May 10, 20178 yr I love my city so much but the years we didn't have the Browns, Cleveland seemed so great to me. The rabidness of their fandom is just not something I love about cleveland (sorry!) I was engaged to Bernie's brother-in-law for a time and as such had to go to a number of games, but those are the only ones I've ever been to, and I have no desire to go back. It just isn't my thing.
May 10, 20178 yr well all these infamous browns losses certainly sucked in their own ways, but the drive was not the worst of them. denver was the better team and as you could see during the game it was inevitable. red right 88 was worse, because the browns were the better team, the cold was in supposedly their favor and the forced throw was jaw-dropping ridiculous. the playoff collapse against the damn steelers after being up 3 TDs was pretty bad too, but probably nothing can top the fumble. that one was the sheer dagger to your heart.
May 10, 20178 yr I don't know. The fumble was pretty hear breaking. I cried with my brother and dad when Byner fumbled.
May 10, 20178 yr I agree with mrnyc, RR 88 was much worse. We had the win within our grasp. Rutigliano blew it by not kicking the short FG despite Cocroft's issue with wind. Keep in mind that, even if Byner wasn't stripped for that fumble, the best we could have done on that last second drive was tie Denver, and we likely would have ended up losing in OT anyway because our defense was a total sieve that afternoon. Both RR 88 and the Drive were much worse imho... But the cherry on top of Cleveland sports disasters has to be the Mesa Meltdown. Nothing else comes close.
May 10, 20178 yr I love my city so much but the years we didn't have the Browns, Cleveland seemed so great to me. The rabidness of their fandom is just not something I love about cleveland (sorry!) This. I am a cleveland fan and i will watch the browns when they are good...but i honestly wondered what our city would look like if everyone took all that Browns energy and dedicated it to, ya know, something productive for our city.
May 10, 20178 yr I agree with mrnyc, RR 88 was much worse. We had the win within our grasp. Rutigliano blew it by not kicking the short FG despite Cocroft's issue with wind. Keep in mind that, even if Byner wasn't stripped for that fumble, the best we could have done on that last second drive was tie Denver, and we likely would have ended up losing in OT anyway because our defense was a total sieve that afternoon. Both RR 88 and the Drive were much worse imho... But the cherry on top of Cleveland sports disasters has to be the Mesa Meltdown. Nothing else comes close. Correct me if im wrong, but was the defense not kicking @$$ in the second half of that game? browns were down huge early...didnt they dominate the second half? Hard to see them not cashing that in if they tied it
May 10, 20178 yr I love my city so much but the years we didn't have the Browns, Cleveland seemed so great to me. The rabidness of their fandom is just not something I love about cleveland (sorry!) This. I am a cleveland fan and i will watch the browns when they are good...but i honestly wondered what our city would look like if everyone took all that Browns energy and dedicated it to, ya know, something productive for our city. Imagine if everyone in the City stopped drinking alcohol and directed all that energy and money to something productive for our City. Or imagine if everyone did community service around their neighborhoods instead of going to church on Sunday, temple on Saturday, etc.
May 10, 20178 yr I actually meant that people in Cleveland are particularly emotionally-engaged in their community and city life in general (in productive ways.) I wasn't really talking about sports but of course that's a popular thing to be emotionally engaged with but the thing is, every city has a big emotional engagement with their local sports teams. I'm not a sports fan; I only watch championship games so I often wonder what all the hoopla is about, too. Why people are willing to spend hundreds of dollars to go to Cavs games and why people know so much about the politics of sports and spend so much time debating it, yet literally don't know anything about government or community politics. You're never going to steer that kind of energy and emotional engagement with sports, into a different direction though.
May 10, 20178 yr ^Not every City. L.A. is an example of a city that really doesn't have all that much of an emotional engagement to its local sports teams. It varies and Cleveland's, I would say, is particularly strong. Boston is even stronger.
May 10, 20178 yr That's actually one of the few things I really liked about living in LA. No sports mania anywhere.
