SEATTLE -- I rarely let myself become emotional over sports. As a Cleveland fan, it's almost too heartbreaking to get invested. For the most part, I only let myself become briefly captivated by the occasional touching storyline.
The single outlier for this tenet was the 2016 NBA Finals. I was convinced that I would be disappointed yet again, but the ultimate paradigm of being a Clevelander is that, despite all evidence to the contrary and against all conventional wisdom, we still retain a sense of pride in our city and our sports teams that sustains our hope for a championship, however unlikely that outcome.