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Dear Lebron James,
Please don’t leave Cleveland. Don’t even consider it. You bring hope to a city plagued by years of sports inadequacy.
Boston fans think they have it rough? At least they can claim the New England Patriots. And the Bird-era Celtics was a team to be proud of. The Red Sox were always contenders, and they finally won a World Series after 86 years.
But what does Cleveland have? The woeful Indians haven’t won a Series since 1948. Sure, they had a great team in the mid-90s, but they never had the pitching staff to win a championship. Every Tribe fan knows about the late-inning pitching meltdown in game seven of the 1997 Fall Classic. The Indians let the World Series title slip from their grasp and left Cleveland fans disappointed again.
Now the team is in a rebuilding phase and about to break through, but a 13-18 start has left people wondering when the Indians will be as good as everyone predicted.
It gets even worse with the Cleveland Browns. For heaven’s sake, the city had its beloved Dawgs relocated to Baltimore by public enemy number one, Art Modell. The Ravens went on to win a Super Bowl in 2001. The new Browns drafted Tim Couch. Hindsight is twenty-twenty, but since the Browns have returned to Cleveland, the team’s first round picks have amounted to nothing.
The latest setback to the team was Kellen “I’m a mutha f@#$*^% soldier” Winslow II. A knee injury, on a kickoff nonetheless, in the second game sidelined the much-hyped tight end. Now, Winslow may not be able to play this season after flying off his motorcycle...in a parking lot. Can it get much worse?
But you, Lebron have a chance to be something special. Not since Jim Brown has Cleveland seen an athlete that truly stands above the rest. Lebron, you have the chance to bring a championship to a city that has forgotten what one looks like.
You were the MVP in the eyes of every fan in Cleveland. Without you, the team would be floundering like it has since the fine team from the early 90s. The team has been without a bonafide star since it came into the league, but you are it.
You have a chance to take over the legacy of Michael Jordan. Hell, at 20 you even put up numbers that Jordan only did once in his career. You have the opportunity to avenge Craig Ehlo and make some other guard look foolish with a game winning shot that elevates the Cavs to the Finals and mires an opponent for years.
The team will get better. You will get your Pippen this off season. Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Drew Gooden play the roles of Horace Grant and Bill Cartwright fairly well, but when you get double-teamed, you need to be able to dish it to a reliable scorer. When teams rebuild in the NBA, it takes time, unless you bring in Shaq. The Cavs need some depth and a shooter. The Cavs have the money and are focused on getting that piece of the puzzle.
Being from Ohio, you know that there is a possibility it can all fall apart. You have seen it too many times before. But now, the power is in your hands. You can bring Cleveland that elusive championship, but give it time. Jordan waited years for one in Chicago. Yours will come, but please make it in Cleveland.
You have “Chosen 1” tattooed across your back. It doesn’t mean that you are Jordan’s heir apparent. It means you are Cleveland’s messiah, ready to lead the city’s professional sports out of the darkness and into the Promised Land. And we are ready to follow, only if you will stay.
Sincerely,
Anyone who has ever been a fan of Cleveland sports
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