Akron WITNESSED First

A few friends from New York have already asked me what the tone is in northeast Ohio, now that our best shot in the last 13 years to win a title has been crushed.  My answer: somber, very somber.  As fans of Cleveland sports teams, we are used to disappointment, but this might not be our only heartbreak of the year.  Now, with no ring, and a contract that is up, will our beloved LeBron leave us?  And for us, what are we going to do with all of these Cavs/LeBron shirts???

Well kids, until July, we just need to keep the hope alive.  Keep supporting the Cavs & LeBron, and hope for the best.  Glass is half-full, right?  Remember: Akron WITNESSED First, no matter what, they can’t take that away from us.

Congratulations to Akron’s own LeBron James for winning the NBA MVP award two years in a row!!!

Tomorrow is the Cavs’ 2009-10 season home opener!  Sure you could wear a regular ‘ole Cavs jersey or t-shirt, but wouldn’t it be MUCH COOLER to wear a Cavs-inspired t-shirt?

Akron’s favorite son LeBron James stopped by his old alma mater, St. Vincent-St. Mary High School to launch his latest line of sneakers.  The Nike Air Max LeBron Zoom VII’s kicked off their 10-city tour debut at St. V yesterday.  Future stops include London, Paris, and Shanghai.  Hmmm….yet another case of Akron WITNESSING First!

WITNESS fever has reach new heights! Check out this video from Cleveland rapper A. Gully:

I wonder if he knows that AKRON WITNESSED FIRST?

This is hilarious!!! Gotta love Akron pride- even from a puppet!

Tuesday night we headed up to the Q/Gateway District in Cleveland to promote LeBron’s hometown (and the fact that we WITNESSED First).  It was definitely an interesting experience.  We got up there just before 5pm- myself, Vinnie, and Nick, a friend of Ed’s with the know-how to drive the ‘65 Land Rover- and set up camp just off of East 9th St and Bolivar St.  Margaret and her passengers certainly got a raised eyebrow or two.  One guy who was selling ‘King Beads’ (Mardi Gras beads in Cavs’ colors) and basketball net hats was a little pissed that we were stealing his thunder.  We had some pretty stiff competition from some guys on the corner selling ‘MVP’ shirts with LeBron’s image on them for only $10, and not a lot of people seemed to ‘get’ the shirt when they walked by.  But it was great to see a little more Akron represented with the Goodyear Blimp flying above us.

We didn’t blow out of shirts as we hoped- unfortunately not as many Akronites or Akron Lovers up that way.  We did however have a few amazing RCC fans stop down to support us.  Two guys even said they came down because they saw it on Twitter.  Oh the power of quick updates.  We did have a pretty good time- would have been nice to get into the game to see the Cavs DOMINATE Game 1.  Tonight is Game 2, but due to the weather, we will not be heading up to Cleveland (will be a little hard to sell in a thunder storm).  Look for our Facebook/MySpace/Twitter updates to see where we will be bar-hopping around Akron with WITNESSED shirts.

Monday marked a HUGE day for Northeast Ohio/Cleveland sports, and specifically Akron.  Our own LeBron James was named MVP of the NBA for the 2008-2009 season.  This is the first time a Cleveland Cavalier has been named MVP; the first time since 1962 a Cleveland sports player has received MVP; and most importantly the first time EVER someone from Akron has received such an honor.  What made the whole deal even sweeter, is that the official announcement was made at LeBron’s alma mater, St. Vincent-St. Mary High School- where we all began WITNESSING.  Dozens of fans crowded outside to see LeBron and some of the other Cavs pull up to the high school just off of West Market St. RCC’s Vinnie was there taking pictures of the action.  As a St.V alum, he was SUPPOSED to get inside, but didn’t (and we’ll try not to hold it against him).  He did get some pretty decent photos of the action outside:

LeBron pulling up to St. V in his Ferrari.

The Ferrari's plate.

Cavs' player Andy Varajeo made it to Akron to support LeBron, and pleased some fans along the way.

Lots of original WITNESSES.

Ben Wallace also came out to show his teammate support.

and it’s only fitting that it comes back to Akron! Today at 4pm, LeBron James will be named the 2009 NBA Most Valuable Player at his alma mater, St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron. RCC special correspondant Vinnie will be down there covering the event. We’ll have pics up soon!