winning and loosing

I set off on my run this evening to meditate on winning and loosing. The Cavs are 1 game away from being eliminated from the NBA play offs following a season of dominating the league. The season we in Cleveland have followed has been the most promising of any of our pro sports teams in my lifetime. With Lebron James leading his best team, we have had confidence that we would finally experience what every other major city in America has witnessed. A championship.

Winning is a foreign subject to me personally. The last time I was part of a winning team was my Little league team (Tris Speaker youth baseball) My team went 14-1-1. Our final game was a scrimmage against the 2nd best and only team to beat us. We won 19-3. We were the Giants. We were coached by some college players that were really good at teaching us the game. What I will always remember is how well we did the basic things. When ever we did something special on the field it counted and was magnified because all the basics were taken care of.

As an adult athlete I have two age group awards from 10 years ago. My approach to racing is much more in line with participating then it is competing. I look for a personal challenge or a fun event to see friends and run faster or further then I normally would. I race with personal goals, but I have no plans on returning home with anything other then a finishers medal.

As a fan, I love to watch the games. I love getting to know the players on the field. I love seeing the way a team meshes. I love seeing an underdog like the '97 Indians or the '05 Cavs exceed every ones expectations, and not being surprised. I know that I can look back on this past season and say that I have every reason to believe that LBJ and co. can and should win the next 3.

As a Clevelander I am haunted by a sense that I will never see it happen. An Injury or free agency will snatch hope away. The best opportunity to win will be thwarted by one moment that will be remembered vividly by all in our city.

A ball sailing inches from the outstretched glove of a favorite pitcher. A great RB being stripped before he crosses into the end zone. Moments that defined the careers of two of the greatest players ever. An interception that made the coldest of January's ever in our history that much colder.

2007.....I am so glad I had ironman during the never ending sports disappointments we went through 2 years ago. As a Cleveland sports fan, I am familiar with disappointment. The best we have had was a team that still had a chance in the last play of the last game. The big win never happens here. That's just the way it is.

My run took me through a warm rain, down the hill into University Circle. The turn around point is the lagoon in front of the art museum. as I pointed back eastward I noticed a rainbow leading into the area of the University Hospital. The Rainbow Babies and children hospital appeared to be the end point of the rainbow. Having been born in that hospital, I was reminded of my mom claiming she had my dad circle round Severance Hall home of the Cleveland Orchestra, to insure musicality. I remember going to her work at the institute of art when I was young and being influenced by so much music and art. I remembered listening to music at the Jazz and folk clubs and eventually performing at them. I thought of the Gardens and Museums. I thought of the city and the amazing park system. The way the people support the arts and work to preserve the culture. I remembered that the place I was born is very special. I am proud to claim Cleveland as my birthplace and home. I realized that the end of the rainbow is an amazing city. Win or loose, it is always home.