The Optimist
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Between the balmy weather and the Cavaliers’ thrilling overtime win in the Big Easy last night, I am in a capital mood, people. Capital!
Last night’s win over Bostjan Nachbar and Co. is just what the doctor ordered. The Hornets’ level of haplessness doesn’t matter to me, either. A road win is a road win. TheBron was incredible as was Aleksandar “Splasha” Pavlovic. Drew Gooden played angry and you know that makes the Big O very happy.
But we can’t let our guard down now, readers. Many of you are thinking: “Well, we finally got a road win. I can un-gird my loins.” Are you joking?! Now is not the time to un-gird or de-gird. In fact, while we still have a few hours until tip-off, some of you might want to think about re-girding!
Nothing less than Big Mo is at stake as the Cavaliers take on the Clippers tonight at the Gund. The Wine and Gold have a brutal schedule in the coming weeks and it’ll take all the faith we can muster to get them into the postseason. In fact, tonight’s game against the Clippers is so important, I’m calling in reinforcements.
But first, let’s take a quick peek into the Optimist Mailbag. It’s so nice to get past the Pistons and their fans’ hatefulness all over my e-mailing machine. I’m looking for a few good men as we head into the stretch. Men like this gentleman, who wrote …
Dear Optimist,
You were right! The Cavaliers were indeed victorious. That game was intensely glorious and, like you, I knew that they were going to pull this one off after that huge loss to the Mavericks. Let's see if the Wine and Gold can bring us another win (tonight).
GO GOLD!!!!
Zak Hosier
That’s what I’m talking about people! As a letter, it’s relatively simple. But my man described the win as “intensely glorious.” I love that! You can be on the Junior Optimist team anytime you want, Zak.
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(And I don’t want to hear any complaints from any of you about Guaranteed Win Night, either. If your attitude is: “But what if the Clippers read this and it makes them mad?” then I’ll fill your spot on the Junior Optimists with a 10-day contract. With 14 games to go, we can’t be worried about hurting Mike Dunleavy Sr.’s feelings. [Again, I’m looking at you, Morgenstern.])
But not only do the Cavaliers have this litany of Optimist heavyweights watching their back, they have the entire citizenry of Loudville on their side. For those of you who don’t know about Loudville, it’s the 8,515 inhabitants of the Gund’s upper deck. All residents will get a “Screaming C” badge of honor and the biggest loudmouth will be honored as the “Mayor of Loudville” and his section will be rewarded with free t-shirts. The next day, the Mayor will have to deal with Loudville zoning restrictions and meet with the heavy-handed Loudville City Council. But after the Cavaliers get the win, it’ll be totally worth it.
Tonight, the Cavaliers will come out with a sense of urgency. But I don’t see the Clippers going down easy. Even though the Cavaliers are better at basketball than Los Angeles, I see Elton Brand and Co. giving our beloved Cavaliers all they can handle.
In the end, however, there is always TheBron. And tonight, the young King picks up where he left off against the Hornets. TheBron will put up 37 points against the Clippers and add a season-high 14 rebounds. LBJ is not about stats, but he’d like to get back to the 7.0 board mark and Tuesday night is the first step towards achieving that goal.
Look for Splasha Pavlovic to rain more three-pointers down on the Clips’ melons in tonight’s matchup. I see the Serbio-Montenegran following up with 17 points off Coach Malone’s bench.
The Cavaliers win their second-straight thriller with a 104-102 victory over the L.A. Clippers tonight. You can bet the house on it. If you don’t have a house, bet one of your buddies that you’ll shave off an eyebrow if Cleveland loses. Don’t be ascared! It’s time to put your eyebrows where your mouth is, people. Get your swagger back!
I’ll see everyone down at the Gund tonight. I’ll be campaigning up in Loudville and if I don’t win that sash tonight, I’m going to be twice as loud on Friday night. In the meantime, I’m going to require both roster and non-roster Junior Optimists to …
Keep the faith, Cleveland
Your pal,
The Optimist
