RED, WHITE AND WINDIANS, LOOK WHO'S BACK ON TOP AGAIN

It's Friday. Tomorrow is the Columbus Crawl for Cancer. Leave my cheesy title alone.

For most of you, the first official holiday of summer begins this evening, and, if you live in Ohio, the first 10-day forecast boasting an overwhelming majority of sunny days is finally here. Despite all the roller coaster weather, I think all of us can already smell the barbeques from every corner of our neighborhoods. For some, this weekend is a 72-hour vacation. For me, I've been on vacation for weeks. Since school ended May 5, I've traveled to Columbus, New York City and that state up north all within a 12 day span, and I'm now taking a "relaxing" two weeks to prepare for my summer internship.

But enough about where I've been and where I'm going. The most important thing about this weekend is that the Cleveland Indians will enter the weekend series against the Rays 30-17. The CLEVELAND Indians. The same team that was ranked dead last in the MLB's preseason rankings is now your number one and the team everyone wants to see fail simply because they are consistently #WINNING. Nobody, and I mean nobody, that I have come across, anyway, predicted how electric these first two months would be. Sure, the Red Sox did to them what they've been doing to everybody during Wednesday's home matinee, but that's the beauty of baseball: you're allowed a bad game without too many people reading too much into it. No other sport has that luxury, especially before the all-star break.

Untouchable. For now.

Is this really the same team that took until June 30 to reach 30 wins last season? Not exactly. While a decent number of players from the 40-man 2010 roster returned in 2011 (26 to be exact), notable additions, such as Jack Hannahan and Orlando Cabrera, have everyone saying "Grady who?"

A few weeks ago, Wall Street Journal writer Darren Everson completed a forensic journalistic analysis of every trade and how it's impacted the Tribe's unexpected success. While it's fun to hate on Larry Dolan's frugal attempt at running a business, reading this article probably made you kind of like the old man and think he's not so senile after all. Besides the roster, notable changes made to the organization in the last few years include:

Brad Paisley wants to see YOU at Progressive Field. 

• The Indians Social Suite: Located where the old left field bleachers once stood, social media geeks like myself can apply to have experience the power of social media and sports, away from their TV sets. Not too shabby for a team owned by an 80-year old, though I doubt it was his idea.
• @tribetalk: The official Twitter page for Cleveland Indians social media. If you follow @tribetalk, you will get a follow-back, the opportunity for discounted tickets and a place in the Twitterverse to vent or praise about anything Tribe-related.
• The brand campaign of "Creating memories. Connecting Generations. Celebrating Families." or, as I like to call, six words that reinvent the meaning of America's favorite past-time.
• The Cleveland Indians Music Festival: Sure, it's all country, and if you know me, that's not exactly my favorite genre, but country concerts are probably some of the best concerts. While it might have nothing to do with baseball, it's going to get people to Progressive Field, where they will drink lots of beer and spend lots of money. How is that not a win for everyone?

With all the renovations to the Wahoo brand, we have to wonder: did the front office and team management/coaches know the Tribe would be this good? Or did these changes just fall into place at the right time? Whatever the case, the Tribe is back, though, its drought really doesn't compare to anything we ever dealt with from the Cavs and Browns combined. The team dominated the American League in the nineties to the point where Burger King thought the team was worthy for its own collectible baseball set, and didn't exactly "suck" up until game five of the AL Championship in 2007.

What happened last July with "The Decision" proved that in sports, if a team fails to bring home hardware, it will never be the best and will simply fade into our distant memories. As Cleveland fans, or any fans (I'm talking to you with my sincerest sympathy here, Chicago), our teams can be amazing all season, but if they choke in the playoffs and crumble in the coming year, what was once our source of happiness is now the reason for a daily eye roll. We cannot keep assuming that a near flawless record equals a championship. What we can do is remain faithful and proud, go to games (or at least give them the ratings) no matter what the record, and refrain from fair-weather syndrome.

We can hate our owners all we want, but sometimes it takes a series of bad decisions to make the right ones. Sometimes it takes more than a good team to bring people to the stadium, though that is an enormous part of it. Everything in life has its villain, especially sports. But not every athlete, team or organization is ignorant to fan loyalty (or, the consumer of the product, if you want to look at it that way).

It's almost June. The Browns might never see the field. The Cavs are rebuilding. Mike Brown no longer works at Winking Lizard (okay, maybe he never did, but he has a doppleganger named Tom). Ohio State football is a perpetual mess. That's all irrelevant because it's Tribe time now. No one knows if they'll roll through October, but at least we can enjoy the ride while it lasts.