Dream jobs come with caveat

December 10, 2009 was the best of times and the worst of times for the University of Cincinnati football team. Head coach Brian Kelly—who had led the Bearcats to a perfect 12-0 record—had awkwardly left the school for his dream job at Notre Dame.

Bearcat football fans the world over weren’t happy with the way Kelly made his decision to leave Cincinnati. Around seven months later, Cleveland felt the same pain when LeBron James decided to leave his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers and “take his talents to South Beach,” and play for the Miami Heat.

Mark Martin was approached by Rick Hendrick in 2008 and offered a seat in Hendrick’s No. 5 Chevrolet. After grappling for a few weeks with a return to full-time racing, Martin finally took the seat and had the time of his life in year one with Rick Hendrick.

Now what do all three of these guys have in common? They all seem to have followed their heart and put themselves in a position to be at the top of their profession. After the ’09 season at HMS, Martin’s best season since 1998, Hendrick and Martin re-upped their contract to include both the 2010 and the 2011 season.

However, in March, news leaked that Kasey Kahne would take over the No. 5 car from Martin in 2012, starting a maelstrom of rumors and speculations that ended with Martin taking uncharacteristic shots at the media in Indianapolis last month.

And for low blows, no one has been more criticized then LeBron James, who took an hour on ESPN to announce his final decision. The show, aptly named “The Decision” was watched by 7.3% of U.S. television homes.

On Friday, at the NBA Hall of Fame, Scottie Pippen told assembled media members that he couldn’t blame James for leaving Cleveland to go to chase a title in Miami.

“I don't know what all the grief was about,” Pippen said. “No fans, no organization, no one can decide what a free agent can do or should do or where he's going to go, and there's no reason for anyone to hold a grudge against LeBron for making that decision.”

People in Cincinnati probably still hold a grudge toward Kelly for leaving to chase a title in South Bend. The UC Bearcats went undefeated last season and might have been the second undefeated team left out of the national championship game behind TCU.

At Notre Dame, if Kelly goes undefeated, the Fighting Irish will almost certainly play for a national title.

On Tuesday afternoon Rick Hendrick said he felt bad for announcing Kahne’s arrival at his place a little early. “I feel bad it ... screwed Mark up a little bit,” he said. “I didn't anticipate everybody trying to figure it out.”

Three men from three different backgrounds all chasing the same dream: a title. You can’t blame LeBron for wanting to leave Cleveland, you can’t blame Kelly for leaving the Queen City and heading to South Bend, and you can’t blame Mark Martin for telling Rick Hendrick that he’s going to be in the No. 5 car next year, no matter what.

So while Cleveland fans know the pain of losing and Cincinnati football fans are still reeling from the loss of Brian Kelly, each and every sports fan should realize you can’t stop dreams, especially the dreams of a title.