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Cavaliers fans ready to vent as LeBron James returns
12/01/10
By
Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY
CLEVELAND — Northeast Ohio had faith in LeBron James. Fans here believed in him as a once-in-a-lifetime talent, and in his promise to bring an NBA championship to Cleveland.
"We're sitting on five decades of frustration. We haven't won a championship since 1964," Cleveland sports fan and
Canton, Ohio, resident Eric Knappenberger says, referring to the Jim Brown-led
Browns team that won the NFL title.
"Out of the streets of
Akron comes this kid on his white horse to play for his hometown team, to lead us out of the darkness. 'Hey, Cleveland, here's your movie script. Just follow along and enjoy because it's got a happy ending.' … No, it doesn't."
The story was indeed too good to be true. The kid from Akron not only couldn't lead the Cavaliers to an NBA title during his seven seasons, he bolted for the
Miami Heat as a free agent over the summer — in a way that was gut-wrenching for many: by orchestrating a one-hour
ESPN show,
The Decision, that ended with James announcing he would join stars
Dwyane Wade and
Chris Bosh.
Thursday night, all the anger, frustration, disappointment and bitterness that Cleveland felt after James' announcement will take center stage at
Quicken Loans Arena, where 20,000-plus fans will let it all out when James faces the Cavaliers for the first time in Cleveland in another uniform (TNT, 8 p.m. ET.)
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There will be no doubt about
their decision.
"Cleveland hates LeBron," fan Derek DeCluett said outside the arena before a recent game.
The tension and anticipation for the game is palpable. The Barley House planned a James roast for Wednesday — a pig roast and a comedic roast — with drink specials for customers who turned in their James jerseys. Harry Buffalo, a bar and restaurant a block from the arena, will show James lowlights before and after Thursday's game.
There is concern, too, with some wondering if the scene inside or outside the arena will turn ugly.
For some, images of fans burning James' jersey and
Cavs owner
Dan Gilbert contacting news media with an angry, passionate screed after the two-time reigning MVP made his announcement are still fresh.
"People are so afraid that this event and the way spectators react will lead to more demonization of the city," says Kirsten Brownrigg, 27, who is making a documentary on James' decision to leave Cleveland and its impact on the city.
James, who already has felt some wrath from disappointed Heat fans as the team has struggled to gel, says he expects the reception to be "hostile" and "intense."
"I'm ready for whatever response I'm going to get," James said Tuesday. "It's going to be very emotional. I give a lot of thanks to that city, to those fans for giving me the opportunity to not only showcase my talent, but to grow from a young boy to a man during my seven years. So it's going to be very emotionally draining. I can tell already."
Although no one is quite sure what to expect, the Cavs, who consulted and informed the Heat and NBA about their security plan, say their safety protocol already exceeds league requirements. But there will be an increased presence, including more uniformed and plain-clothed officers inside and outside the arena. During Tuesday's Cavaliers game, four uniformed officers were stationed close to the visiting
Boston Celtics' bench. Expect more Thursday.
• The Cavaliers already require fans to go through metal detectors.
• Beverages sold will be poured into plastic cups to prevent bottles being thrown.
• Vulgar and obscene shirts and posters will not be allowed.
"We don't want people to feel like they're in a police state," Cavaliers senior vice president of communications Tad Carper says of today's precautions for the sellout. "We're going to take the proper steps that need to be taken, but we want fans to come down and have a good time."
Brownrigg, who planned to spend Wednesday and today filming at various anti-James rallies, expects an emotional response from fans.
"When it comes down to it, if people didn't react to him, it would show they didn't care," she says. "It really is a testament to how much he meant to the city, how important he was and how much of an influence he was. … If they hadn't loved him so much, they wouldn't hate him so much."
Third-year Cleveland forward J.J. Hickson says, "I'd be lying if I said it's a normal game."
Doubly delicious for Cavs fans is the schadenfreude in the Heat's unexpectedly underwhelming start (10-8 before Wednesday's game against the
Detroit Pistons) that has created turmoil, not triumphs, in South Beach.
"A lot of people are reveling in that right now," Brownrigg says. "A lot of Clevelanders are absolutely excited and shocked to think there's a good chance the Cavs can actually beat them."
James' statistics are solid — 23.7 points, 7.7 assists and 5.7 rebounds a game — but the Heat's celebrated roster has struggled to mesh, and James and coach Erik Spoelstra have characterized the situation between players and coaching staff as "healthy conflict."
'We've been kicked in the teeth so many times'
Knappenberger, who under the name CavsWitness on
Twitter writes the "uncertain story of Cleveland sports one Tweet at a time," compares James' return to seeing an ex for the first time after a breakup.
"You're not quite sure what emotions are going to be there," he says. "You're not sure how you're going to react. Whatever it's going to be, it's going to be passionate."
Estimates revealed James potentially meant as much as $200 million to Cleveland's economy. But the Cavs are averaging 20,562 fans (100% capacity) in nine home games this season, a sign that fans want to watch new coach
Byron Scott's team.
Business leaders say James is not the be all and end all with the region's economy. In an economy of $175 billion, according to Greater Cleveland Partnership, the region's chamber of commerce, "I'm not sure if he's even a blip," GCP president and CEO Joe Roman says.
Acclaimed celebrity chef and Food Network star Michael Symon, owner of Lola, a restaurant two blocks from the arena, has noticed little difference in business.
"In the LeBron era on a Cavs game on a Monday night, would our Monday night be busier than it is now? Probably, but not by much," Symon says.
