Cavalier Family Ties
2017-04-28Sports brings people together. It helps create and foster a community of people with a common interest. Look no further than the community here at Cavs: The Blog to see people from all over the world who come together to share there thoughts on their favorite basketball team. This continues on a smaller level among the writers of the Blog, who often share thoughts ideas and feelings on our staff email chain. I can tell you that these are not only great writers, but they’re great people, who truly care about one another.
It’s playoff time in Cleveland again. The Cavaliers are fresh off a sweep of the Indiana Pacers and are now preparing for the Toronto Raptors. That is the main idea of Cavaliers basketball right now, but there is so much more to it for their fans, especially when those families share the bond of fandom.
I’m the oldest of five kids. My parents still live in the house we grew up in, and my wife and I wound up buying a home nearby where we are raising our own children. We’re fortunate to have both sets of grandparents in the same town, and have a close extended family on both sides, but while my family is close, none of my siblings live in the area anymore.
My sisters live in Phoenix and Anchorage, while my brothers reside in Charlotte and Denver. One way we keep in contact is through our family text chain. We always text regularly, but it definitely picks up at certain times of the year, especially during the NBA playoffs. We were all active in sports growing up and continue to be passionate Cleveland sports fans, with varying thoughts on the Cavaliers. I decided to interview them all on their level of Cavalier fandom and connectedness. Sometimes we agree, most times we don’t, but we all love our Cleveland Cavaliers, as you can see below.
What were you doing when the Cavaliers won the NBA Championship last June? What was your reaction?
The Wife: Gatlinburg, Tennessee watching the game with my husband, parents, brother, sister-in-law, and niece. I was pacing in the room.  Once they won we all cheered and cried and my brother jumped into my husbands arms and had a man hug.
The Parents: We were watching the game at home. I was very excited over the win and went outside and celebrated with neighbors.
Sister in Alaska:Â I was hiding under a blanket, trying not to scream as I watched the game unfold. After the Cavs pulled off the win, I jumped around screaming.
Sister in Phoenix:Â Watching by myself.
Brother In Charlotte:Â I was watching the game at home with my 2 year old son. When we won I went out on the balcony so my cheering did not wake him up.
Brother in Denver:  I was at a bar watching the game with friends. My friends were great, they rooted for the Cavs throughout the championship even though none are from Cleveland. Lucky for me there were more Cavs fans than Warriors fans. During Cavs game I am loud always cheering for Cavs (I know this is a surprise).  During the final game I was dead silent.  My friends kept asking if I was ok because I didn’t talk, eat or drink anything.  When The Cavs made the 3 at the end. I lost it. I got up, screaming running around the bar, and high-fiveing everyone (who wasn’t a Warriors fan).  When the game was over I was extremely happy.  I told everyone I wouldn’t cry if they won.  That didn’t hold, I was in tears after they won.  I went out with friends that night and couldn’t sleep when i returned home.  I remember at work people cheering when I walked in with my Cavs gear on.
Who is your favorite current Cavalier and why?
The Wife:Â Richard Jefferson. He’s good at 3’s and I really enjoy his post game interviews with Fred McLeod.
The Parents:Â Kyrie Irving. He is a great offensive player and I feel he is always in Lebron’s shadow.
Sister in Alaska:Â Do I really have to pick just one?
Sister in Phoenix:Â Kyrie Irving, because of his ballhandling skills.
Brother in Charlotte:Â Kevin Love. He seems to always be playing tough ball and is dedicated to the game.
Brother in Denver:Â Â I would say Lebron. Â I know this is the bandwagon fan answer but watching him is so exciting. During the Finals especially that last game he showed why is the greatest player in the NBA. Â When you look at his championship wins with the Heat vs the Cavs win, you can see how much more it meant to him. The fact he broke down in tears shows how much he cares for Cleveland and the fans.
What is it like being a Cleveland sports fan while living in another area?
