Paid programming will continue later…
There are many times in sports, in high school anyway, where the
entire town closes down in order to watch their team play a
meaningful game, whether it be a rivalry game or a playoff
game.
Paid programming will continue later…

There are many times in sports, in high school anyway, where the entire town closes down in order to watch their team play a meaningful game, whether it be a rivalry game or a playoff game.

Those are the games where the players leave their hearts and souls out on the field for their town.

There are a few games a year where Hollister is like that, especially when our Balers butt heads with Palma or Gilroy High schools.

But I have never experienced such an emotional game as I did this past weekend in Ohio. Not only did the city of Cleveland stop to watch the amazing spectacle of King James and the Cavaliers defeat the Detroit Pistons to claim the Eastern Conference, but the entire state of Ohio was put on hold.

I wish I could say that I was at that game 6 in Cleveland, but I wasn’t. I was at my grandfather’s house in a little town called West Jefferson, flipping through the channels on his television.

Just because I am a basketball fan I was waiting for the game to begin. Just before the game started, I noticed something.

All of the local Ohio channels; the local weather channel, the local broadcasting stations, even the Fox and the CBS affiliates, all had a picture up with some verbiage. It was a picture of the Quicken Loans Arena, which is where the Cavaliers play. The TV monitor on all of the stations read, Paid Programming will continue at the conclusion of the Cavaliers – Pistons game. GO CAVS!

All of these stations had stopped their original programming, in order to watch the basketball team from Cleveland try to make it to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.

I thought that was weird, but very cool. Fans from all over the Bay Area united when the Golden State Warriors made the playoffs this year, but none of our local TV stations cancelled programming to watch the games.

Then the game started, and looking at the crowd in the arena, it seemed the top was going to pop off, there were so many fans. Then the screen switched to another camera shot.

It was a shot of just outside the arena. There were so many fans outside watching the game on a big screen that another arena could have been filled. It almost seemed that the entire state of Ohio was in Cleveland to watch this game.

Just watching how the crowd reacted to every bucket the Cavs scored, every penalty and every whistle, I knew, the country knew, that Ohio wanted this win bad, not only for the Cavs, but for themselves.

The Cavaliers felt that need burning down on them and reacted with an outstanding performance and a Game 6 series-clinching win.

Cavaliers fans and all of Ohio erupted in joyous cheering. Not a single fan left that arena as they watched their home team, Ohio’s team, the Cleveland Cavaliers celebrate.

It’s been 42 years since a team from Cleveland has won a championship. That was before the Cleveland Cavaliers ever came into existence, before any of the players on the Cavs were even born, but the 2007 Cleveland Cavaliers are in the NBA finals for the first time.

Watching and listening to those players, their fans know that they are going to do anything and everything in their power to bring home a championship to Cleveland.

It is going to be a tough task as they go up against the NBA powerhouse from the West, the San Antonio Spurs.

The Cavs have something the Spurs don’t, however. The entire state of Ohio and all of their TV stations are behind them.

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A staff member wrote, edited or posted this article, which may include information provided by one or more third parties.

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