I Hate Good Byes

So the Browns had a week off...thats just great. Derek Anderson and Joe Thomas took an old school road trip to Wisconsin - a flipping road trip; I love it. Other players headed 'home' to see their families across the countries (coach Crennel went to see his new grandson). And the smartest player on the entire team was quoted as saying, "I am going to stay here and enjoy Cleveland." Who said that? I'll give you a minute to think. I bet you didn't guess Braylon Edwards - yeah, it was him. You know, he was probably lying through his teeth, but I am impressed with his maturity to even recognize that's what the fans wanted to hear. Maybe he did actually stay here, that would be awesome. While the players and coaches were resting and healing from weeks of getting banged around we [the fans] had to keep ourselves occupied. Well, despite the fact that the Browns had the week off I still had to go to work...and school.

There was just something missing. I usually spent my lunch hour on NFL.com and ClevelandBrowns.com watching press conference, interviews, previews, predictions, and analysis - there was nothing. The Plain Dealer was sporting a thin Browns section. Any small piece of news I was given about the Browns I analyzed and scrutinized in any way I could - I was desperate.

Thank the Lord for the Indians. If the Indians were not fighting for a trip to the World Series I don't know what I would have done with myself. Perhaps I would have tackled some of those things I have been meaning to get to: clean out the third room in the basement, fix the ceiling fan in my room, fight a losing battle with Time Warner billing department, paint the basement staircase, well...you get the idea. So, like I said, thank the Lord for the Indians - they got me through the first portion of the bye week.

This past week felt more like normal - plenty of press conferences and articles...no one in Cleveland wanted to talk about, hear about, analyze, or otherwise have any mention of the World Series. I must admit the bye week was a lot easier to swallow with both the Ravens and the Steelers losing (it made the Indians' lose hurt less). I hope we have an early bye again next year and the Indians are in the hunt again. One fact brings this all together and puts a smile on my face - I won't have to live through another bye week until next year.

Confidence Wins, Not Arrogance

Shakes. My right leg shakes non-stop when I am nervous (and sitting down). Walking into the stadium for the game, I was incredibly nervous despite the fact we were playing the 0-6 Dolphins. Why on God's Earth would I be so nervous about the Dolphins? Well, two reasons: 1. I know a little about sports history and 2. I know a lot more than I would like to about heart-breaking Cleveland sports' history. Cleveland has a tendency to lose games/battles it is supposed to win. For example, you know when a rookie for the other team takes his first major league at bat against the Indians there is about a 75% chance he will crush one at least 450 feet.

Emily and I just reached the seats in time for the kickoff; there goes my right leg. The Browns received and Cribbs gave us awesome field position to start the game - something that is becoming more and more common…this is a change I could get used too. Anderson and Co. walked right down the field and scored. This helped - you could almost hear the entire stadium let out a big sigh…my leg slowed down a little. The Browns continued to control the game throughout the entire first half - it felt good. Cancel that, it felt awesome. It felt like that moment in your childhood fantasy when you saved the world and your favorite hero congratulated you (I was a Batman guy myself). It felt, as though someone just handed me, well, a Browns' victory - we were not out of the woods yet though...my leg was still moving.

I was just happy the Browns didn't come out flat - its easy to get arrogant about games you are supposed to win. Sometimes teams feel as though they just have to show up to win the game - that why they play the games. Crazy things happen all time in sports. Through it all one thing remains true - confidence, preparation, hard work and determination win games...arrogance, stupidity, greed, and apathy lose games.

Maybe we swapped defenses with the Dolphins, maybe our players thought the game was only 30 minutes this week, maybe they were stuck in a childhood fantasy, maybe they took fans out of the stands to play - I don't know exactly what happened during halftime, but it wasn't good. The Browns' defense made the Dolphins look like pro-bowl caliber players the entire second half…our big time offense saved us. This baffles me - Crennel was this defensive genius at New England - how is our offense so much better than our defense?

Despite how stressful it was - it was nice to finally win a game we were supposed to win. Upsetting a team, you are supposed to lose to (like the Patriots) is awesome, but an upset and winning a game you are supposed to win goes in the score book the same way. The best part of this win is that we can enjoy it for two weeks - the bye week is coming up. I know the players can use the rest...so can my right leg.

Playing Against Perfection

The title of this post exemplifies the team's attitude going into the game. The Browns felt as though they were playing against perfection - by believing it, they made it true. Are the Patriots an amazing team? Yes, they are about as amazing as a snow day when your 10. They are, however, are not perfect.

