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I'll be there. If you live in the greater Los Angeles region, you should be there. Come see our Tribe vie for nine in a row.

I'm heading out immediately after class so I can sit in classic LA rush hour traffic and arrive in the third inning, like a true LA area sports fan.

If anyone is interested in meeting up at the game, shoot me an email, which you can do through my SBN profile. Hope to see some of you there! 

Every year, I tell myself I'm not going to get as emotionally invested in sports as I was the last year. I'm superstitious as hell. I'm loathe to predict outcomes of games, and only in the last few years have I allowed myself to make statements about who I think is going o win. I believe. I wear things I perceive as "lucky." I play mind games with myself (if I can beat my best 5K time, the Cavs will surely win tonight!). I am 100% invested, year in and year out, no matter how hard I try not to be. Because I'm a Clevelander.

I know we can win this series. I believe that we will. That didn't stop me from waking up this morning, after a night of restless sleep, feeling debilitated. Feeling like I'd just been through a bad breakup. Trying with all my will to stay positive, to keep the dark thoughts from creeping into my mind. I take this so absolutely personally, and I've started to question my sanity. But no, I'm just a Clevelander.

However, I do question what it is that makes me take Cavs, Indians and even Browns losses so personally. It's just sport, right? But it's not to me. I've realized my love of sports is born out of the purest passion for seeing my hometown strive and succeed. Too long has our city been maligned, mocked and looked down upon. A championship can bring this city something so uplifting, simultaneously tangible and symbolic. As Clevelanders, we pride ourselves on our balance between chip-on-our-shoulders inferiority complex and hopeless optimism. We need something to swing the balance towards the latter if we hope to see our city excel and rise up to the great heights it once occupied.

Maybe this is all in my head. Maybe I'm crazy. But I want this. I want this very badly. I want it for the city of Cleveland. And I know we can do this. Because no matter where I am and what I'll become, I am always, first and foremost, a Clevelander.

Who's with me?

Hey folks, I know it's been a while since I've been around these parts, but I think it's time I dropped in to remind you all of something I wrote last year after we were defeated by the Magic in the ECF: We Got This.

I want you all to conjure up the emotions you were feeling when Game 6 ended last year. Do you remember the heartbreak? Was it not one of the worst feelings you've felt in all your time watching Cleveland sports? To watch *that team* fail when we expected them to win it all. It ranks up there with the '97 World Series for me, except it's worse because that Cavs team was a team of destiny. Do you remember the heartbreak? The anger? Depression? I want you to bring it all back, to let it simmer for a while. Then throw it away.

The ring is ours this year, and there's nothing that can stop this team. Nothing.

We Got This.

The Parallel Purple People Eaters head down to the Magic Kingdom to do some Darlin' stomping tonight. Meanwhile, the Cavs look to take a 3-0 lead in the Real Finals.*

On a more serious note, it looks like Orlando's luck has finally run out. After being utterly dominated in Game 1, the small things stopped going their way in Game 2 and they managed to lose to a Lakers team that looked like they hardly wanted to play. It's likely they can take at least one game in Orlando, but is there anyone on the planet at this point that thinks Cleveland/LA wouldn't have been a better Finals matchup? I'm not saying we'd have won, but the Magic are starting to look like they played about their heads to get here.

*On a super sad note, I actually planned a long weekend trip to Cleveland this weekend in anticipation of at least catching a Finals game. I may not be too active on here starting tomorrow, but suffice it to say I'll have more time on my hands, sadly

 

Is it November yet?

Apologies for the late Game Thread... if anyone's interested anyway.

Anyway, Parallel LA leads the series 1-0 after a dominant performance in Game 1. Will the Darlings even things up, or continue to prove they were just on a a ridiculous hot streak against the Cavs and have now reverted to what everyone knew they were?

Meanwhile, the Cavs lead the real Finals 1-0 and look to take down a Lakers team sans Kobe after his double technical in Game 1.

Superman and Other Turk look to cook The Beef and Paul Gaso (I borrowed the "L" from his last name) in some strange facsimile of the real NBA Finals. Discussion welcome.

Oh, and if anyone knows where I can find a broadcast of the real game, send me a discreet e-mail...

