It’s not the cover of Rolling Stone, but I’ll get there one day too, just as soon as Vince the Polack’s Polka All Stars practice a little more. We’re almost there.
Anyway, former Scene editor Frank Lewis penned an article for the NYT looking at the mood in Cleveland now that the Cavs have done gone and screwed it all up and LeBron isn’t even hiding his flirtations with other teams anymore.
Lewis caught up with some fans at bars and asked Peter Lawson Jones how he felt. Here’s a short excerpt, but make sure you read the whole thing.
Cuyahoga County Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones, who lent his voice to the “We Are LeBron” project, worried about such fatalism. He said someone suggested to him that James’s leaving “would be another blow to our civic ego,” but that it shouldn’t be.
Clevelanders, of all people, should understand the danger of hanging all of their hopes on one athlete. “We have to be careful not to let our psyche get too dependent on a performer — and that’s what athletes are, they’re performers,” Jones said.
Erik Goehringer, a technology professional from Akron, said: “LeBron is a great player, and a good guy, but he’s only an athlete. He doesn’t define this city any more than I do. I hope he stays, but if not you’ll hardly see people rioting or committing mass suicides. You are only a loser if you act like one. Or if you are from Pittsburgh or Michigan.”
First, in response to Mr. Peter Lawson Jones, the heaviest blow to our civic egos is the deplorable and corrupt government in Cuyahoga County, not LeBron James. Second, in response to Mr. Goehringer, I’ve always joked, and this is in the article, that if LeBron left Cleveland was sell the city for cab fare to the I-480 bridge. We’ll see which one of us is right come July.
Follow me on Twitter: @vincethepolack.
This article appears in May 12-18, 2010.
Chenzo–that’s awesome. Your comments captured exactly how I felt on Thursday. I was watching out of town with colleagues from out of town, and they expected me to have a breakdown when we lost again. But it felt — exactly as you said — normal. We’re just accustomed to it at this point. But that is what makes a Thursday-night, in-a-blizzard, beat down of the Steelers all the better. Because it’s a surprise. Plus, we’ll always have Christmas Ale. So we’ve got that going for us.
Hey Vince I hope we don’t have to find out and the whole thing a moot point when (if/maybe) he re-ups with the Cavs. Although if he doesn’t I don’t think you could sell city for enough cab fare to get to the 480 bridge. We may end up having to hitch!
-Erik G