Revisiting the 10 bold predictions of the 2016 Browns season
December 8, 2016Five Buckeyes named Sporting News’ All-Americans
December 8, 2016It seems the only thing more controversial than a bad football team threatening to lose all their games is a group of fans threatening to have a parade to celebrate the non-accomplishment.
Cleveland had a parade this summer to celebrate the NBA Champion Cavaliers. We almost had another in November with the Indians falling just short of glory. A few Browns fans, as you may have heard, are planning to have their own parade this January, commemorating the team’s “perfect” 0-16 season—in the event it goes down. What started as a movement on Twitter has erupted into a website, t-shirts, meetings with city council members, and permits being obtained for what equates to one lap around FirstEnergy Stadium
Chris McNeil (@Reflog_18 on Twitter) is the man behind the parade. I figured I’d reach out to him to get the story on why, exactly, this parade was being planned. Is it born of anger? Is it born of comedy? Is it a giant embarrassment to the Browns, their fans, and the region? It starts with figuring out what this thing is all about and why it was planned in the first place. So I went to the source.
Craig: We’ve talked about it behind the scenes at WFNY, and many are split on whether they like the idea or not, but it seems nobody’s positive what the motivation is, so let me ask you: What’s the point of the parade?
Chris McNeil: The point of the parade is that it’s supposed to be a fun thing. It’s supposed to be a positive experience. There’s a component of it poking the bear. I’m obviously a huge Browns fan and the team has given us absolutely nothing since they’ve been back. This is just a way for us to blow off some steam and have some fun with it and maybe needle the Browns a bit. It’s not meant to embarrass our fan base locally or nationally. It’s supposed to be a fun, light-hearted take.
Craig: How much of this whole parade thing would you say is fueled by anger?
Chris McNeil: I wouldn’t call it anger, but maybe frustration. I’m a season-ticket holder and year after year they’re not performing on the field and they’re not connecting with fans. You see the Indians and Cavs do it well, but the Browns just seem to be missing that. Their outreach doesn’t seem to hit the right chord.
It’s not about burning LeBron jerseys or anything like that. Maybe a congregation of fans embarrasses the organization a bit, but that’s not what it’s about.
Craig: I think a lot of people thought this was a fake thing like Limp Bizkit playing at a gas station, but you are doing this for real.
Chris McNeil: Mike Polk is on board, and we’ve taken it to the city. We’ve actually got a legit committee that went up and met with city leaders from parking, fire, police, mayor’s office, special events and all these different departments. We had to do a 15-minute stand-and-deliver to make sure we dotted all the I’s and crossed all the T’s.
People have this misconception that the city put a stamp of approval on it, but their responsibility is just to make sure our parade will follow rules and be safe.
Craig: Does this cost money and who is paying for it?
Chris McNeil: I paid the $25 filing fee and purchased insurance on my credit card. The expenses are going to skyrocket. We’re looking at at least 10 security folks and then we need port-a-potties and trash cleanup. We’re thinking about some sponsors and going back to them to make that happen.
We’re going to have to raise some funds to make this thing happen. If that doesn’t occur, this might not actually happen.
Craig: What if the Browns win a game?
Chris McNeil: This thing will not happen. Nope. An 0-16 versus a 1-15 parade wouldn’t have the right energy or feel. It’s really not historic in my mind.
Craig: Is it safe to say that you don’t want to have this parade?
Chris McNeil: Yeah. I want to see the Browns win a ball game. At first I was really into this, but now that I see what it takes to pull this thing off, I almost don’t want to do it. If it comes to it, I’ll put all the energy into it and make it happen.
Honestly though, it’s a whole lot of work.
In the end, this isn’t something I support per se. I won’t be attending any such parade, but it doesn’t offend me either.
I consider it pretty harmless fun. I understand why it might irk some Browns fans who want this whole thing to just go away as soon as possible. In the end, everyone will have to come to terms with this Browns’ season in their own way, and I don’t see much issue with owning it through a parade.
74 Comments
He escaped the porta-potty…
Cannot afford to cloud the mind while doing important work such as detailing which 20yo kids would be best suited for the tortures of becoming a Browns player
How many people here were behind the front office and their intent to trade down, gather assets, develop/assess the youth, and draft high again in 2017? Would we really have preferred that RG3 looked mediocre but led the Browns to a 5-11 record?
Most of these players were put in to positions far above their skill level. Many floundered, some held their own, and a few flourished. I can’t hate on guys like Pasztor or Kindred. Now… if Lil Johnny, Dwayne Bowe, Justin Gilbert were still in Brown and Orange… bring on the floats, the band, and the confetti cannons and I’ll bring my cooler.
they proved on Mythbusters its not as bad a ride as you’d think
Agree 100%.
How do you sleep at night?
I think it would be absolutely horrible… a bar set that low should be an easy one to step over.
Now that you mention it, I swear I could see Coleman crying as he made his way to the stage on draft day.
Shelton was whispering how he was “going to get him for this” into Goodell’s ear while he lifted him off the stage
Beard? Check! Jolly? Check! Fat? Check!
I might be
Like a baby – these kids are coming from a multi-billion dollar business in which they are given tuition costs from the university so that they can control their entire lives including eating & sleeping schedule for 3-4 years. It is not as big of a transition to the Browns as one might think.
That horse/door measurement seemed right out of the Big Chuck/ Lil John playbook. haha
for some reason you saying that reminded me of one of the Ben krazy sketches where he told the patient he had athletes foot and you look down and one foot was a baseball glove and the other was a football.
HA HA oooohooooo HAHAHAHA (best I can do in text. Man I love that laugh)
I wonder if he ever thought about dieting and exercising to numb the pain.
— Church Lady
depended on the speed
Right, we get enough Cleveland jokes. This is a case of they’re not laughing with us, but at us. And what free agent would want to come here after a parade over losing?
You’re taking it too literally – it’s satire
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1) They don’t want to come here NOW
2) Going 0-16 and not having a winning season in 17 years is probably the reason
good morning sir … we’ve had 2 winning seasons since 1999 … just sayin’.
So, all you’re really saying is they don’t really care about us?
A parade celebrating losing isn’t going to fix that.
Nor will it make it worse 🙂
Well, the “they” I was referring to was anyone outside of Cleveland. I don’t think they care, nor do I care if they care.
I think the “they” you’re referring to is the Browns. And no, I don’t believe they care about us. And I’m okay with that.