May 10, 20178 yr Did I post these yet? I probably did. Oh well. This was my favorite episode, "Flee to the Cleve" from one of my favorite shows, 30 Rock. It's also the episode where Tracey Jordan (Tracey Morgan) is being intimidated and stalked by the Black Crusaders (an elite secret society consisting of Oprah, Bill Cosby, etc.)
May 10, 20178 yr I love my city so much but the years we didn't have the Browns, Cleveland seemed so great to me. The rabidness of their fandom is just not something I love about cleveland (sorry!) This. I am a cleveland fan and i will watch the browns when they are good...but i honestly wondered what our city would look like if everyone took all that Browns energy and dedicated it to, ya know, something productive for our city. Imagine if everyone in the City stopped drinking alcohol and directed all that energy and money to something productive for our City. Or imagine if everyone did community service around their neighborhoods instead of going to church on Sunday, temple on Saturday, etc. Christians can do community service on Saturday, and attend their service on Sunday. Jews can attend their service on Saturday, and do community service on Sunday. Problem solved. Both can have their souls cleansed, and help clean their neighborhoods too. And by the way, churches and synagogues already do many things that help their communities out. I know the church I attend is always doing service in the local community. Yes, even helping people in the neighborhood with their yard work.
May 10, 20178 yr Let's not intertwine sports and religion. My point was maybe our city, which could use all the man hours it could get, could benefit from a dwindling of its obsession with the Browns.
May 10, 20178 yr This. I am a cleveland fan and i will watch the browns when they are good...but i honestly wondered what our city would look like if everyone took all that Browns energy and dedicated it to, ya know, something productive for our city. Sports teams' success or failure can change the psyche of a city. It brings people together in ways that few civic efforts can. But the energy from winning sports can and often do transfer to civic efforts. And that was the case 35-40 years ago. The Browns' resurgence in the 1980s actually got Clevelanders feeling better about their city overall and willing to be more involved in their community. I know there's no logical reason for a sports team playing better and the performance of a city. Sports doesn't address unemployment or crime or potholes. But when you're depressed about those things the way we were in the 1970s, you don't have the energy to tackle them. There was a big "who cares, Cleveland sucks, so why try" mentality that pervaded everything 35-40 years ago. There's still some of that out there, but it's mostly among the cleveland.com forum cranks. But imagine that being the prevailing attitude among the population. That was the case 35-40 years ago. Oh, and by the way, the Browns, Indians and Cavs all sucked too. The Cavs had a miracle season in 1976. The Indians hadn't competed for a championship in 30 years. And the Browns 25-year dominance over pro football was over by the early 1970s. Remember, Cleveland was a lethargic city that had NINE new-construction building permits issued in 1976. NINE. So when the Browns started winning again in the Kardiac Kids years of 1979-80, it woke the city up. I remember people how much people wanted to stop having their city being the butt of jokes all the time. My dad worked for a company in the late 1970s that was hired by the Greater Cleveland Growth Association to help with the PR effort. I still have some of his brochures and PR books touting the city. When the Browns went on their five-year playoff run in the mid- to late-1980s led by a top QB who wanted to come home to play for his Browns, it was all very stunning and energizing. People started to care about Cleveland again and the Browns had a lot to do with the psychology of that. It brought people together who ordinarily wouldn't be together. It complemented the real work going on with the city's various politicians and institutions actually trying to work together. Some of us can walk, chew gum and cheer for sports at the same time. In fact, some of us are more active and passionate about doing the walking and chewing when the sports teams are winning. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 10, 20178 yr Let's not intertwine sports and religion. My point was maybe our city, which could use all the man hours it could get, could benefit from a dwindling of its obsession with the Browns. Fair point. I just wanna add that fandom does quite a bit to unite folks, especially those who no longer reside in the area. It's really cool to be in Minneapolis, San Diego, LA, Florida or wherever and still see so much support for CLE teams. Browns Backers, for example, I believe is the most popular clubs in the world. The city has such a storied sports history!
