It has now been 2 days since the self-proclaimed "King", LeBron James, ripped out the heart of Cleveland and threw it into the Lake Erie 'monster' with nothing but a smile and an hour-long trampling of the Cleveland sports world live on ESPN.
And while I was slightly off on his final destination (I predicted the Knicks), the outcome in no way surprised me as it did many heartbroken Cleveland fans. It was always about LeBron, the Championship of Self, and doing whatever it took to take what he could and leave what he didn't need behind in the dust of unrealized dreams, broken promises, and unfinished business.
The home-grown hero is now a villan, and rightfully so.
It seems, however, that the national sports world (particularly ESPN) seems to think that the city of Cleveland is blowing this out of proportion, that we are taking this a little too seriously, and that we need to "lighten up".
It is clear to me that the national media, their commentators and sports writers, and anyone who has not grown up in the Cleveland area over the past 50 years, doesn't have the slightest clue how personal this LeBron James fiasco was, how deeply the wound was cut, and how angry and determined we are now to see the so-called king lose his crown. I mean, he's already ringless. What's one more undeserved piece of gold witheld from this Akron sellout!
We Clevelanders have been crushed, worse than the days of Art Model, worse than the fumble, the drive, the shot. This is "the move", "the decision", and we as Cleveland natives are working through this, and finding a way to make OUR decision to move ON. Give us our time, give us our peace.
Burning his jersey is not some barbaric act of heartless violence or drunken rage. It is a cleansing process. A cleansing process we Cavs fans need (I burned my jersey last night and had a private moment by my backyard bonfire outside my Chicago home). This is how we move on.
And now that the cleansing has commenced, now that the big sign across from the Q has been removed so we are no longer reminded of LeBum, of "Quitness", we can start looking to our team and new head coach for a way to move on, to avenge our pain, and to one-up the rest of the world that has already written us off completely.
So forgive us, world, if we wish to be bitter. If we wish to burn worthless tokens that remind us of a traitor. This is our way. And God bless our passion and loyalty to our city.
It is more than we can say about our former "King".
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