Miracle in Richfield

I know that I have written about this bunch before (six years ago),but tonight is the 40th anniversary of the Miracle in Richfield.

Sadly,not only will I not be there,I won't even be able to watch much of the celebration as the opponents (just as in 1976) are the Washington Bullets (nee' Wizards),so I'll have to watch the game on the Washington network.
Terry Pluto writes far better than I at the Cleveland Plain Dealer about the 40th anniversary and I've written about the team before,but what I want to write about this time is about the difference in being a fan then and now.

In a era that that you can see every game that your team of choice plays,it's hard to imagine that most of the games in this series were not televised!
Truly a different age as the radio was the only place to "see" every game (at least for baseball and basketball),which is how local broadcasters became such icons in their particular markets compared to today.

Another difference that Pluto touches on and made me think is how truly loud games from those times were compared to today.
Today just has too many distractions from "entertainment",cell phones,etc that just as you get into the game,something causes a distraction and the crowd noise doesn't reach that peak roar that lasts for a while...

Another difference between then and now is just how distant of a third sport that the NBA really was.
You couldn't buy NBA stuff in stores when I was a kid.
The only NBA pennant (Cleveland of course) I ever owned was bought at a Bullets game vs Phoenix.
Watching clips of that series and you see next to nothing in NBA items on the fans and many of what you do see are homemade/custom made.
Remember going to a mall to get decals on a shirt???

I miss the Richfield Coliseum and it seemed like the Cavaliers were there forever and just left a few years back.
Actually,the Coliseum has been gone for 22 years and the "Q" has now been an NBA arena longer than the Coliseum.
The Coliseum just seemed (despite its size) more of an basketball arena than the Q.
And the place certainly had better acoustics!

Finally,for as good of a team that the Cavaliers have now,the Miracle team played solid team basketball without no selfishness.
The current game has so much more of that and that team (along with the Price,Daugherty teams) involved all the players in their offense.

Check my above link for more specifics on the basketball side of 1975-76 Cavaliers.
I cannot believe that 40 years have gone by-Going to be a melancholy night at the home office tonight!