Cleveland sports curse

The Cleveland sports curse was a sports superstition involving the city of Cleveland, Ohio, and its major league professional sports teams, from 1964 to 2016. Cleveland has three current teams in the major North American professional sports leagues: the Browns of the National Football League, the Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association, and the Indians of Major League Baseball. Combined, the city's three current teams, plus the former Cleveland Barons of the National Hockey League, endured an unprecedented 147-season championship drought, having not won a title since the Browns defeated the Baltimore Colts in the 1964 NFL Championship Game two seasons prior to the first Super Bowl.[1]

The curse was widely considered to be broken when the Cavaliers beat the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals.

Cleveland Browns

Much of the discussion of the "curse" is centered on the NFL's Cleveland Browns, who have not won a championship since 1964 and have suffered a series of questionable coaching decisions, disappointing losses and draft busts.

Prior to Art Modell becoming majority owner of the team, the Browns had dominated the NFL and the earlier All-America Football Conference (AAFC), winning seven championships in 17 years. After three non-playoff seasons, the 1964 Browns' team finished 10–3–1 and appeared in the 1964 NFL Championship Game against a heavily favored Don Shula coached Baltimore Colts team with Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas as its signal caller. The Browns beat the Colts 27–0 at Cleveland Stadium. This particular Browns team consisted of many players initially drafted and acquired by Brown. During the next 30 years in Cleveland, not a single Modell team won the league or conference title, although they did appear in a total of seven NFL/American Football Conference (AFC) championship title games during the period.

In 1981, trailing by two points to the Oakland Raiders and in field goal range with less than one minute remaining in the AFC divisional playoff game, the Browns executed a passing play that was intercepted. The play, called by Browns head coach Sam Rutigliano, has become known as "Red Right 88".[2]

In the 1986–87 NFL playoffs, the Browns were one game away from playing in what would have been the franchise's first Super Bowl when they fell short in one of the most memorable games in NFL history. The Browns were leading the Denver Broncos 20-13 in the fourth quarter when Broncos quarterback John Elway led a 98-yard game-tying drive in just over 5 minutes. The game went to overtime, and the Broncos kicked a field goal to seal the victory. Elway's fourth quarter march and the game itself became known as "The Drive", a title that both signifies Elway's brilliance in the clutch and the Browns' inability to close out important games.

The Browns and Broncos both returned to the AFC Championship Game the next year. With the Browns down 38–31 late in the fourth quarter, Browns' running back Earnest Byner was handed the ball near the goal line. Byner, who was in the midst of a great performance, was stripped of the ball and the Broncos recovered on their 2-yard line. The Broncos surrendered an intentional safety and went on to win 38–33, while Byner's blunder became known as "The Fumble".[3] The Browns returned to the AFC Championship game in the 1989-90 season, again losing to the Broncos. Through the 2015 NFL season, the Browns have not returned to the AFC Championship Game since and remain one of four teams to never play in the Super Bowl, along with the Detroit Lions, Houston Texans, and Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Browns were at the center of a relocation controversy in 1995.[4] The decision by then-Browns owner Art Modell to move what was but one year before an 11-5 team to Baltimore infuriated and confused Browns fans.[5] After negotiations with the NFL and the city of Cleveland, Modell was allowed to move the team's personnel to Baltimore, where it became a new franchise known as the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens won a Super Bowl in only their fifth year of existence, doing so with former Browns tight end Ozzie Newsome as their general manager. In addition to Newsome's success, coach Bill Belichick, who was relieved of his head coaching duties upon dissolution of the franchise, returned five seasons later as the head coach of the New England Patriots. With the Patriots, he has coached only one losing season and won six AFC Championships and four Super Bowls. The struggles of the Browns since rejoining the NFL, as well as the success of both Newsome and Belichick, were chronicled in the NFL Films feature A Football Life: 1995 Cleveland Browns.[6]

The Browns returned in 1999, after a three-year period of deactivation. In the 1999 NFL Draft, the Browns selected Tim Couch, hoping he would be a franchise quarterback. Ty Detmer was brought in to usher in the planned "Couch era", but after a string of dismal performances, Couch was rushed into the starting position.[7] Couch struggled to perform without a talented roster around him, which led to his eventual departure from the Browns after the 2003 season. Although only winning 22 games in 59 starts, Couch led the Browns to their only playoff berth since their return, in 2002.

By the end of the 2015 season, the Browns had started 24 different quarterbacks since their 1999 return to the NFL, a league-high in that period.[8][9] The Browns have not won a playoff game since beating the New England Patriots on January 1, 1995, and have lost nine or more games each season since 2008.

