One in a million. We were one couple in a mass love-in of a million plus people.
Unbelievably, our favourite professional basketball team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, won the 2016 NBA Championship defeating the Oakland Warriors in a gritty 7th final game in Oakland 93-89, coming back from an almost impossible 3-1 game deficit to capture the trophy AWAY from home. When the last buzzer sounded, LeBron James, aka The King, sank to his knees on the floor and wept. Along with some of his teammates and coach. Wept with joy. With relief. With thanks.
The Cleveland Championship is the victorious culmination for 31 year old James who was the number 1 draft choice by the Cavs in 2003 when, at the age of 18, he signed for $100 million.
Unbelievably, our favourite professional basketball team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, won the 2016 NBA Championship defeating the Oakland Warriors in a gritty 7th final game in Oakland 93-89, coming back from an almost impossible 3-1 game deficit to capture the trophy AWAY from home. When the last buzzer sounded, LeBron James, aka The King, sank to his knees on the floor and wept. Along with some of his teammates and coach. Wept with joy. With relief. With thanks.
The Cleveland Championship is the victorious culmination for 31 year old James who was the number 1 draft choice by the Cavs in 2003 when, at the age of 18, he signed for $100 million.
In a carefully planned career, making some unpopular moves along the way (The Decision), the kid from Akron, Ohio returned to nearby Cleveland in 2014 promising (I promise) to help bring home a championship. As he put it: nothing in northeast Ohio is given; it is earned.
Up to this point, Cleveland was starving. The last major sports championship for the City was won by the Cleveland Browns football team 52 years ago. Worse, northeast Ohio currently suffers from an economic downturn with its related misery: poverty, crime, poor self-image, increased welfare.
And then came the miraculous NBA win against all odds. A spontaneous outpouring of delirious joy, mixed with disbelief, erupted with this spectacular coup by the Cavs. Caught slightly off guard, the City quickly rallied to plan a victory parade. The Cavs coach received a telephone call from President Barack Obama inviting the team to the White House.
Up to this point, Cleveland was starving. The last major sports championship for the City was won by the Cleveland Browns football team 52 years ago. Worse, northeast Ohio currently suffers from an economic downturn with its related misery: poverty, crime, poor self-image, increased welfare.
And then came the miraculous NBA win against all odds. A spontaneous outpouring of delirious joy, mixed with disbelief, erupted with this spectacular coup by the Cavs. Caught slightly off guard, the City quickly rallied to plan a victory parade. The Cavs coach received a telephone call from President Barack Obama inviting the team to the White House.
Amidst the euphoria, we made a last minute decision to attend the victory parade--- and for good reason. For five years in the early 2000s, Akron, Ohio was our home. When we embraced this new community we continually read and heard media reports about a high school student, a projected basketball superstar, called LeBron James, raised by a 16 year old single mom who juggled two jobs. From the ages of 11-18, he and his mother lived in a two bedroom flat in a subsidized housing complex.
The young athlete’s prowess intrigued us and we followed his career as he eventually made his mark in the professional basketball world.
The young athlete’s prowess intrigued us and we followed his career as he eventually made his mark in the professional basketball world.
So we drove four hours from where we live near Toronto, Canada, to take part in this celebration for shell-shocked Cleveland and nearby Akron.
Now here we stand at 7 a.m. on a beautiful June morning behind a barricade outside the Cavs Quicken Loans Arena with other early bird fans. The parade will begin in about four hours but the word is a million or more fans are expected to honour their heroes. So if you want to see anything---or anyone--- stake out your spot early.
During that long wait, we bond with our crazy basketball neighbour fans, a cross-section of society. A stressed young man in front of us jumps and jostles impatiently. He casually plays with his car keys as he holds them over the barrier. Below his jangling keys lies a sewer on the road waiting with open jaws like a monster. In one awful moment he accidentally drops his keys. How quickly they slide and disappear between the sewer grates. Horrors! Those around him---including us---gasp in dismay. We are witnesses to your worst ‘lost key’ nightmare.