As we're all aware by now, the Horsemen of the Basketball Apocalypse overcame near impossible odds and dispatched Orlando's Disney Darlings in an epic Game 7 showdown this past Monday. LeBron James was in full Kerosene mode, dropping 50/13/12 while Bizarro Howard fouled out with ten minutes to go in the third quarter. The NBA Finals are scheduled to start tomorrow night at the Q, with our Cavs firing on all cylinders and looking to take down the Purple People Eaters of LA.

Problem is, no one seems to be covering the Finals this year.

Poll

Who ya got?

35%

Disney Darlings

57 votes

34%

Purple People Eaters

55 votes

29%

I can't figure out how to get the parallel universe broadcasts

47 votes

159 votes | Poll has closed

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I want to apologize for posting so late. I didn't want to write anything about last night's loss. I thought that if I slept just a little longer, put it off for a few more hours, I could pretend I don't have to wait until next April to see our Horsemen riding into the playoffs again. The crushing finality of it all will set in when I hit "publish," and I didn't think I could bear it. Over the course of these playoffs, however, nothing has been more cathartic than bleeding out my emotions onto these internet pages, so I hope you'll all bear with me for a bit.

Last night, we watched our team -- the best Cavaliers team in franchise history, a team that set record after record and swaggered into the playoffs armed with the league MVP and greatest player on the planet -- get demolished by an upstart Orlando team. It doesn't make sense. Everything seemed to be going our way. Chemistry had never been better, we had seemingly found the perfect compliment to LeBron, half-court buzzer-beaters were dropping in our favor on what felt like a regular basis. This wasn't 2007, when we were just astounded and happy to be there in the Finals. This was our year, and we wouldn't settle for anything less than a title.

But some happened. We failed. We lost. The more time that passes and the more I think things over, however, one ultimate truth keeps floating to the top of my tumultuous sea of thoughts:

We got this.

And I've never been more sure of anything in my life.

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Before I get into my spiel, I just need to get something off my chest:

I told you so. All of you. We got this.

Now that that's out of the way, let's take a look at the Horsemen's glorious victory. Last night saw the fruition of a plan we've been executing well the past few games to unexpectedly poor results. No matter how much you'll hear about LeBron having been the only factor in this game, the truth is that what we've been doing all series long finally started working. We drove, kicked, shot, finished and swarmed on defense. We even pushed "Superman" to foul out of the game with more than two minutes to play. Though the Darlings again deleted a seemingly insurmountable lead, the Horsemen never backed down; we fought back until we emerged the clear victors.

How? Because we finally decided to fight fire with fire. Fortunately, we're always packing an industrial sized barrel of triple-double kerosene named LeBron.

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We're winning. And I don't just mean this game.

The Wild Western Conference Finals move back to the Dunder Mifflin Dome in the City of Right Angles.

Yeah, I know the thread is early. I got stuff to do tonight.

Play nice.

Last night was a punch in the gut. In a game of inches, our Horsemen fell just short in a valiant effort, 116-114.

Under attack from an unsaustainable barrage of three-pointers by the Disney Darlings, our boys were able to outplay Orlando in nearly every statistical aspect of the game and manage to keep the final score within two points. Make no mistake -- the plan worked. The defensive rotations were good, LeBron drove the lane with force, and we finally got some contributions from The Other Cavaliers. LeBron seemed to burn out a bit at the end, committing some costly turnovers, but he also hit some clutch free throws that kept us in it and a "how'd-he-do-that" fade away three that brought us within one and set the stage for another possible buzzer-beater. It truly came down to inches, and luck just wasn't on our side (despite the navy jerseys).

if Delonte snags that rebound with six seconds left, the series is tied. If LeBron's "LeShot 2" attempt is three inches to the right, the series is tied. If Orlando doesn't get the game of a lifetime from it's replacement starting guard, the series is tied. OK that last one isn't about inches but seriously, come on.

Now, we go home. But we don't go home defeated. We may be battered, broken, bloodied, bruised and a bunch of other "b" words that connote near defeat, but we're not done yet.

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Screw this, we're winning

Being the insanely superstitious fan that I am, I've been keeping the same strict uniform code throughout the ECF: navy alternate LeBron jersey, 2007 ECF Champs t-shirt underneath, and the same grungy cargo shorts. It was working, I figured, since even though we lost Game 1, it was darn close. And of course "LeShot" happened in Game 2, so I figured I was good to go. But then game 3 happened, and something didn't feel right. I realized it wasn't me -- the Cavs themselves need to be rockin' the navy blue.