On November 30, 2015, the Browns played the Baltimore Ravens in their first Monday Night Football game in six years. After trailing 17-3 in the second quarter, the Browns rallied behind quarterback Josh McCown to tie the game at 27 with just three seconds left. Cleveland attempted a 51-yard field goal to win the game, only to see the attempt blocked and returned by the Ravens for a touchdown, handing the Browns their most painful loss in recent history.[10] The event was called "The Block" by some disgruntled fans on Twitter only moments after the end of the game.[11]

Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers are a professional basketball team who have played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) since 1970.

Over the franchise's first 16 years, the team produced just three winning seasons, the highlight being the 1975-76 "Miracle at Richfield" team, whose improbable playoff run was doomed by an injury to Jim Chones.[12] In 1989, the Cavaliers faced the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the playoffs. In the decisive fifth game, Craig Ehlo had given the Cavs the lead with :03 to play. However, the Bulls' Michael Jordan then jumped over Ehlo to make the game-winning shot, and the Bulls won the best-of-five series 3-2. The play, which earned the Bulls a 101-100 victory, became known simply as "The Shot."[13][14] Despite six trips to the playoffs between 1988 and 1994, including a 1992 Eastern Conference Finals appearance, the Cavaliers never proceeded to the NBA Finals, as Jordan's Bulls defeated them in the playoffs five times during the Daugherty-Nance-Price era.[15]

In 2007, Ohio native LeBron James led the Cavaliers to their first ever NBA Finals appearance. They lost, however, to the heavily favored San Antonio Spurs, who swept them in four games. Two years later, the Cavaliers, despite winning the most regular season games in the NBA since 2007 (66-16), lost the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals to the Orlando Magic in six games.[5] Although his teams always possessed home-court advantage, the reigning two-time MVP James and the 2009-2010 Cavaliers (61-21) were blown out by the visiting Boston Celtics in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, 120-88. The Cavaliers went on to lose the series in Game 6 (4-2), which was James' final game with the team for more than four years.[16]

During the 2010 NBA free agency period, LeBron James was featured in a television special titled The Decision. Having notified the Cavaliers just moments prior to the television event, James announced "In this fall — this is very tough — in this fall I'm gonna take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat." The quote was heavily criticized.[17][18] Three upset Cavaliers fans were seen burning LeBron James merchandise such as jerseys and posters and heavily booed James in his first game in Cleveland as a member of the Heat. James, along with the help of Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, led the Heat to four consecutive NBA Finals appearances, winning twice, while the Cavaliers fell to the bottom of the NBA echelon with their record and attendance.[19] In those four years without LeBron, they acquired three number one picks (Kyrie Irving in 2011, Anthony Bennett in 2013 and Andrew Wiggins in 2014). Despite these windfalls the team struggled to win games, having set a record for most consecutive losses with 26 in the 2010–11 season.

After the 2014 season, James opted out of his contract early and rejoined the Cavaliers.[20] After signing James, the Cavaliers traded their two most recent number one draft picks, Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett, for Minnesota Timberwolves star Kevin Love to form their own "Big 3", which was rounded out by Kyrie Irving. They also signed Mike Miller and James Jones to replicate the Miami Heat's formula and eventually made it to the 2015 Finals. However, several Cavaliers players were injured during the season, including Anderson Varejão with a ruptured Achilles tendon during the regular season, Love with a dislocated shoulder during the first round of the playoffs and Irving with a fractured patella in Game 1 of the Finals.[21] Though losing nearly all of James' supporting cast, the Cavaliers won Games 2 and 3 to take a 2-1 series lead before falling to the Golden State Warriors in six games.[22]

Even though the Cavaliers were 30-11 on January 22, 2016, the team fired coach David Blatt and replaced him with top assistant Tyronn Lue.[23] It was revealed that Blatt had a turbulent relationship with James as well as several other players. The Cavaliers lost to the Chicago Bulls 96-83 at home in Lue's debut as Cavaliers' head coach.[24] After that first loss the Cleveland Cavaliers went on to win the division and Eastern Conference top seed (57-25), earning them home court throughout the first three rounds of the playoffs. They would face the 8 seed Detroit Pistons, sweeping the series 4-0, although it was a hard fought series as the Detroit Pistons led the Cavaliers in the 4th quarter in three of the games. The Cavaliers would then face the Atlanta Hawks, where they would sweep that series as well. During the series against the Hawks, the Cavaliers made a run at the record books, making 18 three-point field goals in a half that would give them a 38 point halftime lead over the Hawks in Game 2; the Cavaliers would go on to set a new record for made three-point field goals in a game (25).[25] In 2016, James and the Cavaliers advanced to their second consecutive NBA Finals after defeating the Toronto Raptors in six games.[26] The Cavs went on to defeat the Raptors, 4-2, to clinch the Eastern Conference title.

