2016 Sports Story that Mattered to Me: We Are The Champions

My name is Kellie and the 2016 sports story that mattered to me is the Cleveland Cavaliers winning the championship.  It’s hard being a Connecticut girl from a Philly family that was transplanted in Cleveland.  Growing up, I loved watching the legends of the basketball court, but I never really claimed a team as mine.  If asked I’d say, I guess the Celtics, but I never really felt a connection.

Enter my life living in Cleveland, the locals are all excited about some high school boy in Akron that played like a pro by the name of LeBron James.  My thoughts?  Yeah, whatever, it’s HIGH SCHOOL.  Then I started seeing the local news were LeBron mania first started, seeing his highlights on the high school court.  Jaded, young Connecticut girl was impressed.

Then LeBron was drafted by the hometown team, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the rest is history.  I was dragged kicking and screaming into fandom for a Cleveland team joining the legions of miserable as we suffered through year after year of coming close and not getting it, I lived through “The Decision,” and then finally “The Return,” and all the drama in between.  For better or for worse, the Cavs were mine.

Enough ancient history, though, we’re talking about 2016 memories. Fast forward to the night of June 19th.  The Cavaliers were taking on the Golden State Warriors after doing the impossible and coming back from a 3-1 deficit to tie the series and force a game 7 at Oracle Arena.  Of course, I went #AllIn2016, decked in my Eastern Conference Finals shirt, Cavs inspired eyeshadow and killer boots.

We hit the city full of excitement.  The destination, one of my favorite bars in Lakewood, Ohio right on the border of Cleveland.  As the night wore on, the tension and suspense mounted higher than I’ve ever seen in a bar on a Sunday night.  By the last two minutes of the game, the packed place was standing hand in hand, arm in arm, clinging and just watching in absolute silence.

The final few seconds after the block by LeBron, the shot by Kyrie, the choke by Golden State.  It was over, the Cavaliers were the National Champions.  The place erupted.  My heart was so full of adrenaline, I thought it might explode.  Everywhere you looked, people hugging, tears streaming, laughing, and singing.  While the hugging was still going on, I think I must have jumped up into a hundred different arms that night, the DJ began to play Queen’s We Are the Champions.  Everyone was singing while still hugging and with the tears still falling, everywhere you looked smiles of pure elation and people holding their hearts.

The curse was broken, the city of Cleveland had a professional championship.  The pain of LeBron leaving us was finally healed.  The celebration went on well into the night.  Every time we stepped outside of the bar, every car driving down the road was honking and cheering as we cheered back.  After last call, we headed to our favorite local 24-hour restaurant where the party was still going, I was still hugging every stranger I saw.  Never in my life have I witnessed so much pride and happiness.  Take into account the misery that once was the city of Cleveland and it truly was a miraCLE.

The aftermath was just as exciting, a few days later it was an early morning adventure to get downtown for the parade with all the roads closed.  This included a very interesting bus ride where I made a friend, an early morning Mimosa at Cleveland’s West Side Market, a memorable walk across the Hope Memorial Bridge between the Guardians of Transportation, and rain of confetti.  And of course, there was the parade itself where I was up close to all the guys that made this happen for the city.  Downtown was packed, people everywhere without a care in the world.

This memory is not only my best sports moment in 2016 but also my lifetime.  I’ve seen my teams win huge victories, but never before have I been in the heart of the city at the time and been able to celebrate with the masses.  I will never forget these moments as long as I live.

All photos are my own taken from my cell phone so please forgive the quality, I wanted to share the moment with mine in lieu of professional photos.

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