What Would Be Left In Cleveland?

Never in our country’s history has one person meant so much to a major town as LeBron James does to Cleveland. It’s almost become counter-productive. Would you want to live in a city that’s totally dependent on one person, even if that person is you? And would a bunch of pleading people plus one sad-faced state of Ohio convince you to stay?

These are sensitive times in Cleveland, where the locals have accused me of hating their town just because I said New York is a better city (it is; but Cleveland gets the nod over Indianapolis) and LeBron might never be welcome again within the city limits again. It’s one thing for outsiders to bash Cleveland, but if one of their own abandons them…

I do think it’s selfish to expect someone to stay in the same region for his entire life. I believe someone can still represent you well by winning somewhere else as a product of Ohio. But I am feeling a little more empathy for Cleveland fans right now after I went to YouTube to look for the “Misery Montage” and saw this version. It’s not the snappiest or most complete (no shots of “The Drive”, most notably), but the buildup and aftermath to each moment and the haunting piano score got to me. I see what’s at stake for Cleveland fans, who couldn’t possibly be expected to cope with another devastating blow.

I know how people from Cleveland love Cleveland, just as people from Detroit love Detroit (although those two cities hate each other). Outsiders just won’t get it. So I asked my Cleveland-based Twitter followers to defend their city and fill in the blank. “If LeBron leaves Cleveland will still have ______”

Lots of people said Josh Cribbs, even more said Drew Carey (didn’t he go to L.A. to work?) and, of course, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (although one person wrote: “I hear Miami is trying to entice that to leave as well.”)

Here are the best responses.

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/17846/what-would-be-left-in-cleveland