If you're from Cleveland, read this article

I spent the first 23 years of my life in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio — a suburb of Akron, Cleveland's ugly step-sister — and reading this article by Sports Illustrated writer and native Clevelander Joe Posnanski filled me with Northeast Ohio pride. (Thanks to fellow Boisean and native Clevelander Patrick Orr for Tweeting about it.)

I've been keeping the Cavaliers at arm's length as they march through the NBA playoffs for the very reasons noted in Posnanski's article, but I might be paying closer attention now after stumbling upon Game 2 at a bar tonight and seeing LeBron's crazy-awesome game-winning three.

I've never felt much sorrow for Cubs or Red Sox fans because I've suffered through The Fumble, The Drive and Jose Mesa in Game 7 of the 1997 World Series, and that's just a span of 10 years. There is nothing that even comes close to comparing to Cleveland's sports woes. Nothing. Don't even try to argue.

I'm proud to be from the Midwest for a variety of reasons. It's easy to bag on it when you're away from it, or you're a coastal snob with a superiority complex who doesn't know what the hell they're talking about, but I'd never trade growing up there for anything. Articles like Posnanski's remind me why. I'm going to the mall this weekend and buying an Indians cap.