Symon is a lifelong, die-hard Cleveland sports fan. He says he understands what fans are going through.
"We were close to winning a championship, and losing (James) took that away from us," he says. "Clevelanders as a whole are always a half-empty bunch. We've been kicked in the teeth so many times, but I think most Clevelanders thought he would stay. They were looking at the glass as half full, because of things he said in the past."
The utterances from James gave fans hope.
"I got a goal, and it's a huge goal, and that's to bring an NBA championship here to Cleveland, and I won't stop until I get it," James said in April before the 2010 playoffs.
In 2006, he told
ESPN the Magazine, "I don't want to go ring-chasing. I want to stay with the Cavs and build a champion."
Symon says any time he asked James for a signed jersey or basketball, it was on his desk that day. Any time James was in one of his restaurants, he always treated the staff well and was a class act.
"I'm sure Clevelanders aren't going to be happy with me saying it, but LeBron James at his core, I feel, is a very good guy," Symon says.
'I never thought he was going to leave'
On a cold, wet, gray November day in Cleveland DeCluett shakes his head about the turn of events.
"What bothers me the most is how much (James) promised this city a championship, a ring," DeCluett says. "He got us to the playoffs. He got us to the (NBA) Finals. He gave us that hope. C'mon man, it's Cleveland. We need it here."
Like some other Rust Belt areas, northeast Ohio has been hit hard by economic woes. The region's unemployment rate was 10.6% in the second quarter of 2009, above the national average of 9.9%. The latest numbers show northeast Ohio's rate inching closer to the national average of 9.6%.
Sports has a way of lifting spirits in tough times. Not so in Cleveland, although there have been close calls. The James-led Cavs reached the NBA Finals in 2007, but got swept by the
San Antonio Spurs.
The infamous shortcomings of Cleveland's professional sports teams have been immortalized in two-word titles: "The Drive," "The Shot," "The Fumble." Even James' disappointing performance in last season's playoffs against the Boston Celtics — when the Cavaliers lost in six games, dropping the final three contests after going up 2-1 — became known as "The Collapse."
James' seemingly apathetic 15-point performance on 3-of-14 shooting in Boston's Game 5 victory turned out to be his final game at Quicken Loans Arena.
Paul Biber has had season tickets for nearly 30 years when he said they were $5 a game; the average Cavaliers ticket now costs $52, according to
Team Marketing Report. He says James winning a title with the Cavaliers was inevitable.
"I never thought he was going to leave," says Biber, 62, a Cleveland resident. "There's no logical reason he left.
Michael Jordan said it best. When he lost to the Boston Celtics, he didn't call up
Larry Bird and say, 'I want to be on your team.' "
Mike DiGiacomo, wearing a Cavs pullover and hat while picking at his salmon and sipping his beer, watched a Cavaliers-Sixers game at Harry Buffalo. A management consultant, DiGiacomo says he moved to Cleveland from Columbus in April so he could be an up-close witness to a title.
"I had higher expectations of his tenure," DiGiacomo says of James. "I felt his talent was much better. The only time I saw him exceed my expectations was in the Detroit series three years ago (in the Eastern Conference finals). He took it to another level. I expected that and then I saw a letdown."
Owner's commitment uplifting
This has been difficult for Clevelanders because their faith in James ran so deep.
"When you get down to the heart of it, it's that we were witnesses to a smoke and mirror show for seven years," Knappenberger says. "To find out at the end what we thought to be true was in fact kind of a fabrication left us with a feeling that, 'Hey, we just got played for seven years.' "
Knappenberger doesn't know what to expect today. His constant surveillance of Twitter and the Cleveland blogosphere has hinted at what might take place. Booing, silence, laughter, walking out and turning their backs are some of the ideas he has heard from fans.
Knappenberger prefers silence: "Silence is deafening. It would be epic, but it would be difficult to do."
The blue-collar ethos that defines the region is what sustained pro sports in Cleveland before James — and will do so again, he says.
Fans are drawn to the offense based on sharing the basketball and are encouraged by Scott's presence. He has led two different teams to the playoffs, including two appearances in the NBA Finals with the
New Jersey Nets. The Cavs (7-10) obviously are a different team this year and not a championship contender, but they are not as bad as some fans feared. They possibly can compete for a playoff spot.
And that's good for business.
Roman is bullish on northeast Ohio's future economy. Gilbert controls the soon-to-be-built $600 million casino in downtown, which will feature shops and restaurants. A convention center targeted to medical and healthcare industries is scheduled to open in 2013.
Roman says there are about $6 billion worth of investments in northeast Ohio between 2009 and 2012.
"We certainly have our challenges," Roman says. "But it's a very robust development arena in our community right now. … The real issue is Cleveland's economy is moving forward in a number of exciting ways, and LeBron has little to do with it."
Gilbert's commitment to Cleveland and the Cavaliers is one reason there is not doom and gloom within the organization. The Heat game will be the team's 92nd consecutive sellout, but season-ticket holders were required to renew before James' decision. The test will come next season.
Biber plans to renew. "I'm not jumping ship," he says. "The Cavs didn't do anything wrong. As a consumer, you shouldn't punish that."
Knappenberger does not expect today's game to bring closure to what has been a difficult five months for fans. "Things won't start to change here until the Cavaliers go out and land a legitimate star player who's going to become the central point of this team going forward," he says. "Then, things will start to settle down. It's going to take a long time."