Desperately he calls to the Security guard on duty. Guard ambles over. He is busy with other security measures. The fan explains what happened. Can they open the grate? Guard shakes his head. Not here. Not now. Distraught fan wants to move from behind the barrier. Can I look down and see if I can see them? Guard agrees. They both look. No keys appear in the murky water below.
Now here we stand at 7 a.m. on a beautiful June morning behind a barricade outside the Cavs Quicken Loans Arena with other early bird fans. The parade will begin in about four hours but the word is a million or more fans are expected to honour their heroes. So if you want to see anything---or anyone--- stake out your spot early.
During that long wait, we bond with our crazy basketball neighbour fans, a cross-section of society. A stressed young man in front of us jumps and jostles impatiently. He casually plays with his car keys as he holds them over the barrier. Below his jangling keys lies a sewer on the road waiting with open jaws like a monster. In one awful moment he accidentally drops his keys. How quickly they slide and disappear between the sewer grates. Horrors! Those around him---including us---gasp in dismay. We are witnesses to your worst ‘lost key’ nightmare.
Desperately he calls to the Security guard on duty. Guard ambles over. He is busy with other security measures. The fan explains what happened. Can they open the grate? Guard shakes his head. Not here. Not now. Distraught fan wants to move from behind the barrier. Can I look down and see if I can see them? Guard agrees. They both look. No keys appear in the murky water below.
Beside us is a young mom, hair braided, with three small kids. They want to see their heroes. But the crowd grows and among adults, they are lost and small. Will they get to see anyone? We are sequestered in the second row as people arrive in waves to claim a spot. A woman across the street climbs a tree; she is well-hidden among the leaves. A casual onlooker sees only a leafy tree with a single fluttering Cavaliers flag. Television newsmen rush to interview the waving tree.
And still the people come. In some places the crowd is 50 deep. People are climbing in, out, on and around the parking garage across the street. They are hanging from lamp posts. They are everywhere.
Overhead the blue sky is dotted with the circling Goodyear blimp and private planes hauling congratulatory banners. Television cameras record every activity. Cav team volunteers appear early on the parade route throwing out tee shirts, beads, photos, rubber wrist bands, team souvenirs to waiting fans; the crowd, screaming, surges forward, eager to catch a piece of memorabilia.
And still the people come. In some places the crowd is 50 deep. People are climbing in, out, on and around the parking garage across the street. They are hanging from lamp posts. They are everywhere.
Overhead the blue sky is dotted with the circling Goodyear blimp and private planes hauling congratulatory banners. Television cameras record every activity. Cav team volunteers appear early on the parade route throwing out tee shirts, beads, photos, rubber wrist bands, team souvenirs to waiting fans; the crowd, screaming, surges forward, eager to catch a piece of memorabilia.
Beefy Cleveland cops arrive wearing flak jackets followed by bike and mounted police followed by motorcycle brigades including a special contingent from LeBron’s hometown of Akron. The hour for the parade approaches. Nothing happens. Reports circulate through the waiting crowd warning the parade cannot begin because streets are jammed. No room for any vehicle to navigate.
Finally, after standing close to five hours, the two hour victory parade begins. The heroes are coming, some running alongside their assigned cars, touching the hands of frenzied fans. Screams. Hysteria. Arms raised. Clenched fists pump the air. Tears. Shouts: there he is! There he is!
This is one massive love-in. A collective moment of passion. No violence. Only love. Only love. Only love.
Epilogue: the distressed young man who lost his keys called his father for help: when the celebrations ended he was last man standing. And the three kids who couldn’t see the parade behind tall adults? Adoring fans steered them to the front.
This is one massive love-in. A collective moment of passion. No violence. Only love. Only love. Only love.
Epilogue: the distressed young man who lost his keys called his father for help: when the celebrations ended he was last man standing. And the three kids who couldn’t see the parade behind tall adults? Adoring fans steered them to the front.
Map: Cleveland
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