May 10, 20178 yr I agree with mrnyc, RR 88 was much worse. We had the win within our grasp. Rutigliano blew it by not kicking the short FG despite Cocroft's issue with wind. Keep in mind that, even if Byner wasn't stripped for that fumble, the best we could have done on that last second drive was tie Denver, and we likely would have ended up losing in OT anyway because our defense was a total sieve that afternoon. Both RR 88 and the Drive were much worse imho... But the cherry on top of Cleveland sports disasters has to be the Mesa Meltdown. Nothing else comes close. Correct me if im wrong, but was the defense not kicking @$$ in the second half of that game? browns were down huge early...didnt they dominate the second half? Hard to see them not cashing that in if they tied it Actually no. Bernie was heroic in bringing the team back but each tie he did, the D would give up another TD -- don't forget The Fumble was just one year after the Drive so the defense was essentially the same jokers that allowed Elway to drive the length of the field with less than 2 minutes left to score the tying TD whereby we then lost on the controversial FG in overtime. The main difference is that, in the offseason, safety Don Rodgers ODed on coke and died, sadly.
May 10, 20178 yr I actually agree with you KJP and think the Cavs have done that, and the baseball team did last year with the series. I don't disagree at all and am not anti-sports. I went to Dodger games and Lakers games when I lived in LA and it was fun. But the Browns fans in particular, with their rabid barking and screaming and drunken tailgating for hours, I just don't really care for it. I know everyone likes it but me and I'm in the minority, I get it.
May 11, 20178 yr I don't do the drunken tailgating or the barking either. But I can read articles and listen to talk radio in my spare time just like any hobby that anybody else might have. Everyone needs their sideshows. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 18, 20178 yr Aw man, M. Ruhlman moved out of Cleveland. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/16/dining/grocery-book-michael-ruhlman-supermarket-shopping.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
May 18, 20178 yr Not much of a surprise, considering his new wife lives there and his old one is here.
May 18, 20178 yr It happened pretty quickly, from what I've read. I think a lot of people didn't know about it. Or Bourdain's divorce, and yesterday he finally posted a picture of him with his new GF and people were shocked. Not CLE related, but he and Ruhlman are good friends so I thought it worth mentioning.
May 18, 20178 yr oh geez, they are literally right in my neighborhood: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/27/fashion/weddings/ann-hood-marries-michael-ruhlman-writers.html
May 18, 20178 yr Yeah. I'm not gonna get into it on UO here, but it's a controversial thing in the foodie world.
May 18, 20178 yr ^Not surprised. None of our business, of course, but these things can get messy. Well, sad to see we're down a high brow celebrity. Very subjective, of course, but who else would be on that list? Dan Chaon? Jamey Haddad (though I think he moved to Oberlin- not sure if that counts)?
May 18, 20178 yr I think nobody outside of the food world even knows who he is or that he lived there. I think it's a great loss for our LITERARY community in particular, as he wrote about many other things besides food and those were amazing books as well. But the books he wrote or co-wrote have really helped our journey upwards as a food destination, and now he's much less likely to be writing anything about Cleveland. But, truth be told, other than specific chefs and their cookbooks here, he was not in CLE a lot of the time anyway as his work involves travel, and more often than not when people asked him for current recommendations here, he seemed to RT and ask others since he wasn't as up on the scene here since he was gone so much. I know we have a sometime resident in Joe Eszterhas but he's not exactly out and about on the town so not known as a Cleveland. Other than the sports figures and select chefs, not sure who would count.
May 18, 20178 yr ^Not surprised. None of our business, of course, but these things can get messy. Well, sad to see we're down a high brow celebrity. Very subjective, of course, but who else would be on that list? Dan Chaon? Jamey Haddad (though I think he moved to Oberlin- not sure if that counts)? Cleveland is gaining Geraldo. Much more famous than Ruhlman...and arguably sexier.
May 18, 20178 yr and don't we sort of half have one of the Kardashians? You can tell I don't follow them, or sports.
