1) The Fans

Let's get one thing straight right now - Cleveland has always been, and always will be a football town first.  The fact the Browns command the attention they do despite not existing for three years, then having only one winning season out of seven since coming back says it all.  Imagine if the Indians or Cavs had disappeared for three seasons?  Instead of demanding to pay $20 for a pack of cigarettes in order to get a new stadium like we initially did for the Browns (before the guilty NFL kicked in some funds), we'd have voted to bulldoze Gateway to make way for a new parking lot to tailgate in for football games.  All that said, we proved as a city in the mid-90's that we could support a non-football team just as well as the Browns (even if our football team had to leave to fully realize this fact).  Attending many regular season and several Cavaliers playoff games this season, I noticed something different going on at The Q.  Like, people actually watching the game for a change.  I saw fewer of the corporate types of the old days, the ones who seemed almost annoyed when the announcer would drown out their business conversations after a big play.  In their place were fans who have become very knowledgeable, loud, and, dare I say, passionate (gasp) about their basketball team. 

This climaxed with Game 6, a game in which one of my best friends actually re-scheduled an out-of-town trip to be there, where people excitedly high-fived total strangers in the streets and in the arena before the game even began.  Sitting in Panini's on E. 9th (always a pre-game favorite for ticketholders) about an hour before game time, I watched as two jersey-clad Pistons fans walked into the bar and were immediately serenaded by the entire patronage with chants that I will not repeat here.  Looking surprised, they quickly moved on to another spot.  Minutes later another Pistons fan, by himself and apparently oblivious to what had just occurred, also walked into the bar.  He took about three steps inside before surveying the fired-up crowd, then thought the better of his choice.  My point here?  Why some might argue that a city ridiculed for Bottlegate, Ten-Cent Beer Night and other fan-related discretions doesn't need that kind of behavior recognized, I'd argue I've never been more proud of a Cavaliers crowd in my life.  When you feel like you're in the muni lot before a Browns game instead of pre-game for the Cavaliers, that's not a bad thing (as long as everyone holds onto their bottles).

3) Youth will be served

Already sick of seeing Miami vs. Detroit in the conference finals again?  Don't worry, because you're not likely to see that again in the near future.  Let's start with the Pistons.  By opening tip next November, three of Dee-troit's starters will be past their 30th birthday.  If you consider the all-star core of Billups, Hamilton, Wallace & Wallace as the nucleus of the team, only Rip is under 30 (he'll be 28 before next season).  And their bench?  Considering Hunter & McDyess are the primary contributors off the pine (likely to remain a Piston weakness next year), they're even older than the fab five.  Now to Miami.  The Heat feature a potential rival to LeBron for years to come in Dwyane Wade.  Shaquille O'Neal, when healthy, is still the best center in the NBA.  But this team is fighting the age battle in a worse way than the Pistons.  Shaq is now 34 years old.  Considering the ancient Gary Payton is likely to be retired sooner rather than later, can anyone name another Heat player besides Antoine Walker in less than 3 seconds?  Didn't think so.  That slam you just heard?  That was their window shutting.

The Cavs still need to find an extra piece or so before talk of a Bulls-like dynasty can really begin, to be sure.  But the state of the rest of the conference gives the young Cavs a chance to contend for a title much, much sooner than anyone thought in today's youthful, high-energy NBA.