Feeling Good...About Losing?

This past weekend marked my first tailgating experience. Although, we weren't "true" tailgaters as a hopeful man inquired; all I had to offer him was a can of coke, which he took. We sat in the back of my '95 Pathfinder enjoying Italian sandwiches and olives, not quite typical tailgating, but you have to start somewhere. The march to the stadium was no different, I couldn't help but laugh as I saw the F**k Pittsburgh T-shirts for sale; we were not even playing them and won't be until September 9th. Thank the Lord we created a family section in the stadium to prevent the children from being exposed to all of the things we don't want them to see, all of the things they saw walking to the stadium...

I won't go on a long diatribe about whether or not the family section is a good idea, but I will say this: historically football has not been a family activity. Football is a dark basement where men come to dream, wish, and drink their way through Sundays. Only recently has this notion of football becoming a family sport arisen. Is it a good idea? I don't know, but it won't change overnight.

To be honest we completely missed the kickoff and the first play (fumble) by Anderson. His fumble and the performances of Frye and himself are not their fault. The fault lies with us, the fans. We are expecting them to be something they are simply not capable of being: the commander and chief, the leader, the mentor, and the hero. It is like asking someone to jump ten feet into the air: they can try day and night, sometimes they might even show a glimmer of hope, but never, never will they achieve the goal.

In all honesty, the half time show was the more exciting than the entire first half. No, they didn't bring in some country star to play for us, they brought in a bunch of grade school football players to have a quick game on the field. I loved it and so did the other 70k fans. Everyone was cheering and yelling. If the Browns were smart, they would keep this up.

Brady Quinn. Is he our savor? Could it be that an Ohio native is the guy to lead the Browns to their first wining season in years? Will he be the next Bernie Kosar? Could he be one of the greats? Well, I think its a good start to at least take a few snaps. When he came in during the fourth quarter those present saw something we haven't seen in awhile: command. Regardless what string of players were on the field, he commanded them...offensive and defense. He read the defense as though it was a child's book in a college classroom; he adjusted and made plays while not afraid of taking the big hit. He played like a child with nothing to lose, but he had an aura of grace and calmness which has been missing for so long. Even my father, a long time Notre Dame hater has admitted if Quinn is the real deal, if he is the savor, he will proudly wear a Notre Dame sweatshirt and all past grievances will be forgotten. If you knew my father you would know this says something: it says a lot.

Extra Points: The Browns managed to fix the lights on the city side scoreboard, that bothered me all last game. Seriously, they had the entire off season to get the stadium into working condition, its good to see they addressed the issue. There were a couple fights, but it seemed like they did a good job of handling it.