and who believed in a player who couldn't deliver.

For whatever it is worth...Cleveland lost something when James said he was leaving. In particular his leaving might actually hurt Cleveland financially. We were the ones who elevated him to the status of King and now a mortal man believes he is a King and the Chosen one. Maybe that is a lesson for all of us to really ponder. I think the front page of the Cleveland Plain Dealer said it best with a back shot of Lebron James in his Cavaliers uniform walking away, with an arrow pointing to his finger stating - 7 years and no ring.

Maybe it wasn't the money, but it was all an image and a legacy that someone else was building. But whoever chose the manner for James to stick it to the city of Cleveland, was really uninformed. James fell from King to the ranks of one of the most reviled man in Cleveland, along with Modell. Maybe we ought to look at ourselves for elevating men to godlike status and believing that in all of this there is such a thing as loyalty.

Bottom line- it is the money, the hype, the legacy and the ring. Loyalty doesn't seem to be important.