I was talking with my roommate yesterday when it dawned on me that of all the hard-luck sports cities, Cleveland has been hit the hardest. This is not just because of that LeBron character that skipped town. In 2007 all three of their professional sports team were budding with playoff success. Not only did these teams have quality rosters but they were budding with young talent. Now each of those teams have hit the skids and will be lucky if they aren’t cellar dwellers. Let us observe. 

We’ll start with the most obvious example in the Cavs. In the 2006-2007 season LeBron James led the Cavaliers to one of their highest regular season win totals in decades and went into the playoffs as the number two team in the Eastern Conference. They made it all the way to the NBA Finals where they were promptly swept by the veteran San Antonio Spurs.

While it was discouraging to see their fair so poorly in the Finals, Cavs fans were optimistic that they could continue to build around Lebron and hopefully get a championship from him before he hit free agency. That never happened as the 2008, 2009 and 2010 teams were never able to make it back to Finals. 

Now Lebron and his talents are in South Beach and the Cavs are left with a team that would struggle to win games in the Ivy League, let alone the NBA. While it could be said that the Cavs fall from grace could be the most epic of all time, the disappearing act of the Indians might be able to rival it. 

Back in ‘07 the Indians were the hottest team in the American League going into the playoffs. Most people don’t remember this but their lineup was stacked. Who was pitching for the tribe back then? Oh just some chumps named C.C Sabathia and Cliff Lee. (Cliff Lee didn’t really hit his stride until 2008 when he wont the Cy Young but he was still part of their giant talent pool.) Correct me if I’m wrong but I’m pretty sure these guys are the best pitchers in the game behind some guy with the last name Halladay. In 2007, they were on the same team. No big deal.Their offense was just as dangerous with guys like Travis Hafner, Grady Siezmore and Victor Martinez hitting the ball all over Jacob’s Field. 

In 2007 the Indians beat the Yankees in the ALDS but couldn’t finish off the Red Sox in the ALCS even after jumping out to a 3-1 lead in the series. Since then, Siezmore has been hurt, young talents Shin-Soo Choo and Ryan Garko failed to meet expectations and Lee, Sabathia and Martinez were traded to greener pastures. This year the Indians won whopping 69 games. That’s quite a fall from 95 wins in 2007.

To finish it off, we have the good ole Cleveland Browns. It’s hard to believe but the Browns were halfway decent in 2007. They barley missed the playoffs with a 10-6 record but like their other Cleveland counterparts, there was hope in the future. QB Derek Anderson had a Pro-Bowl caliber season, Jamal Lewis was still running hard and they had young guns Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow Jr. at wide receiver and tight end respectively. 

With high hopes coming into the 2008 season, they started of horrible, losing their first three games, and ended even worse, losing their last six in a row by a combine score of 129-31. This year they started off the season with a similar 0-3 record and unless they can convince the Colts to trade Peyton Manning for Seneca Wallace it’s going to be another long season.

So there you have it folks. One of the greatest collective downfalls in sports history. It’s OK Cleveland. Maybe someday a town in Ohio, we’ll say Akron, will produce a one-in-a-lifetime talent that can resurrect the…oh wait…that already happened? Never mind then. Better luck next decade Cleveland.