MLB Playoffs

[geonuc]

We could always go back to being the Cleveland Spiders.

That's a big no. How about the Cleveland Rockers?

[pumpkinpi]

We could always go back to being the Cleveland Spiders.

That's a big no. How about the Cleveland Rockers?

At first I thought, why the hell name the team after that horrible man, John Rocker?
But now I get it--the Rock Hall. Good idea.

[Swift]

We could always go back to being the Cleveland Spiders.

That's a big no. How about the Cleveland Rockers?

Been there, done that.

The Cleveland WNBA team was the Rockers, but they went belly up.

How about the Cleveland Indigenous Peoples?

[Thumper]

The Cleveland "Rush Fans."

[geonuc]

The Cleveland "Rush Fans."

That's a good one.

What else is Cleveland known for? How about the Cleveland River Fires?

[Thumper]

The Cleveland "We're not Buffalo!"
Okay, now we're starting to be mean.

[Rommie]

"Hello, Cleveland!"

No really, I've been to remote corners of the world, but I can assure you if you say "Cleveland" people will say "Lebron James!" with giant smiles on their faces. (Then, when I'd convey that I actually saw him play, I'd get looks of reverence.) I mean, I didn't go to these remote corners when he was in Miami, but still, that's what you guys are known for. Accept it!

[Thumper]

I watched LeBron play when he was in high school...

[Swift]

What else is Cleveland known for? How about the Cleveland River Fires?

You and I may have to have The Talk.



There was a big uproar around here during the ALCS series, when TBS had some promo that showed a river on fire.
http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2016/10/tbs_trolls_cleveland_with_phot.html



The really stupid thing, that photo isn't Cleveland, it is some fire in Russia. If you're going to punk us, at least actually show our river. Why didn't you show the Boston Molasses Flood for the ALDS? I think the generally response around here was Fuck You TBS.

The funniest river fire story I ever heard was from decades ago. There was a columnist in the local paper named Joe Dierk, who I really liked, and who had moved to Cleveland about the time I did (1987). It was some round-number anniversary of the river catching fire and he was talking to some young woman about the event. "Hey, did you know its the 20th anniversary of the Cuyahoga catching fire?", to which the young woman responded, "That was Cleveland? I always thought that was Pittsburgh."

In one breath this young woman and solved Cleveland's never ending bad PR; if anyone ever says "Cleveland, isn't that where the river caught fire?", the response is "No, that was Pittsburgh".

[SciFiFisher]

You guys caught an entire river on fire? You should be proud of your achievements! How many other cities can say they caught a river on fire?

[Parrothead]

How about the Cleveland Barons, oh wait, they tried that one already in the NHL. Cleveland River Fire Barons?

[Swift]

You guys caught an entire river on fire? You should be proud of your achievements! How many other cities can say they caught a river on fire?

I suspect you guys know this (and the fact will probably only encourage you), but people around Cleveland generally don't find this funny. Or even more so, we can make fun of it, but you all can't. Sort of like ethnic jokes - if you are a member of that ethnic group you can tell the joke or use the slur word, but the rest of you can't. Great Lakes Brewery has a beer called Burning River Ale, but the rest of you aren't allowed to make such jokes.

http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/What-the-Chicago-River-Can-Learn-From-the-Cuyahoga-147321045.html

The best example of an urban river’s recovery is the Cuyahoga, in Cleveland. The city was shocked into cleaning up the river after it caught fire in 1969. As the Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote, on the 40th anniversary of the fire:
the Cuyahoga has become a river teeming with fish and other aquatic species. And how more and more people in Northeast Ohio are using the Cuyahoga as a playground as it runs its 100-mile, U-shaped course from rural Geauga County down through Akron and back north to Cleveland. The Cuyahoga has come a long way from the waterway that a Cleveland mayor in the 1880s (Rensselaer R. Herrick) described as “a sewer that runs through the heart of the city.”

https://medium.com/climate-desk/stop-joking-about-the-cuyahoga-river-fire-97456720982#.a4bm485q1

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: On June 22, 1969, Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River caught fire. Well, technically, oil and debris floating on the surface of the water caught fire — the river, which empties into Lake Erie not far from the site of the blaze, had served for more than a century as a dumping ground for the various industrial companies along its banks. The fire wasn’t even the first one, or the worst — in fact, the infamous photo of a burning Cuyahoga in Time magazine two months later was from a previous fire, in 1952, because the 1969 fire was under control before any photographers could arrive.

But that’s not the end of the joke. Not only did the Cuyahoga catch fire multiple times — as many as 13 times, starting as early as 1868 — but rivers in industrial cities all around the country, including those in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Buffalo, and Detroit, had a history of bursting into flame. Pollution in these “industrial streams” began in the days of John D. Rockefeller, right around the time Cleveland residents began complaining about the taste and smell of their drinking water; by the point of the 1969 fire, the city, spurred by activism, had already undertaken cleanup efforts that were often stymied by big business.

Hilarious, right?

I lived in Providence in the 1980s, when the Providence River had a pH of about 3 and could have been used as a plating bath.

And all this relates to why Cleveland doesn't share the rest of the nation's/world's love for the Cubs to win the Series. To us it is just another example of, as Lebron James said "Cleveland Against the World".

[geonuc]

Or even more so, we can make fun of it, but you all can't. Sort of like ethnic jokes - if you are a member of that ethnic group you can tell the joke or use the slur word, but the rest of you can't. Great Lakes Brewery has a beer called Burning River Ale, but the rest of you aren't allowed to make such jokes.

Fat chance.

[geonuc]

By the way, in all seriousness, Cleveland seems like a pretty decent place to live. Except for that snow thing y'all do every year.

[pumpkinpi]

What I love about a Game 7 is that nothing up until this point matters anymore.....you just have to win this one game! May the (team who plays the) best (tonight) win!

[Parrothead]

May Game 7 be a close one, no blow out victory.

I'm leaning towards the Cubs, just for the length of time, since their last World Series win. They will be able to feel a euphoria similar to BoSox fans, when the "curse of the Bambino" was finally broken. If Cleveland wins, their first World Series win in almost 70 years.

After this game, I can go back to being a long suffering Leafs fan.

[Thumper]

May Game 7 be a close one, no blow out victory.

Granted, my son.
Quite the series, if you're a fan of the game.

[geonuc]

Congrats to the Cubs. That's two curses eliminated in recent times (Bosox).

[SciFiFisher]

May Game 7 be a close one, no blow out victory.

Granted, my son.
Quite the series, if you're a fan of the game.

I used to watch a fair amount of baseball. Of course, that could be because we only had one TV and my dad got to pick the channels. Did I mention he was true baseball fan?

But, this definitely was a series worth watching. Both teams played well and it's always fun when it comes down to the 7th game and keeps everyone on the edge of their chair.

[Swift]

Though I was disappointed in the outcome, I would say it was one of the more exciting World Series games I've ever seen.

In one of the post game interviews (I think it was the general press conference) Terry Francona (the Indians' manager) was asked about how he felt about the loss and the effort his team put in and he had the best quote: "They tried until there was nothing left". And I absolutely agree. They gave it everything they had.