The Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Indians and the drive to be the team to end the city's championship hex
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Every so often, Jason Kipnis catches himself daydreaming about a championship celebration.
He chats with teammate Mike Napoli about his experience with Boston’s World Series triumph in 2013. Kipnis then parlays that conversation into his own vision of a Cleveland title.
How many fans would attend the parade? For how long would he and his teammates be revered? How would such an achievement alter the identity of the Cleveland sports scene?
Kipnis grew up about an hour north of Wrigley Field, home to the Chicago Cubs, a team that has failure woven into the fabric of the franchise.
“It’s their nature that they don’t have a championship [since 1908],” Kipnis said. “That’s their thing. I’m wondering how it’ll be once they get one.”
He has also considered the same scenario for Cleveland, a city without a title from any of its three major professional sports entities since 1964. The Cavaliers could dismiss the hex with four wins in five games against the Golden State Warriors.
“Not only do you want to win a championship, but in a place like this, it’d be awesome to be the first one,” Kipnis said, “because that would be the breaking of the ice, crossing the finish line. That’d be the most celebrated one.
“It’s the championship that broke the curse. You have to start the clock back over. You can’t say, ‘the city hasn’t had a championship in this many years.’ That’d be the first one. Regardless of the sport, the first one would mean the most.”
Cavs can rewrite Cleveland’s sports history
Kipnis watched bits and pieces of ESPN’s recent “Believeland” documentary, which highlights the grandest missteps in Cleveland sports lore. The second baseman has played for the Indians since 2011, so he feels confident in his understanding of the city’s place along the nation’s sports landscape.
“I think they’ll take any one, regardless of the sport,” he said.
Kipnis remembers the packed house at Progressive Field on Oct. 2, 2013, when the Indians hosted the American League Wild Card Game.
“That was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen,” he said.
Of course, it probably pales in comparison to a clinching game of the World Series or a celebratory march down E. 9th Street. That’s why Kipnis picks Napoli’s brain and asks him to describe the championship scene.
“It just sounds amazingly epic,” Kipnis said. “Especially in a city like this, where they’ve been waiting so long — I think it would be insane.”
The Cavaliers have the next crack at snapping the streak of futility, though. The Indians will have to wait their turn. Tribe manager Terry Francona, a Cavaliers season-ticket holder, has wished the city’s basketball team well. Kipnis said he is “all in.” Some Tribe players would prefer that the Indians are the team that puts the drought to rest.
Everyone knows the stakes.
“We’ve always said it, even when I was here in ’09 — whoever wins the first championship in this town, they will be immortalized,” said Chris Gimenez, a lifelong Warriors fan who grew up 45 minutes from Golden State’s arena. “They really will.”
In the end, though, beggars can’t be choosers.
“We wish it could be us to be first,” Kipnis said, “but I don’t think we’d be mad if there’s more than one parade here.”
The Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Indians and the drive to be the team to end the city"s championship hex
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