Anti-Blog Movement Recruits Another Soldier
March 14, 2008One Last Try With Gary Baxter
March 14, 2008“bolster our line and hurt the steelers? sounds like a great signing to me.”- Spencer096
My dad used to say he had two favorite pro football teams, the Browns and whoever played the Steelers. Ditto with Ohio State and the team up north. I think dad would have liked Spencer…
1. Favorite sport to watch in person
NBA, not college basketball, just the NBA. Football is a close 2nd.
2. Favorite sport to watch on tv
Football or Golf.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wXcvOuwKJc[/youtube]
3. Sports or hobbies you play
I love playing golf, I’m a trained musician I guess too, does that count? (I think we need a ruling on this one….depends on the instrument, guitar yes, tuba no.)
4. Married? Kids?
Dear God No x2.
5. Favorite Cleveland sports memory
The day Shawn Kemp signed…just kidding. I’d have to say LeBron’s Game 5 or the Browns’ 2007 draft.
6. Most heartbreaking loss
Let’s see…my first tangential memory in 1987 with Byner’s fumble. I believe it was 1993, innocuous year, when MJ’s Bulls swept the Cavs in the 2nd round. Watching that punk who has no business being a MLB pitcher, Tom Glavine, 2 hit the greatest offensive team in MLB history. There was the…
7. Which team do you most want a title for (Browns, Tribe, Cavs)
Don’t care, but if the Browns win the Super Bowl, the city will burn down.
8. Favorite place to watch a game
The Jake, can I still say that? (Yes, you most certainly can still say that!)
Why Cleveland teams…why torture? I really didn’t have any choice. Neither of my parents really gave a crap about sports, but I instantly gravitated towards them, memorizing the backs of baseball cards and running into walls wearing my Bernie Kosar Hutch uniform. My grandfather was a Browns season ticket holder since the 1960’s and my father was the beneficiary of Cavs and Indians tickets when the Jake and the Gund (I refuse to call it the Q or Progressive) first opened in 1994, so I attended many an event.
Why do I stick around? To be honest, I have no idea other than it just has to pay off eventually, and when it does, it’ll be that much sweeter. The way I see it, being a Cleveland sports fan is akin to going on a diet, it’s really hard and there are a lot of crappy times that accompany it, but eventually, and it’ll happen without you even knowing, it will all be worth it. Like that first bite of pizza after eating nothing but chicken breasts and brown rice for 6 weeks.
I’m not a Doom & Gloom Cleveland fan, I don’t expect the worst or the cataclysmic events to happen, because that’s not why I watch sports. Plus, how can we bitch and moan when we have it so good right now? Let’s not sink to Boston-fan level and do the whole, “woe is me,” schtick. We have a World Series contender, a burgeoning NFL team and the best player in the NBA all in Cuyahoga County and right down I-71 we have one of the most powerful college football powerhouses in the country, what do we have to complain about?
As close as the comparisons to Chicago are, I wouldn’t trade their current sports landscape for ours for all the money in the world. Sure, we haven’t won anything yet, but it’s only a matter of time until that payday comes, and when it doesn, I want to be on board, not to gloat and say I was there all along, but because it’ll be such a great release for the entire city. From the pain of having our Browns ripped from us, to the memories of MJ and Glavine and Willie Mays, or the parody of Major League, the city’s sports landscape has been similar to that of Eli Manning, good, but not as good as the big bro (hopefully we can replicate his success from this year).
It’s not quite a Napoleonic complex because I really don’t envy other cities’ success. But at the same time, it’s such a large part of my sports-psyche that, until we do win something, I won’t feel complete as a sports fan. Plus, I couldn’t abandon the cause when I’ve been given such great memories along the way. The joy I felt when the Browns landed Joe Thomas AND Brady Quinn last year I wouldn’t trade for the world. Listening to Austin Carr botch and stumble over his words when LeBron does yet another incredible thing is priceless.
So, basically, this whole rant was a rambling, verbose way of saying I’m a loyal dog who’s master beats him.
Thanks for the chance to contribute.
No problem Spencer, thanks for reading and commenting. If you want to check out more of Spencer’s insights you can usually find him in the comments portion of The Big Lead’s posts.
6 Comments
Excellent post, both of you.
i think i have a tear in my eye….seriously
Spencer your questionnaire didn’t have the question about entrance music…what would be your choice- Hell’s Bells is already taken…
easy…The Trooper by Iron Maiden.
That or Working Man by Rush.
and my instrument is guitar, not tuba.
This guy is clearly a schmuck. He didn’t talk about the Lake Erie Monsters
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!