The Top 20 Moments in Cleveland Sports
Tremendous Tales of Heroes and Heartbreaks
by Bob Dyer
- Format: Softcover, 320 pages, 5.5 x 8.5 inches
- Illustrations: 31 black-and-white photographs
- ISBN: 978-1-59851-030-0
- Price: $14.95
Description
Now in paperback.
(Formerly titled "Cleveland Sports Legends" in hardcover.)
These twenty exciting stories recount the most memorable and sensational events in Cleveland sports history.
Some are inspiring tales of glory: The Browns' thrilling underdog victory over the heavily favored Baltimore Colts in the 1964 NFL championship game . . . The upstart Cavaliers' magical “ Miracle of Richfield” in 1976 . . . The Indians' exhilarating sprint toward the World Series in the 1995 playoffs, symbolized by Kenny Lofton's “ Dash in the Dome” against Seattle.
Some are almost painful to recall: “ The Fumble” — that heart-stopping play in January 1988 that kept the Browns out of the Super Bowl . . . “ The Shot” — Michael Jordan's jaw-dropping basket that knocked the Cavs out of the 1989 playoffs . . . “ Ten-Cent Beer Night,” the Tribe's misguided 1974 promotion that turned into a hideous debacle.
Glorious or gut-wrenching, these memories are a legacy shared by all Northeast Ohio sports fans. They reflect an unquenchable spirit— the same spirit that keeps us up late into the night, honking our horns in parking garages and trading high-fives with total strangers on East Ninth Street, or trudging down to the lakefront on Sundays when the wind chill hits single digits, wearing dog masks and carrying banners drawn on bedsheets.
Read these stories and relive Cleveland's most exciting sports moments. Then pass the spirit along to the next generation of fans.
Book Excerpt:
Rank: #4 - The Miracle of Richfield
A mythic barrage of sound thundered through the building even before the team came out to warm up.
“ WE WANT THE CAVS! WE WANT THE CAVS!”
The refrain quite literally shook the building. The Coliseum was a solid facility, only a year old, built with enough steel to crush the Eiffel Tower. But the place was vibrating, just as surely as if it were sitting atop a fault line that had swung into geological action.
“ WE WANT THE CAVS! WE WANT THE CAVS!”
In the visiting locker room, coach K. C. Jones asked his assistant to walk over and hold the blackboard against the wall to keep it from shaking. Jones was having a hard time drawing the plays. And this was half an hour before the tip.
“ WE WANT THE CAVS! WE WANT THE CAVS!”
Only someone who was hearing impaired could have avoided a prolonged case of the chills. No, scratch that. You didn't even need ears. The noise was so intense you could feel it in your chest.
“ WE WANT THE CAVS! WE WANT THE CAVS!”
Perhaps never before or since has Northeast Ohio fallen harder for a sports team. During the 1975–76 playoffs, the love seemed absolutely unconditional. It was such an unlikely affair, and one so passionate, that the fling became known as “ The Miracle of Richfield.”
Outsiders look at that moniker and scratch their heads. A team that failed to win the Eastern Conference championship, much . . . [ Read More Free Samples ]
About Bob Dyer
Bob Dyer has served as a feature writer, a radio/TV writer, and a general-interest columnist for the Akron Beacon Journal since joining the paper in 1984. His stories and columns have won 22 regional and national awards. He was one of the lead writers for “A Question of Color,” a yearlong examination of racial attitudes in Akron that won a Pulitzer Prize in 1994. Dyer is also co-author of Omar! My Life On and Off the Field, with Cleveland Indians baseball star Omar Vizquel. He is a graduate of West Geauga High School, near Cleveland, and The College of Wooster (Ohio). He lives with his wife and two daughters in Copley, Ohio. More About Bob Dyer
Contains References to:
Art Model, Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Indians, Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland Stadium, Frank Robinson, Golf Masters, Indians Beer Night, John Elway, Kenny Lofton, Len Barker, Mark Price, Michael Jordon, National Air Races, Ohio Athletes, Red Right 88, Rocky Colavito, Super Bowl, Willie Mays, World Featherweight Championship
