Cleveland Fans Were Miserable, But They Had Ohio State

Cleveland won an NBA title. LeBron came back to win it. It’s a stupendous story. But, you will also hear this oversold as a great, long awaited triumph for a cursed sports disaster-ville. Don’t buy it.

The Cavaliers had never won a title with LeBron, set back in two previous Finals. A team nowhere near as good as the Bulls added to Michael Jordan’s highlight reel that one year.

We’ll concede the Cleveland Browns. Teams in the late 1960s and late 1980s were thwarted in the conference finals. The franchise has been an overflown septic tank since rejoining the living.

We’ll give you the Cleveland Indians. The loaded late 1990s teams with Albert Belle and Manny Ramirez were stopped twice in the World Series. The stadium is occasionally plagued by locusts.

Cleveland has put up with its share of great indignities. It’s a northern metropolis without an NHL franchise. It’s best known for lighting a freaking river on fire or claiming the Rock ‘N Roll Hall of Fame on a technicality.

But, embracing LeBron, born and raised 40 miles south in Akron, as a native son is embracing a broader “Cleveland.” The downtrodden narrative is ignoring the scarlet and grey fat man in the room festooned in jewelry and fake tattoos: Ohio State football.

Ohio State has had a more or less unbroken run of football success since hiring Woody Hayes in 1951. Just four coaches have been hired since. The worst was either Earle Bruce (four Big Ten titles, eight-straight Top 15 seasons) or John Cooper (three conference titles, six-straight Top 15 seasons).

The Buckeyes, albeit aided by some soft schedules, are on a 50-4 run under Urban Meyer. They won the national championship two years ago. Choking last year with their historically talented team was going 12-1 and beating Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl. This was Ohio State’s eighth 11-or-more win season in the last 10 years.

Ohio State has won 13 of the last 15 football contests against the school up north.

Many Clevelanders went to other colleges. But, they root for Ohio State. Unless they root for Michigan, which, older millennials and up will remember, has hardly been downtrodden underdog-dom.

Ohio fans have tasted greatness. They’ve drunk from the cup lately. They’ve drunk from it often. Rooting for Cleveland professional teams has been miserable, because fans knew exactly what they were missing.

from The Big Lead http://ift.tt/28JZrHq