Sister in Alaska:Â I’ve decided I hate watching the Cavs with people who aren’t from Cleveland! People will say they’re a fan but when they’re down or the game is close, people will start to say they’d be okay with the other team winning.
Sister in Phoenix:Â Great! A much better team than the local sports team (the Phoenix Suns).
Brother in Charlotte:Â Living in another city in Cleveland is difficult. I don’t get many of the games here in Charlotte. I wish it was easier to catch the games during the regular season.
 Brother in Denver: Overall it’s great!  Denver is a transplant city, very few people are from Denver which makes it a great mix of compassion from all over the US.  There are many Cavs fans but also many Warriors fans. It made the win great because it makes you feel like while you are not at home, there is a real sense of community. Denver was great about it. The lights at Union Station were lit up in Red and Gold after the win. I went to the Cavs-Nuggets game and it was a good 50/50 split of fans. I do wish for the final game I was in Cleveland. It would have been great to be able to see my home city finally get the win and celebrate with everyone.
It’s not wine and gold, but you can imagine.
What is your favorite part about the Cavaliers playoff runs? Least favorite part?
The Wife: How exciting they can be! How they can give me such a heart attack.
The Parents:Â I love the whole city’s excitement during the playoffs. Also I love how people originally from Cleveland are cheering for the Cavs over the teams in their new home town. I hate the close games of the playoffs,sitting on the edge of your seat, holding your breath as a ball goes through the hoop.
Sister in Alaska:Â I love the excitement and that typically, the games are exciting to watch. It definitely makes me homesick, when the Cavs won last year, I tried to figure out if there was a way to fly home the next day to join in the celebration!
Sister in Phoenix:Â Least – the high blood pressure it gives me.
Brother in Charlotte:Â My favorite part of the playoff runs is how excited everyone from Cleveland get cheering on the team. Â It seems like everyone is able to come together. My least favorite part is when we lost to Golden State two years ago.
Brother in Denver: The family texts.  Our family had 187 text message from the start of the game to midnight.  Having a family all over the country can be rough, but the Cavs helps bring us all together. The stress is my least favorite part.  Sometimes I think I might pass out when watching them.
How does our family text chain affect your watching of Cavs games?
The Wife:Â I typically ignore it because there are so many so quickly. Â The day after the Cavs championship win, I had 65 unread texts in 2 hours!
The Parents:Â I love hearing everyone’s opinion after plays. It keeps us all connected.
Sister in Alaska:Â Often, the texts keep me apprised of the games and what is going on. Between the 4 hour time difference and not having televised access to all the games, I (mostly) love getting my family’s updates on the game.
Sister in Phoenix:Â It adds to the blood pressure.
Brother in Charlotte:Â enjoy the family text chain as if I am every not watching the game I know everything going on. Â With only seeming everyone once or twice a year it brings us all together almost as if we are all watching it together in the same house. Â My girlfriend finds it humorous trying to talk and watch a game because my focus is all over the place with the game and talking to her and the family texts.
Brother in Denver:Â Love them, everyone in our family has different perspectives and I have the correct one. Â It makes the games so thrilling because while there are Cavs out here, talking to the people I grew up with about them is the best.
How do you think this season ends?
The Wife:Â High blood pressure, nail biting, close to a heart attack repeat of last year……CAVS WIN!!!
The Parents:Â Cavaliers 2nd place unfortunately.
Sister in Alaska:Â Only time will tell…
Sister in Phoenix:Â It depends on their defense in the playoffs.
Brother in Charlotte:Â We will Defend the Land and bring home back-to-back championships.
Brother in Denver:Â CAVS WIN
As an important part of the Cavs: The Blog Community, we want to know your thoughts on these topics!
What were you doing when they won the NBA Championship last summer?
Who is your favorite player?
What is it like being a Cleveland sports fan while living in another area? Or, (if you live in NE Ohio) how has winning a championship changed our region?
Who do you communicate with when you watch games? How does it affect your game experience?
How do you think the season ends?
