You probably don't need anymore season preview stuff. TheOBR.com has done a great job (as usual) in preparing us for yet another Browns campaign.
We all know this is probably not a playoff season for the Browns. 8-8 would be successful so I'm not going to X and O you because you've heard and seen it all up to this point and you've got your own opinion.
Since this is a fan article I want us all to pause for a second and think what it means to be a follower of the Browns.
We've got 16 chances to watch those orange helmets take the field (unless they make the playoffs which I doubt they will). Do you get pumped up when you see them for the first time in a new season? I sure do. There is no better helmet in all of sports no matter what some of those national publications say about it being among the worst.
I don't like any other sport. If you do, count yourself lucky. Sunday with the Browns for me is special. It's part of my routine. Up early to read my Sunday paper (Erie Times-News- I live in Erie) where I of course scan for Browns news first.
Then, it's onto Dee's Cigar Store which is NOT an antiseptic chain. The classic local magazine stand with cigarettes, cigars, lottery and atmosphere.
I get as many Cleveland papers as I can find and come home to check what TheOBR.com has to say. My favorite is John Taylor's pre-game 12-pack which comes pretty close to my actual game experience (although I substitute jack for beer more often than not).
After I've read through TheOBR's menu of news and pregame analysis, I stick the papers under my arm and try to arrive at Andy's Pub no later than 12 noon. Andy's is a great local sports bar where you can get a Papa John's Pizza delivered right to the bar for not that much cash (I don't remember how much but they always have some kind of game special).
I always wonder why I torture myself at Andy's because it's a Steeler bar for sure (remember, I am in Erie, PA) but I think I go there because I've suffered through plenty of seasons of hearing Steeler fair weathers screaming in my ear after every positive play and I want so bad to be at Andy's when they're mouths are open and nothing is coming out after a big Browns victory.
That's coming soon enough----I feel it.
Once the Browns start beating them consistently I bet I won't have to put up with many Steeler fans. Most of them have no problem rooting for a winning team but I doubt they'd come in the droves they do now if they strung a few Cleveland-type of seasons together.
Funny thing..at Andy's I always have one of the girls make me a chocolate milkshake. Yes, I have beer and/or jack, pizza, and a chocolate milkshake. My stomach wonders just what the hell I'm thinking.
I'm not sure either.
After the game I come home and write an article for the TheOBR and there you go---my Sunday routine in a nutshell.
Why do I have that routine? Why do we all have a routine for Cleveland games? We don't just like the Browns. We aren't casual fans. We don't follow them just when things are going good.
No, we love the team.
How else can you explain me (and you) following a nearly religious routine each week for the Browns game?
You know you do it too. All real Browns fans fall into weekly routines just like lemmings fall into the sea.
So, when the playoffs are finally out of reach this year and you wonder just why in the hell you're continuing to watch such a poor excuse for a franchise, remember that the routine you have for the team you love can only be executed for 16 weeks. 16 weeks out of 52. That's 36 weeks where I personally lose interest in sports.
Enjoy the season. I know I will.
No matter what happens.