How times change. Not just in our sports, but sometimes, also, in our lives.
All the time I was giving this site, and suddenly -- due to a series of circumstances I will not go into, but which began with computer problems -- I have been absent. Way too much. Embarrassingly absent, in fact, and feeling unworthy of being an "assistant coach" this last month.
But John is a good man, he is a kind and patient man, and it is an honor to be a part of a site he runs, even if he is a (gasp!) Broncos fan.
However, this column is not about such things, and is simply about the game tonight against Orlando, and how much perceptions have changed in the Cavaliers' universe.
Last year this would have been a Big Game. It would have maybe been a message game. The Magic were, after all, our nemesis from the year before, and being able to beat Orlando would validate adding Shaq to the mix.
This year it is just a game that will either be the fourteenth loss in fifteen games or a startling win.
Changing perceptions and changing expectations. Before this season started I asked you all how many games you thought the Cavs would win, and I threw out a "prediction" -- read, guess -- that Cleveland would win 35 games and miss the playoffs by four games.
And now? Now I wonder if the Cavaliers will make it to 15 wins. I wonder if they have it in them to match the worst seasons in Cavs' history -- a couple of 15-67 nightmares.
How perceptions have changed.