High Hopes for Football Season

My daughter and I have been Cleveland Browns Football season ticket holders since 2000. Buying the season tickets was thrilling for both of us. The only thing more thrilling for me would be to have tickets in the End Zone, on the bleachers, in the rabid "Dawg Pound!"

I have been a Browns fan since I was a little girl growing up in Cleveland. I knew the player's names, their jersey numbers, and their position on the team. My first and favorite player was #32, Jim Brown. He was and always will be the greatest running back of all times. I always pointed out this fact to my kids (even though they are die hard Steelers fans). I told them Jim Brown just didn't work hard but he would arrive early at the field to limber up and go through his drills. He would leave late, played hard (without pads, because he felt that they slowed him down), and then at the top of his game he retired to be a full time actor. First and foremost, he was an athlete. At the University of Syracuse, where he attended college, he played football and lacrosse, He was considered one of the best lacrosse players. Brown was inducted into the Football Hall of Fame and into the Lacrosse Hall of Fame. He was a natural athlete, and an exciting player to watch.

I cheered for the Browns, Jim Brown, Ozzie Newsome, Brian Sipe and the Kardiac Kids, and of course, Bernie Kosar. How could you not love Bernie Kosar? He was born in Boardman, Ohio, and never wanted to play for any other football team, except for his hometown team that, he loved, and cheered for, the Browns. Now that is loyalty. Other players, owners and coaches should have that kind of loyalty. Kosar was the most popular player to play in Cleveland and the fans loved him.

I am not ashamed to admit that I was part of the crowd who intensely disliked the owner of the Cleveland Browns, Art Modell, when he traded Kosar. I despised Modell when he took the Browns football team and relocated them to Baltimore, Maryland, and renamed them the Baltimore Ravens.

While the Browns team was no longer in Cleveland...every Sunday some of the bars would show reruns of the old games to a packed house filled with Browns fans yelling and cheering their team on. A team was reinstated in Cleveland in 1999. There was a big clock in the Terminal Tower, located in downtown Cleveland, which did a countdown for the days and hours and minutes until the team would kick off their season. I still wear that "countdown to 1999 sweatshirt," despite the rips and holes in it. The team returned with the same colors, orange and brown, and the same uniform and the helmet without a logo, and the same name to the delight of all the loyal fans. The team was even allowed to keep their trophies, statistics, and all their memorabilia.

Now, like every fan, I can't wait for the season to begin. Like every Browns fan, who bleeds "orange and brown," I believe this will be our magical year to win. Yes, hope does spring eternal! It has for me for the past 10 years, and this season isn't any different. In August, I think, this is our year. As for the other seasons, I firmly believed that with my whole heart and soul, until the 3rd or 4th game of the official season. Then reality sets in with their losses, and I and every other fan express, "Well, maybe next year will be different."

My daughter and I still walk from the parking lot, next to the Cuyahoga River, about 15 minutes away from the field. We walk through the crowds of tailgaters, and someone always comments on my #17 jersey, with "SIPE" stitched on the back. We dodge the cars, corn toss games, footballs, and give hi-fives to the other fans. Then we walk the long walkway up the inside ramps of the stadium to get to Level 5, and then up the steps to our seats, which are about 20 rows from the top of the stadium. But they are at the 50-yard line. They are good seats, even though they do not come with oxygen and oxygen masks. It takes us a few minutes to catch our breath, but not so long before we sip our pop, tear open our bag of peanuts, shell them, and cheer when the team runs onto the field. I love the feel and noise in the stadium as the fans erupt in joy. It feels exhilarating to be surrounded by fans and my football community.

It doesn't get any better then this on football Sundays at 1:00 in the afternoon, during football season. Well, maybe a win would help us face our Monday mornings in a little better mood if the team logs a win.

YAY, GO BROWNS!