Remember Raymond Towler? He's the Cleveland native who was falsely imprisoned for 29 years before he was released this year. The Cleveland Cavaliers invited him to a playoff game (Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semi finals). The Cavs gave him a jersey, VIP access to food and he stood on the court with the players during the national anthem....
Raymond TowlerRemember Raymond Towler? He's the Cleveland native who was falsely imprisoned for 29 years before he was released this year.
The Cleveland Cavaliers invited him to a playoff game (Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semi finals). The Cavs gave him a jersey, VIP access to food and he stood on the court with the players during the national anthem.
The Cavs didn't win Game 5 and they went on to the lose the series to the Boston Celtics to continue the non-championship drought for this city. Yahoo.com reporter Eric Adelson intertwines Towler's story with the story of sports in Cleveland, and how Towler and Cleveland fans have persevered through the years.
And will have to persevere some more.
So he’s a different kind of sports fan. It’s the rest of us who expect the millionaire athletes to act right, work hard and bring home a title – or else. Ray just wants them to play. He didn’t get through 29 years in prison by expecting much from others. No, he didn’t like “The Decision,” but he’s dealt with much worse decisions. “Maybe LeBron isn’t the answer,” he says. “We’ll keep looking.” He pauses.
“Gotta look at reality and deal with it.”