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First things first- this isn’t a Cleveland rant.
Well… it is, sort of. But it leads to a question that I think applies to all of you sports fans. Hear me out, and help me out on this one, if you can.
For the past three weeks, Browns fans have been treated to three losses by their team, each one more appalling and embarrassing than the last… yet each one all-too typical of the way this franchise has gone about its business since re-entering the league. Two weeks ago, the Browns, then a relatively sparkling 2-2, went off to Baltimore to battle the despised Ravens, who were at that point in time looking like the biggest collective meltdown in the NFL. The Browns turned the ball over four times, generated zilch offense, and lost 16-3.
Last week, the Browns had a chance to get healthy at home against a going-nowhere Detroit team that had finally gotten enough sense to bench Joey Harrington. Had this game been played in, oh, 1953, it would have been the match-up of the season. But it’s 2005. And in the latest of a long, long line of dreadful home performances, the Browns lost 13-10. Adding insult to injury was the outstanding play of Jeff “Questionable Sexuality” Garcia, who became a local villain with his shaky play on the field and his tawdry exploits off of it in one disastrous season as the Browns’ quarterback last year.
The nadir (thus far) came yesterday, when the Browns traveled down to Houston and generously allowed the Texans to win their first game of the season, 19-16. It was the same old story. The Browns offense was pathetic in the red zone; five trips inside Houston’s 20-yard line resulted in three field goals, a lost fumble, and one touchdown (the team’s first offensive TD in more than two games). The special teams were abysmal. The defense made no big plays, and there was a distressing lack of pressure on David Carr, who usually spends an entire game staring at the action through his ear-hole.
The Browns are now 2-5 in 2005. They’re 32-71 (.310) since they returned to the league. As usual, the offense is brutal. As usual, the season is over well before Thanksgiving. As usual, posters on Bernie’s Insiders are speculating on where in the top five the team will be drafting (that the Browns will have a top-five pick is regarded as pretty much a given). And as usual, there’s a quarterback controversy (this year it’s Trent Dilfer vs. rookie Charlie Frye, a third-round pick from Akron U. who, like all backup quarterbacks, is the most popular player on the team with the fans). This team isn’t just bad; it’s lifeless, colorless, boring. Same shit, different year. When the Chargers were terrible a few years ago, at least they had LaDainian Tomlinson. We ain't got shit.
Yesterday, not only did I fritter away three hours I don't get back on another terrible, terrible game, but I had to put up with the gibes of a Steelers fan- a girl Steelers fan- who kept loudly rooting for the Texans, guffawing at the Keystone Kops performance of Dilfer and Co., and asking rhetorical questions like, “Why did you guys want this team back so badly again?” Christ. When I was a kid, the Mark Malone-led Steelers were Cleveland's bitch. Those were the last years the Browns were perenially good. That was twenty fucking years ago. Who needs this shit?
For a long time I’ve thought of the Browns as the NFL’s version of the Boston Red Sox- a tradition-laden team with a worldwide fan base whose backers are unparalleled in terms of their perseverance and steadfastness in the face of years and years of heartbreak. But I have a bad feeling now that what the Browns really are is the football equivalent not of the Red Sox, but of another baseball franchise- this one, unlike the Red Sox, an unredeemed loser. I’m starting to think that the Browns are the Chicago Cubs in orange helmets.
The parallels are striking. The Cubs never win diddlysquat. Neither do the Browns. The Cubs have an adoring fan base that, win or lose, constantly packs Wrigley Field. The Browns have an adoring fan base that, win or lose, constantly packs Cleveland Browns Stadium. The Cubs are #1 in the city of Chicago no matter how bad they are, and no matter how good the inter-city competition is. The Browns are #1 in the city of Cleveland no matter how bad they are, and no matter how good the other teams in the city are. The White Sox are World Champions, but I’ll bet the Cubs will still outdraw them next season. The Indians just won 93 games and have a roster full of outstanding young players. The Cavaliers have LeBron, the best basketball player on the face of the earth. And despite all of this, despite the Browns being laden with the same old roster full of rejects, draft-day busts, has-beens and never-weres, without anything approaching an impact player (the Browns will not have a Pro Bowler this year, for the sixth time in seven years), with a lackluster, identity-free, just plain bad team… Cleveland is still Browns Town.
