I’ve Been Waiting My Whole Life for the Cleveland Cavaliers to Win the Big One

Being both a journalist and lifelong fan of the team you cover is a unique balancing act that carries its share of challenges.

I’m rooting like hell for the Cleveland Cavaliers to win their first-ever NBA championship.

If this statement makes you question my credibility on the topic, go ahead. I’ve been with Bleacher Report covering the Cavaliers for six years. I’ve been a fan of the team for well over 20. You may call it unprofessional. I call it loyalty.

Because this isn’t about me. It’s about us.

Growing up in Northeast Ohio watching the Cavs, Indians and Browns hasn’t been easy. The highlight of these past few decades has been witnessing teams simply reach a World Series or NBA Finals, only to fall short due to injury, a blown save or an overall lack of talent.

After so many miserable endings here in Cleveland over the past 52 years, we’ve begun to grow numb to the pain. Losing has pierced its way into our blood, no matter how much we’ve fought it.

Somehow, this year feels different.

For as much as other cities may complain about their own title droughts, no one can hold a candle to Cleveland. I know, I know. You hear this all the time these days, but it’s true.

Over the last 52 years, an almost unimaginable 146 seasons have passed without a professional sports championship in Cleveland, according to ESPN Stats & Info. The city with the second-longest drought is San Diego, which is still 37 seasons behind.

The Indians last won a World Series in 1948, the Browns won the NFL Championship in 1964 but have never even appeared in a Super Bowl and the Cavaliers are without an NBA title in their first 45 years. I’m not going to list all of the individual heartbreaks along the way. 

You’re probably all too familiar with them already.

This Cavs team has a chance to do what no other team in franchise history has accomplished before. It can’t erase the past half-century of ineptitude, failures and misfortune, but it can darn sure make us forget about it for a while.

Northeast …

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