so this is the aftermath

So I was not glued to my tv set last night unlike most residents of my beloved city.

I love watching basketball and I loved watching someone really good play for my city's team. But he's not from here, he's from Akron. His favorite teams are the ones that win, which is why he's a Yankees fan.

I knew he wasn't going to stay, and I was apathetic about it. After being a kid and watching the Indians lose the World Series twice I've emotionally disengaged myself from Cleveland sports. I can't remember a time when we weren't losing, and it's almost just an accepted fact. I cheer for Detroit teams when they're not playing us because they're another depressed rust belt city too, and I feel for them.

If anything, this whole thing just made me laugh, from the embarrassments of the "We Are Lebron" and "More than a Player" absurdity to the huge diss of a press conference and then Dan Gilbert's hilariously juvenile rant in 16pt Comic Sans font. But then again, I thought everyone was losers when they were whining about Modell leaving town and we built a gigantic stadium that sits empty for all but 10 times a year.

We are not Lebron. We're a messed up city with an astounding array of people with many abilities but we often expect some kind of deus ex machina action from our athletic demi-gods. And I'm glad to see Dan Gilbert get mad, because he regurgitates everything wrong about the way people think this city should be run.

I'm sick of hearing about our wonderful downtown core with its potential for casinos and medical marts and such that cater to people who wouldn't waste their time here, who have nothing to do with those of us who live and work here.

But I digress, it was a wonderful night. I walked the dog I'm taking care of, met some of the neighbor kids, and the Liberian family that lives around the corner whose kids I've met but don't really know invited me over for dinner. I sat with them outside, meeting family members, eating rice and greens on living room chairs put out in the driveway. No one talked about basketball but I was invited to a wedding and an African-style cookout party at Edgewater.

I realized I didn't even know what time the thing was at until I was on an elevator to my friend's apartment on the east side and people were talking about it. But we hung out in the kitchen and talked and laughed about other things. This is something only Americans care about, and the rest of the world goes on regardless.

There is so much life that goes on that has nothing to do with moods and whimsies of multimillionaires that we miss out on so frequently.

This has been one of the most messed-up weeks I've ever had, but Lebron is the least of it. We will go on living and surviving because that's what we do.