Let It All Out. The Cavaliers Hype Thread

Anybody ever surf? The great feeling of getting up on the board, feeling all the power of the wave? Then eating shit and getting your face drug across the bottom.

I'm loving this part. But I'm going to see if we can stay on top of this wave a little longer until it coasts us into the shore before I lose that fear of getting drug under. Call it Cavs PTSD.

If only we could ride this wave to the playoffs and still have a lottery pick next year!

cavsfever said:

If only we could ride this wave to the playoffs and still have a lottery pick next year!

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Make it to the play-in and lose.

I was a teen who never cared a bit for sports. Drove my dad crazy, rest his soul.
What happened? The Miracle of Richfield, hyped by the Great One, Pete Franklin. Changed my life permanently.
What little hair I have still stands on end when I hear "Bingo on the run, the gun, no….rebound Cleamons …SCORE"... I idly fantasize that this life-changing memory may yet again occur (soon?) awakening another few dozen Real Cavs fans.

That team had a nice run, yet never won. They were certainly never expected to win, either. How and why did it grip me so? To quote Carl Spackler: "Cinderella story." And that's why an also-ran still means more to me than 2016 did.

LeBron's tenure here was a rare treasure that will never be matched, but could not truly surprise you or shatter your illusions because he's LeBron. He was Supposed to amaze us and always was. That was our baseline, to be amazed. Takes all of the shock value out of it.

I'll take a team like we now have any day.

They can change your life.

Benway said:

I was a teen who never cared a bit for sports. Drove my dad crazy, rest his soul.
What happened? The Miracle of Richfield, hyped by the Great One, Pete Franklin. Changed my life permanently.
What little hair I have still stands on end when I hear "Bingo on the run, the gun, no….rebound Cleamons …SCORE"... I idly fantasize that this life-changing memory may yet again occur (soon?) awakening another few dozen Real Cavs fans.

That team had a nice run, yet never won. They were certainly never expected to win, either. How and why did it grip me so? To quote Carl Spackler: "Cinderella story." And that's why an also-ran still means more to me than 2016 did.

LeBron's tenure here was a rare treasure that will never be matched, but could not truly surprise you or shatter your illusions because he's LeBron. He was Supposed to amaze us and always was. That was our baseline, to be amazed. Takes all of the shock value out of it.

I'll take a team like we now have any day.

They can change your life.

Click to expand...

Did you attend any of the playoff games in 1976? I went to two, and they were still by far the most intense crowds and deafening noise I’ve ever heard. The Coliseum was Larry Bird’s favorite place to play because of the acoustics and crowd engagement.

As far as the LeBron years - clearly he is by far the best player ever to wear Cavalier colors, but his very brilliance meant a different feel to those teams than the 1976 team which was balanced and far more than the sum of its parts. This team has also been more than the sum of its parts, and we’re so early in this season. It’s a fun team to support and the sheer effort and selflessness is a joy to watch and a treat for refined basketball fans.

The rest of the NBA is going to have to update the threat assessment of the Cavaliers. No team can count on an easy victory playing us.

2 For The Brew said:

Did you attend any of the playoff games in 1976? I went to two, and they were still by far the most intense crowds and deafening noise I’ve ever heard. The Coliseum was Larry Bird’s favorite place to play because of the acoustics and crowd engagement.

As far as the LeBron years - clearly he is by far the best player ever to wear Cavalier colors, but his very brilliance meant a different feel to those teams than the 1976 team which was balanced and far more than the sum of its parts. This team has also been more than the sum of its parts, and we’re so early in this season. It’s a fun team to support and the sheer effort and selflessness is a joy to watch and a treat for refined basketball fans.

The rest of the NBA is going to have to update the threat assessment of the Cavaliers. No team can count on an easy victory playing us.

Click to expand...

No, it was strictly the Joe Tait radio experience for me. I had no wherewithal to indulge my interests in those years, and it was a very sudden awakening. I never even considered it!

(I do regret never having seen them play in Al Sutphin's fabulous Cleveland Arena too.)

Benway said:

No, it was strictly the Joe Tait radio experience for me. I had no wherewithal to indulge my interests in those years, and it was a very sudden awakening. I never even considered it!

(I do regret never having seen them play in Al Sutphin's fabulous Cleveland Arena too.)

Click to expand...

I was 16 and drove my ‘62 Mercury Comet (three in the column, bench seats - they don’t make them like that anymore) from Massillon to Richfield for Game 3 vs Washington - first ever Cavalier home playoff win. The heating refs called two quick fouls on Snyder and a hone boy behind me yelled “We don’t care, we got AC!”. Austin torched them and we won 88-79. Hard to believe a team that went 40-42 the previous year could win a series against the defending Eastern Conference Champs, but we did.

