Originally Posted by SealBeach

But therein lies the rub: The people in greater Cleveland, with no small measure of encouragement from the city fathers, DO equate Hopkins with the city as a whole. Hence the wailing and gnashing of teeth over the dehubbing, just as there was over the LeBron departure. To very large numbers of people, these events are the equivalent of the neighbor letting his dog drop a load on their front lawn. That's part of where the outrage and the "we'll show them" perspective comes from. Go to www.cleveland.com and scan the comments following the recent news coverage of the dehubbing and you'll see what I mean. Pay particular attention to how often you see the word "victim" and the phrase "slap in the face."

The reason outsiders scratch their heads about all of the uproar is that people elsewhere don't get so worked up about things like whether the local airport is called a hub or not and whether the local sports celebrity du jour takes his talents elsewhere. They have better things to think about. But when you're reduced to hanging your hat on such tenuous and fleeting hallmarks, this is the result.