Why I love the Cleveland Browns

I'm 41 (nearly 42) and have been a Browns fan since I can remember. I've suffered through "The Drive," "The Fumble," "Red Right 88," "The Move," "The Carmen Policy Era," "The Butch Davis Era," "Crennel/Savage," and many more heartbreaks and frustrations.

To further complicate my existence as a Browns fan (as if the events above aren't enough to drive anyone crazy) I live in Erie, PA.

To save you the trouble of going to a map, Erie, PA is the in NW corner of Pennsylvania and we are about 1 hour and 20 minutes from downtown Buffalo, 1 hour and 30 minutes from downtown Cleveland and about 2 hours and 15 minutes from downtown Pittsburgh.

Why should any of that matter?

Let me tell you...

The NFL considers us a "Bills market" so ANYTIME the Bills are away the local CBS affiliate is obligated to show Bills games, which are about as exciting to me as watching clothes spin around a dryer.

The NFL insists on this practice even though there are more Browns and Steelers fans in Erie, PA than Bills fans (even though Buffalo is closer this town is a Browns/Steelers town).

I often get forced out to bars to watch Browns games where there usually are plenty of, you guessed it, Steeler fans watching their game.

Steeler fan in Erie, PA can be pretty brutal. I should know. I'm friends with many of them.

They LOVE to wave their Super Bowl rings in my face (even though they don't really own a ring themselves, they talk about it like they do--hmm...wonder if they're hidden in their house somewhere).

COLUMN CONTINUES AFTER TODAY'S FEATURED BROWNS GEAR
 












They LOVE to talk about how bad the Browns are compared to the Steelers and they smirk at me anytime they ask me how many playoff games the Browns have won in 20 years.

I was able to get some measure of revenge when the Browns essentially knocked the Steelers out of the playoffs earlier this season.

....didn't get much response. Erie, PA Steeler fan can give it but they can't take it (at least in my circle of friends).

I still had fun.

Lots of fun.

At any rate, that's me. More to come.