Should Cleveland Fans Retire 3-1 Jokes?

I’m going to start off this post by saying it’s not going to appeal to every fan of the Cleveland Cavaliers. There are many Cavs fans that follow LeBron James and the star power that he brings, which is totally fine. I’m speaking to all of the Cavs fans that also support the Cleveland Indians and that team that tries to play football near Lake Erie.

From approximately 11pm on June 19, 2016 we (yes, I’m absolutely including myself) flooded Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and anything else we could think of with elaborate jokes about how the 73-9 Golden State Warriors with the NBA’s first ever unanimous MVP became the first team in league history to blow a 3-1 lead in the Finals, with home court advantage, no less.

In case you live under a rock, or haven’t checked a television or any of the previously listed social media platforms, the Cleveland Indians did just that, they blew a 3-1 lead in the World Series against the Chicago Cubs. This leads the fan base of the Cavaliers to a pressing question.

What do we do about our 3-1 Golden State Warriors jokes? Should we retire them? Keep them going? Slow down a little bit? Is it bad Karma?

I, for one, am in favor of continuing to troll the Golden State Warriors and keep having fun at their expense. There are quite a few reasons why I think this should continue to be done.

1. The Warriors were a historically great team. They went 73-9 and had the best regular season record in NBA history. That’s the biggest reason I think things should continue the way that they are. The Indians were a team decimated by injuries and quite frankly lucky to be in the World Series. Tons of people wrote them off before the playoffs even started and they were underdogs in every series throughout the playoffs. The Warriors were the overwhelming favorites.
2. Draymond Green couldn’t keep his hands to himself. There are two moments that I feel were incredibly influential to the Warriors blowing their lead. The first moment was when Green decided it was a good idea to take a shot at James’ groin, less than two weeks after attempting to put the shorts of Oklahoma City’s Steven Adams through a field goal post. Green was suspended, and deservedly so. This moment was a huge turning point in the series and should be pointed out at every opportunity. To my knowledge, no Indians’ player came close to striking a member of the Cubs below the belt.
3. Klay Thompson’s ‘Man’s Game’ comments. This reason might be my favorite of all of them. Warriors’ shooting guard Klay Thompson decided it would be a good idea to call out James on the eve of Game 5, saying that he guessed LeBron’s ‘feelings just got hurt’ and that this was a ‘man’s game.’ James responded with arguably the greatest three game stretch the league has ever seen, considering the circumstances. Since those comments Thompson hasn’t played like his usual self, either.
4. The Warriors were the first team to ever blow a 3-1 lead in the Finals, this has happened in baseball before, multiple times. No one in NBA history blew a lead of that magnitude in the Finals, it’s happened plenty of times in baseball before.
5. The Warriors were favored over the Cavs, and the Indians were considered the underdogs against the Cubs. Personally, I think that this World Series more closely resembled the 2015 NBA Finals, rather than 2016’s rematch. The injury ridden Cavs did hold a 2-1 lead before running out of gas against the Warriors, who ultimately were the more talented team. In the World Series the Indians had many of their players either out or at less than full strength. Left fielder Michael Brantley, widely regarded as the team’s best player entering 2016, missed all but 11 games of the season due to a shoulder injury. Pitchers Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar were unable to make starts in the playoffs due to injuries. That sounds awfully similar to the Cavs losing Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving getting hurt in 2015, doesn’t it?
6. Steph Curry was the unanimous NBA MVP. That had never happened before, ever. For the team to have a 3-1 lead, and the player that literally every single person with a vote considered the most valuable in the league, and still blow it makes it that much better.
7. The Klay Thompson presser might be my favorite thing, but a close second is Curry throwing his mouthpiece upon fouling out in Game 6 and being ejected. That moment will go down as one of the funniest things I have ever seen a big time athlete do on the biggest stage of his life. It was priceless.

I think that those seven reasons give Cavs’ fans plenty of reason to continue to troll the Warriors. The jokes clearly bother them, and truthfully, that’s the best part. Yes, the Indians did blow a 3-1 lead to the superior Cubs in the World Series, and no, it is not nearly as big of a choke job as the 73-9 Golden State Warriors with the NBA’s first ever unanimous MVP blowing a 3-1 lead to the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals.

I’ll close with a quote from respected chef Ayesha Curry, “I’ve lost all respect, sorry this is absolutely rigged for money or ratings, I’m not sure which. I won’t be silent. Just saw it live, sorry.”