In this post, rather than comparing a scene of Othello to a sports story, I will compare probably the most prominent theme of Othello to an event that occurred that had this theme on full display. When reading Othello, there is a recurring feeling of betrayal that you get while reading. Iago constantly betrays people, and while it was mainly Othello and his marriage, he also betrayed Michael Cassio, and Rodrigo, and his wife Emilia.
Obviously, when you think about betrayal in the play Othello, you mainly think about Iago. When you think about the word betrayal in sports, one clear story and name comes to mind, and that name is Lebron James, and his betrayal of Cleveland.In the play, Iago betrays Othello in multiple ways. The main way he betrays him is by tricking Othello into making him believe that Desdemona is cheating on him, with Cassio. Iago does many different things to do this, such as the part where he plants the handkerchief in Cassio's house, his conversation with Cassio, the lie about Cassio in his sleep, and lying about conversations he had with Emilia and Desdemona. He also tries to make Desdemona do things that appear sketchy to Othello, because they are things that he told Othello she would do as a result of her cheating on him.
In sports, Lebron James betrayed the city of Cleveland in one major way. Just as some background, the city of Cleveland relies heavily on their sports teams, and in my opinion, have the best fans in all of sports. Cleveland, nicknamed, "The Mistake by the Lake", is an extremely impoverished city and not only are most of the people unsuccessful, but so are their sports teams. Cleveland has three sports teams, the Browns, Cavaliers and Indians, and none of these teams have ever won a championship in their respective sports. They also have only had one real superstar and city hero, and that was Jim Brown, who played from 1957-1965. The most recent hero, or thought to be hero in Cleveland sports was, Lebron James, also known by his nicknames "King James", or one given to him as a result of his presence in Cleveland sports, "The Chosen One."
Lebron James was looked at as the savior of Cleveland sports, until he became a free agent in 2010. Lebron James went on national television and embarrassed the city of Cleveland by unprecedentedly declaring that he would leave Cleveland, and join two superstars in Miami. Never before has their been a superstar of his magnitude that turned his back on his city and had to join a group of superstars as his easy rode to winning an NBA championship. Lebron left the city he grew up in in the dark as he gave them nothing to build with, and left them to join a team in the most fickle sports town in all of sports, Miami.
Lebron James is now "dead to Cleveland sports fans", as he left them, and betrayed them, and worst of all, he did it on national television. The day that this all happened is the single WORST day in the history of Cleveland sports, and for it to happen to a city that still continues to support their teams through thick and thin, makes you feel bad about it happening to them.
Quotes from Cavaliers fans on that night.
"I hope he never wins anything in Miami; he is dead to me."
"He calls himself a sports historian.... and he goes to Miami where the most fickle fans are? This is the worst thing that has happened to Cleveland since (Art) Modell taking the Browns away."
"He's one of our own, that's what makes it so painful"
"He's one of our own, he's from Akron, he even has a tattoo of Loyalty on his body, and he wants to ignore that to go to chase a championship with Chris Bosh in Miami? He follows Chris Bosh? Chris Bosh should be following him, it's ridiculous! Good Riddance!"
"I'm a huge Lebron fan and this is the worst thing that has ever happened to me."
"I thought for once in my life, with how much I love Cleveland sports, that one day it would love me back, and that has not happened today."
"His name is now right there with Art Modell on the wall of shame in Cleveland sports history."
"How arrogant to get on national team and slap the city and the team, that has supported you since high school, in the face like that."
"I feel like we lost a family member... In Cleveland family sticks together no matter what."
"I feel like I'm in a nightmare right now.... what is the future for Cleveland sports?"
Souces of Quotes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTgNlIEY_fw
So how does it relate?
In this story Lebron James would definitely be representative of Iago. Iago was a backstabber and liar, much like Lebron was in this circumstance, and the goal of Iago was to, through his backstabbing and lying, embarrass and inflict harm upon Othello, Cassio, Desdemona, Emilia and others related to these people. Through Lebron's backstabbing and lying, he embarrassed and inflicting harm upon just about every Cleveland sports fan in the entire world.
Also, it is interesting to note that these stories wind up both having left their mark in a very interesting way, and their is a lasting memory of a distinct thing in both stories. In Othello, the lasting memory comes at the end of the play, when Othello kills Desdemona, and Iago kills Emilia, and then Othello kills himself, and Iago has to suffer by being tortured horribly in prison. The ending memory of Lebron's era in Cleveland, an era marked by betrayal, is a picture of Lebron's jersey laying on the street of Cleveland burning in a hot flame, and the letter Cavaliers owner, Dan Gilbert wrote to the city of Cleveland the day after Lebron left. Just as no one knows what Iago did before he betrayed Othello, no one cares about what Lebron did before he betrayed Cleveland. All that we have to remember Iago is a book about his famous betrayal, and nothing good that he ever did, and in the same way, all that people remember about Lebron in Cleveland, is about how he betrayed the city; no one cares about his good years there; all that people remember is that he betrayed them, and their lasting visual memory in the form of Dan Gilbert's letter and the photo of the Lebron James' jersey incinerating in the orange flames.
PS. You can find the picture of the Jersey at the beginning of the post.
