Okay, maybe I'm missing something, but I thought this article was basically a trainwreck. I like stories about tortured sports franchises and about standing fast in support of your hometown and all that jazz, but the writer inserted himself into the story so much that this was just a painful reading experience.
I thought the anecdote about getting Barry Sanders, Steve Yzerman, Cecil Fielder and Joe Dumars together was cool, but then it spiraled into a commentary about how players from other cities wouldn't be so humble together. Umm, really? Evidence? The chip on the writer's shoulder as a Detroit resident was so prevalent and annoying that the piece suffered under its own weight.
Structurally, I thought the lead was promising, and when the author started bringing in the "we" and "our" bits I thought he would keep it up for a couple paragraphs at most, and that it would be effective as a result. Instead, the entire thing was done in this kind of overdramatized, us-against-the-world love letter format. There was parallel structure throughout the piece, at the very least, but it wasn't particularly engaging and actually enraged me.
Interestingly, there was an article done by ESPN after LeBron left Cleveland that was similar in tone and subject but infinitely better. Here's the link if you haven't read it: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=101201/Cleveland
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