Is it true that police had to close the main roads into Cleveland before or early in Game 7 because so many people wanted to get into the city to watch the game? I heard that somewhere but don’t remember if it was just some guy on Twitter.
I like to think it’s true. Such a great display of optimism, hope and resilience. Believeland indeed!
I was on the live thread commenting and posting vines, which are all gone now — damn you, Twitter! When the Cavs won I posted something barely coherent and texted my brother in Michigan. We usually don’t communicate during games — superstition or something. The CtB live threads rule anyway! The Game 7 thread is a great way to re-experience it all as it happened. Over 1,000 comments. Crystal-ball awards to Mike Schreiner, who posted before the game, “A sobbing J.R. holding the Larry O’Brien trophy would be so awesome,” and C6H12O6, who said afterward, “Can we hope for a… Read more »
Does the firing of Henry Abbott affect this blog? Is it still part of the TrueHoop network?
Utah will be tougher test for GSW than Clippers would have been. Will probably win one game at most, but still glad they advance to second round. HOU-SAS should be a fun series. Wizards disappointing.
Utah will likely get swept.
Yeesh. Washington and Boston both suck.
Wiz/Celts are going at causing each other some casualties. With Morris out, I see the Celts having the upper hand.
Man my cell phone messages blow…
Morris says he’s playing game 2…wonder if people will call Horford ‘reckless’ or ‘dangerous’ for that play…
Man, content sure is slacking around these parts!11
Joking. What more can you say except Cavs are awesome, the rest of the NBA sucks, except that dumb cocky team out west that thought it was light years ahead but instead just did what any normal NBA team would do which is sign a superstar to complement it’s fraudstars.
What were you doing when they won the NBA Championship last summer? I was sitting on a tiny balcony in a hotel in Crete, watching the game through League Pass on my I Pad, trying not to wake up my girlfriend as it was 5 am Greek time. Of course, I did not succeed as I ended up screaming when we actually won. Who is your favorite player? I really want Kevin to reach his full potential but, really, I should always be thinking how lucky I am to watch LBJ playing for my favourite team. What is it like… Read more »
Which city do you live in? I live in Ioannina. I get what you say. Tough to find people with more than superficial interest and knowledge of the NBA in Greece.
Great story! 5 a.m. is serious dedication.
THANKS PHIL FOR A “LITTLE HISTORY ” LESSON AND PICTURE
AM / AND ALWAYS WILL BE A HUGE SPRINGSTEEN FAN ( SEEN HIM NUMEROUS TIMES IN CONCERT ) 4 HRS OF ENDLESS ENERGY ……..LONG LIVE THE BOSS !!!!
I wasn’t really a fan until I saw him in concert many years ago. (Got to go for free, if you can imagine, for helping set up seats on the arena floor.) Hands down, the best show I’ve ever seen. People, if you get the chance, don’t pass it up! The Big Man is already gone. Bruce and the band won’t be around forever.
When we go down the shore, we sometimes make our way to Belmar, the town that has both E Street and 10th Avenue…
http://www.rockandrollgps.com/how-the-e-street-band-got-its-name/
My step dad grew up down the street.
What were you doing…? We had family over for a father’s day dinner. My brother and brother in law stayed to watch with me for a while, but they had a defeatist attitude and decided they needed go home at halftime. I’m sorry I didn’t insist that they stay. Basically I watched the end of the game by myself, yelling at the TV. Who is your favorite player? This is a tough one. At this point I feel like LeBron is more like a member of my family, so he doesn’t really fit as a ‘favorite player’. I’d say KLove… Read more »
Orlando offering Griffin position as President of Basketball operations. Really hope he stays. Best GM ever.
Betting he’s gone, unless the Cavs offer him some equivalent position.
If you listen to some of his interviews, he turned down a few GM jobs before the Cavs. He’s definitely not a ‘climber’ I don’t see him leaving a championship contender for a better title; it’s not DG
God, this Bulls team sucks so bad. Wade looks like he’s already captaining the banana boat.