May 18, 20178 yr ^Not surprised. None of our business, of course, but these things can get messy. Well, sad to see we're down a high brow celebrity. Very subjective, of course, but who else would be on that list? Dan Chaon? Jamey Haddad (though I think he moved to Oberlin- not sure if that counts)? Cleveland is gaining Geraldo. Much more famous than Ruhlman...and arguably sexier. Yep, and I'm sure Geraldo has written books, even though I haven't read any of them...
May 18, 20178 yr I've never heard of any of those people (except for the fat Kardashian and I'm sure if she lives here it's very part time.) I guess fat Kardashian isn't right anymore. Ugly Kardashian is what I meant.
May 18, 20178 yr There's also Doug Cooper. From his wiki page... Doug Cooper (born June 5, 1970, Douglas Allan Cooper) is an American writer of literary fiction. His debut novel, Outside In, won the 2014 International Book Award for Literary Fiction, 2014 USA Best Book Award for Literary Fiction, and a 2015 Bronze IPPY from the Independent Publisher Book Awards.
May 20, 20178 yr geraldo's flee to the cleve in the nypost today: http://nypost.com/2017/05/18/geraldo-moving-to-ohio-and-leaving-his-ues-apartment-behind/
May 20, 20178 yr I always love these smug easterners' view expressed in the article's headline: Geraldo is moving to "Ohio" as if Cleveland, greater Cleveland in this case, isn't even worth mentioning even though Cleveland is mentioned in the article... The NY Post is a rag, anyway.
May 21, 20178 yr ^ i know, i hate when they do that dont read the article about what ruhlman's new wife first said to him. that was worse. *** vanessa bayer leaving snl after 7 years: http://deadline.com/2017/05/vanessa-bayer-saturday-night-live-1202097825/
May 24, 20178 yr Aw man, M. Ruhlman moved out of Cleveland. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/16/dining/grocery-book-michael-ruhlman-supermarket-shopping.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0 An interview today with Michael Ruhlman on WNYC's Leonard Lopate Show-- http://www.wnyc.org/story/michael-ruhlman http://www.mainstreetpainesville.org/
May 25, 20178 yr Not much of a surprise, considering his new wife lives there and his old one is here. Hmm, I heard it wasn't so much about a girl as opposed to something else..... Either way, when he left last year it wasn't on good terms with his wife.
May 27, 20178 yr ^ i know & he is right at it -- ruhlman just gave a talk at 92nd st y with dan barber & ruth reichl. but ny gives back a bit -- ny magazine travel has a nice, fresh guide on cleveland: http://nymag.com/travel/weekend-escapes/cleveland/
June 7, 20178 yr Lead story on Yahoo: Cleveland rocks: No ‘mistake’ about it Once considered the “mistake by the lake,” Cleveland is getting the last laugh. After a banner year in 2016 — playing host to the Republican National Convention and winning an NBA championship — the city is beaming with pride, and residents are eager to get the word out about everything the “CLE” has to offer. “There are some travelers that’ll measure cities by do they have great food, do they have great music, do they have great sports. Cleveland has all of that, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” said Greg Harris, the Hall of Fame’s president and CEO. While it may be rocking a major confidence boost, Cleveland is still a work in progress. Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric visited the once booming steel town for her series “Cities Rising: Rebuilding America.” https://www.yahoo.com/katiecouric/cleveland-rocks-no-mistake-120535377.html?utm_content=55573948&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook
June 10, 20178 yr Oracle Arena vs. Quicken Loans: Like Night and Day (or Warriors and Cavs) https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/06/09/sports/basketball/oracle-quicken-loans-arena-warriors-cavaliers.html "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 10, 20178 yr Oracle Arena vs. Quicken Loans: Like Night and Day (or Warriors and Cavs) https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/06/09/sports/basketball/oracle-quicken-loans-arena-warriors-cavaliers.html "(Some people in Cleveland call it the Q, but Quicken Loans it is.)" A lot still call it Gund, but probably not as many as say Jacobs Field or Cleveland Browns Stadium.
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