The Cavaliers defeated the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals which was a rematch of the previous season's NBA Finals.[27] Through the first four games, the 57-win Cavaliers were trailing the record-setting 73-win Warriors in the series, 3-1. However, the Cavaliers won the next three games to capture their first NBA Championship in franchise history, becoming the first team in NBA Finals history to overcome a 3-1 deficit, and the first team since 1978 to win a Finals Game 7 on the road. A particularly memorable moment in Game Seven was when James successfully pursued and blocked Andre Iguodala on a fast break late in the fourth quarter, a defensive play known among Cavs fans as The Block. Following would be a three point shot by Kyrie Irving, burying it in the face of unanimous MVP Stephen Curry, to put the Cavaliers ahead for good at 92-89 with exactly 53 seconds left in the fourth quarter.[28] This game is being called "The Comeback" and "The End" as this win ended Northeast Ohio's 52-year championship drought.[29]

Cleveland Indians

The Cleveland Indians, like the Browns and Cavaliers, also experienced the curse. The Indians' failure to win a World Series since 1948, as well as Willie Mays' catch in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series has led some reporters to dub the team's shortcomings The Curse of Chief Wahoo.[30] Chief Wahoo is a Native American caricature which serves as the Indians' cap insignia. The Chief Wahoo insignia has been controversial. The Indians considered changing it in 1993, but the logo was retained on the cap until 2013, when it was moved to the jersey sleeves and replaced on the cap with a block C.[31] The Curse of Rocky Colavito is another phenomenon that is supposedly preventing the Indians from winning a World Series.[32] The 1989 film Major League was based on the Indians' poor performance since 1959, finishing third or worse in the division for 29 of those seasons.[33]

The Indians made it to the World Series in 1995, losing in six games to the Atlanta Braves. The loss was the Braves' only World Series win in 17 postseason appearances since 1991, including every year from 1991 to 2005. Cleveland returned to the World Series in 1997 and led into the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7 before José Mesa blew the save, and the team wound up losing to the Florida Marlins.[34][35]

After winning division titles six times in seven seasons from 1995 to 2001, the Indians have only appeared in the postseason twice in 14 years under the often frugal Dolan family ownership. In the 2007 American League Championship Series, the Indians were up 3-1 and one win away from advancing to the World Series, but they lost the last three games to the Boston Red Sox, denying their World Series berth.[36] The Red Sox went on to sweep the Colorado Rockies to win the World Series.[37] In 2013, the Indians won their final ten games of the season to make the playoffs again, but lost the play-in Wild Card game at home to the Tampa Bay Rays.[38]

In 2016, riding the momentum of the success the Lake Erie Monsters (AHL Calder Cup) and Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA championship) had that year, the Indians amassed a 94–67 record, which clinched the AL Central division championship after a nine season drought. This season included a 14-game winning streak after the Cavaliers won their championship, and 5 games won in the last inning or extra innings coming from behind. The team swept the Boston Red Sox in the American League Division Series (ALDS) on October 10, to advance to the American League Championship Series against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Indians defeated the Blue Jays 4–1 to clinch their first World Series berth since 1997 and their sixth in team history. The Indians eventually lost the World Series to the Chicago Cubs (who ended their own curse) in seven games, despite having a 3–1 series lead.

Other sports

The Cleveland sports curse has generally been limited to its major teams.[39] However, other teams based in Cleveland won minor championships during the curse, and one Greater Cleveland native won a world championship individually.[40]

AFC Cleveland

On August 6, 2016, high-level amateur (Fourth Division) soccer franchise AFC Cleveland Royals won the National Premier Soccer League Championship by a 4-2 score over the Sonoma County Sol.[41] Antonio Manfut scored the go-ahead goal in the 87th minute for the fifth-year franchise.

Cleveland Crunch

The Cleveland Crunch, later known as the Force (though not to be confused with the original Cleveland Force franchise), were an indoor soccer team from 1989 to 2005. As the Crunch, the team won three championships in the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL): 1994, 1996, and 1999.