2 For The Brew said:

I was 16 and drove my ‘62 Mercury Comet (three in the column, bench seats - they don’t make them like that anymore) from Massillon to Richfield for Game 3 vs Washington - first ever Cavalier home playoff win. The heating refs called two quick fouls on Snyder and a hone boy behind me yelled “We don’t care, we got AC!”. Austin torched them and we won 88-79. Hard to believe a team that went 40-42 the previous year could win a series against the defending Eastern Conference Champs, but we did.

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they really don't make them like that anymore, LOL.
I think my early childhood was the last era of seeing bench seats in the front, even as the rising tide of minivans still had the column shifter.

The real legacy of the Cavs is in getting those wins and achievements people don't expect. Including "coming back from a 3-1 deficit in the Finals".

2 For The Brew said:

Did you attend any of the playoff games in 1976? I went to two, and they were still by far the most intense crowds and deafening noise I’ve ever heard. The Coliseum was Larry Bird’s favorite place to play because of the acoustics and crowd engagement.

As far as the LeBron years - clearly he is by far the best player ever to wear Cavalier colors, but his very brilliance meant a different feel to those teams than the 1976 team which was balanced and far more than the sum of its parts. This team has also been more than the sum of its parts, and we’re so early in this season. It’s a fun team to support and the sheer effort and selflessness is a joy to watch and a treat for refined basketball fans.

The rest of the NBA is going to have to update the threat assessment of the Cavaliers. No team can count on an easy victory playing us.

Click to expand...

@Benway

To add to this, there aren't really words to describe what the atmosphere was like at the Coliseum in those days. The place was freaking nuts for the Miracle series. I can still remember being 14 years old, and holding my hands over my ears because the crowd was so loud. And that was 20 minutes before the game even began. It was before the days of mass corporate seating, or the importance of "being seen" at games. So basically, the crowd was just all rabid basketball fans. The only time it got quiet in the whole place was during the National Anthem, until some black guy from way up in cheap seats (which is where we were too) with a foghorn of a voice bellows out "Unseld you fat motherfucker!!", echoing all over the place.

Going to that game is what made me a basketball fan.

Dr. Claw said:

they really don't make them like that anymore, LOL.
I think my early childhood was the last era of seeing bench seats in the front, even as the rising tide of minivans still had the column shifter.

The real legacy of the Cavs is in getting those wins and achievements people don't expect. Including "coming back from a 3-1 deficit in the Finals".

Click to expand...

Bench seats were essential for drive-in theaters and nooners in remote campus parking lots.

Coliseum 1976 had no center scoreboard and the loges were at the top, so it was just a big bowl of seats around a hockey rink area, divided in two by an inside concourse, lots of smoke, and noise. At any timeout they would kill the lights to the floor and light up the stands, with everybody cheering and clapping and screaming. No graphics, no timeout acts - totally minimalist and primal. Also all adult men, with huge numbers of homeboys in the upper level corners (fit my budget too). Behind us they had long plastic horns and were yelling at the vendors for more beer - rowdy in a great way, just a perfect sports atmosphere.

The place was so noisy you could not hear the PA for intros - just massive cheering for the players except for BREWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! Booing the Bullets and Celtics was incredible, but the loudest boos were reserved for John Havlicek because Bill Fitch had said he’ll know the Cavaliers have arrived when Havlicek gets booed.

Smoke, noise, monochromatic lighting, basketball - it’s almost like the entire experience was in black and white, right out of a Hollywood Golden Age movie. Glorious.

Benway said:

No, it was strictly the Joe Tait radio experience for me. I had no wherewithal to indulge my interests in those years, and it was a very sudden awakening. I never even considered it!

(I do regret never having seen them play in Al Sutphin's fabulous Cleveland Arena too.)

Click to expand...

I remember trying to get the games on WUAB 43 back then,,,talk about a challenge. That little antenna sticking out of the back of the black and white tv
had to be in the perfect spot to actually see the images of actual basketball players on the court. We watched it anyway.
And these guys complain about streams,,,LOL

WorldFreeB said:

I remember trying to get the games on WUAB 43 back then,,,talk about a challenge. That little antenna sticking out of the back of the black and white tv
had to be in the perfect spot to actually see the images of actual basketball players on the court. We watched it anyway.
And these guys complain about streams,,,LOL

Click to expand...

Heck, most of them were on tape delay!

WorldFreeB said:

I remember trying to get the games on WUAB 43 back then,,,talk about a challenge. That little antenna sticking out of the back of the black and white tv
had to be in the perfect spot to actually see the images of actual basketball players on the court. We watched it anyway.
And these guys complain about streams,,,LOL

Click to expand...

Yep. I’d have some dial I’d turn when I was a kid and some sound similar to a quiet MRI machine would ensue as the antenna turned on the roof and the box would click with each rotation. Watched Len Barker perfect game same way. The good old days. You’d be excited when they’d say we had 40 MLB games or have made an agreement for 16 NBA games. Now I panic if I turn and it’s not on where I expect it to be. I’ve grown soft and spoiled.

Woof woof woof woof woof.