Columnoscopy: Columns for 'The Observer'

5/1/15: Little Love for the SI jinx

Let me make one thing abundantly clear: I don’t believe in jinxes. I don’t carry a rabbit’s foot. I don’t freak out whenever Friday the 13th rolls around. In other words, I’m not superstitious.

Consequently, I had no worries when the Cavs began their first-round playoff series against the Boston Celtics. It would merely be a tune-up for a presumably more difficult series against the Chicago Bulls in the following round.

In fact, a much younger coworker had asked me about Cavs playoff teams of the past and I immediately thought of the “Miracle of Richfield” team of 1975-76, primarily because the team Cleveland lost to in the Eastern Conference finals were the same (then-)mighty Boston Celtics. That season, the Cavs seemed like the team of destiny until Jim Chones broke his foot, ruining a legitimate shot at winning a world championship.

I looked at this year’s demolition of the Celtics sort of like payback (yes, 39 years later) to the Celtics for what happened way back then. I mean, this year we were up 3-0, most likely going to sweep the Celtics, and I figured, “What could possibly go wrong?”

I got my answer soon enough: Kevin Love was mugged – literally – by the Celtics in Game 4 and suffered a season-ending shoulder separation. Coincidence? I think not. On the other hand…

So the Indians, as everyone knows by now, were poster boys (Kluber/Brantley) on the cover of Sports Illustrated not long ago. Heading into the season, the Tribe looked very strong, pitching-wise, but my biggest concern was the pathetic offense.

A month into the season, and what do you know? The Indians have done their very best to imitate the 1962 New York Mets, who went 40-120. Much like the Mets, this team can’t hit. And on the rare occasion they do score a few runs, the pitching falters. The bullpen so far has been a complete disaster.

True, the Indians were staggered by the loss of injured catcher Yan Gomes – arguably one of their top three or four players – for a couple of months. Carlos Carrasco dodged a bullet – or more accurately, didn’t – when he was struck in the face by a line drive, so it’s safe to say Lady Luck hasn’t exactly been smiling down on the Indians. If you believe in that sort of thing. Which I don’t. Kinda…

The good news is the Indians haven’t committed as many errors this year, but I pretty much attribute that to the fact that at times it appears they forget to try and actually catch the ball.

As the expansion-era Mets manager Casey Stengel – famous for offering “twisted” spin to his baseball expertise – said, “Never make predictions, especially about the future.”

And, after what’s transpired so far this year in Cleveland – actually, not only this year but for the last 50+ years in Cleveland sports – I’m starting to wonder if I’ll ever learn that lesson.

That’s not to say that if one of these days you see a rabbit hopping around on three feet instead of four, I had anything to do with it. But, as Casey once said, “There comes a time in every man’s life, and I’ve had plenty of them.”

When it comes to sports in Cleveland, I’ve had too many of them.