The crowd waited with held breath as Cleveland Indians batter Carlos Santana stepped up to bat. Chicago Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta sighed deeply, looked straight at him and threw the ball.
The next few hours were historic: the Cubs won the 2016 World Series in extra inning on Nov. 2 by the score of 8-7, breaking the 108-year-old Curse of the Billy Goat — a superstition from 1945 that stated that the Cubs would never win a national series again — and establishing themselves as this year’s champions.
That fateful game, however, was not so auspicious for the Cleveland Indians; critics pondered the irony of their defeat. While Cleveland had lost so disastrously in baseball, earlier in the summer, the Cleveland Cavaliers had won an underdog victory in the NBA Finals on June 20 against the Golden State Warriors.
This was a shock. The Warriors had a 3-1 lead after Game 4 and were expected to prevail. The Cavaliers’ victory marked the first time in history that an NBA team recovered from a 3-1 lead and won in the finals. Coincidentally, the Cleveland Indians, who also had a 3-1 lead, lost to the Cubs.
Cleveland, a city that hadn’t won a single championship for 52 years, rejoiced at its NBA victory over Golden State — only to fall short to an underdog Cubs when they had a 3-1 World Series lead. Many surprised supporters and opponents alike remarked how this seemed too ironic to be true.
Social media exploded with countless tweets and memes regarding the Indians’ loss, and Warriors fans and players alike were the first to attack Cleveland since their team was attacked when they lost the NBA championships. Warriors power forward Draymond Green sarcastically tweeted, “Man 3-1 sucks,” and Warriors fan James Dator tweeted, “Dammit, Cleveland. There’s a time and place for this stuff!” in response to the city’s reaffirming their victory over the Warriors.
People think that the Indians’ loss was worse than the Warriors’ because the Warriors had injuries and players suspended in controversial decisions. Lead player and unanimous MVP Stephen Curry and their coach, Steve Kerr, were both fined $25,000 before Game 7, causing a lot of tension between the two teams and accusations that the NBA was “rigged.”
Sophomore Nicholas Burry, an avid fan of the Golden State Warriors, believes that so-called “Cleveland Karma” can bring a win for the Warriors in next year’s NBA championships.
“I definitely think the Warriors are stronger now with Kevin Durant and if they don’t get cocky like how they did last year, they can win against the Cavaliers,” Burry said.
The “karma” of Cleveland may just be a new curse, just as the Curse of the Billy Goat was for the Cubs for 108 years. Maybe LeBron James can break this bad luck before it continues in the next NBA championships; until then, Cleveland Karma is on the rise and the Warriors may have the advantage for next year’s NBA championships — as long as they can avoid getting a 3-1 lead.