Suckas
Don’t get me wrong. I'm not bagging on the passion and loyalty of Browns fans. Without those characteristics we never would have gotten our team back in the first place (for whatever it’s worth). But there’s a flip side. There’s no one easier to play for a sucker than someone who is in a blind state of unconditional love. That’s the fate of Cubs fans; the Tribune Co. and the front office are under no special pressure to produce a winner on the North Side; after all, Cub Fan is going to lay his money down, buy the hat and the jacket, consume mass quants of overpriced concession-stand beer, and plant his butt in the seat no matter how shitty the on-the-field product is. The Cubs will draw if they win 95 games, and they will draw if they lose 95 games. So where’s the incentive to improve?
Same way with the Browns. Every year people plunk down thousands of dollars for PSLs, tickets, parking, etc., every year the twenty-year old Dawg masks are donned anew, every year Cleveland Browns Stadium is sold out, and every year the team is awful. Why should the team’s management care about getting better? What’s going to happen if they don’t? What are the fans going to do- boycott the team? Err… no. There may be further momentum in the floodtide of OH-10 residents taking the easy way out and becoming Steelers fans, but when the rubber meets the road, the Stadium is still going to sell out, and the loot, ill-gotten from the hands of fans who believe way, way, way too much, is still going to pour into the coffers of Browns principal owner Randy Lerner. Will the club improve? With all those suckers filling the stands, no matter what, why should they?
This is a con-job the Browns have been pulling on their fans for six years now. It’s a straight grift, nothing more, nothing less. And it leads to my question for all of you readers:
When do you, as a fan, pull the plug on a team that not only isn’t getting the job done, but also shows zero inclination toward doing so? What I got is an NFL team that hasn't won shit. In years. And won't win shit. For years.
I’m not talking about bandwagoneering. I’m not talking about abandoning the Browns for the Steelers or the Patriots or the Eagles. That's the welp of a beaten cur, as Ban Johnson says in Eight Men Out.
All I’m saying is should there be a point where even the most loyal fan steps back, spreads his hands and says, Look. I love this team, I grew up with this team, but I’ve had it. I’m taking a break. I’ll be back when you motherfuckers get a clue. Until then… C-ya!
I understand the arguments about loyalty and staying the course. Really, I do. But I don’t see anything positive about mindlessly supporting an organization that doesn’t deserve support. It’s one thing for a franchise to go through a rough stretch. It’s another for a team to lose year after year after year with no signs of a light at the end of the tunnel.
I'll be back when this is possible
I’ll be honest- I paid no attention to the Cavaliers in the years before the ping-pong balls bounced their way and brought LeBron the Savior to the team. Loved the team when they had Price, Daugherty, Nance and Ehlo, and at least gave the impression of being a serious contender. But in the lean years of the late ‘90s and early in this century, I dropped the Cavaliers like a bad habit. I follow them now. Do I feel like a Johnny-come-lately? Sure, because I am. Do I feel this makes me less than a fan? Not in this case. Prior to drafting LeBron, the Cavaliers had done nothing to warrant anyone else’s attention or support.
I can stay behind a team that struggles but is doing its level best to improve the product. The Indians went through some growing pains in 2003, but at least they had an idea of what they wanted to do to improve. I didn’t see that with the pre-LeBron Cavaliers. Drafting Trajan Langdon; drafting DiSagana Diop; Ricky Davis shooting at the wrong basket; 65 losses- all I saw was incompetence. And when fans show up and support incompetence, not only are they wasting their time and money; they’re actually doing more harm than good; they’re enabling that incompetence. At least, that's what I think.
So in closing, the question remains- when is enough, enough? Have you, the readers, ever been in this situation, when one of your teams not only isn’t winning, but apparently isn’t even trying to win? And if so, what did you do? Did you gamely soldier on? Did you wash your hands of the catastrophe and move on to something else? What did you do? Does spending three hours doing something more rewarding than watching the Browns shit on the field- namely, sleep off a fucking hangover- make Yours Truly a "bad" fan? You tell me.
