An energy-free Q.

As I have mentioned before, I have recently returned to the area after an eight-year absence. While I have followed our beloved teams religiously the entire time I was in the military, being able to experience the games in person again is almost like a new experience.

The last live sporting event I attended was a University of Alabama football game at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

For those who may not know, the Crimson Tide is pretty much the Boston Red Sox of college football. Their fans are wildly passionate, nearly to a fault. As a true sports fan, the experience I shared with more than 92,000 other fans that day was a memorable one.

That day I remember telling my fiance, a huge Tide fan, about the passion of the Cleveland fans for their teams. When she moved up here in December with me, I could hardly wait for her to experience the fans that sold out 455 straight Indians games and created the infamous "Dawg Pound" of the 80's.

Something strange has happened, however. Somewhere between the mid -90s and now, the experience of attending a Cleveland sporting event has changed drastically.

I grew up going to Cavs games at the old Richfield Coliseum. My most vivid memories include the entire arena standing and yelling "threeeee" in unison as Mark Price would launch another one of his signature bombs from beyond the arc. That soon following by the muffled roar after the ball swished through the net. I remember screaming as loud as I could, and yet still feeling as if nobody could hear me amidst the defeaning roar.

Things are quite different at the Quicken Loans Arena. For one, if I were to scream as loud as I could, I would be fearful of the disdainful looks I might draw from nearby spectators. And yes, I called them "spectators" not fans.

I realize the Cavs had some rough years after the Price-Daugherty-Nance trio left, but with LeBron and Dan Gilbert has come a reasonable amount of success and the Cavs are now a legitimate playoff team.

I have attended three games at the "Q," one of them against the Golden State Warriors, a game LeBron missed with a toe injury.

Now I realize LeBron is the marquis player and face of the organization, but the energy level in the building that night was downright appalling. The response to one Donyell Marshall jumper would not have been out of line at a funeral service.

I know somebody will inevitably make the ticket price excuse, but its not like the Gunds were giving tickets away during the Richfield days. Tribe tickets during the first five seasons at Jacobs Field were neither cheap, nor easy to come by for the blue-collar fan, yet the fans produced several late inning roars that carried the Tribe to victories.

I can't blame Dan Gilbert for his admirable attempts the inject life into the fanbase. There is an awful lot going on during a Cavs game. On the court during pregame festivities, you have cheerleaders, the mascot, a bunch of hip-hop kids called the "Scream Team" dancing around, usually some sort of youth group wearing white t-shirts all attempting to avoid bumping into each other as the players - who look out of place at this point - prepare to play the game.

But it apparently takes more than marketing gimmicks to bring the passion back to the Cleveland fans.

While I was serving in the military, I was notorious for bragging about the passion of the Cleveland fans as I moved around the country. As it stands now, I can no longer make that claim.

I guess one cannot understate the toll 43 championship-free years can have on a city that already struggles with an inferiority complex.