I’m not a big sports fan, in fact I prefer baseball when I do watch sports. But, I am a lifelong Akron resident and so I felt like I should say some things about LeBron James leaving for Miami. As someone born and raise in Northeast Ohio I should be used to disappointment. Honestly, we have a long history with scientists, entertainers, athletes, and musicians.
Typically, these people grow and learn here in the safety of relative anonymity. When they are successful, they become the big fish in the pond. We love these people because they show us the good things that grow out of Akron. The Black Keys, John Lithgow, Crissy Hinde, Devo, Angie Everhart, Dr. J., Therman Munson, Judith Resnik, even Hugh Downs all came from the Akron area. Just like tires – we export our talent. For some reason when our talented residents get to this level they end up leaving. Not all are as dramatic and unexpected as Judith Resnik’s death on the Challenger, but we all talk about them with just as much emotion. In most cases it’s a move to further a growing ability and career. Why should we be surprised LeBron left?
We’re surprised because we thought ’King James’ understood the mentality of our cities. We thought he, too, had experienced the heartbreak of never-ending losing seasons of sports, musicians moving away, and bad reputations that are 30 years old. We thought he not only understood but sympathized with our undeserved, underrated national identity. We thought LeBron would help us change those stereotypes and end the ‘losing streak.’ We were suckered into a man who talks about himself in the third person and calls himself ‘King.’
We fell head over heels for someone who ultimately used us like so many other up-and-comers. He said he wanted a championship and we listened. We revered him and used his image as a replacement for our own. We lapped up every second of community time he gave us. When someone asked where we were from, we’d say, “The same place as LeBron James.” I’m not saying this was bad. In fact, it could have turned out very well for both parties, but it didn’t.
In the end, he’s left his home town crushed. He’s left his entire state crushed. Worse, he crushed the legacy he had built here by how he did it. He didn’t make a quiet press conference like in the past. He went out of state and made a huge media spectacle of himself. He turned his back on the personal touch and went for huge media, huge advertising money,1 and telling us he didn’t care if we stayed fans.
I would like to say we will remember his ties to the community fondly because he has done so much for youth, charities, and the profile of Northeast Ohio. I’d like to say his last games in Cleveland were amazing. None of that is true. LeBron James will ultimately be the third in the holy trinity of sports screw-overs in Cleveland. Rocky Colavito, Art Modell, and LeBron James.
I can say I won’t mind not running into him at Best Buy and watching all the ‘peasants’ fawn over the ‘King.’ He says his family will still be here in the off season, but I doubt he will be as admired after last night. As for the Cavs, I can’t speculate where they are going. I will say I have always liked Dan Gilbert. I think that his belief in Cleveland is steady, and the loss of LeBron is just a speed bump on his road. Dan Gilbert – much like Cleveland itself – is determined, able, and underrated. I think that maybe we’ve been thanking the wrong person for the last seven years.
- Which he did donate to Boys’ and Girls’ Blubs [↩]
