Day 151

I dreamed about my dad last night for the first time. At least the first time I can remember. I woke up from the dream about 4:30 and thought it was real. I thought he was still here. It was eerie. We were at a Cavs playoff game at the old Richfield Coliseum and the Cavs had won the game and the series, yet the crowd was completely silent in disbelief. Almost like the Cleveland fans thought they had lost even though they had won. My dad and I were hugging and screaming "we won, we won" and jumping up and down. Nobody around us was moving. My dad turned to me and gave me this huge hug and all of a sudden I had a crazy feeling surrounding my body, he pulled back and looked at me right in the eyes, and I woke up. I couldn't go back to sleep. I don't believe in the afterlife or messages from beyond, but it felt so real, like he was trying to tell me something. Who knows? Maybe some good luck will soon follow. I can only hope so.

I have to talk about Cavs. Last we spoke, the Cavs were down 2-1 and heading into game 4 in Cleveland which nobody expected us to win. They did and tied the series at 2. Game 5 started at 6 PM CST last night and just before I left I went over to Dave's house and watched the first quarter with Sara before he came home from work and we went to a bar to watch the second half. Nobody, especially me, though the Cavs had any sort of chance to win this game. We came out hot, led by The Big Z, Zydrunas Illgauskas, who actually showed up for the first time all playoffs. The game was close throughout the first half and the Cavs took the lead mid-second quarter and led by 5 at the half. During the second quarter, I called MD, who was courtside, and he said "In all of my years of watching Cleveland sports teams, I have never seen a Cleveland team play with big balls like this. They have taken the crowd completely out of the game, they look like the aggressors, and they believe they can win even though nobody else does." Funny, because as much as I agreed with him, I just figured for sure we would end up losing. In the third quarter, we made a huge 11-1 run to go up 10 and things looked great. Then the Pistons went on a 13-3 run of their own to tie the game. That is when I turned to Dave and called the game "a loser." Yet, inexplicably, Lebron James wouldn't let us fall. The Cavs end the 3rd quarter and the start of the 4th quarter with 7 straight points to go back up 7. I still figured we would lose. The Pistons tied the game at 79 with 3:30 left and Damon Jones hit a huge 3. The Pistons would tie it again at 84 after Antonio McDyess' lay in with 1:24 left. After a Cavs turnover and two Ben Wallace free throw misses (he went 0-7 from the line), the Cavs had the ball with 30 seconds left. Everyone in the building figured Lebron would take the shot. He received the inbounds pass and was quickly double teamed. Being the consummate team player that he is, Lebron fed the open Drew Gooden underneath for a layup and a Cavs two point lead. The Pistons missed three chances to tie the game. A Tayshawn Price shot was blocked by Donyell Marshall out to Lindsay Hunter, who missed a short jump shot. Their last ditch play for Richard Hamilton never hatched and the Cavs were winners. Did this really happen?

Things to ponder. Cleveland fans such as myself are so use to being let down and so use to losses that we just expect to lose games like this. I figured we would win one game tops in this series and here we are one win away from winning the series? You know what this is setting up don't you? Another Classic Cleveland collapse. Its great to be a Cleveland fan for this 24 hours, but talk to me Sunday night after the season is over and the Cavs have lost two in a row. Did you know the Pistons have lost three in a row in this series, yet didn't lose three in a row the entire season? So why do I feel this way this morning? I am on cloud 9 with this victory. I cannot imagine how crazy and loud The Q will be Friday night. I have been thinking about every possible way I can get a ticket to go to the game. Yet, I know we are going to lose. "Why are you always so negative" you may ask. The answer is it is ingrained in my DNA as a die-hard Cleveland sports fan. This is what we do best, get so excited, back our teams to the nth degree, and watch as they let us down and choke it all away. What may make this different is one man, Lebron James. He has taken the city and the NBA by storm. He is a once in a lifetime talent that actually plays for our team. All the calls that have gone against us all of these years, we are now getting. But lets be realistic - if we don't win on Friday, its over. No chance the Cavs win in Detroit in game 7, where the Pistons only lost 4 games the whole season. With that crowd behind them, the emotion of the possible return of Larry Hughes after the tragic death of his brother, and the chance to close it out, this is their best chance. I won't predict a win, when that happens, usually bad things follow, so I will stay out of this one. All I can say is the Cleveland Curse - you all have been warned. The clouds are circling.

Song of the Day: "Time for Some Action" by Redman