Witness Loyalty

The Cleveland Indians haven’t won a World Series title since 1948. The Browns haven’t won the Super Bowl since 1964. This year the Cavaliers made it to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history, and they were defeated in a sweep. Still, Clevelanders are among the most loyal fans in professional sports.

When LeBron James, the Cavaliers superstar and icon of Cleveland sports wore and flaunted a Yankees cap to the Cleveland Indians MLB playoff opener against New York, he created a local uproar and found himself and the Cavs in a public relations nightmare.

Cleveland fans booed LeBron, turned their backs, and screamed at him to get out of their stadium. Cleveland’s hometown hero was rooting for the city to be left title-less for a 43rd consecutive year.

During the game, TBS commentator Craig Sager asked the Akron native, “What the hell?” LeBron calmly explained that he was there “representing the Yankees” and that he grew up a Yankees fan and had to support his team but that he was rooting for the Indians as individuals. Wearing a Yankees cap, LeBron antagonized the fans that love him and broke Cleveland’s collective heart.

The following day, LeBron’s perceived disrespectful behavior had stolen the spotlight from the Indian’s monumental win. Indicating their contempt for LeBron’s stance at the following game, fans displayed signs that stated “No LeBrains,” and much worse.

The Quicken Loans Arena, the Cavaliers stadium which sits just across a plaza from Jacobs Field now sports a large banner on the building wishing the Indians good luck in the postseason. A clear move to divert the negative attention LeBron has garnered.

The Indians have since moved past the Yankees and onto the Boston Red Sox for the American League Championship series, but Cleveland’s fans are not so fast to forget.

During The Cavs’ preseason exhibition game last week, only a few hundred fans were in attendance as opposed to the customary four-six thousand supporters the Cavs have seen since LeBron’s inaugural season.

Since the incident, it appears that LeBron’s media advisors have recommended he stay quiet on the subject, perhaps hoping that the Indians’ continued success will eclipse LeBron’s disloyalty in the minds of the fans.

It will be interesting to see how Clevelanders react to LeBron during the Cavs upcoming preseason games and how the Cavaliers franchise works to recover.

Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs2007/news/story?id=3050742
http://fairandfoul.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/lebron-james/

Photo Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs2007/news/story?id=3050742