photo via Cleveland.com
Soaring Over All Obstacles

The Washington Post called it "a masterful, career-defining performance," and it certainly was. The Akron Beacon Journal's Brian Windhorst, writing for ESPN.com, nicely placed Lebron's performance last night into the context of his entire career (he's only 22), going back to schoolyard ball. So this is what it must have been like to watch Jim Brown in his prime, doing things no one else seems able to do on a playing field, elevating the game to a level where it feels more like art than sports. Yes, only five victories now stand between this team and its first NBA championship (which would be the first major sports championship for Cleveland in 43 long years, since Brown willed the Browns to victory). But let's take this one step at a time, shall we? After all, we were up 3-2 against the same team last year, to no avail. But now matter how it ends, it sure is fun to watch your favorite basketball team still playing in June. Last year at this time, as we similarly headed into game six, up 3-2 over the same team (though we're now one series closer to a championship), I wrote and posted this essay on Cleveland's tortured soul as it relates to sports. I think it all applies just as much today, only more.