As 2015 closes, it marks 51 years without a championship for Cleveland’s sports teams. But in the land of “Wait till next year” there is optimism. And for Cavaliers fans it’s “wait till tomorrow.” Ideastream’s Mark Urycki looks back at the year in pro sports.
April is a cruel month in Cleveland, especially for the Indians. This year they lost 2/3 of their games in April and by August the team seemed to be waving the white flag when it traded Nick Swisher, Michael Bourn, and David Murphy. But a funny thing happened – they started winning with a bunch of young players, most notably Francisco Lindor who just missed being rookie of the year.
In the end the Tribe finished 1 game over 500. Since then, the team picked up outfielder Rajai Davis and pitcher Joba Chamberlaine but the best news may be that the Indians did not trade away any of their top level starting pitchers.
The closest Cleveland came to a championship was in June with the Cavaliers facing the Golden State Warriors in the Finals. But the Cavs had three starting players out with injuries and lost 4 games to 2. When it was all over, Mike Kelley of Canton sat dejected outside Quicken Loans Arena.
“You know what my expectations were everything that we got. This is a city that hurts, that is tired of losing, tired of being second best.”
Kelley was already looking to next June when the Cavs might have all its players healthy.
The Browns suffered its share of injuries this year. It led them to turn to young quarterback Johnny Manziel. But he brought baggage to Coach Mike Pettine.
“Until we had all the information from the police and when the league concludes their report …”
That’s never a good sign but Manziel was cleared of any legal trouble in an October traffic incident and in November promised to behave.
“Coach Pettine came in and said he didn’t want to micromanage me or any of the other guys in their time off but at the same time I let him know I wasn’t going to do anything that is a distraction or embarrass the origination so . . .”
That didn’t last long as Manziel, who’s had substance abuse problems, was spotted in a phone video partying in Texas. He's back at quarterback for the final two games with the Browns tied for the worst record in the league, and fans looking ahead to the next NFL draft.
The Cavaliers are looking to Christmas afternoon when they play their first game this season against the NBA champion Golden State Warriors.