They looked great with Rondo in the first 2 games of the series but right after Rondo’s injury they’ve been extremely bad. It’s over for the Bulls tonight it seems.
What were you doing when they won the NBA Championship last summer? 1) Watching the game with my 10 month old son sleeping right next to me. Who is your favorite player? 2) LBJ What is it like being a Cleveland sports fan while living in another area? 3) It’s nice! I’ve always love to watch basketball but now that the Indians have Lindor (from my island) is even nicer. Who do you communicate with when you watch games? Here with the bloggers. Most of my friends are Cavs haters so I just leave them alone lol. How does it… Read more »
Saludos!!!
Cagueño aqui viviendo en North Olmsted :)
Hey, Saludos!
Desde Carolina, PR!
Go Cavs!!
1. I was watching in my living room in Berkeley with my pregnant wife. Couldn’t handle the jeering at the bar if we lost. 2. Though I’m an Akron native and love everything about LeBron, I have a Kyrie shirt and have to admit that he excites me most in big games (except when he sticks to screens) 3. Oh, man. Bay Area life is rough for Cavs fans these days. I share a fitness center with Steve Kerr and see him on occasion. He’s like a god here. I get hassled at Whole Foods by security if I wear… Read more »
btw, great idea for a piece, Mike. Our sports memories are almost all tied up with family and/or friends.
So are you the guy in this NBA Store ad?
https://www.ispot.tv/ad/AelN/nba-store-showing-your-true-colors-featuring-klay-thompson
haha! I loved when that ad came out. It usually doesn’t resolve that quickly (or that well)
1. Watching on TV at home.
2. Current player = RJ (TT 2nd). Champ edition = Delly.
3. In central Ohio, it is fine.
4. Some hoops friends who go way back to our MJ (him) vs Dominique (me) days. He lives in Miami & is a Chicago fan (was pre-MJ). Gives me a good non wine & gold perspective on stuff. Still, I’m not THAT kind of fan (every call is poor, James & Irving are the #1 players EVER and do no wrong, etc).
5. In Toronto in 6 games.
Bird is out. George seemingly leaving as well. Lebron just killed the Pacers franchise for next 5 years.
Wow.
Raptors have an improved roster compared to last year’s ECF, especially defensively. They have a lot of different physical bodies to throw at Lebron. But I think Lebron is playing even better ball right now than he was throughout last year’s EC playoffs.
K-Love and Kyrie will need to step up. Bench will need to be dynamite. But Lebron in the end will be too much. Lebron will destroy the Raptors. Cavs in five.
The nice thing is that we have a better backup PG this year. In last year’s ECF, Delly shot a miserable 29%, 15% from three. And we still blew them out 3 games.
And the Cavs still scored on Horns Rub 14 times in a row with Delly orchestrating.
Delly is amazing and was a huge part of the Cavs success last two seasons. He will always be one of my favorite players and I will always hope he comes back to CLE. But yea, Deron lately has played better offensively than Delly ever did. If Deron can be passable on defense through June, he could be a back up pg match made in heaven with Lebron. Wonder what Deron’s plans are. Wonder if he’d sign on for a year or two as our back up pg. Would love to have him, Korver, Derrick, Cedi, Edy for another year… Read more »
Shut up, Cols.
Don’t want to hear the depressing stats?
Yeah, I disagree with Cols714 often. He is anti-Delly so much he does not see what Delly did do for the Cavs. He also doesn’t apply the same standards to other Cavs players: what did Irving shoot from deep vs. Indy? 21.9% (on a LOT more shots). Still, he is not wrong that an in-shape Williams is a far superior player.
1. In my living room jumping up and down yelling, “they did it!” 2. NBA Champion, Matthew Dellavedova. Favorite current Cav? Tristan Thompson 3. Just seems like we’re at the heart of the NBA universe. Everyone just seems to wear it like a badge of honor. I see Cleveland shirts all over the country. I’m in the middle of the NE Ohio rebirth. 4. I am on the live thread a lot. CtB email chain, and talking to my wife and friend Eric. I even hit Cavs twitter. My wife wonders how I even watch the game. Commiseration makes the… Read more »
Dude. Having NBA Champion Delly as your favorite player during the Leb era is like being a Bulls fan in 1995 and having Jud Buechler as your favorite player.
