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An unwritten rule in our family is that if you attend a professional or college sporting event, you stay until the end. Thus, I’ve sat through baseball doubleheaders that included rain delays and extra innings, as well as lopsided football games in near zero-degree weather.
But Thursday, in the comfort of my son’s home, I left with one minute left in overtime of the Cavs’ game. The Cleveland jinx was too powerful to deal with. I didn’t just walk away from the last 60 seconds of agony; it was a sprint. This body doesn’t move too fast anymore, but it did that night.
Like so many times before, “The Jinx” lured us into believing that we were about to see good things from a Cleveland team — in this case, winning the opening game of a playoff series that could lead to the city’s first professional sports championship in 51 years. The Cavs looked so good for four quarters until “The Jinx” decided to slap us back to reality. The punishment came quickly:
•J.R. Smith’s money in the bank shooting began bouncing off the backboard like an overdrawn check.
•The Cavs missed not one, but two shots in the closing seconds of regulation time that would have won it.
•Then came the disastrous overtime that not only saw Golden State score 10 straight points, but was punctuated with the Cavs standout Kyrie Irving suffering a season-ending injury.
Can you say “The Game” — as in “The Drive,” “The Fumble” and “The Shot.” They all add up to “The Jinx.”
Here’s the wackiest thing about this Cleveland curse.
I’m writing this column Sunday afternoon for a page that has a deadline way before Sunday night’s game gets over. And once again, I’m starting to think we can still conquer the hex. After all, who’s jersey is worn by LeBron James, arguably the best player ever to bounce a basketball?
We also have the international dynamic duo comprised of a rugby player they call “Delli” and a giant Russian named Mozgov who makes Ivan Drago in the old Rocky movies look like a twerp. J.R. Smith is bound to find his shooting touch and Tristan Thompson will rule the boards. And we haven’t even touched on the shooting and defense of Iman Shumpert.
You’re reading this on a Monday. You know how the game turned out last night.
Was I right to give in to hope, or am I cursed?
ROSES AND THORNS: A long-time pastor walks among those roses.
Rose: To Pastor C.M. Manley, of New Morning Missionary Baptist Church in Lima, who celebrated his 48th pastoral anniversary on Sunday.
Rose: To Paul Nusbaum, of Pandora. He raised $16,000 for the Putnam County Homecare and Hospice group by riding his bicycle across the United States. The trip took 33 days and covered 15 states and 3,470 miles.
Rose: To Shawnee firefighter Mark Biedenharn, who was named Officer of the Year by the Shawnee Optimist Club.
Rose: To Verne Bellinger, of Elida, and Jon Rogers, of Lima. Bellinger’s idea was featured Friday in the nationally syndicated comic strip “Pluggers” while Rogers was featured May 31.
Thorn: Two people in Glandorf are being sought after they stole a cat from a woman’s porch and cut off its tail.
Thorn: Three children playing with a lighter and lighter fluid, set a lawnmower on fire at a Kibby Street residence. It’s not clear if they were trying to get out of mowing the lawn, acted out of boredom or were just being stupid.
Thorn: A popular tenderloin concession trailer at the Allen County Fair is destroyed by fire from a short circuit while its owner was getting it ready for the festival season.
PARTING SHOT: “A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you’ve been taking.” — Earl Wilson
