Links to the Present: “Cleveland Against the World” Edition
2016-10-21
[Editor’s Note: Please join me in welcoming Briana Contreras to Cavs: the Blog. Briana is a senior at Cleveland State University and will be interning with CtB this season bringing you a weekly best-of Cavs links post every Friday afternoon. Enjoy!]
The iconic 10-story tall LeBron James banner that welcomes you into downtown Cleveland has been removed again. But, no need to worry. It’s not coming down as the result of a political convention or a repeat of James leaving. This time, the banner is actually being taken down to remind everyone of something good.
After ending the city’s 52-year-drought this past June, the mural was removed on Monday in order to give it a small, but significant upgrade that reflects the team’s special victory. The new banner will be the same, but will include a gold patch of the Larry O’Brien trophy on the back James’ jersey.
It still feels surreal that one of my hometown teams finally brought Cleveland a championship. Many of us are still celebrating and still get chills every time we watch the last few minutes of game 7 with “The Block” and “The (New) Shot.” Driving past the new banner with the addition of the trophy will be a constant reminder of that life-changing night.
The upgraded mural is expected to be up and hanging this weekend, just in time for the players to receive their championship rings and unveil the actual championship banner inside Quicken Loans Arena before the Cavs’ home opener against the New York Knicks Oct. 25.
•Although the Cavaliers brought much hope and excitement to the city of Cleveland this year, the Indians are now trying to do the same. After blazing — or slugging, I should say — through the American League Series defeating both the Red Sox and the Blue Jays, the Tribe is now only four games away from being something it hasn’t been since 1948: World Series champions. There’s nothing more that warms my heart than saying that sentence.
Having two teams from a city where “there’s always next year,” possibly reaching a championship title in the same year is by far one of the most remarkable moments to ever hit sports history. The only slight issue is if the Cavaliers NBA championship ceremony will trump being witness to what could be the beginning of the end of the Indians 68-year World Series championship drought as both will occur on the same day.
I can already imagine the beautiful chaos that will envelop the city on Oct. 25.
Cleveland is, without a doubt, against the world… and it feels great!
In other links…
•For those worried about the Cavs back-up point guard spot, the team may have found the answer… or maybe not.
•ESPN’s Zach Lowe released his annual Tiers of the NBA column and it’s not a shock which two teams start the season on top.
•LeBron James is just 31 years old, but he’s entering his 14th NBA season and has put a lot of miles on those legs. It makes one wonder how long James can keep up his high level of play and imagine what an “old” LeBron James might look like.
•NBA.com polled their “panel of experts” on all sorts of preseason predictions. While the Cavs were the unanimous selection to make it to their third straight NBA Finals, a few contrarians actually picked teams other than the Warriors to come out of the west. And while only two of the 13 who predicted a Cavs/Warriors rematch picked the Cavs to repeat as champs, the Cavs were 2-0 in predicted Finals match-ups with teams other than the Warriors.
Always good to have a Viking on board! Welcome to the show, Briana!
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Welcome, Brianna. And great work on your first submission. Your conversational style will fit perfectly here!
Jordan McRae: Say Yes to the Trade
believe the cavs will scan the waiver list for possible pt gd before pulling the trigger on a trade / (OOPS FORGOT WHO I WAS ) I LIKE MAMBA BUT IF THE RIGHT DEAL COMES ACROSS ( WITHOUT TRADING “JEDI ‘ CEDI ) GO FOR IT —-ALSO SHUMP’S NAME IS BEING BROUGHT UP IN TRADE RUMORS WITH TIMBERWOLVES —-COULD THEY POSSIBLY BE READY TO UNLOAD RUBIO —-AGREED SHOULD BE INTERESTING —–GLAD THAT LIGGINS MADE THE TEAM/ IF NOTHING ELSE HE WILL PUSH THEM IN PRACTICE
Good work Briana! It’s a bummer that Mo has decided to make things difficult. It seems there was some slight, or perceived slight, from the FO at some point and now he will leave on a sour note. I’m okay with shopping McRae provided we can actually find a PG in return who will get minutes ahead of Felder. It’s a tough outing, especially losing McRae’s ability to make his own offense off the bench. However, with the spot-up and general shooting strength we have on the bench, you’d think a PG with good handling and passing should be able… Read more »
I don’t understand this rationale. If he retires, he forfeits $2.2 million, his final season salary. It’s absolutely his right to try to get that money. It’s not his fault the Cavs’ are in the luxury tax.
It’s his right to get the salary for the year after he retires? That’s what your comment says, although I imagine it’s not quite what you mean. Of course you forfeit your salary when you retire. That’s what retirement means. Since he suddenly hasn’t retired, I’m assigning a little agency to him about that- combined with the tweet and his surgery- he seemed to be looking for a buyout. Not accepting a buyout has now lead to a situation where he wants to hold the roster spot and not retire- which as you sort of say, is his right. But… Read more »
WELCOME TO THE “CTB ” FAMILY BRIANA—— A VERY ELITE / EDUCATED / FUN GROUP—-THEY ALREADY GAVE YOU THE “SCOUTING ” REPORT ON OUR BELOVED COLS DIDN’T THEY