I’ll never forget thinking the entire first 3 quarters: “just hang in there ... keep it close ... stay in striking distance”
And then we had a spurt and Kyrie went off ... and suddenly it was “holy crap we can do this!”
And then the final 4 minutes were like two heavyweights who were just EXHAUSTED
And then the block.
And then Kyrie’s shot.
Wow
"First down inside the 10. A score here will put us in the Super Bowl. Cooper is far to the left as Njoku settles into the slot. Moore is flanked out wide to the right. Chubb and Ford are split in the backfield as Watson takes the snap ... Here we go."
I'll never forget how this played out in my family. I owned a restaurant, and Father's Day was always the 3rd busiest day of the year. Two of my sons worked with me, so they would be closing and watching the game on delay.
After the victory, the cheering, the tears of joy, my wife and I and third son walked over to the boy's house. We snooped outside the window like cat-burglars, trying to catch a glimpse of the TV and listen to see where they were in the broadcast.
Couldn't really see the TV, finally had an audible clue that they had just started the 4th Quarter. C'mon guys, what the heck? Went home for a while, got some champagne and cigars, returned... The Block! We're close now... Nope. They paused the game, I heard one son say "Dude, I can't take this, my heart's gonna explode". After a break that seemed to last forever, they resumed.
"Kyrie! $#%@ Kyrie!" My son was screaming after "The Shot".
They pause again. I hear my son... "I don't know if I can watch, I need to go outside and get some air".
We scurry to the back porch as they come out the front. Waiting and waiting, I hear one son say "I feel like Dad would have come over by now if we won - I'm scared". I'm on the back porch trying not to LOL.
They go back and resume, we time it perfectly and walk through the door as the clock expires. They're screaming their heads off as they hear the cork pop.
My son runs over with tears running down his face and bear-hug-mugs me.
Where were you on this night in Cleveland sports history? I was down inside the Q that night. I lucked out and got one of the tickets for the raffle to watch inside.
I remember driving downtown on a Sunday night, typically a slow night on the highways and in downtown Cleveland, yet as I passed over the inner-belt bridge...there was an electric energy. Cars from all directions snaked down the off ramps onto E 9th and the surrounding streets. I got off at E 9th, saw the Jake, and the entireity of the area was full of people. I had my windows down and the sunroof open, and you could just feel there was an anxious sense of hope that everyone felt. Jovial comments from restaurants, people selling shirts on the corners, and charts of "ALL IN!" no matter where you were.
At half I knew we would be in it till the end. This team had too much fight left in them for them to roll over and die. But those last 4 minutes of the game? I've never felt anything quite like it with 18,000+ people all around me in the Q.
The explosion of the cheer at the block, the eruption from Kyrie's dagger, and the two misses at the end to seal the deal sent shockwaves through my emotional core. Random people were hugging each other, this woman next to me wanted to kiss me, and the entire throng of the Q belted out Cleveland Rocks as it blared over the PA system.
I remember walking to my car from the Q and I saw parties in all the streets. There were people dancing on top of emergency vehicles. Luckily my route took me away from the crowded downtown streets.
I did attend the parade a few days later and capped that day off with another Indians game.
I’ll never forget thinking the entire first 3 quarters: “just hang in there ... keep it close ... stay in striking distance”
And then we had a spurt and Kyrie went off ... and suddenly it was “holy crap we can do this!”
And then the final 4 minutes were like two heavyweights who were just EXHAUSTED
And then the block.
And then Kyrie’s shot.
Wow
If my recollection is correct, there were two points in the 2nd half where it looked like the Warriors might run away with it. I think JR went on a little mini run early in the third to stop the first one. Then later the same thing and Lebron comes down and sinks a three. Then comes down again next possession, gets fouled on a 3 and sinks all three free throws. Run over.
I'll never understand the LeBron isn't clutch narrative.
i was watching the game at home ..... and as the end of the game approached, the only thing I could do to not watch (and jinx it) was to read my Bible.
It workwd!
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
I paused the game with 5 minutes to go, turned off my phone, and walked outside with my tablet. Set my tablet face down on my patio table and sat there in silence for about 15 minutes. At 15 minutes, I opened my tablet, launched my browser to ESPN and waited for the page to load like a kid watching a horror movie covering his eyes and looking through the cracks in his fingers. I saw a flash of a headline that read "Cleveland, this is for you!" I ran inside, finished the game, and cried.
I couldn't go through another heartbreak ending in real time. My guts were turned inside out.
There was a play in that game where Lebron and Curry collided. Lebron yanked Curry up off the floor and smacked him in the arse harder than the good sportsmanship tap he was trying to feign. Then he gave him that "I own you" look. You could almost feel that we were going to take it from that point forward. But the experience of being a lifelong Cleveland fan wouldn't let me be certain.
And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul. - John Muir
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