Good write-up Jesse. I know where you are coming from... kind of. I haven't felt the pain as intense as you have over the course of the Browns history, but I am starting to know what it must be like.
You see, I'm a 49ers fan, and right now we suck all kinds of ass. It really has only been two terrible seasons thus far, but every Sunday recently feels like I'm serving penance for the cocky sins I committed when we were on top.
My advice? I don't know if it will mean anything coming from a fan who hasn't suffered as much as you have, but don't step back from football. Instead, get more interested in the rest of the league. I make small $10 bets every weekend on two Sunday games (that don't include the Niners) and my interest in the NFL has gone up tremendously (feel free to bet more if you have expendable income). Now every Sunday, I can still go to the sports bar and have hope for the Niners (and watch them fail miserably almost every weekend), but then I can also see if the Eagles will cover the spread or if the Pats vs Bills will cover the over.
At any rate, it has made my Sundays a lot of fun and has really increased my interest in the NFL in general. I guess you could jump on the fantasy bandwagon as another option, but I feel those fans are kind of... creepy, for lack of a better word. Hang in there!
don
There you go.
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Posted: 10/31/2005 4:11:29 AM
That's right, go get yourself a gambling addiction so you can get your mind of the Browns. Real smart!
Honestly, I say, "Walk away". I agree with you on every word. they are not doing dick but starting over every year. Every year it's a new quarterback, and more high hopes, and it's just a broken record.
Cleveland has the Cavs and you should hang your hat on them.
IckeyJohnson
Nice
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Posted: 10/31/2005 6:19:53 AM
Jesse, I have to hand it to you. You probably are about the only Browns fan on earth that I respect, because you have the grapes to call it like it is. As a Bengals fan, I can completely identify with the misery you go through. I find it hilarious that you mention a Steelers' fan rooting on the Texans' in your presence, because I can always count on a Browns fan (usually dozens) to come out and do the same to me whenever I'm at a bar chanting "Who Dey". Hell there were even Browns fans sitting with the Steelers fans cheering them on last week....isn't that a sacrilege?
My advice: just hang in there man. The Browns may suck for the rest of your life, but there's nothing worse than a frontrunner.
Lifelong Fan
Washington Redskins Fan
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Posted: 10/31/2005 6:48:35 AM
All I have to say is that I have been a Washington Redskins fan for over 30 years. Last week we were the biggest, baddest bullies on the block by beating up on poor ol' San Fran. Yesterday we got shellacked by the NY Giants. (36-0 with absolutely zero offense!) Daniel Snyder has, in recent years, even tried to BUY a Super Bowl. He has spent more money on this team than a dozen small countries combined! And where did that get us? The laughing stock of the football community, that's where. I'll admit, back when I heard they were bringing back Joe Gibbs, I think I had to change my underwear I was that excited! We suck now, and will suck in the future. But one thing is for sure, I will always be a fan. Need I say any more?
deuce
glutton for punishment
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Posted: 10/31/2005 8:03:05 AM
1st of all good stuff jesse, as always. as i watched the browns go out on a high note in '95 (defeating cinncy) i was forced to make a decision- not watch football til they returned (ha) or look elsewhere. since they were moving to baltimore, i chose the skins out of spite (their proximity to baltimore) and it's easy to be a skins fan in south-eastern VA. i will always be a browns fan down to the core but the skins are on tv here every weekend, they are much "easier*" to watch. until yesterday. yeah i know, im a ship - jumping pussy, but its not like a latched onto the superbowl champs each year. however, if it comes down to it and the skins face the browns in the superbowl. i will be rooting the browns on from church (end of world) & with every piece of clothing i own (it have to be real cold to get hell to freeze over). good luck.
* by no means is starting out each season 0-5 easy.
