It's been a tumultuous past few weeks for Cleveland. First LeBron James bolted. Then comic book author Harvey Pekar died. Now George Steinbrenner is gone as well.
It would be hard to think of more telling signs of the decline of Cleveland than the sagas of these three natives of a once-mighty metropolis located at the mouth of the Cuyahoga river, itself legendary for catching aflame. Pekar captured working-class -- and Cleveland's -- anomie in his comic books. With his constant self-disparagement and kvetching, he was the anti-hero, as the movie about his life, "American Splendor" underscored, reveling in his nebbishness, grumpiness, and plain paranoia.
Steinbrenner, invariably clad in his double-breasted, gold-buttoned blue blazers, represented what Pekar most resented: the man, "the Boss," as he was often called. Steinbrenner would never have hit it big unless he had decamped from Cleveland, which he did to buy the New York Yankees. He took a mighty bite out of the Big Apple. Perhaps he had a bit of Pekar in him, too, in the form of his resentments -- Steinbrenner was something of a rebel, the upstart from the Midwest seething with animosities who came, saw, conquered.
Now it's LeBron James' turn to defect from Cleveland, turning him from a local hero into the city's Despicable Me. Pekar would surely have been revolted but not surprised by that defection. Steinbrenner would have applauded it.
The sad truth is that Cleveland's glory days are barely even a distant memory. The city is in a shambles, a monument to nothing other than industrial decline. And its basketball team's approach to winning truly was cavalier, which is why LeBron James shouldn't be taking heat for going to the Heat. King James would never be able to win and wear a crown in Cleveland. In contrast to the city, he shrank from failure. Perhaps the surprising thing isn't that he left, but that he stayed as long as he did.
Mr. James, on the other hand, had a good NBA team in the Cavaliers. They have had outstanding regular seasons, beating up the other teams, piling up great win/loss records. Post season, though, Mr. James just plain failed to perform as you need a superstar to perform - he quit, never inspired his teammates to greatness with efforts he surely could have made. He's got skills, but he lacks heart. Cleveland deserved better.
Just what is your point other than schadenfreude. Growing up in Ohio Cleveland was the brightest city around, full of culture, art and education. I loved traveling to the city. They have a world class orchestra and Blossom Music Center is one of the nicest outdoor amphitheatres around.
Sports are not the end all be all of life and winning is not everything, in fact a winning sports team really does not matter in the greater scheme of life where people need an economy in which they can earn a living wage.
In that respect Cleveland's problems are a complex result of the de-industrialization of America. NAFTA and other policies enabled scores of jobs to leave the US for Mexico and other countries. Cleveland is one of those cities that has suffered greatly from this loss.
While China's and India's economies continue to grow the US is stagnant.
Many cities are in decline, not just Cleveland, it is epidemic in the US and is only going to get worse especially if people continue to focus on sports instead of issues which really impact their lives.
Cleveland needs to grow up and move on.
http://graciouslivingdaybyday.com/
Go Heat!
I think it's as simple as that.
But a person can be happy just about anyplace. Besides its rich cultural heritage, the Cleveland/NE Ohio area has ferry boats to the islands and to Canada, and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and a 19,000 acre "Emerald Necklace" comprising the Cuyahoga County Metroparks, and Amish Country and some excellent restaurants and top-notch universities. The West Side Market and the Ohio City area are great. I used to love to see Devo at "The Crypt" in Akron, about a half an hour south of Cleveland. In high school worked in a restaurant with Alan, the original drummer, who went to high school with Chrissie Hinde. Chrissie and the members of Devo all moved away, which is okay. Kent, Ohio is a great cultural venue, about a half an hour from Cleveland, and I love to spend time there. I love Ohio but I don't have to spend my whole life here either just because my ancestors moved here. Having said that, I hope Cleveland has some great successes in the future and I'm looking forward to my next exploration up there.
It looked like they hired John McCain's choreographer.
The place Cleveland holds today isn't a one party phenomenon. It's the very culture of a lost city that has eaten itself to death.
The city of Cleveland is a monument to over regulation, poor planning and zoning, and extreme taxation by Democrat politicians who have run that city for years, if not decades.
The greater metropolitan area, however, including all of Cuyahoga County and the Cleveland suburbs, as well as Summit, Medina, Portage, Lake, Geauga, and Lorain Counties, is an incredibly beautiful area. Most of the area has a middle to upper class income level, strong family (Conservative) values, excellent schools, and incredible scenery.
Cleveland proper gathers all of the media attention because the sports teams carry that name and it is the largest city in the region. However, to say that the entire region is in collapse because a couple of good men died and a selfish, spoiled athlete decided to take the easy road is simply ridiculous.
signed...a Clevelander