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Mike Polk Jr.: Let's focus on enjoying this Cleveland Cavaliers streak while it lasts

Despite how dominant they’ve been so far, there’s a better-than-average chance that the Cavs might not finish the regular season 82-0.

CLEVELAND — I’m not exactly sure why the Cavs have started the season 9-0 and on fire. Maybe it’s the coaching change.

Evan Mobley’s been downright nasty and playing with a chip on his shoulder. It seems like maybe he had a bad breakup over summer break or something, and now he’s funneling that pain into his work. Which I celebrate. Keep it up. 

This might be coincidental but I will also point out that ever since Awesome-Looking Aussie Luke Travers got promoted to Cleveland from the outback, the Cavs have been undefeated, just like his mullet.

But regardless of why it’s happening, Cavs fans are loving it! After all, who doesn’t love a GOOD streak? It’s so much more fun than a bad streak.

Like remember that season the Browns went 0-16? Not a fun streak. Also, it was actually 17 consecutive losses if you include the previous season. So.

Longest streak in baseball without winning a World Series? That would be our Cleveland Indi-Guardians at an impressive 76 years. So we’re now past the Diamond Anniversary of not winning the whole thing. That’s no good.

The Cavs themselves have a distinctly rough streak on the books. After LeBron left town to go find himself in Miami in 2010, the team managed to lose 26 games in a row, at one point, despite the best efforts of Christian Eyenga and Jamario Moon. So, they had the weapons.

Cleveland sports history is full of depressing streaks so when we get a positive one, we get pretty excited.

Like when Joe Thomas started for an amazing 167 games in a row, which is actually not far off from the number of Browns quarterbacks he protected.

Or how about that 455-game, Jacob's Field sellout streak during the 90s? We were all so young. 

Of course, there are many non-Cleveland sports related streaks that aren’t as interesting. Like the Celtics winning eight straight NBA titles or that showboat Cal Ripken refusing to take any PTO days for about 17 straight years. But everyone knows about those ones.

Here are three more fun streaks for your consideration: 

A man named Jeff Reitz holds the Guinness World Record for most consecutive visits to Disneyland — with 2,995 straight days of visits. That breaks down to eight years, three months, and 13 days of hearing the song It’s a Small World After All, voluntarily. Incredible.

Soap Opera star Susan Lucci was nominated for a Daytime Emmy 18 times in a row for her role on All My Children but lost each time, until finally being recognized in 1999. Remember that dramatic streak? It was like a soap opera.

Finally, we have to recognize the remarkable streak achieved by a woman named Jeanne Louise Calment of France who lived from 1875 to 1997, when she finally passed away at the age of 122 — the longest fully authenticated age to which any human has ever lived. So she was like the Cal Ripken of living.

Jeanne Louise should also serve as a sobering reminder to all understandably excited Cavs fans that every streak, no matter how enduring, must eventually come to an end. That’s what makes them streaks.

In spite of how dominant they’ve been so far, there’s a better-than-average chance that the Cavs might not finish the regular season 82-0. At some point in February they might get really tired on the second night of back-to-back road games and lose to the Thunder in double overtime. We all have to be prepared for that from an emotional standpoint.

But let’s not dwell on it. And instead, let’s focus on enjoying this Cavs streak while it lasts, and this Cavs team, all season. Because early indications suggest that this is a team worthy of your attention, even if they do ever happen to lose one.

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