BILL VIETS
IT'S NOT OUR FAULT
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Posted: 10/31/2005 8:25:27 AM
Jesse, It's not your fault. Everyone seems to be forgetting something here. The reason why my dad owes me an apology. Nobody chooses to become a Cleveland Browns fan, you are born into it. Tell me I'm wrong and you're full of shit. The only time I saw my father cry, when Earnest Byner fumbled on the goal line. I was seven. I asked him why he was crying and his reply? "Someday you'll understand son." That just about sums up everyone's life experience with the Brownies. So all you generation x Browns fans, go find your fathers and demand an apology. You had no choice, you were brain-washed by a glimpse of hope. By Kosar and Slaughter, Minnefield and Dixon, Mack and Byner, Brennan and Langhorne, Matthews and Perry, and who could forget that bad motherfucker Eric Turner. At least we've got a young solid group of good ball players to look forward to with the Tribe and of course we got LeBron. I'll still watch every Sunday, but I don't expect much but another top five pick in next year's draft. That's one thing we can count on, is ruining some other huge college prospect's career by bringing him to Cleveland. Couch, Brown, Warren, Green, Faine, WInslow, Edwards..........................WTF??????
Jack
Great article but....
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Posted: 10/31/2005 9:06:01 AM
let's not romanticize Cleveland's other sports busts. The Browns, Tribe, and Cavs collectively have brought the city nothing but hope only to fall short when it really counted. Come on, the Drive, the Fumble, Jordan's shot over Ehlo, the '95 Tribe (I'll echo someone else....how the hell do you lose with Manny, Juan Gone, Lofton, Justice, and Albert Belle?), and Joe Table in '97. You can't pin the city's sports woes merely on the Brownies. Cleveland is the poster child for cursed cities in pro sports worldwide.
Phillip
Poster
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Posted: 10/31/2005 10:10:56 AM
I'm a fan of the Cubs, and if you reversed some of the proper nouns in this article, it would seem as though my thoughts were thrown onto a web page.
I cannot tell you when enough is truly enough. I've grappled with this all last year. I also came to realize a few things, and I hope this helps:
1) Loving a team is a lot like loving a mate. You cannot help who you love. Trying to treat fandom with intellectual points is useless.
2) The Cubs (to me) and the Browns (to the writer) are often like terrible ex-girlfriends, who cheat on you, steal your car, but then call you up about midseason with this hope of changing. "It'll be great, baby. We've got Derek Lee tearing up the place, and I miss you so much." Then when you show up, Corey Patterson still swings at pitches in the dirt.
3) I'm lucky, because the White Sox just won the World Series. This was so close to home that I couldn't help but feel sick from it. I'm not a White Sox hater by any means. But having a world series in Chicago, and then having a CHAMPION in Chicago and have it NOT be the Cubs has been tough for me. I can only hope and pray that it has been tough for the team, too. They had an enormous ticker tape parade (yes, ticker tape!) in downtown Chicago for the Sox, and seeing that on TV... well, if it made me jealous, I can only hope that it did the same for the Cubs organization.
4) If the Cubs don't make decided improvements next year, that could be the end for me. I love baseball, and I'm comfortable just watching games. I don't need my heart to be ripped out. So, for me, the answer to "when is enough enough?" is "One more year." Famous last words, I know, but I'm serious.
STEVE
IN RELATED NEWS
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Posted: 10/31/2005 10:29:09 AM
Yesterday as I layed in bed and watched my Giants pummel the ever living shit out of the over-rated Redskins, my relationship took a drastic turn. My girlfriend was over and began to indulge me with a sweet afternoon blowjob. The thing was that the Giants were driving nicely down the field and I couldn't stop watching. As Shockey barreled his way into the endzone, I pumped my fist a little and my girl looked up at me, cock in mouth. She saw that my eyes were in fact glued to the TV and the knobber was abruptly ended. I tried to get her to finish the job during the commercial that followed. No dice. An important lesson was learned, however. I can get my dick sucked whenever I want, but I haven't seen a Giants offense like this in years and I must say, it just may be better than getting some hungover brain.
Atlas
STEVE IS A POET
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Posted: 10/31/2005 11:46:22 AM
I am Cubs fan and I have been making this exact argument with other Cubs fans. I cant believe some poeple can be so blind, I am pissed that they dont get it. If the Cubs dont make any good moves in the off season I will only be going to games if I get free tickets. I am sick and tired of watching Dustbag mismanage this team. I almost got season tickets last year and I am fucking thrilled I didn't, the stomach punch called the World Champion White Sox better wake up those fuckers at the Tribune or I am out.
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