If you have to rank the importance of the Cleveland sports teams to fans from Northeast Ohio, it would usually start with the Browns, then with the Indians and Cavaliers alternating #2 and #3, depending on the year. (That said, the Cleveland Force indoor soccer team of the 1980s was hugely popular, regularly drawing sold out crowds).
During my high school days, the Cavs had an edge of the Indians. The Cavs, lead by Mark Price, Brad Daugherty, Larry Nance, Craig Ehlo, Hot Rod Williams, and a cast of others was a perennial playoff team. In fact, they were often 'favorites' to make it to the NBA Finals...and they would have made had it not been for one Michael Jordan. But that's for another story, one more related to the misery of Cleveland sports.
For me, the earliest ticket stub I have is from a playoff game against the Bulls in 1995. But the more memorable playoff game I have is from May 17, 1992, when the Cavs beat the Celtics in Game 7 in what turned out to be Larry Bird's last NBA game.
We were all excited and thought that maybe this would be the year we'd get past the Bulls, which was the next opponent. It was before the age of the internet, and the only way to try to be first to get tickets to a marquee game was to camp outside the Richfield Coliseum.
Two of us brought lawn chairs and joined hundreds of other like-minded fans one evening. But when it began to rain, in the still colder spring climate of northeast Ohio, we had an advantage. My buddy John drove back to Akron to pick up some rain gear and warmer clothes. It took him about an hour roundtrip, so no word was said when he jumped back right in line with me.
We got tickets to game five, which unfortunately the Cavs lost to the Bulls on May 29, 1992.
I've not been to nearly as many Cavs games as I have the Browns or Tribe, but I've been to my share. And especially living away from Ohio for so many years, the Cavs have been a constant winter-time visitor whether I was in Dallas or Denver.
So on January 17, 2014, same as last year and two years before that, I went to watch the Cavs play the Denver Nuggets at Pepsi Center. Led by Kyrie Irving Cleveland won! I should note that one advantage I've had the past four years in Denver, is that I was working for Kroenke Sports (Nuggets owners, who also owned the Colorado Rapids soccer team). This helped me get free tickets, and usually decent seats.
