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.