If you look back to the 2007 ECF, you'll see that we wore navy in every road game (Game 1, Game 2, Game 5). I mean, sure, you could argue they're bad luck because we lost both Games 1 and 2, but can anyone really argue with the good karma power those navy unis accumulated in Game 5

Forget Mo Williams' shooting and Z's inability to guard Howard in the post. This is the answer. Navy unis = guaranteed series win. Book it.

These are the things I lay awake at night thinking about.

But can we switch in the middle of a series? Can we get a petition going or something?

 

P.S. -- Just ignore the fact that we also wore navy in the Finals that year. Doesn't count.

The Beef looks to lead his team up 3-1 over the Pastel Playas in Denver.

Tonight's game has the potential to answer the eternal question: what's more atrocious, Denver's inbound passing or Domino's new pasta in bread bowls?

Discuss. And don't feed the trolls.

Last night's game being the closest we've had to a blowout at all in the Conference Finals, I don't have much to say that hasn't already been said. However, I wish to submit to you a list of things that should not and cannot continue to happen if our Horsemen of the Basketball Apocalypse are to ride on into the Finals.

• Mo Williams, Delonte West and Z continue to miss open looks: While no one here is stupid enough to argue that LeBron is a one-man team, we're all well aware that shot creation from people not named James is not our strong suit. It's all about drive and kick, and we've done a fine job of that so far in this series. Problem is, our shooters aren't knocking anything down. As far as I'm concerned, however, the game plan is working. As long as we keep getting guys open looks, good things will start happening. If Mo, Delonte and Z hit their averages, we're up 3-0 having won by 15 each game.
• Dwight Howard continues to do his best Mark Price impression from the free throw line: No way this is sustainable. If Orlando beats us by virtue of DH's free throw shooting, then so be it. But it's not going to happen.
• LeBron James doing his best Shaq impression at the line: LeBron James is the best player in the NBA. After last night's performance, no doubt he's at the gym practicing FT's for hours today. He knows that regardless of the team around him, he's got the biggest burden to carry, and The King is not one to take that sort of thing lightly.
• Our defense continues to fail to get fourth-quarter stops: This has been the key to the series so far, really. Our defensive scheme has completely broken down in the fourth, allowing the Disney Darlings' already deadly shooters to get open looks which, of course, spell doom. Adjustments need to be made and rotations reconsidered. These guys can kill us even when we're playing good defense, so we can't settle for non-existent D. Let Howard get his. Do whatever is necessary to take their assassins off their game.
• The Cavs continue to play as if they're the underdogs in the series: I don't care if we're down 2-1. We are the best team in the NBA, without question. And we need to start playing that way. We come to battle every night led by the Coach of the Year and the league MVP. No one can stop us, and that's a truth we collectively have to believe in. No more chucking up ill-advised jumpers early in the shot clock like nervous school children in a pickup game. No more LeBron dribbling for 20 seconds while looking like a deer in the headlights. No more collapsing around a third-tier backup center and leaving shooters wide open. Amway Arena was quieter than Walt Disney's tomb for most of last night. We need to take advantage of it. And can we really be scared of a team called the Magic? In their majestic blue pinstriped uniforms adorned with delightful stars? Nonsense.
  

This is our series, and this is our year. On Tuesday, we will come out and go face to face with these things that should not be. By defeating our own lingering demons, we clear a path to certain victory... and our Horsemen will ride on.

The dagger had been sunk. Orlando too the 95-93 lead. The Darlings would head back to Disneyworld up 2-0. After two of the most intense playoff battles they'd ever faced, Orlando saw the light at the end of the tunnel.

But one second remained.

The light seemed to be approaching at warp speed. They could taste it, and they began to savor the sweet decadence of beating the best team in the league twice on its home court.

But that was no light. It was a 6'8", 270lb freight train running straight to the gut of every Magic fan on the planet.

You have to understand; things like this don't happen for Cleveland. They happen to Cleveland. But what we Witnessed last night will go down as one of the greatest plays in the history of sports. And it's ours to savor forever.

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