Cleveland Vintage Blog — Sports

Larry Bird dominated the NBA landscape in the 1980s, but his reign came to an end in the early '90s, perhaps a few years earlier than planned due to a bad back (though he was 35 at this point too). But Bird made one last run to the playoffs with the Boston Celtics in the 1991-92 season, meeting up with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round. Bird was limited to 45 games that season and had to sit out the Celtics' first-round victory against Indiana, but he was still an All-Star that season, averaging 20.2 points, 9.6 rebounds, and...

"If you were constructing the ideal arena from my experience, I'd say, 'Duplicate the Richfield Coliseum.'" - Larry Bird Larry Bird is one of the best basketball players of all time, essentially dominating the 1980s along with Magic Johnson. But you won't really get too many interesting insights from Bird in his 1989 memoir Drive, co-written with sportswriter Bob Ryan.  It's pretty much a book full of hollow athlete speak that glosses over any really juicy details; however, Bird does provide some valuable tidbits at the end of the book with a full section on his opinions of every single NBA...

Rocco Scotti was a beloved Cleveland baritone/tenor who sang the National Anthem more than anyone else - an estimated 10,000 times by the singer's own estimation. Scotti was the son of Italian immigrants and raised in Cleveland's Little Italy neighborhood. The popular local talent passed away in 2015 at the age of 95, but was well-known for all the times he sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Cleveland Indians games, which dates back to his first time on Opening Day in 1952. Scotti even became good friends with Cleveland great Bob Feller over the years. One of his most famous renditions at Municipal...

You already know the Cleveland Cavaliers of course, but the city had a rich basketball past long before they came into the picture in 1970. The Cleveland Rosenblums were one of those long-gone teams from the early 20th century, but they were also one of the most successful - and innovative.  The Rosenblums - named for owner and Cleveland department store owner Max Rosenblum - were one of the original members of the American Basketball League (a league Rosenblum helped create), playing from 1925 to 1930. Though their run as a team was brief, the Rosenblums - also known as...

Where to begin? I have so many memories of Cleveland's Municipal Stadium, the grand old gray lady, I couldn’t possibly know where to start, but the beginning always seems to be the best spot. The vision of Cleveland’s city manager at the time, William Hopkins, then-Indians president Ernest Barnard, a future team president in Alva Bradley and the Van Sweringen brothers, Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium was dedicated on July 1st, 1931, carrying with it various cost overruns of roughly $500,000, a pretty substantial amount at the time. The first actual event held at the stadium was on July 3rd, 1931, a heavyweight...