Lake Erie/Cleveland Monsters

On June 11, 2016, the then-Lake Erie Monsters, now known as the Cleveland Monsters, of the American Hockey League won the Calder Cup, defeating the Hershey Bears at Quicken Loans Arena to win the series 4–0.[42] The team, also owned by Dan Gilbert, shares its arena with the Cavaliers, who won the NBA title eight days later.

It was the tenth overall Calder Cup won by a Cleveland team. The original Cleveland Barons that played from 1937 to 1973 won nine Calder Cups, with the last in 1964, coincidentally the last time one of the major sports franchises in the city won a championship prior to the 2016 Cavaliers.

Stipe Miocic

On May 14, 2016, mixed martial artist Stipe Miocic, a native of Euclid, Ohio, a Cleveland suburb, won the UFC Heavyweight Championship at UFC 198 in Curitiba, Brazil, knocking out Brazil's Fabricio Werdum. Three hours prior, ESPN had aired a 30 for 30 episode called "Believeland," documenting Cleveland's major-league title drought. The Indians and Cavaliers Twitter accounts congratulated him shortly afterwards.[43] They and the Browns had earlier wished him luck.[44] He tweeted encouragement to the Cavaliers, who hoped to keep the winning streak alive in the 2016 NBA Playoffs.[45] Some media outlets reported this as the breaking of the curse,[46][47][48] while others contended that it was the Cavs' win that did it.[49][50][51]

