Cleveland might rock — but its sports teams don't.

While growing up in northeastern Ohio, there were a few things I learned right away about the teams in the City by the Lake.

No. 1 on that list, ahead of the fact that the pro teams in Cleveland played like No. 2, was that all the franchises were cursed.

Not just one — all of them. Well, except for the Cleveland Force Major Indoor Soccer League team, which actually won a championship.

But does that really count?

I'm not sure where the Cleveland Curse came from. Other cities have a definite scapegoat (sometimes literally) for their downtrodden sports history.

The Chicago Cubs have the Billy Goat. Boston had Babe Ruth until the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004 to end an 86-year wait between titles.

But in Cleveland there is no definitive object of ire, save for maybe Rocky Colavito, who was traded by the Indians in 1959. The Tribe hasn't won anything of significance since.

That doesn't explain why the plague has hit all the franchises in the city, though.

While the Cubs have gone 100 years without a championship, the Bears and Bulls have won numerous titles.

While the Red Sox were cursed for all those years, the city had the dominant Celtics, Bruins and the Patriots to cheer for.

And even in Pittsburgh, where the Pirates definitely have had the voodoo put on them for 18 years — call it the Curse of Francisco Cabrera or the Stupidity of David Littlefield — the Steelers and Penguins have combined to win five titles.

In Cleveland, the city hasn't enjoyed a title in any major sport since 1964.

It's an equal opportunity curse — and it's about to get worse.

Years from now, people in Cleveland might be talking about the Curse of LeBron.

The Cavs had everything going for them this season. They had LeBron James playing like the league MVP, they had Shaq to handle Dwight Howard and the more talented centers in the NBA playoffs, and they had the sense of urgency that came with the possible departure of James after the season.

All that got them eliminated a round earlier than last season by an aging, slow Celtics team that simply wanted it more.

Now James is most likely gone, off to greener, less-cursed pastures.

The Cavaliers will be the Cadavers again, destined to win 17 games per season.

It's just one more chapter in the War-and-Peace-sized book of heartbreaks for Cleveland sports fans.

The end to the suffering is nowhere near.

The Browns are rebuilding for the 124,964th time. The Indians consider themselves lucky when they draw 10,000 fans per game and have a smaller budget than a high school production of "Grease."

So for long-suffering Cleveland sports fans, like my father, it's more of the same, year in and year out.

Sorry, Dad. The curse continues.

Mike Kilroy is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.