Johnny, LeBron, and the Ohio Derby … Cleveland Rocks!

Last fall, the state of the Cleveland sports scene was pure misery. The Cleveland Browns, were well, the Cleveland Browns. On the hardwood, the Cavs were still trying to right the ship after the SS LeBron James had sailed away four years earlier for the glitz of South Beach. In the post-King James years, it has been a struggle simply to win three out of every ten games. The perennial losers of the American League, the Cleveland Indians, were the lone bright spot for the city once described as the mistake by the lake. Of course, their first winning season in six did not lead to a thing come the postseason. Their playoff run consisted of one wildcard game, and zero runs. Poor Cleveland, all that time waiting for a chance at the World Series, and the Indians could not even manage a single runner crossing the plate. Speaking of running, the signature race of Cleveland’s racetrack was also floundering. Thistledown’s Ohio Derby held down a place on the post-Triple Crown schedule for as long as I can remember. First run in 1876, The Derby to the north of Kentucky has been won by horses that won the Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic, but recently, much like the local sports teams, it had fallen on disappointing times. The purse had shrunk to $100,000, the once proud race lost its graded stakes status, and was honestly little more than an allowance race with history. In 2012, Prospective defeated only three others. Last year, Title Contender fended off a pair of toughies named Braveman and Handsome Tiger. It was enough to make even the staunchest of Ohio racing fans get the urge to sit through a Browns game. Flash forward to 2014, and oh how things have changed for the city which has not captured a title in a major sport since the Browns in 1964. In mid-May, the Cleveland Cavaliers bucked the odds and won the NBA draft lottery again. No longer quite cellar dwellers, it was not expected for the team that had been stockpiling young talent since LeBron had left town, to win their third lottery in four years. In fact, they were 60-1 long shots to complete the feet. Their prize, Andrew Wiggins, would be added to the mix three weeks later, but more about the reversal of fortune for the Cavs later, for another local team was also making a buzz. Cleveland’s football team have had two winning seasons in the last twenty NFL seasons. The last time they won even a single playoff game was 1994, which was the year after their last dynamic leader, Bernie Kosar, left town. They have struggled ever since. Enter a new dynamic leader. A week before the Cavs won the top spot in the draft lottery, the Browns saw the most dynamic college football player of recent years surprisingly fall into their laps at pick #22. Johnny Football was coming to Cleveland. Love him or hate him, it is hard to argue that no one dominated the college game more than Johnny Manziel did at Texas A&M the past few years. Questions about his size and his maturity saw his stock drop in the draft, but undersized quarterbacks have proven the scouts wrong before. There are likely to be a few growing pains along the way, but for the first time in more than 20 years, the Browns have a dynamic leader once again. Meanwhile, a short drive from downtown, the prospects of the Ohio Derby were on an upswing as well. With their new casino just past one-year-old, there is more money in the coffers. Thanks primarily to video lottery terminal revenue at Thistledown, the purse of the historic race has been raised 300% from the paltry $100,000 of recent offerings. This year’s $300,000 purse is getting noticed, and Saturday’s Derby will include a stronger, deeper bunch. A field of 12, including Almost Famous, Harry's Holiday, and Jessica's Star will make their way to Cleveland once again, to run in the Ohio Derby. Bigger news for Cleveland sports fans was still to come, but for race fans, this is happily a race saved from oblivion. The news hit as subtly as a ton of anvils dropping on your favorite cartoon character … the best basketball player in the world is coming back to Cleveland. Like so many other less famous people who left Cleveland to find their fortunes in other places, LeBron James left the Cavs to chase championship rings elsewhere. Four largely successful years in Miami later, and King James has decided it is time to come home again. After spending the first seven years of his career in Cleveland, LeBron left the Cavs, and to say the void was large and painful, would be an understatement. Cleveland lamented, and their NBA franchise lost. And then they lost some more. Now with two rings on his fingers, and a greater appreciation for his home, LeBron made the big announcement. He will play for Cleveland once again. He comes back as the biggest sports star in America. Past deeds forgotten, Cleveland is ready to welcome their fortunate son back. This time, his team has the talent around him to win. And win some more. Suddenly, the future of Cleveland sports looks as bright as the summer sun shimmering off Lake Erie. To borrow the words of a famous fat man, turned skinny, Cleveland Rocks … See you at the Ohio Derby!