CLEVELAND: LeBron James peered into the sea of humanity Wednesday afternoon during the Cavaliers’ championship rally and concluded his 16-minute speech by reminding Northeast Ohio sports fans he returned home from Miami to share the glory with them.
“I’m nothing without y’all. I love all y’all,” James said. “Get ready for next year.”
Oh, they’re ready.
An estimated 1 million people filled the streets, parking decks and rooftops of downtown Cleveland to witness a historic parade and rally.
Some of them camped out Tuesday night to secure a prime spot along the parade route. Many of them fought through hellacious traffic jams or clogged public transportation Wednesday morning to be there.
Wounds healed
A chance to celebrate the Cavs overcoming a 3-1 series deficit and triumphing over the Golden State Warriors in Game 7 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night at Oracle Arena proved to be too alluring for the masses to forgo. And the wounds from the city’s 52-year major professional sports title drought have been healed.
“It’s a huge weight off our shoulders,” said John Lubanovich Jr., 26, of Garfield Heights. “It’s a huge weight off LeBron’s shoulders. Everybody has something to strive for even more now. We’re all champions. It’s not just the team. It’s the whole city. It’s all of Northeast Ohio.”
Lubanovich and friend Derrick Benton, 31, of University Heights, hitchhiked to downtown after learning the RTA Rapid Station from which they had planned to depart experienced delays lasting for hours.
After they arrived in downtown, Lubanovich hoisted a WWE championship belt above his head as he and Benton started “Let’s go, Cleveland” and “Let’s go, Cavs” chants.
Similar scenes unfolded throughout downtown, the fans partying as hard as the Cavs played in their three consecutive victories that made Cleveland a city of champions again.
Fans scraped yellow-and-red confetti off the ground and threw it into the air to imitate James’ trademark chalk toss. They carried signs that read, “You can burn a jersey but not a ring,” “Believeland” and “Promise keeper.” They carried Cavs flags, high-fived strangers and bought “52 years, no more tears” T-shirts.
James used his cellphone to capture photographs or videos of the crowd as he rode through the parade in a convertible. Tristan Thompson grabbed phones from people in the crowd, quickly took selfies while riding in a truck and handed the devices back to the fans.
“We bleed Cleveland,” said Montwez Thomas, 37, of Lorain. “I’m surprised the whole state of Ohio ain’t off work. They should name this LeBron James Day because he did what he said he was going to do.
“When he came home, of course we expected to be right here. Of course! Man, listen, I said to myself, if I ain’t nowhere else when the Cleveland Cavs win the Finals, I promise you if I ain’t locked up, if I ain’t dead, I’m going to be right here.”
The wait is over
Kenny Fruce, 67, of Parma, didn’t think anyone would deliver another championship to Cleveland in his lifetime. At age 15, Fruce sat in section five of Cleveland Municipal Stadium when the Browns defeated the Baltimore Colts in the NFL championship game Dec. 27, 1964. James and Co. ended the agonizing wait for another title and alleviated fans deeply scarred by heartbreaking moments.
“When you get over that hump, it’s well deserved,” Fruce said. “I’m tired of all the commercials of all the sporting events where they bring up ‘The Fumble,’ ‘The Drive,’ ‘The Shot,’ but our fan base never gave up. They’re loyal. The hurt was long overdue to end.
“The Indians are playing good ball. Maybe the Cavaliers just washed the black cloud over the city away. That’s what we’re hoping for. This is a great town. I think the jokes are over. I hope we can meet in the street again at the end of October.”
Unlike Fruce, countless fans are experiencing Cleveland as a title town for the first time.
“We’ve waited forever, and now it’s here,” Alexa Drnjevich, 27, of Ravenna, said. “It is finally next year. It is the year.”
Drnjevich attended the parade with friends Sarah Betts, 27, a Fairview native who traveled from Columbus, and Kimberly Himes, 27, a Cleveland native who came into town from Chicago. They insisted they were too proud of their hometown team to miss the parade.
“I never felt we were ‘The Mistake by the Lake.’ I’ve always believed in Cleveland,” Betts said. “It was just a matter of finding the right time, the right team, the right atmosphere. But it’s put Cleveland on the map. It’s totally wiped out all the rumors of the curse. It’s knocked all of that out. We’re actually on the map and people, I feel, will take us seriously.”
Julie Scanlan, who grew up in Medina, and her husband, Mike, wanted their children, 3-year-old Caroline and 7-month-old Jack, to be a part of the monumental occasion. So the family drove from Bay Village, parked in Tremont and joined a herd of fans who walked miles to reach the epicenter of the parade.
“When it was reported there were a million people coming, we didn’t want to be someone who didn’t show up,” Julie Scanlan said.
“We debated long and hard: do we bring the kids or not. I never saw [a championship parade] when I was their age, and I want to be able to tell them they were there. Just seeing the number of people that are here, it makes up for the memories of heartbreak.”
The tears are still flowing for Cleveland sports fans, but this time they’re tears of joy.
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/abj.sports.