The Chicago Cubs may be coming up on a century without a World Series victory, the Boston Red Sox may have the “Curse of the Bambino,” but no other city is as cursed, when it comes to its sports teams, as the city of Cleveland.
This past Sunday was just another example of the terrible luck that Cleveland teams have had during the last 38 years, during which no major Cleveland sports team has won a championship.
The one Cleveland team to win a championship in recent years, the indoor soccer team the Cleveland Crunch, did not even lead the sports section, let alone the news when they won their titles.
Cleveland fans know all about losing games by bonehead plays like Dwayne Rudd’s helmet toss this week, blown calls and players’ blunders during crunch time.
Back in the mid 1980s, Cleveland fans missed out on seeing the Browns go to the Super Bowl two consecutive years because of “The Drive” and “The Fumble.” What makes “The Drive” even more of a bad memory for Cleveland fans is that the Broncos game-winning overtime field goal was clearly wide left, even without viewing the footage in slow motion.
Two years later, the Browns were eliminated from the playoffs after a very questionable replay call took a Browns touchdown off the board in the closing minute, causing them to lose to Houston by one point.
The Browns are not the only Cleveland team to have their season end in a heart-breaking way. The Cavaliers were eliminated by “The Shot,” Michael Jordan’s buzzer-beating jumpshot in the deciding game of their playoff series, and the Indians came within two outs of a World Series victory, but could not seal the deal in 1997.
There may be teams that have had worse luck than Cleveland teams, but no city has endured more heartache than Cleveland in recent years. Chicago has the Cubs, but they were able to enjoy six Bulls’ championships in eight years in the 1990s. Boston has the Red Sox, but the Celtics won 16 NBA titles from the 1960s to the 1980s.
Cleveland fans, however, are still trying to find the light at the end of the tunnel. They have been so close yet so far on a number of occasions. Cleveland fans have been saying “wait until next year” for almost four decades. That “next year” never came for the Indians, who are now looking at another climb up the hill before they can compete for that championship. The Cavaliers have been struggling to rebuild since the early 1990s. Cleveland’s hope for a championship right now lies with the Browns, who are expected to be a playoff team this year. However, their season has started off with some typical Cleveland bad luck.
So for now the wait continues. The fans in Cleveland continue to wait for the day when they get to throw a championship parade instead of watching other cities throw them. They continue to wait for “next year” to arrive.
