Game 7 of the NBA Finals is the basketball equivalent to the Super Bowl. It’s one game. Winner take all. Glory or defeat.
The Cavs are in position to do something no team has accomplished in 52 years in Cleveland sports history.
But even the other chances that Cleveland sports franchises have had at breaking the curse may not have been as significant as what lies in front of the Cavaliers.
Since 1964, there have been five other chances that are even close to what the 2016 Cavs are facing.
In 1987 and 1988, the Browns had a great shot at reaching the Super Bowl, but lost in heartbreaking fashion to the Broncos. We don’t need to go on about those events, but as big as those events were, they still were only Conference Championship games, not the Super Bowl or the Finals.
In 1995, the Indians had an all-time great lineup, but fell short to the Atlanta Braves’ legendary pitching staff.
In 1997, the Tribe took it to the ninth inning of Game 7 in the World Series against the Florida Marlins and we all know how that unfolded.
In 2007, no one gave the Cavs a shot to beat the Spurs in the Finals, and they got swept. The Indians, however, had a realistic shot to win the World Series, leading the Red Sox 3-1 in the ALCS. The Tribe collapsed. The Red Sox went on to sweep the Colorado Rockies. The Tribe would have had a great chance to win it all had they just made it past Boston and not choked.
Last year, not many people gave the Cavs a chance to beat Golden State with the injuries to Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love.
Looking back at all those different chances, I would argue this game is of bigger significance than any of those other games.
There’s so much on the line, so much at stake, and there is no “next time” for either team.
But taking it one step further, this game may not just be the biggest game since 1964, but is perhaps the biggest sporting event in Cleveland’s history.
A lot has happened in the world since ’64.
There’s this thing called the internet. And millions upon millions of people around the country and all over the world have access to watch this game.
Life didn’t “stop” for people outside of Cleveland in 1948 and 1964 when the Indians and Browns won championships. Most people, even sports fans, had little or no access to watch the game.
Today, this is more than a sporting event. ESPN has round the clock coverage of every facet of the game that could be imagined and people in countries throughout the globe can tune in.
The star power of Steph Curry and LeBron James is certainly of bigger magnitude than Bob Feller vs. Warren Spahn. Maybe Jim Brown vs. Johnny Unitas was on par in terms of sports legends, but Clevelanders, be honest: Did you even know the Browns played the Colts in the 1964 NFL Championship?
If you did, then kudos to you; but I’m willing to venture many people reading this, who know all about the 52-year drought, did not even know that was the team the Browns beat.
All of these factors lead me to the conclusion that this is the biggest game in Cleveland sports history. If the Cavs win, it will be even more remarkable and will go down as the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history, and will be right on par with the 2004 Red Sox overcoming a 3-0 deficit to the Yankees in the ALCS.
It could be argued that it would be the greatest comeback in championship history of any sport, since the Red Sox comeback was in the American League Championship and not the World Series.
Hopefully we’re having that conversation on Monday, instead of adding on to the long list of Cleveland’s heartbreaking events.
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