Positive Spin
I received some feedback lately that perhaps I’ve been a little too pessimistic regarding our hometown teams. Personally, I don’t see how ZERO championships, juxtaposed with The Drive, The Fumble, eh you know the list, leaves any room for optimism, but I decided to give it the old Cuyahoga Community College try!
So here it is, reasons why it’s great to be a Cleveland Sports fan!
1. Memorabilia savings: Do you have any idea how much fans from Boston have had to spend on officially licensed Championship gear the last half-decade? ANY idea at all?! I got a little taste of this after the Buckeyes won the National Championship; yeah, I got a little silly, but I’m here to tell you, that stuff is not cheap. But that is not of our concern as Clevelanders. No, our teams provide us with an economical escape from the pricey world of Super Bowl, World Series and Finals Championship retail, not too mention those “too good to pass up” Sports Illustrated offers.
2. Stress Free sporting events: Can you imagine how different a Super Bowl party would be were the Browns actually involved? I would be a nervous wreck! Unable to sit down at any time during the game I probably wouldn’t even sleep the night before. And heaven forbid they lose, or worse yet, get blown out. After all these years, I’m pretty sure I would be inconsolable for a few hours (weeks). But fortunately, we are CLEVELANDERS. We are able to watch the prime time championship sporting events with the carelessness of a young puppy frolicking through a grassy field. We can act like females, MOST of them anyway, and root for the team with the “prettiest uniforms” or “heartfelt subplot.”
3. Travel with the team: The Cavs are no longer included in this category, since the LeBron phenomenon materialized. But it still works with the Tribe and Browns. Want to see the Browns from primo seats? Travel to Ford Field in Detroit when the Browns are in town, they won’t draw I guarantee it. I once watched an entire Indians/Devil Rays 3-game series at Tropicana Field in Tampa, and easily bought each ticket the day of the game and pretty much had my choice of seating. From the Tampa fans I talked to, it wasn’t the case when the Yankees or Red Sox came to town.
4. Finally, I'm going to refer to my good buddy Butch Davis:
(while reading this, visualize Butch's accent narrating)
You know, we got groups of amazing young men on our teams playing their guts out each and every game in hopes of reaching the ultimate goal of where we wanna be. You may look at a 40-point loss to the Steelers as just a 40-point loss, but I look at all the positive strides we made during the ballgame. For one, nobody died. Two, our uniforms didn't get too dirty, thus saving a good piece of change on dry cleaning. Plus, if you take from the 3 minute mark of the third quarter, to the 13 minute mark of the fourth quarter, we played 'em dead even!
Sure its been over 40 years since a championship, but if we can just get each of our teams to continue along the 39-year plan, none of us will be waiting another 40.....I truly believe that.
So here it is, reasons why it’s great to be a Cleveland Sports fan!
1. Memorabilia savings: Do you have any idea how much fans from Boston have had to spend on officially licensed Championship gear the last half-decade? ANY idea at all?! I got a little taste of this after the Buckeyes won the National Championship; yeah, I got a little silly, but I’m here to tell you, that stuff is not cheap. But that is not of our concern as Clevelanders. No, our teams provide us with an economical escape from the pricey world of Super Bowl, World Series and Finals Championship retail, not too mention those “too good to pass up” Sports Illustrated offers.
2. Stress Free sporting events: Can you imagine how different a Super Bowl party would be were the Browns actually involved? I would be a nervous wreck! Unable to sit down at any time during the game I probably wouldn’t even sleep the night before. And heaven forbid they lose, or worse yet, get blown out. After all these years, I’m pretty sure I would be inconsolable for a few hours (weeks). But fortunately, we are CLEVELANDERS. We are able to watch the prime time championship sporting events with the carelessness of a young puppy frolicking through a grassy field. We can act like females, MOST of them anyway, and root for the team with the “prettiest uniforms” or “heartfelt subplot.”
3. Travel with the team: The Cavs are no longer included in this category, since the LeBron phenomenon materialized. But it still works with the Tribe and Browns. Want to see the Browns from primo seats? Travel to Ford Field in Detroit when the Browns are in town, they won’t draw I guarantee it. I once watched an entire Indians/Devil Rays 3-game series at Tropicana Field in Tampa, and easily bought each ticket the day of the game and pretty much had my choice of seating. From the Tampa fans I talked to, it wasn’t the case when the Yankees or Red Sox came to town.
4. Finally, I'm going to refer to my good buddy Butch Davis:
(while reading this, visualize Butch's accent narrating)
You know, we got groups of amazing young men on our teams playing their guts out each and every game in hopes of reaching the ultimate goal of where we wanna be. You may look at a 40-point loss to the Steelers as just a 40-point loss, but I look at all the positive strides we made during the ballgame. For one, nobody died. Two, our uniforms didn't get too dirty, thus saving a good piece of change on dry cleaning. Plus, if you take from the 3 minute mark of the third quarter, to the 13 minute mark of the fourth quarter, we played 'em dead even!
Sure its been over 40 years since a championship, but if we can just get each of our teams to continue along the 39-year plan, none of us will be waiting another 40.....I truly believe that.
posted by Jon Sladek at 9:53 PM
2 Comments:
OK, after last night you can go back to being as pessimistic as you like.
If the Browns ever win the Super Bowl, I'm pretty sure I'll be an orphan.
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