I thought the vote would be much closer. But you guys clearly have an acute case of Indians Fever.
According to my completely scientific poll of self-selected respondents (cough), fully 80 percent of you would rather attend Game 1 of the World Series than the Cavs’ opener, which will be preceded by the unfurling of the long-awaited championship banner and the players’ ring ceremony.
The vote, via Facebook and email, was 213 to 52.
Many of your answers were passionate and moving. Some were hilarious. A few were incomprehensible, which is always fun, too.
Although dozens of folks — on both sides —called the decision a “no-brainer,” many readers had to fully engage their brains and embark on prolonged thinkathons.
And even then some had to answer conditionally.
Wrote Chris Brady: “It would depend on whether I’m invited to this mysterious party at Napoli’s afterward.”
Also fickle was Linda Houmard: “Depends on the weather.”
The “no-brainer” label does work in the case of Scott Dority:
“It’s either go watch a bunch of grown men at a jewelry party or go with the continuation of one of the greatest baseball stories ever told.”
But anyone who believes a ring ceremony is lame hasn’t talked with Tony McCune.
“I’ve attended one ring ceremony, the Pittsburgh Pirates home opener in 1980, and I literally had chills go up my spine, which I’m not sure has happened another time in my life. …
“Game 1 is an if — if they win this one, if they win the series — while the ring ceremony is what may be a once-in-a-lifetime celebration.”
OFF THE WALL
That opinion is not shared by Robert L. Dyer Jr.: “Easy. World Series. Do you choose to live in the past or the future?”
Well, Mr. Fake Bob Dyer, I’m trying hard to live in the present, but you’re not presenting me with that option.
I’m not into the future. As Jim Morrison noted, “The future’s uncertain and the end is always near.”
Kathryn Boles had any easy time deciding. She is an Indians fan who literally has a place in baseball history.
“I was the lucky person to buy the last ticket to their last game in the old stadium,” she wrote.
“After much hoopla from TV and the team’s front office, I donated the ticket to the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, N.Y. There was a ceremony there and a wonderful write-up in the Beacon. Now, at age 81, I am still watching every game.”
Never one to color within the lines, smart-aleck WNIR (100.1-FM) radio personality Phil Ferguson went this route:
“You have any tickets to the TV Finals of the Firestone Tournament of Champions at Riviera Lanes in Fairlawn? I would like to be right up front. I love Dick Weber.”
Deceased bowling stars aside, a lot of folks based their choice solely on their preference for one sport over the other.
Angelo Zimbardi needed just four words to answer the question: “Baseball. God made baseball.”
Jack Yoak was even more adamant: “BASEBALL IS LIFE!”
And now, speaking for the minority, we bring you Philip Mazi. “[Baseball] is such a boring sport. I always expect to see the outfielders pick grass and throw it at each other while waiting for the next pitch.”
Theresa Göttl Brightman showed appreciation for both sports but summoned more superlatives for the older game.
“While basketball admittedly has its own special kind of ballet, baseball is undoubtedly the most poetic of sports, with its own rhythm and pacing that you will never get from a sport beholden to a clock. It’s almost meditative. My husband calls his favorite MLB ballpark his ‘cathedral.’ ”
FAMILY TIES
Nancy Rullis touched on one of the key attractions with baseball: “I love the Indians [and the Cubs], and, as they said in Field of Dreams, baseball is the game that binds generations together.”
It sure does. Dozens and dozens of readers associate the grand old game with generations gone by.
Wrote Deb Canale: “I would go to the World Series because I recently lost a 103-year-old uncle and, three weeks later, his 99-year-old wife. Both of them loved, loved, loved baseball and the Indians. I know they’re watching these games, and I’d love to give them an extra-special look though my eyes.”
Kit Arn would choose baseball “to honor the years spent learning to follow and love the Tribe with my dad.”
Karen Vallely, 84, remembers listening to Indians games with her dad on the radio — before TV was an option.
Paula Maggio would choose the Series to honor her father, Frank, who died in August “and watched every Indians game right up until the end. … ”
“Before he left this world, he made a final prediction about his beloved Tribe. He said: ‘This is their year.’ ”
If you need more proof that pro sports are important to people, check this:
Thomas Kelly would chose the baseball game “because my best friend’s last words to me before he died were, ‘I thought the Indians would win the World Series during my lifetime.’ I don’t want to have to say the same thing.”
But baseball doesn’t have a monopoly on family and friend tradition. Jeannine Denton said she has loved hoops since the fourth grade, when her dad, a teacher in East Palestine, started taking her to high school games. “Basketball is my life.”
ALTERNATE CHOICE
Then there’s Wayne Greathouse, who would pass up both games for the oldest sport of all. “I have better things to do — like chase my wife naked around the house.”
Some folks were willing to take one for the team, so to speak. Wrote Gina Mace: “Since I can’t watch the Indians or they will lose (scientifically proven, sort of), I would take the Cavs ticket.”
Here’s an angle I hadn’t considered, but it does make sense. Marg Murat says she would go to the Tribe game because “watching the [ring] ceremony on TV is better because it is up close and I can see all the faces and their delight. Plus, I have the chance of hearing and seeing [Austin Carr] and the gang react.”
For me it was an easy decision, but mainly because I attended every World Series game, home and away, in both 1995 and 1997, compliments of my employer. So I’ve already seen 13 of them.
Not that I wouldn’t dearly love to watch Game 1. But this whole 52-years-without-a-championship thing cannot be officially laid to rest until I watch that big wine-and-gold banner slide down out of the rafters.
Julie Carr Bradshaw was among those speaking my language:
“I have waited all my life for that banner.”
The decibel level at both venues will be something to behold. Why, the sound waves might swirl together, roar across Lake Erie and crack window panes in downtown Toronto, a place that, as Ronald Sprunger pointed out, should now be Northeast Ohio’s second-favorite town.
“Someone should send a thank-you note to Toronto — ‘Thanks for the Raptors and thanks for the Blue Jays. From the Cavs and the Indians.’ ”
Bob Dyer can be reached at 330-996-3580 or bdyer@thebeaconjournal.com. He also is on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bob.dyer.31.