The Dogs Have Their Day

In an age where live television is a dying medium, it is rare when a media event can truly capture the public’s attention. Even more rare if one night provides our ADHD society with two can’t-miss programs occurring simultaneously.

Sports need to be watched live unless you’re committed to unplugging from everything and ignoring your phone (which, let’s be honest, you’re not). The same cannot be said about scripted television – we watch it on our own time, via DVR or streaming, and it has become an accepted norm not to spoil it for others. However, one show breaks that rule, which is probably the highest compliment that you can pay to HBO’s critically acclaimed Game of Thrones (you have to say “HBO’s critically acclaimed” before the title of the show, I believe that’s another rule). If you don’t watch it on Sunday night, then you WILL find out what happened at work the next day, not because your coworker is an asshole, but because the show has become the sole survivor in appointment viewing. And while those who spoil are generally the miscreants, in this case, not letting others recap, rave or vent on Monday morning is socially frowned upon.

If you loathe basketball and have never watched Thrones then this might not be your favorite post, and I urge you to check out (K – include link to another Prompt piece of a different vibe). But even if you don’t spend your free time on Reddit trying to dissect the brain of George R.R. Martin, or if your idea of watching sports starts and stops with Super Bowl commercials, you may be interested in stories of triumph against seemingly insurmountable odds.

And if you like underdogs, have I got a story for you.

Last night pitted Game 7 of the NBA finals against the penultimate GoT episode of season 6. Both featured do-or-die battles with far-reaching consequences, and while the NBA game wasn’t going to end in actual death, the stakes were high enough to alter the legacies of future Hall of Famers. LeBron James and his Cavaliers made the trip west to fight Steph Curry’s Warriors of Golden State, while Jon Snow led a ragtag army of Wildlings and northern bannermen south to take back his family’s castle from evil Ramsay and House Bolton.

Let’s take a quick look back at both the City of Cleveland and House Stark to paint a clearer picture of what exactly we were dealing with last night.

Cleveland: City of lost hope

Cleveland’s last sports championship came in 1964 when the Browns were best in the NFL, but this was so long ago that the Super Bowl wasn’t even a thing yet. The Indians won the World Series back in 1948, which, to put in perspective, was just two short decades before LeBron’s MOTHER was born. And the Cavs have never captured a title. Along the way there have been some fumbles and epic choke jobs, not to mention the Browns moving their entire team to Baltimore in the middle of a night and James temporarily taking his talents to South Beach on a live, televised break up (that also necessitated live television viewing). Needless to say there hasn’t been a lot to celebrate in Northeast Ohio.

Stark Family: Blood, tragedy, and death

In Northeast Westeros, things haven’t been going too well for the Stark family either. GoT’s premiere episode concluded with young Bran being pushed out a window and paralyzed, and before season 1 was finished the Lord of Winterfell was beheaded (so much for main characters). Sansa has been married against her will at least two or three times and brutally raped by Ramsay, four of the six direwolves have been killed, and Rickon died last night before the battle really got started. Oh, and there was that time where Robb Stark – along with his mother, wife, and unborn child – were slaughtered at the Red Wedding.

Needless to say, fans of both Cleveland and House Stark were pretty nervous leading up to yesterday evening. Both have been conditioned to expect the worst when it comes to their beloved franchises, which made it all the sweeter as they watched King James raise the trophy, and after, Lord Commander Snow beat Ramsay to a pulp.

It may seem difficult to cast LeBron James as an underdog, but make no mistake: the Warriors were supposed to win. The team with an NBA record 73 regular season victories and the MVP and the home court advantage was supposed to be victorious. And similarly in Westeros, the bad guys were supposed to prevail in the world of ice & fire. The now late Bolton bastard said it best: “If you think this has a happy ending you haven’t been paying attention.”

But last night, for once, the script was flipped. Cleveland, Ohio has something it can be proud of, and the rest of us can watch Ramsay’s hounds devour their master on repeat. That said, I wouldn’t put it past the Thrones writers to kill a few fan favorites in the finale, and now that LeBron has delivered on his promise to his home state, he may very well take his talents to Hollywood or elsewhere. So don’t let your guard down, but enjoy this week. You’ve earned it. Game of Thrones fans still have one more week of suspense, but for the City of Cleveland, your watch has ended.