On our first running play of the game our new all-star running back (Jamal Lewis) hurt his foot - so typical for the Browns. The team finally does something right [signing him] and they still can't catch a break. Somehow we still managed to drive down the field and get into the Red Zone…the Heinz Red Zone. The thunder clouds roared (not really) and good DA swapped out for bad, bad, bad DA. He threw an interception in the end zone that signified not only a point swing, but a tremendous momentum shift. The Patriots didn't even have to do anything to us - they just stood there like a bully barking at us for lunch money...and we coughed it right up out of fear.

I didn't have to look past the first running play to know what was going to happen with the game. When I heard Jamal was out I had the same feeling in my stomach that I did when we had to re-kick the field goal against Oakland; its that feeling you got when you completely bombed that history exam and had to tell your parents or its that feeling when you got your first ticket for going "just a little to fast". Still though, I continued to watch, hoping that something tremendous would happen - it didn't. That's just the thing: the Patriot's didn't do anything tremendous; we just collapsed upon ourselves based on what people were saying about them rather than what they were doing on the field. My outlook on the game was, "when we beat the Patriots, the nation will respect us again". The way the Browns were acting, I was inclined to think their outlook was, "We are going to lose this game, I am going to just try not to get hurt". The funny thing is - some of them still did get hurt.

Does this mean I am losing faith in our players? No, good God no. We have a lot of talent, but we just need to walk away from this losing attitude and realize something: there is a lot of season left and we can do something. This Patriots team was not perfect, but they sure as heck were closer to it than the Browns were. Maybe, just maybe we will see them again this year.

Dangerous Territory

The Browns were coming off of an "unable to anything for the rest of the day", "Just leave me alone", "I can't believe it", heart-wrenching kind of loss against the Raiders - I mean...they had it won. No matter, this week they are back home, against the old Browns (yeah, I said it) - for the sake of clarity I will refer to them as the Ravens or Baltimore...you know who I am talking about. The team that left us without anything - no team, nothing to read about during the week, nothing to watch on Sunday, and most importantly - nothing to hope for. It might sound like I am over-dramatizing it, but really just think back to those years - you know I am right.

Something happened this week as I stood in my seat waiting for the game to start - they sang the National Anthem and then flipped the coin to start the game...anyone else think they forgot something? Thats right ladies and gentlemen (gentlemen is a term used loosely when referring to Browns fans) - our beloved spirit flag is no more. Maybe it was my multiple e-mails to the Browns and sports talk shows requesting that the flag be removed, maybe it was the team management who decided, "Hey guys...this is a little wimmpy...", maybe it was an irresponsible worker who managed to lose a 40 yard spirit flag, maybe it was an act of God (I still maintain he is a Browns fan) and the flag was carried away - never to be seen again, OR maybe it was the players who came to the organization and said, "Hey, either the flag goes or us". As much as I would like to claim credit for its removal I personally think it was an act of God (or maybe the 30 dollars I paid the irresponsible employee to lose it...) - honestly, I am just happy the flag is gone.

To the game - The good Browns showed up. I didn't know what to expect, but I sure hoped that they would. They took the kickoff and quickly drove the field to get a TD - Anderson looked awesome. The defense really stepped up - causing a turnover on Balitmore's first possession. On the Browns first play they went deep - Edwards outran the coverage AND Anderson didn't under throw it. For the first time in his career he actually hit a receiver in stride. The Browns really never looked back from that point.

Fast forwarded to the 4th quarter. With 10:15 left the fan sitting next to me announced, "its over - the Browns have got this in the bag." Ok, so they were up by 14, but Really...did this guy just say that? Has he ever watched a Browns game in his life? Did he miss the Steelers Game last year? I told him if we lost it was on him; we won. How could this guy just expect to win so early in the 4th?

Its the difference between confidence and arrogance, happiness and indifference, disappointment and anger - Hope and Expectations. Hope is something that every fan is required to have. You have to wake up every day and say, "I think we can win this...". Even the Cubs fans, who have waited over 35 thousand days since their last World Series win (1908) still have hope. If you don't have hope, whats the point? Luckily, every person in this world was born with hope (further proof God is a Browns fan). Hope is yours to lose. Expectation on the other hand is dangerous territory. As soon as you begin to expect something to happen you are angry when it doesn't. When you expect to win you lose focus on the fact that you need to work insanely hard for that win - nothing in life is handed to you...well, aside from that full body pink bunny suit from your Aunt on Christmas, but really who wants that?

If a fan has hope, they can pass it along to the players - who can actually do something with it. If a fan has expectations, a player will to - and will do nothing to prepare. Despite all these warnings about dangerous territory - we are running right into it as we face up against the Patriots next week. I know its not practical, but I hope we win.