Another round of Cleveland sports shenanigans

The next few posts will be a series of columns written for my Column writing class this past quarter. I hope you enjoy them. - klm

I have been a Cleveland sports fan since I was in the womb. I had a Cleveland Browns onesie for every stage in my infant life, a Cleveland Indians signature glove for tee-ball and Cleveland Cavaliers footy pajamas. Much of my childhood is rekindled when I hear certain names or voices during games.

I hear the voice of Rick Manning broadcasting the Indians’ games and I’m immediately taken back to the 1995 season when the Indians made their first appearance in the World Series since 1954. I can remember staying up late on those mid-October nights watching the games with my dad. The Indians finished first place in the American League Central division with a record of 100 wins and 44 losses. They defeated the Boston Red Sox in three games and the Seattle Mariners in six games in the American League playoffs. The Indians met the Atlanta Braves in the World Series and took the Braves six games before losing in game six 0-1.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have a rough history, but LeBron James and company finally repaid fans with the franchise’s first ever NBA Finals appearance in the 2006-07 season. The Cavs kept fans on the edge of their seats during the Semifinals before clinching the Eastern Conference with a 4-2 series win over the Detroit Pistons. Cleveland was alive with victory and sent the Cavs away to San Antonio for the first two games of the Finals with the San Antonio Spurs. After losing the two games in San Antonio, the Cavs came back to Cleveland a little down, but ready for a fight. Unfortunately, fans didn’t see a win in Cleveland when the Spurs finished a 4-0 sweep over the Cavs.

Don’t even get me started on the Cleveland Browns. With a move to Baltimore in 1996 and a return from ‘inactivity’ to Cleveland in 1999, the Browns continued to disappoint their fans, just as they had for 50 years, never making it to the Super Bowl – not even once.

So why do we do it? Why do we call ourselves Cleveland fans? We have had our share of disappointments with all three major professional teams over many years. However, the sense of pride and victory that fans get when the Browns defeat the Steelers, the Cavs beat the Pistons or the Indians win the series against the Tigers is absolutely worth the disappointment fans suffer the other 98 percent of the season. Cleveland teams seem to take it all the way when they don’t need to. Absolutely stomping opponents when it doesn’t really matter either way or winning games when the series is already decided is pretty typical – but it’s what keeps fans going – that adrenaline rush when the 15^th run is scored or the 8^th touchdown is made.

So as the Cleveland teams work toward a winning season and a winning close, the fans wait patiently for the day that will hopefully come, sooner than later, when a Cleveland team prevails over all others.