Take "The Decision" for example. When LeBron James created an hour-long special to announce that he would not return to Cleveland, Cavs fans everywhere went off the deep-end like none other. They weren't just angry or shocked, but legitimately felt betrayed by LeBron. And they aren't even part of the team he left. Granted, without fans there are no professional sports, but this was in no way a shot at the Cleveland fans. I don't know what went on in Lebron's head, but the consensus seems to be that he left Cleveland so he could win. The Cavs simply didn't make the right moves or build the right team around him to do so, so after seven years he left. I'm in the camp of people who don't fault LeBron at all for leaving Cleveland, given how inept the management is, but I don't agree with how he did it. Nor do I agree with Dan Gilbert's ridiculous letter he wrote in response...sometimes you have to take the high road, sir.
This may seem like an incredibly late reaction to something that happened last July, but I bring it up only as an example of how invested fans can be in sports. I mean, people were burning LeBron jerseys in the streets when this guy announced he was leaving. You have to really care about a team to react that strongly when you think it got screwed over.
I've always loved sports, and while I have teams that I root for, I have more of a connection to some than others. For one, as a graduate of Ohio University, the Bobcats will always hold a special place in my heart. I've said before that college sports teams are quite literally representing their schools and anyone who is a part of that school, so in my opinion you should never root against the school you attended.
The other team that I have a unique attachment to is the Columbus Blue Jackets. I've always loved hockey, but for a long time I didn't have a real connection to an NHL team. Then the Blue Jackets came along. Since it was first announced that the franchise was for real, I've been there. My dad and I attended the unveiling of the team's original jerseys, ordered some before they came to stores, and wore them when we attended the first game of franchise history. I suffered through the growing pains most expansion teams suffer, and then some. And I got to experience the high of finally seeing the Jackets make it to the postseason, even if they were swept out of the first round. In fact, as I've written on this very blog, the fourth game of that series is, thus far, the most incredible live sporting event I've ever experienced.
Just as I've always been a die-hard Blue Jackets fan, I've always had a favorite Blue Jacket - Rostislav Klesla. There are plenty of reasons why I quickly adopted him as my favorite player. He was a defenseman, just like me. His first full-time NHL season also happened to be my first year in high school as one of the only freshmen on our hockey team. He was the franchise's first draft pick ever and, even though he spent most of the team's inaugural season back in juniors, he provided a face for the franchise when it didn't really have one. I've not only been a fan of the Blue Jackets since they were created, but I've been fan of Rusty ever since he was drafted.
One problem with picking a favorite athlete is the amount of turnover that now exists in professional sports. Nowadays it is much less likely to see players stay with one team for most or all of their careers. This was always something that worried me about Klesla, partly because of the injury problems he's had the past few seasons, partly because his name was often one that came up when CBJ trade rumors surfaced. On Monday, this fear finally came to life when Klesla was traded to the Phoenix Coyotes. I'm not here to break down the trade and whether or not it was good for the team(I already did some of that in my latest CSC podcast with Matt Barnes), but just to reflect on time he spent in Columbus(yes, I'm aware that the Dispatch hockey writers did this earlier, but this is for me).
Until this past week, Klesla's entire NHL career was played in a Blue Jackets sweater, and as someone who followed this team since its inception, I had the unique opportunity to watch him grow up as a person and player. He went from being the prospect who was sent back to juniors in his first season to one of the team's most consistent defenders when healthy. Once the youngster trying to adjust to the speed of the NHL game, he became one of the team's leaders sometimes seen with the "A" of an alternate captain.
Never was his development as a player better displayed than the Blue Jackets' aforementioned lone playoff appearance. I maintain that Rusty was the best player for Columbus during that sweep at the hands of the Red Wings. He may have only played 34 games during the regular season, but in the playoffs he did not at all look out of place against the Red Wings, who couldn't be more used to the pressure of the postseason.
I often heard fans complain that he played poorly and didn't do anything on the ice, which always irked me. Not to say that he always played great, that's far from the truth. But because I was always a fan of his, I probably kept my eye on him more than most. Sure, he wasn't flashy, didn't have a Chara-like shot or Rob Blake's hip check, but over the years he turned into a legitimate top-four defenseman, which is why his name continued to come up during trade talks(before you say so, I do realize that I'm biased in my praise of Klesla's play and improvement, considering I just talked about how I've been a fan of his since before he even played an NHL game).
Klesla was the last of the original Blue Jackets to leave the team, and his is by far the departure that hurts me the most. I don't harbor any kind of ill-will towards him or the team, but it still stinks that he's gone. The Blue Jackets are the sports team I feel most connected to, and Rusty has always been the player I've watched the closest and rooted for the hardest. And I'll continue to do so. While it's not like I wish ill upon other former Blue Jackets, he's the first player to leave Columbus who I genuinely want to see succeed in the NHL.
I don't plan on getting rid of the shelf's worth of hockey cards with Klesla's picture, and I'll probably still occasionally wear that original CBJ sweater with his 44 on the back. And when his name makes a box score, as it did his first game as a Coyote, I'll give him an "atta boy" in my mind.
It may be a different set of emotions than Cavs fans feel towards LeBron, but that doesn't mean they aren't as strong. I just wish it didn't take my favorite player leaving my favorite team to bring them out.
