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LeBron fever dominates stores
A latecomer to Northeast Ohio’s “Welcome Back LeBron James” party, I shouldn’t be surprised to see how quickly area merchants have been able to capitalize. But I admit I am.
Usually at this time of the summer, NBA merchandise is limited to the clearance racks.
Usually Pittsburgh merchandise outnumbers Cleveland by about two-to-one.
Not this summer.
Dick’s Sporting Goods has about a dozen t-shirt choices for James/Cavs fans, some welcoming him back and others proclaiming him king. The sporting goods giant also is loaded with Manziel shirts.
Ian Hileman, an employee at Jersey World in the Eastwood Mall, says Cavs items are hot. It started on July 11, the day James announced he was returning to Cleveland.
“People came in that day, looking for shirts,” Hileman said, fighting hard not to roll his eyes. They settled for Cavs hats until the t-shirt makers delivered.
At Sports Obsession down the concourse, the store has never enjoyed a better three months selling Cleveland items. Andy Agona said it started after the Browns drafted quarterback Johnny Manziel.
“It was like one out of every two people coming in were buying Manziel stuff for that next week,” Agona said. “In our seven years [here], this has been the best time for [selling] Cleveland [items].”
This week, James confirmed he’ll wear 23 like he did before in Cleveland. Agona said authentic and replica jerseys could show up as soon as next week.
“Our NBA sales are better [now] than they were in the season,” Agona said.
We were four time zones away when James made The Decision 2, so we totally missed out on the frenzy that gripped Northeast Ohio that week. (Will he return? Won’t he? Is he toying with Cleveland hearts again?)
Here’s why. When a cruise ship sails in international waters, you have three choices in dealing with Internet addiction:
Upgrade your cellphone plan for a month.
Pay outrageous roaming fees.
Turn it off.
We chose option three.
The morning of the announcement, ESPN was restored to the TV in our stateroom. “SportsCenter” said no one knows when the decision will be revealed, saying the NBA was at a standstill. Ninety minutes later, CNN texted Cleveland had its biggest win since the Browns won the 1964 NFL championship.
Finding someone else in Alaska who could appreciate something positive happening to Northeast Ohio wasn’t easy. At that point, the only person on the ship that I knew who had ties to the Buckeye State was former Browns head coach Butch Davis — I’m pretty sure he wasn’t in the mood to talk about Cleveland.
Still I found someone with a financial stake in what happened. As we were waiting for a show, I heard a Miami Heat season ticket-holder tell his family that James was leaving Florida for Ohio.
His daughter immediately asked, “What are you going to do about your tickets?”
This guy has been a season ticket-holder for about 15 seasons, with center-court seats about 15 rows back. He was not one of the Heat fans who jumped on the bandwagon in July 2010 when the Big Three of James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh signed.
His reply was that he still has two years remaining on the ticket package he signed up for in 2011, so he’s obligated to buy the tickets. He added that he has faith that Heat president Pat Riley would find a way to make them competitive.
Somewhat surprisingly, he displayed no anger at James, saying it’s all part of the professional sports landscape. For a moment, I thought that maybe my griping over how the Pittsburgh Penguins have imploded was perhaps a bit childish. (But upon further review, I’m still fuming that Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang are getting so much money that there is no room for key veteran support players.)
Returning to Ohio, it didn’t take long to realize just how much LeBron Fever has spread. Oldies 106.1 (WBBG-FM) proclaims itself “LeBron Radio” because the station carries Cavs games.
The first time I heard the ad, I commended Clear Channel for acting so quickly. But by the third time, I was punching the car radio for another station. (If changing radio stations was an Olympic event, I’d be a contender. If I won, I’d thank the local Christmas music station for playing Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas” every hour on the hour and Bobby Preston for hiring commercial sidekick Abby to scream at us.)
In the fall, the hottest sports tickets (at least in even years) usually are Michigan-Ohio State and Ravens-Steelers, and sometimes Steelers-Browns. This fall, good luck finding a reasonably-priced Cavs ticket.
The Fever has arrived.
Tom Williams is a sportswriter at The Vindicator. Write him at williams@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter, @Williams_Vindy.