What Cleveland Will WITNESS

“Ask me to play, I’ll play.  Ask me to shoot, I’ll shoot.  Ask me to pass, I’ll pass.  Ask me to steal, block out, sacrifice, lead dominate.  ANYTHING.  But it’s not what you ask of me.  It’s what I ask of myself.   -LeBron James

In less than 24 hours, at 9 p.m. Thursday on ESPN, Cleveland (and the world) will receive the answer to “The Decision.”  (Yes, LeBron has officially dubbed this “The Decision.”)

He is King. Source: Google

Loyalty is what Cleveland has asked of LeBron.

Future is what LeBron has been asking of himself.

As Plain Dealer sports writer Terry Pluto said tonight, “What LeBron James announces will change everything for the Cavaliers and their fans.”

Of course it’s about money, it always is.  But for a group of fans who created morethanaplayer.org, it’s about home; it’s about loyalty.  In many ways, that’s the unity that ties us together as Cleveland sports fans.

Remember when the WITNESS mural went up on Ontario across from the Q?  But before the hype, buzz and excitement of King LeBron, remember the high school sports stories out of Akron, featuring Saint Vincent Saint Mary’s basketball team?  And before he was a world-wide phenomenon, do you remember the hometown feature stories on the six o’clock news about a seventeen year-old kid named LeBron James, who lived in a two-bedroom apartment with his mother?

I do, mainly because being a year older than LeBron, I was following high school sports in 2001, and I was enticed

The SI cover that changed it all. Source: Google

by him.  I specifically recall a human interest story on Fox 8, where LeBron showed off his bedroom, a modest room with posters and sports memorabilia.  Hard to believe that was over nine years ago, and LeBron has been a part of Cleveland professional basketball for the past seven.

Though I was young in 1995, I do remember when Art Modell took the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore, and what a sore spot that will forever be in Cleveland sports.  I agree with this: When Modell took the team, every positive thing he ever did went out the window.  (Check out more on the Modell/James comparison in the blog waitingfornextyear.com).  If James leaves, Cleveland fans will be split in two: those that will never forgive him for leaving his hometown, and those that will follow him regardless.

I’m calling a 90/10 split; that if LeBron leaves, 90% of us will begin using WITNESS shirts as dust rags.  The feelings of excitement, anticipation and unity that LeBron helped to bring this city during the playoffs will leave with him.  And without a doubt, it will be heartbreaking.

But now, the wait is about to come to and end.  The grassroots campaign to keep LeBron in Cleveland has ended: just like after the polls have closed on election day, LeBron has made his decision, and nothing at this point can change it.  And just like families and co-workers huddle around the t.v. to see who the next President will be, we’ll all gather tomorrow night to watch LeBron’s decision on ESPN.

Thank you to the unbelievably devoted fans who, out of their own pockets, ran the promotions for More Than A Player.  We started seeing billboards after the Cavs lost the playoffs: solid black background with “LOYALTY” or “HOME” in white letters, and at the bottom, “morethanaplayer.org.”

Here’s my three favorite tactics that More Than A Player did right:

1. Going viral (Cleveland viral):  free and low-cost stickers, posters and t-shirts and Clevelander’s grabbed right up.
2. Knowing their audience, and targeting it without over saturation.
3. Creating a message:  Smart marketing to use the black/white theme that went global when Nike launched the WITNESS campaign.

Here’s to hoping we won’t be uttering those famous words tomorrow, all to familiar to a Cleveland sports fan: “There’s always next year.”  LeBron, please stay, this is your home.  The spirit created during the past few Cavs seasons has been nothing short of magical, and I sincerely hope it continues.

THIS IS MAGIC. Source: Google