This is not a column about the accomplishments of this team,
but it is about the effect this championship may have on the beleaguered city
of Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. I just finished watching six hours of the
victory parade witnessed by an estimated one million people and the ceremony
where the Cavs faced an adoring crowd of thousands on the Mall in downtown
Cleveland.
A Long but Wonderful Parade
The plan was for a parade from Quicken Loans Arena to the
Mall next to the Convention Center through downtown Cleveland. In regular
traffic it would take you about 5-10 minutes to drive this distance. What no
one anticipated was the huge crowd that would show up for the parade. The crowd
was so big and the traffic so tied up that the Cavs, who were bussed in from
their practice facility in the suburbs, were late for their own parade.
The parade started about 45 minutes late. But the crowd was
so large and the streets on the parade route were so clogged with people that
it took almost three hours for the parade to reach the Mall. Because the parade
was moving so slowly, there were plenty of opportunities the fans to interact
with the players in a way that showed true pride and affection.
TV coverage provided images like Cavs guard J.R. Smith—who
had a “bad boy” reputation before joining the Cavs--hoisting a young boy on
crutches onto the back of the truck he was riding and holding him up so he
could see the crowd and the crowd cheered.
There was Cavs guard Imam Shumpert lifting up his infant daughter up for
the crowd to see. A few months ago, he assisted in the birth of his daughter with
help from a 911 operator because things moved faster than expected when his
wife’s water broke.
During the parade, the rest of the Cavs exchanged high-fives
and shook hands with fans and were the subject of thousands of selfies because
the parade stopped completely at times and the crowds surged so close to the
players. There was a whole lot of love shown for all the players, especially LeBron
James, Akron’s native son who returned home to deliver a title to Northeast
Ohio.
And there was the memorable moment when Browns all-time
great Jim Brown, MVP of the 1964 team, and LeBron James together held up the NBA Championship trophy
in front of an adoring mob. The curse of 52 years was broken.
A Chance to Celebrate
Okay, so it’s only a sports title and many may not think
it’s very important and that may be true for a lot of cities. But, that’s not
true for Cleveland—a city that’s been kicked around pretty good for the last
half century. At one time, Cleveland had nearly a million people and was the
sixth largest city in the country.
But, the gradual de-industrialization and outsourcing of
Rust Belt jobs accelerated in the 70s and 80s to gut the local economy’s
manufacturing base. Plus “white flight” caused large numbers of Clevelanders to
flee to the suburbs or the Sunbelt. In the 80s, President Ronald Reagan broke
the union in the air traffic controllers strike and that began a decades long
decline in the role of labor unions. Cleveland’s blue collar work force was
decimated and the city’s population shrank by two-thirds to only a little over
300,000 now.
So, will this championship turn the city’s fortunes around
overnight? No, that won’t happen. Cleveland will still be the butt of jokes for
comics and late night TV show hosts. And income and housing prices will still
be depressed and the crime and drug problems faced by most big cities will
continue.
But, most of us in Northeast Ohio and Cleveland are feeling
a little better these days. We’ve seen that dedicated group of people can
overcome great obstacles and succeed. That’s a message for all of us.
At the victory rally at the end of the parade, Cleveland Mayor
Frank Jackson said:” Success will come when it is time.” It may not be time for
Cleveland and Northeast Ohio yet, but the success of the Cavs and the good feelings
the whole region feels now should make the wait a little less painful.
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