I was thinking about how Cleveland sports fans desperately need a reason to cheer, after the Indians dropped from World Series contenders to the dreaded spoilers. And how the Cavs can be some medicine to discouraged Browns fans who have watched their team slip from 10-6 in 2007 to 0-3 and in serious trouble, especially if they lose Sunday in Cincinnati.
I was thinking about how I'd be stunned if this season became the same sad story for the Cavaliers, as it has been for the other two local franchises.
I was thinking that as long as LeBron James is healthy and in uniform and as long as Gilbert is paying the bills, these guys should give fans reason to dream that a championship is possible.
"As long as James is healthy and in uniform and as lon as Gilbert is paying the bills." Gilbert is, far and away, the best owener in Cleveland sports. He's always been willing to pay top dollar for everything (the practice facility, the fire spewing scoreboard and, of course, the Cavs have the second highest payroll in the NBA).
Plus, he says shit like this:
Gilbert said all the talk of James opting out of his contract in the summer of 2010 was generated by bored reporters.
"I'm not aware from his or his camp the feelings or things that have been bandied about or thrown about or speculated. It's an insult to Cleveland, in my opinion."
and honestly, if the Browns lose this weekend, the race is on to see which franchise wins their first game.
1 comment:
The trouble is, the team with the second-highest payroll in the league can't finish with the 10th-best record, otherwise you've become the New York Mets. Or maybe the Yankees. This 08-09 Cavs team has to turn the corner and play to make a statement -- all year long. If they make the Finals again, they need to make sure it won't be considered a fluke.
I think it's great that Gilbert is ponying up the green to win. It's a breath of fresh after a summer of wonder what might have been had Shapiro and Dolan scrapped the max-value philosophy and gone for broke.
I just wonder what will happen if a couple of years of lugging around the contracts of Wally, Ben, Z, Mo, and maybe another midseason pickup don't yield a championship. The Cavs might scrap the spending and start getting younger, kind of like what the Mavs are doing right now.
What is known is that a team can't go eight figures into the luxury tax and stay there. That's a doomed business model. The only way it's going to be worthwhile is if A) LeBron stays or B) The Cavs win an NBA title before LeBron is able to leave.
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