So hipster
It is only fun because it ticks Cols off.
Hey Nate. More music that doesn’t suck.
Diet Cig – Swear I’m Good At This – Good first album, have a chance to be more
The New Pornographers – Whiteout Conditions – This is good, would be great if it had the usual 2-4 Bejar tracks
Charly Bliss – Guppy – Fantastic, 90s ish sound
Real Estate – In Mind – Just another solid album by a solid group.
Old 97s, Dan Auerbach, Lumineers, Portugal, The Man, Father John Misty… Wasn’t that impressed with new pornographers
Yeah, it wasn’t their best effort. But still solid.
1) Watched the game in the plaza between the Q and Progressive Field. Unbelievable atmosphere. 2) LeBron has always been my favorite player 3) Winning the chip was so cathartic. It’s still hard to fathom that the Dubs were 39-2 in the regular season at home, and we beat them twice in the Finals. I also felt OK with the Indians losing that epic Game Seven after what the Cavs accomplished. Literally my first football game was the Browns 1964 27-0 upset of the Colts, and I thought I might be dead before any Cleveland team climbed the mountain again.… Read more »
1) Edge of the seat, sitting on my couch, watching the game while my Fiance sat prepared with her phone to record my reaction… 2) Kevin Love, we actually have a lot in common! 3) Winning the Championship was like taking the monkey off your back. We don’t automatically expect something to bad to happen. We legitimately thought we were beating the Cubs for the World Series. 4) If I’m communicating with anyone during the games, its CtB. No one in my friends or family circle likes basketball but me. 5) Truly befuddled by this team. I could see us… Read more »
Who do you communicate with when you watch games? How does it affect your game experience? How do you think the season ends? I could be communicating with Cavs fans on Twitter, in the CtB live thread, in our CtB staff email thread, in google hangouts with some of my buddies, and texts with my buddy Duane How do you think the season ends? It’s really hard for me to see the anyone taking 4 of 7 from the Warriors. Of course, I thought that last year. Of course, they didn’t have Kevin Durant last year either. They were a… Read more »
What were you doing when they won the NBA Championship last summer? I was standing in my living room watching on TV with my wife. It all happened so quickly. Who is your favorite player? LeBron. He’s our MJ. What is it like being a Cleveland sports fan while living in another area? Or, (if you live in NE Ohio) how has winning a championship changed our region? Well I’m in Dayton. There are quite a lot of Cavs fans but it’s really the LeBron effect. But I came home for the parade and I’ve been in town a number… Read more »
What were you doing when they won the NBA Championship last summer? Drinking
Who is your favorite player? LeBron James
What is it like being a Cleveland sports fan while living in another area? Or, (if you live in NE Ohio) how has winning a championship changed our region? Awesome
Who do you communicate with when you watch games? How does it affect your game experience? Words
How do you think the season ends? Get to the Finals, then, I don’t know. Hopefully like last year. Either way I’ll be happy.
Watched with wife and brother in law at our house. Literally the temperature in the room we were in was 10 degrees higher than rest of house from body heat tension. Figured LeBron broke his wrist and we were gonna lose at the end. Lebron is my favorite, but I pull hard for Kevin Love. JR is my spirt animal. I tape delay most of the games, so I wait till afterwards usually to do game threads, text friends, etc. My friends know I tape delay so they dont spoil it. Im afraid this year best case is Cavs make… Read more »
It’s not so much as the Cavs are vulnerable as much as the fraudiest team in the west added Kevin freaking Durant to an already good team.
conflicting message ‘already good team’ and ‘fraud’ team :-) You have to pick one, not both, they don’t go together.
I expect Korver and Deron to keep improving. If Kyrie can get it together there may be less vulnerability there than commonly surmised.