A lot of my family are Browns fans (I ended up in Bills fandom, yay options of Erie, PA that aren't Steelers), and it was crazy moving to Baltimore. People here will insist that 1) Modell was a great man and 2) it's totally different than what happened with the Colts because it didn't happen in the middle of the night. Meanwhile, I had to look up the person arrested for urinating on Modell's grave to make sure it wasn't a relative.
Your comment about irrational sports hatred from childhood also hit a note for me. Mine is also a quarterback and it is still Peyton Manning (Eli also gets lumped in as well, but my #1 is Peyton). This stems from his college days more than anything in the pros (I have grudgingly come to accept that he is a decent person and is funny in commercials).
As a Gator, it was not even that he beat us and destroyed our dreams (he never did). Why I had an irrational hate for Peyton was that I thought he unfairly got a leg up because of his last name whereas my childhood hero, Danny Wuerffel, had better stats and won every matchup against Peyton in college (Peyton even lost to a sophomore, Doug Johnson his senior year). While it has subsided since I was a kid, it will bubble up from time to time when lists like "All-Time 1990s" team comes out for the 150th anniversary of college football and the first team QB is Peyton and not Danny.
Needless to say I feel your vision going red moment.
Just here to say I love this and I get it: heredity plus a Monday night waxing of Dallas in 1979 started a dysfunctional relationship I have been unable to end no matter how hard I have tried. It's been more amazing than fun, and a long time ago I gave up all but a tiny hope it will ever pay off, but I am here for the journey.
Being a North Floridian without any real familial ties to an NFL franchise, I am rooting for both of the Lake Erie franchises to win (my best friend and his family are obsessed Bills fans so learning slightly more towards Orchard Park). In all sports I like seeing authentic fan bases succeed way more than plastic ones.
No matter how long I live in these here United States (most of my life now) I don't think I will ever get used to the idea of supporting* a tax liability management entity masquerading as a sports team, insofar as they can kneecap a community the way that Art Model did. For all the ethical awfulness of college sports, at least you don't have to worry about Alabama relocating to Florida.
*My one BIG element of hypocrisy here is that I have a soft spot for the Dodgers - baseball was the first American sport I watched after moving to southern California - and they had the dynamic one-two of both screwing over the community they left _and_ flattening an entire community to build their stadium.
The one thing I will give Modell credit for? Dumping Marty too early and trading Byner for a ham sandwich made me already so bitter towards him that announcing he was moving the team was just confirming all suspicion that he was sub-human.
It sucked watching the last game, but I knew the regret of not watching would feel worse. I've always been a fan of big league football over all other sports, but I just couldn't bear to watch after that, for a number of years. Eventually, I would move away, and rekindle that love by joining a coworker in buying season tickets for the local team.
I've been a Jaguars fan with a Browns problem ever since. I am a glutton for punishment.
A lot of my family are Browns fans (I ended up in Bills fandom, yay options of Erie, PA that aren't Steelers), and it was crazy moving to Baltimore. People here will insist that 1) Modell was a great man and 2) it's totally different than what happened with the Colts because it didn't happen in the middle of the night. Meanwhile, I had to look up the person arrested for urinating on Modell's grave to make sure it wasn't a relative.
Browns-Bills AFC championship game, who says no?
Your comment about irrational sports hatred from childhood also hit a note for me. Mine is also a quarterback and it is still Peyton Manning (Eli also gets lumped in as well, but my #1 is Peyton). This stems from his college days more than anything in the pros (I have grudgingly come to accept that he is a decent person and is funny in commercials).
As a Gator, it was not even that he beat us and destroyed our dreams (he never did). Why I had an irrational hate for Peyton was that I thought he unfairly got a leg up because of his last name whereas my childhood hero, Danny Wuerffel, had better stats and won every matchup against Peyton in college (Peyton even lost to a sophomore, Doug Johnson his senior year). While it has subsided since I was a kid, it will bubble up from time to time when lists like "All-Time 1990s" team comes out for the 150th anniversary of college football and the first team QB is Peyton and not Danny.
Needless to say I feel your vision going red moment.
The Cavs did it.
Just here to say I love this and I get it: heredity plus a Monday night waxing of Dallas in 1979 started a dysfunctional relationship I have been unable to end no matter how hard I have tried. It's been more amazing than fun, and a long time ago I gave up all but a tiny hope it will ever pay off, but I am here for the journey.
Being a North Floridian without any real familial ties to an NFL franchise, I am rooting for both of the Lake Erie franchises to win (my best friend and his family are obsessed Bills fans so learning slightly more towards Orchard Park). In all sports I like seeing authentic fan bases succeed way more than plastic ones.
Back when the Five Guys were still close enough to call themselves Five Brothers. Money changes everything.
No matter how long I live in these here United States (most of my life now) I don't think I will ever get used to the idea of supporting* a tax liability management entity masquerading as a sports team, insofar as they can kneecap a community the way that Art Model did. For all the ethical awfulness of college sports, at least you don't have to worry about Alabama relocating to Florida.
*My one BIG element of hypocrisy here is that I have a soft spot for the Dodgers - baseball was the first American sport I watched after moving to southern California - and they had the dynamic one-two of both screwing over the community they left _and_ flattening an entire community to build their stadium.
The one thing I will give Modell credit for? Dumping Marty too early and trading Byner for a ham sandwich made me already so bitter towards him that announcing he was moving the team was just confirming all suspicion that he was sub-human.
It sucked watching the last game, but I knew the regret of not watching would feel worse. I've always been a fan of big league football over all other sports, but I just couldn't bear to watch after that, for a number of years. Eventually, I would move away, and rekindle that love by joining a coworker in buying season tickets for the local team.
I've been a Jaguars fan with a Browns problem ever since. I am a glutton for punishment.