One should occasionally take inventory on that to which you’re devoting your time, and former colleague Dale Meggas said it best in his columns about pro sports teams in Cleveland…and waiting for something to change where little seems to change.
Rummaging through some old files this week I found some columns written by Dale Meggas back in 2012…about the hopelessness of being a Cleveland sports fan.
Because, as he explained, of the hapless shortcomings of the then Indians, the Browns, and the Cavaliers. And Meggas put a cherry on top when he added, “even when they win, they find a way to lose.”
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“Cleveland will watch anything,” he wrote. “I’ve taken to rooting for potholes, because in Cleveland it’s the only thing that increases in magnitude, even without management.”
In another, explaining why Lebron left the Cavaliers the first time, he wrote, “I expect a new suburb here someday, named ‘Status Quo’, Ohio.”
In Meggas terms we’re all guilty of having time you wish you had back. In his case, he was particularly harsh on the Indians during the days when they won everything except the big one, during the sellout years from 1991 to ’99.
“For ten years they knew they were a leader short, and they addressed it by hoping that bad luck would strike down the Yankees and Boston,” claimed Meggas.
And with his diatribe on the Browns, post-Marty Schottenheimer, he took no prisoners. After Jimmy Haslam bought the Browns in 2012, Meggas later wrote that a Browns game was a great place to go…if you were hungry for a Slim Jim and a deal on a CB radio, a reference to Haslam’s ownership of a truck stop chain.
On the Cavaliers: “From Nick Miletti until they got LeBron they were always trying to get by with players past their prime, knowing the city would not pay to compete with the likes of the Celtics and the Lakers,” Dale wrote. “They made the Eastern Finals in ’76 and lost to Boston. It felt like a victory. And even when they had LeBron they lost with the winning card, because they refused to build around him. They let Miami do it.”
Dale Meggas passed away firmly believing he’d never see another world championship in Cleveland. He missed by one year.
Meggas swore he would never live to see a Cleveland team win another world’s championship, and he was right. He passed away in March of 2015, a year after the return of LeBron from Miami, and a year before the Cavs would beat Golden State in the NBA finals in 2016.
Dale was a good friend, a talented observer, and his list of things and time you wish you had to do over was entertaining, if not predictable. He was a master, it seemed, of predicting the human disposition for lost opportunity.
“Follow the money,” he would say. “After all, it’s your money.”
But applying his logic, how can you not agree on…
The Reds, post-Bob Howsam, except for that one year in 1990 and Lou Piniella as manager? And even then Marge Schott was clueless as to how to maintain a good thing. It’s now been thirty six years!
“We’re just not going to lose anymore,” said the next owner, Bob Castellini, back so long ago (2006) that most who remember have since died. What Bob meant was, fans could lose their money on a Triple A product, but he wasn’t going to spend his. In Meggas terms, the ultimate pothole.
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The Bengals, are the ultimate tease under the Brown family (what columnist Paul Daugherty called ‘the suits’), whose habit of Cadillac offenses and Chevrolet defenses have somehow kept the gullible coming back, now with latest Caddy at quarterback.
And were you not again taken in by the recent NFL draft, when the Bengals upgraded the defense with Cashius Howell, an edge rusher from Texas A&M. Do you remember Shemar Stewart?
And the Browns took Spencer Fano with the ninth pick? Yes, that Spencer Fano!
And the Cavaliers, if you can even breathe the name following their haplessness against the Knicks, bolstered optimism through the drafting of Meleek Thomas on Wednesday, a guard from Arkansas. In the meantime, Miami decided to invest…in Giannis!
In Dale’s tradition, I’m even tortured by the Ohio governor’s race, because politicians are the ultimate example of time misspent.
Vivek runs on eliminating taxes. And I’m intrigued at his explanation of how his background relates to mine.
Amy still dons her mask as she promises working-class affordability. It’s tattooed right there on her wrist. As for specifics, well, her arms simply aren’t big enough for specifics.
In the meantime, you suffer an entire summer listening to the ads, knowing the end from the beginning. Getting elected is more important than being governor.
Publisher Sonny Fulks writes OHSAA and Ohio State sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
“The one thing you need to remember is that the Halsam family is committed to one thing only. That is making the Cleveland Browns a winner again.” – Jimmy Haslam (2012)
I miss Dale Meggas, as I miss so many others in this business who once told the truth about what the rest of us can see for ourselves.
The Bengals? Three Super Bowls, and nada!
Bob Castellini was telling the truth about not losing, but it had nothing to do with baseball.
No Super Bowls, but Jammy Haslam once famously said, “There’s no primer for being an NFL owner. It’s learn-as-you-go.” And who in the name of Johnny Manziel and Deshaun Watson can question that?
Former Cavs owner Nick Mileti once softened the blow of bad basketball this way: “It’s my team, but it’s the people’s team, too. This way we’re all part of it.”
Time you wish you had back.
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