“Cleveland against the world!”

That was the message Lebron James sent out during the Cleveland Cavaliers ring ceremony before their season opener against the New York Knicks.

Last June, the Cavaliers became the first team in history to come back from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals and win the title. LeBron has fulfilled the promise he made to his hometown Cleveland back when he was selected by the Cavs with the #1 overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft: to bring a championship back to a city that hadn’t seen a team win it all in over 52 years.

Before that NBA championship, the city hadn’t had a professional sports franchise win it all since the Cleveland Browns beat the Baltimore Colts back in the 1964 NFL Championship Game.  As a result, the city of Cleveland had gained a reputation of being a cursed city.

At one time, believe it or not, Cleveland was considered a “city of champions.” The Indians had won the 1948 World Series, the Browns dominated the NFL, and the Barons of the American Hockey League ruled the ice.

However, the city fell into steep decline during the 1960s as people fled the city for the suburbs. Crime was on the rise, and the city defaulted on their federal loans, devastating the city’s economy. Not to mention that the Cuyahoga River, which runs straight through the city, was so polluted that it caught fire thirteen times. The city soon gained a very unfortunate nickname: “The Mistake on the Lake.”

The Cavaliers, Indians, and Browns were all that the city had. But during the city’s 52-year championship drought, Clevelanders have lived through more heartbreak than any other sports fans in the U.S.

The Indians had fallen into a 33-year slump since 1960, finishing near the bottom of the MLB standings nearly every year. The Indians had christened their new ballpark, Progressive Field, back in 1994 with their first AL pennant since 1954, but lost the World Series to the Atlanta Braves in six games. The Indians returned to the World Series in 1997, but blew their lead in the bottom of the ninth inning in Game 7, giving the Florida Marlins their first World Series victory.

The Browns appeared in seven NFL/AFC Conference championship games since 1964, but lost each one. As ESPN reports, in 1986 the Browns were on the verge of advancing to their first Super Bowl, but gave up a 98-yard drive in the last five minutes of the game and lost to John Elway’s Denver Broncos. The play would go down in sports history as “The Drive.”

The Browns returned to the AFC Conference championship a year later against the same Broncos team. With the Browns down seven points late in the fourth quarter, the team was on the goal line for a chance to tie the game. Browns running back Earnest Byner fumbled the ball for a turnover, giving the Broncos the win. The event became known as “The Fumble.”

According to Bleacher Report, Browns owner Art Modell announced in 1995 that he was moving the team to Baltimore and rebranding them as the Ravens. “The Move,” as it is now referred to, infuriated Cleveland natives, and resulted in the NFL giving the city a new expansion Browns team. The Baltimore Ravens went on to win two Super Bowls, while the new Cleveland Browns have gone through 26 quarterbacks since 1999, and have only made the playoffs once, as reported by Sports Illustrated.

The Cavaliers have had one of the worst histories in American sports. Until 2003, the Cavaliers had suffered from poor play and poor management. The team had only made the playoffs once until 1986, and had at one point lost 24 games in a row, which at the time was the NBA’s longest losing streak. The management had also traded away their first round draft picks for five consecutive years, meaning that the team couldn’t add any new young players. The situation got to be so bad that the NBA had to create a new rule to prevent the Cavaliers from trading their picks away, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.

The Cavaliers’ fortunes turned for them when they drafted LeBron James. He brought the team to their first NBA Championship in 2007, but they were swept in four games by the San Antonio Spurs. LeBron won the MVP award in 2008 and 2009, but couldn’t carry the team to the championship by himself.

As reported by ESPN, “The Decision” was the announcement that LeBron would sign with the Miami Heat in 2010. This announcement was nationally televised in an ESPN special, and received tons of criticism, especially from Cleveland natives.

LeBron ended up winning two NBA titles with the Heat before deciding to return to Cleveland in 2014. He joined Kyrie Irving, whom the Cavaliers drafted with the #1 overall pick in the 2012 draft,  and Kevin Love, who was traded from the Minnesota Timberwolves for Andrew Wiggins.

The Cavaliers made the NBA Finals in 2015, losing 4-2 to the Golden State Warriors. Both teams would return for a finals rematch in 2016. Game 7 was a nailbiter, but instead of another heartbreaking play like “The Shot” or “The Drive,” the world witnessed “The Block,” a late-game block by LeBron that helped seal the title for Cleveland. As LeBron was awarded the Finals MVP, he shouted to the camera, “Cleveland! This is for you!”

No city has endured what Cleveland has endured. Their 52 tortuous years of lackluster play, numerous close-calls and heartbreaking moments is unparalleled by any other city in the nation. Those feelings of anxiety and heartbreak were finally let go when the buzzer sounded at Oracle Arena on June 19th.

And while as the Cavaliers were just starting the season as defending NBA champions last week, the Indians were playing in their first World Series since 1997.

Not too bad for the Mistake on the Lake.