The renaissance of the Cleveland sports fan - Scott Raab on LeBron, Josh Gordon, Jim Thome, Dan Gilbert and more - WFNY Podcast - 2013-06-24

Scott and I had a conversation over the weekend prior to the podcast in which we decided it was time to see if there's a greater purpose that we can serve. With all the news of LeBron James, Josh Gordon, Greg Little and Tristan Thompson last week, we decided to discuss whether or not Cleveland fans need to redefine who they are. We've lost our way. Our organizations, from owners and players are more temporary than we are and it is time to stop letting everyone else define us. We need to define ourselves. LeBron and his legacy is secured now Can we let storylines unfold? Did this cement the Spurs legacy? Do the ends justify the means? Magic Johnson and how much butt he kissed of players during the finals Philanthropy and who the most generous people in the world are The word genius and the senior superlatives The quarterly earnings announcements and Apple Tax avoidance in corporate life and “branding” Josh Gordon and Greg Little hanging with the Heat and “branding” Let’s assume that they were down there trying to do business Tristan Thompson and Rich Paul hanging out with the Heat Cleveland sports fans have lost their way Browns fans didn’t lose their identity when the team was left We need to define ourselves and who we are as fans as something more than victims The fans and their fandom will outlive all the players and owners Scott Raab and his conversation with Dwyane Wade Cleveland internalizing the worst of their self-image Tom Brady and wearing the Yankees cap around Manhattan The symbol of Dan Gilbert’s original sin was LeBron’s Yankee cap at Jacob’s Field You can’t indict players for their personal relationships or who they want to associate with Josh Cribbs using Dan Gilbert’s seats and tweeting about LeBron Jim Thome statue is pathetic and it defines Cleveland You can’t define your ceiling as Jim Thome Devil’s advocate, but aren’t we being too overly sensitive? This doesn’t happen in other cities Do the owners ever talk to each other? The letter that Dan Gilbert wrote was truly great Who’s more important to you as a business? Employee or customer? Please let us know what you think. What can we do? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices