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Thursday, July 29, 2010
Cleveland: Meet Patrick Roy
Poz writes about the two side of the Lebron James story, one from the non-Cleveland side (of which is pretty much exactly what I think word-for-word). And the other from the Cleveland side, about how James had a duty to let down the girl who has been dumped by every guy gently, as he makes his way to Halle Berry.
Let me tell you about Patrick Roy. Roy, as a rookie, won a Stanley Cup with a Canadiens team, half of whom were rookies, that was overmatched in 1986. He then did the same thing in 1993. And on December 2, 1995, at the Forum, against the Redwings (I was there!), after giving up nine (!) goals, the Redwings took a very easy shot on him, Roy made a very easy save, and the fans… cheered him. Cheered him like crazy. It wasn’t a good cheer. It was a mocking cheer, like “hey, you finally saved one”. And what did Roy do? He gave us the finger (underneath his glove, but the act was unmistakeable). And when the coach finally did the merciful thing (about 4 goals too late), Roy leaned over to the president (who had his seat right behind the bench) and told him that he would never play for the Canadiens again. (He was traded to the Avalanche and won a Stanley Cup that year!)
This is Derek Jeter giving his finger to the fans and then announcing he has quit the Yankees. But bigger. Roy is legitimately the greatest goalie of all time.
Fast forward a couple of years, to when the Forum was closing (I was there too! Damn I’ve been lucky.), they did a videography of all the great moments in Canadiens history. And what did they show near (or possibly at) the end? Patrick Roy, making a save on Kings’ Tomas Sandstrom in 1993 with Roy responding with a wink of an eye to Sandstrom. It was that cool-as-ice clutch save that Roy made (like Jeter… but bigger), that made Roy famous. And when they showed that video, what did the fans do? They erupted into a cheer. We goddamn love the guy. He was a star, he was brash, he was hotheaded. But, he gave the fans thrills.
Just because he quit on the team doesn’t mean sh!t. It made sense to Roy, and we accept that because what matters is how Roy feels. Not us.
Would Cleveland not react like that had Lebron delivered a championship first? Is that what this is? That Roy gave the fans (two) Cups, and Lebron didn’t? That they haven’t been compensated emotionally well-enough?
Cleveland created an emotional tie to a person who didn’t want it. And when that person cut the cord, now you are blaming… him? Because he used a hatchet instead of scissors?
***
When Gretzky was traded to LA, a member of parliament wanted to declare Gretzky a national treasure, so that he couldn’t be exported out of the country. Obviously ridiculous. Edmonton and Canada moved on. We’ll always love the guy. Cleveland would feel better if they love Lebron, for no other reason than to show other players what a great place it would be to play in Cleveland.
Cleveland: tell us why you are great. Don’t tell us why what Lebron did was messed up.