Whether you love or hate LeBron James and/or the Cleveland Cavaliers, at some point you have to start feeling sorry for Cleveland fans.  I mean there are many cities with long traditions of losing professional sports franchises, but Cleveland really is the worst.  Here in Chicago, the Cubs and White Sox went about 100 years without winning a championship, but at least they fielded decent teams once or twice a decade.  Cleveland had some good baseball teams in the 1990s but other than that have not won a major sports championship since the Browns in 1964.

What must that do to a fan base’s psyche?  As a Cubs fan, I know the heartache of terrible management, coaching and players, but at least in recent years there have been signs that competent management exists in the organization (see: MacPhail, McDonough, Hendry).  Where I always feel like the Cubbies will “get it done next year”, Cleveland fans lost that optimism years ago.

With the Cavs this year, things were different though.  This isn’t the same old “have no shot at a title” Cleveland team.  This is a team led by the best player in basketball that absolutely torched the entire league all season.  Historically, Cleveland is not like the Red Sox in how they were so close so many times but just couldn’t get over the hump.  Besides the Indians of 1997, Cleveland has just been shitty year in and year out.  Playoff droughts and losing seasons are par for the course.  Even though this was different, it seems the reaction from the city had a familiar tone to it.  A story on TrueHoop yesterday summarizes Cavs fans emotions very well:

But all over the Web, more than anything, Cavalier fans seem to be as supportive as every of their team. They’re not accusing anyone of anything. Instead they are grabbing their plates, and lining up for yet another trip to the buffet of disappointment.

28 NBA teams have already been eliminated. But in this one, more than any other, such an event can feel like destiny fulfilled.

And so the heartbreak carries on, and Cleveland fans are so disillusioned with their respective sports franchises that they can’t even appreciate that they still have at least one more shot at an NBA title, after which LeBron may or may not leave as a free agent.  Pride and faith in my Chicago teams, through thick and thin, has always brought tons of joy to my life.  I just hope Cleveland fans can find that joy someday, and the faith…well I probably wouldn’t have that either if I were them, but maybe an NBA Championship in 2010 could turn that around.

I have long held that Chicago sports fans are some of the most passionate and intelligent fans in the country.  I still stand by that and last night helped to prove my thoughts.  Here is how the crowd reacted to the different personalities that turned out to support the Hawks at last night’s playoff contest:

Sports figures from other Chicago teams offered good-luck messages to the Hawks throughout the evening on the video board. Mixed reaction to Hawk Harrelson. Cheers for Ryan Dempster, a Canadian and an acknowledged hockey fan. A mixture of cheers, boos and “Lous” for Lou Piniella. Indifference toward Kirk Hinrich and Israel Idonije. And a huge roar for Ozzie Guillen.

I’m fairly confident that the “boos” for Lou were in fact all “Lous”, since that is the common cheer for him and there would be no reason to boo him.  While most of these would seem obvious, like Ozzie and Lou being fan favorites and Kirk and Idonije being non-factors on their respective teams, you would be surprised at how ignorant fans in other cities are.  Also, this may be more of a testament to the intelligence of Hawks fans, who are known for being great fans.  Either way I thought it was interesting that someone documented the reactions.  You have to think Kirk will be gone soon and if Hawk wasn’t a part owner of the Sox he would be on the way out as well.

h/t: Reader Andrew Jay for bringing this bit of information to my attention.

When Martin Havlat scored the only goal of the night in a 4-1 loss for the Blackhawks last night, a lucky fan won a million dollars.

Don’t come crashing into the Clemson students and expect to come out unharmed. This guy will think twice before going for a loose ball again.

Rob will be our regular (maybe) soccer analyst and fan. He is especially qualified for the job because of his love for the game and minority status. Enjoy!

Because I was too lazy to write a preview of last night’s Chicago Fire game, I’ve decided to save the analysis until next week’s conference final match-up and address a more light-hearted issue today: fans.

I was at last nights game, and while enjoying the 3-0 beatdown the Fire put on the Revs (avenging last years playoff loss to them…and the year before that…and the year before that…), I came to the realization that the American soccer fan is a better fan than any other major sports fan in this country. Seriously, we’re more knowledgeable about the game and its nuances, more loyal to our hometown teams, and funnier.

For example, last night, even the average (i.e. non-Ultra, non-Hooligan, non-Firm) fan in the stadium last night knew when to cheer for a player that ran 60-yards towards his own goal to make a hard tackle in the middle of the field. Hardly sexy, game changing stuff, but that’s the kind of attitude that leads to very sexy 3-0 playoff victories…and the average soccer fan knows and appreciates this. Additionally, there’s the mock-cheers for awful shots, the mild applause for good attacks that don’t quite work out, and the notable absence of a stupid PA announcer (“Pump! It! Up! Chicago!), cheerleaders, and cheesy jock-rock (“WHO LET THE DOGS OUT!!) amid all the action. This is almost 100% self-motivated.

This brings me to my favorite part, the chants. Imagine entire sections of the stadium belting out these gems:

Every time the opposing goalie runs up to take a goal kick – “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” goalie makes contact with the ball – “You suck asshole!!”

When Chris Rolfe is subbed out of the game after a 1 goal, 1 assist performance – “Chris Roooolfe played great tonight!! Chris Rooooolfe is getting laid tonight!!”

70 minutes into the 3-0 ass-whooping – “Chiiiii-town Beeeeatdown, Chiiiii-town Beeeeatdown.”

And that’s just a brief sample. Sound fun? Then go support the Fire (if they snag home-field advantage) next Thursday. Sound stupid? Then go see for yourself how wrong you are. On to more serious stuff next week.