Born Here. Raised Here. Played Here. Betrayed Here.

Wait, don’t leave my blog post just yet! Don’t let the title fool you!

I know what you’re thinking: Melissa, I don’t care about Le-you-know-who! I’m so mad about what he did!

I’m not going to talk about someones “talents” going to South Beach. I’m not going to talk about how betrayed I feel as a Cavs fan. I’m not going to talk about how mad I am that someone went on national television just to boost their ego in a one hour “special”. I’m not going to talk about the fact I’m not mad that someone left, I’m mad about how someone went about announcing it. I’m not going to talk about how someone possibly threw the playoffs.

Above, are things I’m not going to talk about 🙂

Chris Grant’s Statement

After a one hour “special” to break Cleveland’s heart, the Cavs responded quickly. General Manager Chris Grant issued a statement on the Cavs website:

“We believe in this team, this organization, this community, and what we will do to compete at the highest level. We believe in the new coach and leader we have in Byron Scott, and the world class basketball organization and positive and strong culture we’ve established. Dan Gilbert and our ownership group are firmly committed to reaching our goals and succeeding on the court and in the community, at the highest level.”

“Our fans stepped up and showed their support, to a degree unlike anywhere else. We are fortunate to have the support of the best fans in the NBA. That passion and dedication will be rewarded. We will work relentlessly to continue to build a team that will contend. A team that will win championships. We are all competitors and our one goal is to win, that and Dan Gilbert and our ownership team’s commitment and investment in this organization and community are constants that will not change.”

This statement was 100% appropriate. It was issued in the correct manner, at the correct time.

Dan Gilbert’s Letter

The statement heard around the world is more like it! Dan Gilbert decided to write a letter to Cleveland.

When I first saw it, I thought it was fake! I had to check the Cavs homepage a couple of times to believe that the letter was real. (I also did a screen shot so I’d have the letter just in case it got taken down) Did I mention that the entire letter was in Comic Sans font? It was like a 13 year old girl was writing it! Lots of bold, capital letters and quotation marks, too.

Here’s a little snippet of what Gilbert said after someones decision:

Gilbert also made a big statement in the letter: “I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVILERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER ‘KING’ WINS ONE.”

My PeRspective

I love my Cleveland Cavaliers. I will continue to go to games at The Q. I will continue to wear my Cavs gear and smile. I will watch the Cavs when they are televised.

I thought the statement issued by the GM was very classy. He issued a statement to try and reassure fans that it will be okay. It was the right thing to do. He didn’t say anything in the statement that could come back and hurt the organization.

Now, the statement issued by Gilbert……… You have to love his intensity. I truly believe that he meant well by issuing that letter. I love his passion, it jumps off the page. I think he was trying to channel the anger that fans had into positive energy towards the Cavs team next season. I think he wanted everyone to forget about what just happened and keep in a positive mindset with what the Cavs are capable of. Promising a championship…I’ll let that one go.

I think Gilbert could have toned down certain areas of his letter. Maybe he needed to make a draft, sleep on it, then come back and see what he thought. (I would love to see what the original draft looked like). Many people have been reacting to this letter. I don’t think this letter will have a negative impact on the Cavs. If you’re a Cavs fan, you’re still going to buy tickets after reading this letter.

I do believe some parts of the letter were appropriate. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I wasn’t pumped after reading it. Dan Gilbert got me excited. He made me start to get excited for the things that are to come. I just hope that people aren’t actually offended after reading this letter. If they are, they need to step back and take a look at the entire situation. I’m sure most of us would act irrationally in Gilbert’s situation. I’m looking forward to all of the details coming out about what else fueled the writing of the letter.

If you take anything away from Gilbert’s letter, make sure it’s this:

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One Goal

Welp, Cleveland it’s that time of year again. NBA playoff time.

Hearing that just makes me cringe. Playoffs. I have flashbacks to so many missed opportunities. But, this year is our year! (I’m sure we all said that when the Spurs swept the Cavs in the finals).

There’s something different about the Cavs this year. And I’m not talking about their skills, drive or team unity. I’m talking about how they are promoting themselves.

Twitter

Twitter is slowly taking over social media. Everybody is doing it: athletes, celebrities and political figures. Yes, even the Cleveland Cavaliers.

@cavsthrowback gave away a free vintage style T-shirt during playoff game 1. They had many people start to follow them on Twitter and gained instant publicity. This was a great way for them to promote their T-shirts to all the Cavs fans.

@clecavs has over 3,000 followers on Twitter. Throughout the playoffs @clecavs has been giving away prizes such as signed merchandise and even tickets! I was at playoff game 1 and I kept checking my Twitter to see if I could win anything. I didn’t (Sad, I know).

How cool is it the Cavs are using social media to promote their games? News flash- it’s working. @clecavs gives updates of scores throughout the entire Cavs series. They are also giving followers on Twitter a code to use to buy tickets for upcoming playoff games! (You should probably follow them).

Cav Fanatic

The Cavs even have their own official fan site called Cav Fanatic. The site has over 9,ooo registered fans. Fans are able to make blog posts and upload pictures. The one thing I love about the site is the freedom that the fans have to talk about their team. Nothing is better for an organization than word of mouth.

That’s a lie, there’s another thing I love about the site. That would be Joe Smith’s profile. I’m a huge Big Joe fan and was pumped when he came back to Cleveland. Joe Smith has a playoff song posted on his Cav Fanatic page.

I LOVE IT!!! What a great way to promote your team during a time when the fans need to be behind them! This song got me pumped to watch the Cavs. (And I’m listening to it while I’m typing this, it’s rather catchy).

You Tube

You Tube. What a great place to post a video that you don’t mind the entire world seeing. The Cavs did just that.

This video is one of the most hysterical things I have ever seen. And boy did it go viral quick. The video started to appear on ESPN almost instantly. It was an instant classic. The Cavs are known to be one of the teams in the NBA that have the most fun. I think this proves it.

My PeRspective

I think the Cleveland Cavaliers have done the most amazing job using social media to get Cleveland fans pumped. Everyday I log onto my Twitter and hope that I can win something. (I won a tape measure when I was like 5, otherwise I haven’t won crap in my life).

Listening to Big Joe’s playoff song is a great way to get fans pumped. The song also helped Cleveland fans embrace Big Joe when he came back to Cleveland. The Cav Fanatic site even had a special ticket offer for all registered users. Currently, they are giving away tickets to the most spirited fan. Are you going to register?

The Playoff Proposal video will forever be embedded into the minds of Cleveland fans everywhere. I personally won’t be able to get the image of Delonte West sniffing a shoe or crying on Curly’s shoulder out of my mind.

Every way the Cavs used social media has been successful. And I bet they will continue to be successful. I know it’s getting me pumped up about playoffs. And I’m sure it’s helping ticket sales.  (I went to playoff game 1). Mike Brown being Coach of the Year is also great publicity for the franchise and a great accomplishment and honor.

I just have one thing left to say: One Goal. LETS GO CAVS!!!

*All the pictures you see I took during the Cavs v Nets and Cavs v Detroit.

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