Scott Raab is a hardcore Cleveland sports fan. He endured decades of torture watching Cleveland's football, basketball, and baseball franchises failing to win championships year after year. When local basketball legend LeBron James signed on with the Cleveland Cavaliers Raab was confident that Cleveland's long history of sports failure would soon be over. But it wasn't. If anything it only got worse.
After LeBron James announced that he was leaving Cleveland to pursue championships playing for Miami Sott Raab was furious. He wrote a scathing book called "The Whore of Akron" that was a nasty diatribe directed at his former idol. I interviewed him on this program for that book.
Five years later LeBron returned to the Cleveland Cavaliers after winning a couple of championships with Miami. And last year he led Cleveland to the title in a thrilling series against the Golden State Warriors. Raab wrote about it in his new book with the tongue in cheek title "You're Welcome Cleveland-How I Helped LeBron James Win a Championship and Save a City."
Forgiveness came easily for Raab. In this interview he described the moment when the Cavs won the title as the happiest night of his life. If you love a good sports book you should check this one out. The author is a passionate fan and this is a wonderful story.
The Book Nook on WYSO is made possible by five local library systems in southwest Ohio: the Greene County Public Library, Washington-Centerville Public Library, Clark County Public Library, Dayton Metro Library, and Wright Memorial Public Library.
