Get ready for another round of the much-deserved “Cleveland is the most tortured sports city of all” type stories. It’ll be exactly like what the media produced following Lebron James’ official departure. Perhaps Joe Posnanski will write another piece about how everything in Cleveland has a depressing (or at least slightly dark) sounding name.
With a total of 52 games played this season, the Cleveland Cavaliers are 8-44. That is the worst record in the NBA. They have lost 25 consecutive games, which ties a franchise record and the NBA’s all-time record set by….guess who? the ‘81-‘82 and the ‘82-‘83 Cavaliers!
Like someone who really needs to hit the stairmaster, Cleveland desperately needs to strengthen their Cavs.
They lost 96-99 tonight in Dallas. Congrats Mark Cuban, you’re the next person who gets to set Cleveland aflame like the Cuyahoga River.
By Paul M. Banks and Raymond Stokes
Now don’t think this is another edition of outsiders picking on Cleveland yet again. The locals take care of that for us.
It’s pretty rare for a sports talk show host to absolutely lose it in the middle of a broadcast, and have a long meltdown devoted to one franchise. It’s REALLY rare for it to happen TWICE in the same city; and in response to two different franchises.
Indians television analyst Bruce Drennen lost his marbles in May regarding the Cleveland Indians (more on that here). Unfortunately, that awesome video is no longer available due to “a copyright claim by MLB Advanced Media.” Wow is that Orwellian doublespeak for you: “advanced media.” MLB’s policies on internet media are in actuality very regressive and extremely retarded in their rationale.
Greg Kozarik, the host of “Locked and Loaded” on the Cleveland.com Digital Sports Network. lost it due to the Cleveland Browns a couple weeks ago (more on that here).
Now it’s time for the Cavaliers to send a local media personality off the deep end.
From the fans to the top of the very organization, the Cleveland Cavaliers nightmare obviously began in the summer when small forward LeBron James made his decision to leave the team via free-agency and sign with the Miami Heat. You might have heard a thing or two about that.
You might have also heard every unoriginal person on this Earth make the “I’m taking my talents to South Beach” joke whenever they happen to be visiting Miami since then. The Cavs were a mediocre, but understandable 7-10 before Lebron and his teammates returned his talents to Lake Erie on December 2nd. The Heat crushed them by 30 points and the Cavs are 1-34 since.
Even during James’ time with the Cavaliers, pretty much everyone wondered how the team would play without him.
In the 2010-2011 NBA regular season we finally see it; verifying those who said the Cavaliers would struggle and become one of the NBA’s worst teams. Their last win was Thanksgiving weekend over the Memphis Grizzlies.
With a new head coach in Bryon Scott, a man with pretty good credentials (two NBA Finals appearances with the New Jersey Nets, Coach of the Year in 2008, division title/#2 seed with the Hornets in 2008) there was cause for optimism. Instead, they’ve reverted back to the Cavs of B.J.- Before James. They have gone from having the best record in the past two seasons to having the worst record by far this season.
During the 24 straight losses, the Cavs have loss to the Celtics twice, the Heat three times, Timber Wolves twice, the Pistons, the 76ers, the Bulls three times, the Rockets, the Thunder, the Pacers twice, the Knicks, the Jazz twice, the Hawks, the Magic twice, the Bobcats, the Mavericks, the Raptors, the Nuggets three times, the Suns twice, the Lakers (by 55 the worst margin of the streak), the Bucks, the Nets, the Trail Blazers and the Grizzles. The average margin of defeat is 14.7 ppg.
There is only one more question to answer now. Can this 2010-2011 Cavaliers’ team actually win more games than the ’81-’82 Cavaliers who finished with just 15 wins? Either way, the Cavs will have more ping pong balls in the lottery than any other team come June.
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net. He doesn’t have a real nickname, but he is also a regular contributor to the Tribune’s Chicago Now network, Walter Football.com, Yardbarker Network, and Fox Sports.com
He does a weekly radio segment on Chicagoland Sports Radio.com and Cleveland.com
You can follow him on Twitter @thesportsbank