Any Sports Fans here on the Lounge?

[shoju]

I wont lie, my cynicism probably lies in my never having seen a team that I root for win it all. I started out as a lover of baseball, and up until my favorite player in the world wrote a tell all book and outed the sport, It was my favorite thing. Even when he did it, at first I was thinking "Oh Jose, YOU SO CRAZY!"

But then, one by one, the dominoes fell, and Jose wasn't crazy. Roids were everywhere. It made me cringe.

I had a passing love affair with the Browns. My dad turned me into a football fan as a kid. It just didn't stick. Probably because my first season as a football fan was "The Drive", and then crushed further by "The Fumble". I sort of gave up on football until this smarmy head coach showed up, and turned the browns into something to watch again. We never knew he would become known as "The Hoodie", we just knew he had out team playing, and playing HARD. His record in Cleveland pales in comparison to the excitement we felt during those first two seasons, and then that amazing season we put together and made the playoffs.

And then my football love took a shot in the giblets. Art Modell moved my team. I was just falling in love with them all over again as a teenager, and he took them. It was ok though, I still had the winning Indians to keep me company. Then the Browns came back, and I fell back in love with football, and the love has grown, at the same time that my love of baseball has shriveled. Honestly, if I didn't have such adoration for the Rays as an organization (and kudos for picking up on Oakland, I had sort of forgot about them in the mix) I probably wouldn't follow them.

But in this ever growing Social Media driven World, the Rays are doing more to earn my "love" than any other team that I have followed on Social Media. I've never been a Cavs fan "For real" (dad tried, but when Jordan sank the Cavs with that memorable shot, I just couldn't bother to love them. We're acquaintances at best ) but I followed them on social media until "The Decision" and Dan Gilbert's Comic Sans tirade. I Follow the Indians, The Browns, The Colts (and then the Broncos, as my wife and I are HUGE Peyton Fans), and The Hanshin Tigers from Japan. (A schoolmate of mine pitche(s/d) for them)

NO TEAM that I have followed has kept me entertained, up to date, and "a part" of the fan experience as the Tampa Bay Rays. I swear, if I got offered a job in their social media department, my wife, kids, and I would be on the next plane to Tampa.

They do even more than the Browns, who don't have a bad department, just.... a "dumb" one at times (queue the jokes about wanting to give away white flags at the Steelers game). For me, I'm equally fascinated by the front office, as I am the Team. That's weird. But if it weren't for The Rays, and my buddy pitching for the Hanshin Tigers I probably would have given up baseball by now. Kevin's right, sometimes, being a fan of a team is more harmful to a person than not. I'm at that point with the Indians. I had hoped that they had turned the corner with the hiring of Francona, but now, this really just feels like a dog and pony show. Roll out the new World Series Winning Manager, and then when we don't win, blame it on the small market again!

He's also right about the Browns. Northern Ohio is a football kind of area. The weather lends itself to the sport more than baseball, the Browns have a great rich history, even if it feels so distant now. The Browns and their colors, and the attitudes of the players, have lent itself to the region. Gritty, Hard Nosed Football, with running backs and defense have been the hallmarks of the team. It fits in with the gritty hard nosed life of the steelbelt, and manufacturing areas of the state found in the north.

The Indians will never be "the king" of the city. Sure, if they won, it would be HUGE, and the people who won it would be the princes of the town, but lets be hypothetical. Say in 2014, The Tribe wins it all in November. Then, in Feb of 2015, just a few months later, The Browns win the Super Bowl. You know what party will be bigger? The Browns. And it wont be because "it's two championships!" It will be because the Browns are the love of the region. They boast the largest fan club for any american team, and used to be the biggest fan club in the world, though I think a Euro Soccer team has passed them up now.

I watched.... around 30 baseball games this season. None of them were because it was "The Tribe Playing" They were Rays Games, they were "Dude turn it on, someone is doing something AMAZING" moments, or because there just was nothing else on.

This year, I know I've watched 30+ Football games. Every Browns Game (with twitter and FakePat keeping me company) and then a smattering of Broncos games, and then Sunday and Monday Nighters. That's over the span of 12 weeks.

This season, with the Indians, i'll probably keep tabs from a far, but the organization is losing me, if it already hasn't completely lost me.

I dont' know much about hockey, so I wont comment too heavily on deebye's post (sorry). But I will say, my sister sent me to a BlueJackets Game this season with my 2 boys and my dad. We sat here:




It was a great time. We didn't know any of the rules, but we had a blast. It's a shame that the Blue Jackets suck. Great Venue, Good time.