Differing philosophies for Cavaliers and Indians still lead to same goal

For a city used to heartbreak when it comes to their sports teams, October 25, 2016, was a day many Cleveland sports fans probably never saw coming.

This date was also the culmination of two teams coming together in two totally separate ways but with the exact same goal in mind; win a championship in the city of Cleveland. In Quicken Loans Arena, the Cleveland Cavaliers received their championship rings and saw their championship banner raised into the rafters.

Just four months earlier, the Cavaliers accomplished something never before done in NBA history. They came back from a 3-1 deficit against the 73-9 Golden State Warriors to win their first championship as a franchise.

At almost the exact same time that fall night and just right next door at Progressive Field, the Cleveland Indians opened the World Series against the Chicago Cubs. It was a night that most Northeast Ohio natives thought they would only dream of in their lifetime.

Other than competing for a championship against a team that was an overwhelming favorite, the similarities between the Cavaliers and Indians ended there.

In sports today you rarely see two teams from the same small market who both are competing for a title, but each chooses to build their team in a different fashion.

Dan Gilbert, the owner of the Cavaliers is willing to spend just about anything to try and get his team to the top.  On the other hand, the owners of the Indians, the Dolan Family, have been known to be incredibly fickle when it comes to shelling out large contracts worth a lot of money to attract the league’s top talent.

Here is how both the Cavaliers and Indians path to success came about.