Gary Peterson: Lebron James Coming Home -- Someone Call Security

They're stacking sandbags in Cleveland. They're boarding windows. They're calling in the National Guard. Some residents swear they have seen the Bat Signal projected on clouds above the city.

Nothing like a visit from native son LeBron James to get the locals in a dither.

You know the story. Local resident makes good. Local resident carries local team as far as his back will allow. Local resident takes his talents to South Beach. Area fans express?

Nevermind. Now James and his new Miami Heat best friends are preparing to visit the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday. It's a professional call, his first since announcing his infamous a little more than 20 weeks ago.

Clevelanders are?

Nevermind. a member of the Cavaliers organization told ESPN the Magazine's Chris Broussard.

After literally minutes of exhaustive research sorry, we have trees to trim and lights to hang Sunday Playground historians have concluded there has never been anything quite like this in professional sports in this country. Not when you consider how closely James, an Akron native, aligned himself with the Cleveland region; how well he played for the Cavaliers; the galling manner in which he announced his intent to walk away from the team; and the riotous ill will he left in his wake.

The Cavaliers plan to have extra security at Thursday's game. Banners bearing inappropriate messages will be confiscated. So will offensive apparel; fans will be given a Cavs T-shirt to wear instead.

The San Francisco Giants recently reminded us of how synergy between a team and its fans can uplift the spirits of an entire region. Even casual fans got carried away during the team's postseason romp.

Now we are reminded that the blade can cut two ways. There are people in Brooklyn who still resent the late Walter O'Malley for moving the Dodgers to Los Angeles. It was an ugly scene the night when Jason Giambi returned to the Oakland Coliseum for the first time wearing Yankees pinstripes. Twenty years ago, it might not have been a great idea for Al Davis to walk through Jack London Square without an escort.

Just as area Raiders fans re-embraced Davis and his team, perhaps Northern Ohio someday will make amends with James. But there's work to be done between now and then.

Those sandbags, for starters. They don't fill themselves.

Contact Gary Peterson at gpeterson[@]bayareanewsgroup.com.