Witness to the persecution

This is what you can do when you leave a Cleveland team -- hit a home run to beat the Indians, then point to the heavens to thank God.

Can't do that if you're an Indian, a Cavalier, or a Brown, and you especially couldn't do it if you were and Indian or a Cavalier last night. But Manny Ramirez, since he is now a Boston Red Sock, can point skyward and praise The Big Man all he wants. He can even do it at home plate at Jacobs Field after hitting a three-run homer to lead his team to an 8-6 win over the Indians. And to think, just the other day Manny became just the fourth player in MLB history to hit 200 homers with two different teams. Last night's blow was his 202nd as a Red Sox; he hit 236 with the Tribe.

Right next door, plenty of Washington Wizards could raise their fingers skyward, because they erased the euphoria of the first Cleveland sports team playoff victory in 4½ years with an 89-84 victory over the Cavs. Thanks to 10 turnovers, 7-of-25 shooting, and a missed dunk, King James found out that God is at least a couple of pay grades higher.

All the witnesses who thought LeBron's triple-double in his playoff debut Saturday would propel the Cavs to an easy series victory over the Wizards can now join the millions of other Cleveland sports witnesses -- you know, the ones who witnessed Ron Harper get traded for Danny Ferry, the ones who witnessed the Browns move to Baltimore, the ones who witnessed Jose Mesa's World Series meltdown.

The Indians are now a .500 team and the Cavs have given up home-court advantage against a team that both won the regular-season series against them and overcame a 2-0 deficit in the first round last season. This falls right in line with what we've witnessed in the past. And usually when we do, we're shaking our fists at the sky instead of pointing our fingers.