MyFriendCleveland

All these days seem to be blending in to each other at this point. Read more

Last time Jon and I were in Kansas City together, we ended up at this place called the Power and the Light district. It was pretty awful and Jon ended up writing a song inspired by the area. Read more

Day 3’s “St. Louis” was actually Belleville, IL, a small town about 30 minutes north of St. Louis. I am a huge fan of small towns. Read more

Touring is weird. When you’re a band at our level, you can’t go into it expecting every show to be amazing. You’re definitely going to have your awesome shows where everything seems to be perfect and then you’re going to have shows that sort of fall apart right in front of you. There are too many factors to count in what could make something really awesome or really awkward. Read more

I’m going on tour for three weeks with my band, which is hilariously called The Fucking Cops. I’m going to take a computer and a camera with me and try to write about as much of it as possible.

I hope you enjoy it.

I’m waiting for a friends band to play. Had 30 minutes to kill. Ate a burrito. Wasn’t hungry. Just needed something to do.

I’ve been staying in Seven Hills a few nights this week. Read more

Berea Fest is one of the better weekends of my year. Read more

I don’t want every post on here to be about LeBron going to the Heat, because honestly we all need to get over it. It happened, let’s move on. Read more

Just when you thought we couldn’t hate the Heat any more, they’ve gone and signed Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Read more

I’m super excited for Berea Fest, which is coming up this weekend. Read more

Well it’s old news now, but Akron native Lebron James has decided to move to Miami and play for the Heat. Rather than post my immediate reaction like Cavs owner Dan Gilbert (and unfortunately I won’t be posting this in the universal “I’m pissed” font of comic sans, like Dan), I thought I’d let the news sit for a few days before I said my piece. So, what I want to say to Lebron James, after a few days of cooling off, is:

Thank you.

Thank you for helping me remember something I pushed out of my mind years ago. See, I was never a sports fan growing up. I didn’t get it. I never felt the personal connection to the team. But 7 years ago I foolishly forgot all that and got behind this local kid from Akron who, by luck of the draw, ended up on his hometown basketball team. This kid was going to win Cleveland a championship because he cared about us as much as we cared about him. He knew what a championship would mean to Northeast Ohio. But on Thursday, he reminded me why I didn’t watch sports for 21 years of my life: these superstar millionaires are self-serving, egomaniacal pricks.

Lebron wants to win championships for one person: himself. He doesn’t care if his jersey says Miami or Cleveland on the front, as long as it says James on the back. Hell it could read “BP” or “Applebees” on the front. These millionaires ARE NOT PLAYING FOR US! They do not have any sort of city pride. They do not care about us. That actually makes it sad to be a sports fan. Not sad like, “woe is me, we never win” but sad like “pathetic.” Why do we care about this guy? We pour all this love out to him. We act like he’s one of us, like he cares about us. We get excited when he wins, sad when he loses, concerned when he’s hurt. But we’re duped. We’re basically cheering him on while he is on a personal quest to feed his own ego, but we trick ourselves into thinking we’re somehow involved too. He does not want to win Cleveland, or Miami, a championship. He wants to win Lebron James a championship.

Lebron, when if you win a championship, are you going to hoist that trophy in the air, and say, “This is for you, Miami!”? Because that’s a lie. You didn’t go to Miami to win them anything. You went for yourself. “This is for you, Lebron.”

Which brings me to the people of Miami. I understand your joy. We felt the same thing in Cleveland 7 years ago. But if last week has taught you anything, let it be this: be nervous. No amount of support and love you give this man will keep him there. He moved to Miami because it was easy. It was the easy way for him to win a championship. And he’s already proven, if things get a little too difficult, he will jump ship and run to wherever it will be easier. Wade and Bosh have provided him the most direct route to his narcissistic goal, but if a more direct route ever presents itself, that’s where he’ll be.

There’s no glory in that. Taking the easy way is not what legends do. Frankly it’s not impressive at all. I could run point on the Heat this season and they’d still have a solid chance of winning the championship. Does that make me the greatest point guard of all time? Is there any glory in that, for me? No. Piggy backing and taking the easy way out are boring.

I think any sports fan should be disheartened by Lebron’s move. It just proves that these superstars only care about winning for themselves, and have no loyalty to their hometowns, or to places that have treated them like Kings. When someone wears a jersey that says “Cleveland Cavaliers,” I want them to be wearing it because they care about Cleveland winning a championship.

I think that’s what made Dan Gilbert’s letter so powerful. When your hero abandons you, and basically says, “It’s all about me, screw you Cleveland,” it’s good to see that SOMEONE involved in this grand entertainment business that we invest so much in still cares about us. The guy who owns the team, at least he realizes that the name on the front of the jersey is more important than the name on the back.

That’s how it should be.

If you’re looking for something to do tonight, I see two options. Read more

As far as I can tell Cleveland was able to escape the 4th of July relatively injury free. Read more

Last night I went out to Brookpark to see my roommates in Sun God Read more