Hts121

When did we (and the national media reporting on us) become so obsessed with the myth that there is some silver bullet out there which will all of sudden reverse global trends affecting our City. We can't seem to celebrate the signs of improvement, as many incremental signs as there may be, both large and small, because none of them are 'THE fix'. There is no fix. Don't let that simple truth get in the way of celebrating each inch we progress.

Finally some sanity: "LeBron is very big business, and basketball is very big business," said Rosenheck. "But Cleveland is also a pretty big town. ... The city's economy is as big as the country of Hungary, so trying to find the impact of one player in that is a needle in a haystack." Direct impact, perhaps. But the collateral benefits are a different story, albeit probably very hard to precisely measure. The direct economic impact creates a ripple effect, for downtown particularly. That impact on downtown benefits the entire region.

I had season tickets from 2009-2011. For LeBron's last two years, the guy who owned the seats next to mine was from Buffalo. He sold his seats when he couldn't make it. I regularly had people sitting next to me from Erie, Rochester, Columbus, WVa, etc. Not all of them were Cavs fans. Some of them were simply drawn to the great matchups, such as Kobe vs. LeBron. But the geographic swath of the fanbase was undeniably larger with him here. No doubt about that.

Eggsactly. We still had decent turnout, but it wasn't anywhere close to 17,000. The upper bowl was half filled, at best, for most games.

For as much hype as Wiggims is getting in Vegas, Bennett is having the better summer league. But the best player on our squad hands down has been Delly. Grant Hill was on the broadcast for tonight's game, his first ever stab at that role by chance, and he was raving about Delly's play

I would be ready to jump if all we had to give up is Wiggins. But even if that was all Minny was demanding, we'd still need to match salaries to do a sign and trade. We are going to lose more talent than I would prefer. The question is whether all that talent and potential is on par with the best PF in the league who is only 25. As to the question of whether Love could share the ball with Kyrie and LeBron, that is the least of my concerns. Love is probably the best passing big in the league, especially outlet passes off rebounds. I'm concerned more about his defense and durability. Also, I'm actually not All that crazy about positioning ourselves as the favorites to win it all in year 1 of the return. The hype and glare will be big enough as is

It really was about home. Genuinely. The brand repair was a monumental bonus, but just a bonus. The young talent on the roster (something he never had before on any team), the 'diminishing skills' on Miamis roster, and an avalanche of other factors making a return justifiable from a basketball perspective allowed it to happen THIS year. But it was always about coming home. He had decided that shortly after he left.

No comments on Swagger? I'm surprised.

I had the pleasure of watching ESPN as the news broke. At the desk, in addition to whomever the host was and Marc Stein, were Brian Windhorst and Chris Broussard, two local guys who are NBA reporters for ESPN. To be clear, Broussard is half the reporter/analyst that Windhorst is, but their instant reactions were telling about them as 'Clevelanders'/'Ohioans'. Broussard was borderline giddy. He had to turn away from the camera because he was smiling. Windy looked white as a ghost, like someone ran over his puppy. Later on in the show, Windy said (kind of awkwardly) that he had been summoned to a meeting with his boss at ESPN. I wasn't sure he was going to return to the air, especially since SI scooped him and the rest of ESPN on this story. He did come back on the air later, but I think his future with ESPN is up in the air. He is a print journalist and, given that this episode showed how detached he has become to LeBron's inner-circle, I think he will be headed back to that role..... which he is best at anyway.

St. Greg's carnival was always a punch-fest, and that was when it was frequented mostly by kids from the same general neighborhood. Now, in the social media age, we have teens flooding in from all over the metro to these types of events. I am mostly clueless as to what can be done to prevent it. But I think a good start would be a general admission price, not simply having to pay for the tickets to get on the rides. With as many bad experiences (i.e. fights, fights, and more fights) as I had as a kid, I haven't been to a catholic school carnival in a long, long time, so I don't know if they do now charge for general admission. And I suppose there is a logistical problem since there is no way to close the perimeter. Maybe wristbands could be used?

