Some know this story well. Others have heard it but laugh. More have heard and forgotten. If you do not fall in any of these categories read on and mark this as your warning.
I have capabilities not even I understand yet. It is a power I must use for good and not evil. If I can learn to control it, you better not step in my way.....or my offspring.
Let me begin. Through my entire life I have had dreams. These vivid dreams seem very real. While nothing about this is unusual, many of them come true. I also get "vibes" about things. Again, nothing different than most people but these "vibes" come true more often than not. Of course I believe in my heart that every single human being has this power but does not appreciate it or harness it properly. I have joked in the past about how I am phsycic but as time goes on I really am starting to believe it. Don't forget the phenomenom that is The Huey Karma passed on down from the Matthews side as well.
Now here is the scary part. This you should fear. Over a decade and a half ago the Cleveland Cavaliers (you knew sports would be tied in wouldn't you?) played the New Jersey Nets, Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls in the playoffs. Each team had a star player that destroyed the Cavs. In the first round, Drazen Petrovic of the Nets lit up the Cavs' defense from behind the arc. It was brutal to watch and I almost lost my mind. I swore up and down that I wanted that man dead or hurt. Fortunately, (or unfortunately to the rest of the world) the Cavs won that series and moved on to Boston. The Celtics had a young rising star in Reggie Lewis. Once again, the Cavs had no answer for the star. Again, I swore up and down that I wanted that man dead or hurt. But the Cavs managed to escape and move on again. Next up were the Chicago Bulls who, as everyone knows, had one of the greatest basketball players of all time in Micheal Jordan. Continuing the pattern, he lit up the Cavs and I swore to the rooftops that this man must be brought down. The Bulls won.
Later that offseason I read the paper and noticed Drazen Petrovic was in a fatal car accident in Germany. "Oh man, that sucks," I thought. "He was in his prime." Then I read that Reggie Lewis had a heart condition. He then passed away as a result. "Oh my. This is tragic," I reflected. Finally, Jordan retired for the first time.
Suddenly I connected the dots. "Oh no! All three of those deaths were players I wanted dead....figuratively!" I felt a shadow of guilt fall over me. Was I the reason they died? Did I cause their death? Did I bring it upon them?
Jordan's deal with the Devil was so strong that not even my secret power could keep him down. He returned to the NBA...twice...and won more NBA rings. But while he escaped death, he couldn't remain in the NBA until he left for his baseball experiment.
Ever since I have tried to keep my mouth censored in my rage against opponents singlehandedly dominating my teams. While I want them to stop, I don't truly want them dead. That is where I draw the line.
This power is not limited to me. My grandfather attended a Cleveland Indians game at the Old Cleveland Municipal Stadium, the Grand Old Lady on the Lake, soon after the Indians won their last World Series. The experience was so bad and the service was so horrible that he left with my grandmother swearing to NEVER return to an Indians game again in that stadium and that they would never win a championship again in THAT stadium. As a result of his boycott he never saw just how even worse the stadium got decades later with troughs for bathrooms and leaking pipes and long poles in the middle of your view. Not to mention the metal seats. But I have my own, nostalgic opinion about that.
Well...the Tribe has yet to win a World Series since. They never won another in that stadium. In fact, they struggled to be competitive until the move to Jacob's Field (now Progressive) in 1994.
Coincidence?
I don't know if I believe in coinciences anymore. Everything just may happen for a reason after all. And the suffering of my fellow fans and those individual players may be the work of my family.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
(And I am working on getting Pa to lift the Curse of the Tribe. He already said the move was good enough. But I haven't seen a trophy yet.)