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When we last spoke – before Saturday evening’s matchup with the Pistons – I had explained in cold, hard terms that there’s nothing easy about the National B.A.’s 82-game grind.

There will be good days – like the March 19 smackdown of the Pistons – and there will be bad days – like last night’s smackdown by the Pistons. And yet, I look across the Cavaliers landscape and see that the Wine and Gold’s recent woes have somehow thinned the herd.

Some of you are wondering if it’s too late to change teams before the playoffs begin. The Lakers have pretty uniforms, you’re thinking. Or maybe the San Antonio Spurs? There’s a team you can set your watch to.

Of course, attendance is voluntary. And if you want to get off the Cavaliers Bandwagon, please be my guest. We’re already over-booked and some of our best passengers are trapped back by the commode or sitting on another fan’s lap.

BUT BE WARNED: Once we toss you off the Bandwagon and into a roadside ditch, there’s no coming back. The NBA season is a linear journey that doesn’t circle back for lily-livered infidels of limited faith. You’re either with us; or you’re with the terrorists.

And if you jump ship now, you might just miss one of the greatest runs in Cleveland sports history – beginning with the nine-game flurry to conclude the 2007-08 campaign beginning today – and its inevitable conclusion with several Cavaliers making out with the Larry O’Brien Trophy in mid-June.

Those of you who have stuck around are wary of Sunday’s opponent, the red-hot Philadelphia 76ers – a team which has gone 19-6 since February 5. You’re thinking that they’re hot and we’re not.

And my point to you is that every hot team starting warming up at some point, and every team that went cold started somewhere, too.

Today, the Cavaliers begin their spring thaw, and they do it early. Boobie Gibson returns to splendor by draining a pair of back-to-back three-pointers in the second period, extending Cleveland’s lead to seven midway through the quarter. Wally Szczerbiak follows suit with pair of triples of his own to give the Cavaliers an 11-point lead at the break.

The beat goes on in the second half, but now TheBron is getting in on the action – netting eight of his 13 third-quarter points on dunks. Zydrunas Ilgauskas is 3-for-3 to start the fourth quarter and the Cavaliers run away from Philly down the stretch.

Wild Things ... We think we love you.

Cleveland cleans out the proverbial pipes with a much-needed blowout over the up-and-coming Sixers – 104-91.

But the joy doesn’t end there for Cleveland sports fans.

On Monday afternoon, our Central Division Champion Cleveland Indians take the field for the first time to finish what they started in 2007. And they start off with a bang.

Eddie Harris makes his fourth-straight Opening Day start for the Tribe and he works six scoreless innings. Pedro Cerrano can not hit Mark Beuhrle's curveball, but the Sox lefty makes a mistake and leaves a fastball over the plate and Cerrano clobbers a two-run tater into the Prog’s bleachers.

Jobu is pleased by Cerrano’s discipline.

Chicago claws back and manufactures a pair of runs in the top of the ninth inning when Tribe centerfielder, Willie Mays Hays, overthrows home plate. The Sox load the bases, but Rick “Wild Thing” Vaughn – a last-minute call-up from the California Penal League – strikes out the side to get Cleveland out of the jam.

Hayes makes up for it in the top of the ninth, reaching on with a bunt single and moving to second on a stolen base. Two outs later, veteran catcher Jake Taylor surprises everyone by dropping a bunt down the third base line. Taylor is safe at first and Hayes ignores Joel Skinner’s stop sign at third, scoring from second on a bang-bang play at the plate.

Indians win the Opener in dramatic fashion – 3-2.

There you go, sports fans! A little good news to make your bull run.

The Cleveland Sports Renaissance has just begun. Now is not the time to cut and run, Cavalier fans. Now is the time to …

Keep the faith, Cleveland

Your pal,
The Optimist

COME ON, CAVS! ©1975

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