I don't care for the premise. You can ALWAYS come home. At least that is the way it should be in my mind. Just like the RNC wasn't going to pick Cleveland, right? Exactly! Keep predicting the other way, you're on fire I think the issue was that MTS never took the time to put on his "professional hat" ;) with this one. On a personal level, this was about coming home. But on a business level, this was about brand repair more than anything else. It offers a nice opportunity for success on the basketball court. No doubt about that. An undeniably talented young team loaded with assets, including an owner willing to spend, to wheel and deal for more established talent. Yet it offers no guarantees of competing for a championship. Four years ago, LeBron thought his brand would be maximized by trying to eclipse Jordan and Kobe in the number of rings. Miami offered a great opportunity for that. But, on the balance, his brand took a hit. It was in the tank in 2010 and then slowly rose over the next 3 years. But it never fully regained the same level of marketability. He never completely shook the role of villain, as much in the eyes of outsiders as in the opinion of Cleveland fans. Live on the air yesterday, after the letter was released, Broussard read a text he received from who he called a high powered league Executive (i.e. G.M.) -- "Wow, I like him again." He's back to being the good guy. He desperately wants that role. The Golden Boy who first stormed onto the basketball scene through none other than a Sports Illustrated exclusive (coincidence?). The NBA will push this story with all of its might. The league is loving the brands that guys like LeBron and Durant, whose MVP speech was epic, are creating as the faces of the league.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=c4qBuEYciYc

Barkley was interviewed yesterday on the topic - http://www.snappytv.com/landing/nbatv?s=259170 - For those who don't know, Barkley for years has been the most outspoken proponent of LBJ returning home. I think what I might love most about this whole story is the affect it will inevitably have on our younger, mostly defeated sports fans. I was listening to some national sport talk radio show (can't remember which one) last week and they were discussing LeBron's free agency. They were going through the usual should he stay in Miami? How about New York? Could he fit with the Rockets? Blah blah blah. Then there was a call from Cleveland. The host introduced the caller with that customary twinge to his voice when he said 'Cleveland'..... "and now we go to Cleveland"..... It was a kid, probably about 13-14 I'd guess and before he could get out five words, the host interrupted him and said "Now, you know LeBron's not going to Cleveland, right?" I wanted to jump through the radio and choke the guy, because anyone with the least bit of common sense should've known that, just like LeBron said in his letter, the only way he was going to leave Miami was to come home. I never had any doubt in that. But the kid was completely defeated. You could hear it in his voice when he says, "yeah... yeah, I know." That kid woke up feeling different today. I'm most happy for him and all others like him.

Now remember folks. We don't want the Heat to be THAT bad next year. There is still a tab to be cleared for 2010, specifically their first round pick, which is top 10 protected. A 35 win season sounds about right :)

Urban Meyer ✔ @OSUCoachMeyer @KingJames Welcome home my friend. See you this fall!!! 2:35 PM - 11 Jul 2014 1,956 Retweets 1,572 favorites

Now we move on to the wait for Kevin Love. I was somewhat concerned LeBron was going to hold off his announcement to pressure the Cavs to pull the trigger on a deal for Love. It is no secret that the sticking point is Andrew Wiggins. Minny wants him in the deal. Cavs don't want to include him. By LeBron committing, Minny just lost a TON of leverage. Props to Griffin for being patient. Now the ball is in Minny's court. The longer they wait, the more the offers for Love will start to decrease. Now, if Love pulls a Melo and basically says he will only sign long-term in Cleveland (crazy, right?), he really forces Minny's hand to pull the trigger and get what they can. Supposedly, the offer on the table right now is AB, Dion, and a future 1st. I don't think they are going to do much better than that, and if they don't act quickly and AB starts ripping up the summer league, even that offer might be pulled off the table.

There is a huge ripple effect. We're talking AT LEAST 5,000 more fans at each game. That's a minimum of 200,000 more visitors to downtown during some of the hardest months for those downtown businesses. Also, the fans will come from all over. This considerably (re)expands the fan base. People will be coming in from WVa, Erie, C-Bus, etc. who would not make the trip absent the opportunity to see LBJ play.

That letter needs to the be the first post in an "I LOVE NORTHEAST OHIO" thread

Goldhammer actually had to take a few deep breaths while reading the letter. He was all choked up.

The reason for the delay - he was waiting for my birthday ;) MTS - look out your office window in about a 1/2 hour. I've hired one of those propeller planes with the I TOLD YOU SO banners dragging in the back :P

Genuine apologies need to be made face-to-face AND in private, not in front of the cameras.

Calm down, fellas. CONSIDER THE SOURCE. Broussard was the one who "broke" the story about the letter being a potential hang-up and it has spiraled from there. His ORIGINAL article said the source was an 'unnamed league executive"...... it has since been revised to simply say it was a 'source.' The source indicates that LBJ to Cleveland would've been done awhile ago if not for the letter. Now read the tea leaves. Who do you suspect the source was? Haven't I always said that desperation is a stinky cologne?

Not nearly as embarrassed as I STILL am at this......

^There are no other 'max' players left (other than Melo and Bosh, who would only consider us if it were to team with LBJ). The cap clearing was done with one very specific intent, no matter what the Cavs say