Hey, Sophie Cunningham: It’s Cleveland, not Cincinnati.
Cleveland got the latest WNBA franchise, but, you know, thanks for setting up that regional rivalry in advance.
For those who aren’t familiar with Cunningham, she’s an Indiana Fever guard who felt it was better for the league to expand to anywhere but Detroit, which gets a team in 2029, and Cleveland in particular, but maybe she didn’t realize what she was talking about because she mistook Ohio’s Queen City for Cleveland.
The last person to come down that hard on the city and its sports fans was Cincinnati Bengals coach Sam Wyche, who uttered the infamous line “You don’t live in Cleveland. You live in Cincinnati” when Bengals fans were pelting the field with objects in a December 1989 game.
Cunningham, from that tourist mecca of Columbia, Missouri, suggested Nashville, Miami and even Kansas City, would be better places for the WNBA to expand.
“I don’t know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or Cincinnati,” Cunningham said.
Well, gee, I guess plenty of people were excited to go to Cleveland and Rocket Arena for the Women’s Final Four considering the games were sold out and drew 36,584 fans. But, you know, that’s nothing.
Cleveland’s sports fans are ‘interesting,’ but they are loyal
For the record, the WNBA is coming to Cleveland for one reason — the money it is being shown. Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, though he can be controversial, invests in his teams, he invests in his players and he invests in the community, across Northeast Ohio. That’s why they’re coming.
Beware, Sophie Cunningham. You’ve poked the bear, and the City of Cleveland is coming with receipts from your current teammate:
D’oh.
As for others: try Gilbert:
And, for good measure, Cavs guard Donovan Mitchell:
Here’s the reality about Cleveland sports fans: They support (for some inexplicable reason) a football team that hasn’t won consistently since it packed up and left for Baltimore in the 1990s. They support the Cleveland Guardians, a Major League Baseball team that sometimes feels as if it’s running in place, and they even supported and were patient with the Cavaliers when LeBron James packed up and left twice.
Oh, and for good measure, in just a day the new WNBA team has secured 2,500 ticket reservations. WNBA stars playing for these fans should be a no-brainer.
You couldn’t keep the cities right, but here’s betting you hear from the people of Cleveland and Northeast Ohio.
You may want to get things right the next time.
George M. Thomas covers a myriad of things including sports and pop culture, but mostly sports, he thinks, for the Beacon Journal.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Indiana Fever G Sophie Cunningham takes aim at Cinci…umm Cleveland over WNBA expansion
Reporting by George M. Thomas, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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