References

  1. ↑ The Upshot Staff (June 4, 2015). "The Most Cursed Sports Cities in America". The New York Times. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  2. ↑ Tioseco, Raymond J. (January 4, 2014). "Greatest Moments: 1980 AFC Divisional Playoff". Oakland Raiders. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  3. ↑ Simmons, Bill (January 29, 2010). "Consider these teams officially tortured". ESPN. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  4. ↑ Dyer, Bob (2007). The Top 20 Moments in Cleveland Sports History: Tremendous Tales of Heroes and Heartbreaks. Gray & Company. pp. 277–291. ISBN 9781598510300. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  5. 1 2 Folsom, Jim (May 15, 2010). "The Ultimate Sports Curse: The City of Cleveland". Bleacher Report. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Story of 1995 Cleveland Browns Detailed on NFL Network's 'Cleveland '95: A Football Life'". NFL Communications. September 28, 2012. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
  7. ↑ Wassink, Zac (September 18, 2013). "The Cleveland Browns Have Had 19 Starting Quarterbacks Since 1999". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  8. ↑ Friedman, Matt (January 14, 2014). "Ranking The 20 Cleveland Browns Starting Quarterbacks Since 1999". Return of Cleveland. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  9. ↑ Sprow, Chris (February 23, 2014). "Browns can win with a rookie QB". ESPN. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  10. ↑ Draper, Kevin (November 30, 2015). "Ravens Return Blocked Field Goal For TD With No Time Left To Beat Browns". Deadspin. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
  11. ↑ Draper, Kevin (December 1, 2015). "Browns Fans Shot The Saddest Goddamn Videos As Their Team Blew It Once Again". Deadspin. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
  12. ↑ Schmitt Boyer, Mary (24 November 2012). "Cleveland Cavaliers have seen their share of season-crippling injuries: NBA Insider". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  13. ↑ "Jordan Hits "The Shot"". National Basketball Association. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
  14. ↑ Hyduk, John (May 13, 2013). "Cleveland: Disappointing Fans Since '64". New York Times. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  15. ↑ Swartz, Greg (September 17, 2014). "Cleveland Cavaliers Can Learn from Franchise's Only Other Big Three". Bleacher Report. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  16. ↑ "LeBron's triple-double not enough as Celtics move on to face Magic". ESPN. June 14, 2010. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  17. ↑ D'Angelo, Tom (July 9, 2010). "The King of South Beach: LeBron James will sign with Miami Heat". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  18. ↑ Kerasotis, Peter (December 24, 2011). "For Miami Heat, High Hopes but Lower Volume". New York Times. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  19. ↑ Gaines, Cork (February 14, 2012). "The Cavaliers Capitalized Off Of LeBron For An Entire Year After He Left, But Are Now Feeling The Sting". Business Insider. Retrieved June 6, 2015.
  20. ↑ Broussard, Chris (June 25, 2014). "Agent to Heat: LeBron opting out". ESPN. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
  21. ↑ Haynes, Chris (5 June 2015). "Kyrie Irving fractured his left kneecap and will miss remainder of playoffs". Northeast Ohio Media Group. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  22. ↑ Moore, Matt (June 5, 2015). "2015 NBA Finals: Warriors win NBA title by beating Cavs 4-2 in NBA Finals". CBS Sports. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  23. ↑ McMenamin, Dave (January 23, 2016). "Cavs GM: 'Not fair' to say team taking directives from LeBron James". ESPN. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
  24. ↑ Richcreek, Katie (January 23, 2016). "Cleveland Fans Boo Cavaliers During 96-83 Loss to the Bulls". Bleacher Report. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
  25. ↑ "Cavaliers set NBA record for 3-pointers in game". National Basketball Association. May 4, 2016. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
  26. ↑ Schuhmann, John (May 28, 2016). "Healthy and peaking, Cavs have best title chance yet". National Basketball Association. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
  27. ↑ Mahoney, Brian (May 31, 2016). "NBA Finals rematch set as Warriors, Cavs to meet again". National Basketball Association. Associated Press. Retrieved June 2, 2016.
  28. ↑ McMenamin, Dave; Windhorst, Brian (June 20, 2016). "Champion Cavs drink it all in after lifting Cleveland's title drought". ESPN. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  29. ↑ Withers, Tom (June 19, 2016). "The End: Cleveland rocks as title drought ends in NBA Finals". National Basketball Association. Associated Press. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
  30. ↑ Pattakos, Peter (April 25, 2012). "The Curse of Chief Wahoo". The Cleveland Scene. Archived from the original on January 20, 2013. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  31. ↑ Sheeran, Thomas J. (July 2, 1993). "Indians Will Keep Logo, Despite Objections". Desert News. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  32. ↑ Pluto, Terry (April 16, 2010). "50 years later, the Cleveland Indians' trade of Rocky Colavito still stinks: Terry Pluto". The Cleveland Plain Dealer. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  33. ↑ Cronin, Brian (July 20, 2010). "Sports Legend Revealed: The movie 'Major League' originally had a twist ending". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
  34. ↑ Miles, Scott (June 11, 2008). "Open Mic: 11 Years Later, Indians' World Series Loss to Marlins Still Hurts". Bleacher Report. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  35. ↑ Blocks, Starting (October 19, 2011). "Cleveland Indians World Series teams: Won it in 1920 and 1948; lost it in 1954, 1995 and 1997". Cleveland. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  36. ↑ Curry, Jack (October 22, 2007). "Red Sox' Comeback Lands Them in World Series". New York Times. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  37. ↑ "2007 World Series". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  38. ↑ Kepner, Tyler (October 2, 2013). "Still Playing on Road, the Rays Send Another Team Home for Good". The New York Times. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
  39. ↑ Tannenbaum, Rob (October 2013). "The 20 Worst Sports Franchises of All Time". GQ. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
  40. ↑ McIntyre, Michael (September 26, 2013). "Cleveland Browns, Indians and Cavs combined are worst sports franchises in history, says a magazine no one around here reads". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
  41. ↑ Ivory, Robert. "AFC Cleveland Defeat Sonoma County Sol FC 4-2 For NPSL Title". National Premier Soccer League. ISNSoccer. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  42. ↑ Little, Jack (June 11, 2016). "Lake Erie Monsters Bring A Championship To Cleveland". The Cannon. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  43. ↑ Kalland, Robby (May 15, 2016). "Cleveland finally wins a title: Stipe Miocic takes UFC heavyweight title". CBS Sports. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
  44. ↑ Martin, Damon (May 14, 2016). "Cleveland sports teams throw support behind Stipe Miocic at UFC 198". Fox Sports. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
  45. ↑ Martin, Damon (May 15, 2016). "Stipe Miocic sends message to Cleveland Cavs following championship win". Fox Sports. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
  46. ↑ Kyte, E. Spencer (May 17, 2016). "Keyboard Kimura: The Curse is over — Miocic brings a championship to Cleveland, finally". The Vancouver Sun. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
  47. ↑ "Cleveland ends its 52-year championship drought in Brazil". CBS News. Associated Press. May 15, 2016. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
  48. ↑ Sloan, Mike (May 14, 2016). "Stipe Miocic: I Wanted to End Cleveland Sports Curse at UFC 198". Sherdog. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
  49. ↑ Whitaker, Lang (May 29, 2016). "Cursed in Cleveland". National Basketball Association. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
  50. ↑ "NBA: Irving, Love key to Cleveland resurgence - LeBron". The Times of India. Agence France-Presse. May 28, 2016. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
  51. ↑ Bielik, Tim (May 16, 2016). "Stipe Miocic floored Fabricio Werdum at 2:16: Is this an omen to break Cleveland's curse?". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
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