I leave town for a couple days to get my appendix removed, and my fellow Cleveland faithful are immediately assaulted.
When I awoke on Tuesday, I wasn't sure what cut me deeper - my appendectomy or the fact that I was lumped into the obnoxious portion of the Ohio University student body.
There is no need to rehash the history of Cleveland sports disasters.
If you follow sports in the United States you are probably at least vaguely familiar with The Drive
Red-Right 88 The Shot the 1997 World Series debacle and the fact that our beloved Browns moved to Baltimore.
Another column detailing Cleveland's list of accomplishments would be a tired response, so let me offer something else inspired by the Czar.
Mike Fratello did a fantastic job of putting the recent achievements of a certain Cleveland Cavalier in perspective during his color commentary of the Cavs' 99-72 dismantling of the Atlanta Hawks. He talked about current problems.
Believe it or not, before Cleveland was the Mistake by the Lake
it was the Greatest Location in the Nation. (If you don't believe me, Google Greatest Location in the Nation. What's the first result?)
But that was, admittedly, a long time ago.
Fratello, who lives in Bratenahl, an affluent suburb of Cleveland, knows that Clevelanders have a lot to be distraught about now.
He mentioned how one of the county commissioners is under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The county auditor is as well. The county sheriff recently resigned after a series of investigative articles in The Cleveland Plain Dealer revealed years of shady behavior,
It's no secret that Cleveland was built on the steel industry in the same way Detroit was built on the automobile industry. Well, you know how the big three are failing and much of the industry is going overseas? Steel industries left Cleveland years ago, taking the jobs with them and leaving us with run-down factories to serve as eye sores.
Foreclosures are ravaging the greater-Cleveland area. Forbes ranked Cleveland as the seventh-worst housing market
in the United States as recently as Feb.
24.
The only industry we can be truly proud of is our world renowned health care system. But now we are trying to build a Medical Mart to boost our best industry, and our city leaders are doing their best to fumble that away.
When LeBron James was named the NBA's Most Valuable Player - key word valuable - it excited people.
And why not?
What else do Clevelanders have to be happy about?
And why does our excitement offend people?
For years we've taken refuge in our sports teams.
ESPN's Matt Mosley ranked Browns fans as the third-best fans in the NFL, behind only the Steelers and the Packers, and we haven't won anything since 1964!
Now if that's a negative thing, then somewhere, somehow, front-runners and fair-weather fans must have become trendy when I wasn't paying attention.
Every city has its goofballs - the cocky individuals who taunt others - but that is not what the bulk of Clevelanders are like, that's not what the bulk of any fan base is like.
We are devoted fans.
A Browns' loss on Sunday ruins my dad's whole week.
When the Indians lost to the Red Sox in the American League Championship Series, my roommate threw most of his belongings at the door and was silent for a week.
If that seems weird or over-the-top, I'm sorry. We're sorry. But that's just how it is, and I'm sure it's not just Cleveland.
This is how sports fans are.
One of my best friends - no joke - is a Pittsburgh Steelers fan. When it looked like they were going to lose to the Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl, he had to leave the apartment. So don't tell me it's just us kooky Clevelanders.
We aren't obnoxious, we aren't immodest, we are just faithful. We are hopeful.
And if the Cavs don't win the title this season, we'll be sad. Some of us will cry, but we'll get on with it knowing that this can't go on forever.
When we finally do win that championship, who knows what we'll do? We might even set the Cuyahoga River on fire!
Oh wait, we've already done that before, haven't we?
- Joe Ragazzo is a junior studying journalism and a staff writer at The Post. If you believe that Cleveland fans are not obnoxious and truly are a great fan base, send him an e-mail at jr471106@ohiou.edu.
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Joe Ragazzo
