We Are the Champions

I don't even know how to start this post. The emotions are too raw, too new. A Cleveland sports team has won a championship for the first time in 52 YEARS. We are all so full of joy and emotions that we just don't know what to do with ourselves.

Other than this of course...

This was me, trying to record the moment that the clock had ticked down and we all realized that it was really going to happen. The Cavs were going to come back from a 3-1 game deficit and beat the Golden State Warriors, on their home court, to win the NBA Championship. I was trying to get a video and at the same time keep my phone from being drenched by the showers of beer that were raining down. The screaming that you hear just might be me.

I was not born in the city of my heart. I was born two states to the west, in the suburbs of Chicago, home of Da Bears, Da Bulls, Da Cubbies, Da Sox, and Da Black Hawks. Yes, I was born there. I was raised there. But my heart is not there. My heart is here, in the best place to live EVER, Cleveland. I am married to a life long Clevelander, a man who, depending on the season, bleeds Wine and Gold (Cavs), Red White and Blue (Indians) or Orange and Brown (Browns).

When the Cavs beat Golden State (or as my daughter of the heart Ahren calls them, the F***ing Yellow Bridges) in Game 6, HHBL and I looked at each other and said, "We have to be a part of Game 7 in whatever way we can!" We could not secure tickets to the Watch Party at The Q (Quicken Loans arena but who wants to say THAT all the time) but we did go downtown, walk all around seeing all of the people and just soaking everything in. Then we had dinner at an Ohio City brewpub, Market Garden, where the Hellamango IPA is stellar, and watched the game with a packed crowd of other Clevelanders. This was not an experience that you could have by yourself. It was a shared experience of the heart with all who have waited so long for this. The odds were against us. Golden State had the best season record. They hadn't lost three games in a row all season, let alone three games at home. No team has EVER come back from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA finals. Many would argue that Golden State has the better team. They certainly have the better bench.

We just wanted it more.

Two days later and we are still looking at each other and saying, "They did it! They really did it!" 

 We are the champions. Whether they win again, and believe me, I would love that. This victory will always be the sweetest.