时间:2025-04-26 17:46:53 来源:网络整理编辑:知識
As the NFL playoffs prepared to kickoff on Saturday in Kansas City and Los Angeles, a few thousands
As the NFL playoffs prepared to kickoff on Saturday in Kansas City and Los Angeles, a few thousands fans gathered on the shores of a frozen Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio to toast a different milestone altogether: a winless season by the Cleveland Browns.
SEE ALSO:Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, and the Cavs took a subway ride like it was no big dealDespite single-digit temperatures and wind chills well below zero, around 3,000 fans wound up lining the street that encircles First Energy Stadium where the Browns play football and where the Browns have only won three times in the last three seasons.
The cold didn't dampen spirits at the parade, which was more a tongue-in-cheek protest of team management than a celebration. Many of the signs took aim at owner Jimmy Haslam, whose stature in Cleveland is just barely above that of former owner Art Modell -- who infamously moved the team to Baltimore in 1995.
Saturday's event has also split the Cleveland sports fandom in half, between those who are dismayed by the absolute joke the Browns have become and those who think the parade reflects poorly on the city and the fans.
Even Browns players took to Twitter to call out those who planned on attending.
Tweet may have been deleted
Tweet may have been deleted
It's understandable the players would feel this way, especially given the team's 4-44 record over the past three seasons and the ignominy of being only the second NFL team to ever go 0-16 (the 2008 Detroit Lions were the first). It's like rubbing salt in the wound.
But the parade wasn't meant to laugh at the players. It was -- and this was clearly evident on Saturday -- a catharsis for a city that's endured unending frustration with a team that's used over two dozen different quarterbacks since the franchise was brought back as an expansion team in 1999, including the infamous drafting of Johnny Manziel (who himself mocked the Browns, despite being pretty bad during his short stint with the team).
View this post on Instagram
Since returning in 1999, the Browns have had two winning seasons (9-7 in 2002, 10-6 in 2007) and only one playoff game appearance (a Wild Card loss in 2002), while the team has gone 19-70 since Haslam became the owner in 2012.
It's also a team that's on its ninth coach since 1999 and has chosen to keep its current coach, Hue Jackson, who boasts a 1-31 record in his two seasons on the sideline.
Meanwhile, Cleveland itself is a city that deserves better. It's a city with it's own set of problems, for sure. But it's also a city with growing start-up and biotech industries, not to mention a world-class arts scene.
I'm biased. Full disclosure, I'm not a full-on Browns fan (go Saints!) but I live here, married into a family of Cleveland natives and long-time devoted (and frustrated) Cleveland sports fans. I know from personal experience that Cleveland is far better than its "Mistake By The Lake" moniker and the ongoing jokes about the Cuyahoga River catching on fire.
And in sports, it's a winner, too. LeBron James has made the Cleveland Cavaliers perennial NBA contenders and, in 2016, champions. The Cleveland Indians (terrible Chief Wahoo logo aside) have made the MLB playoffs three of the last five seasons, including the dramatic 2016 World Series against the Cubs. And don't overlook the Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League, winners of the 2015-16 Calder Cup.
Yet, the Browns continue to be the punchline that brings the city down. It's why there's so much pent-up frustration. Cleveland is, at its heart, a football town with a bad team being driven into the ground by bad management.
Tweet may have been deleted
The parade was the idea of Columbus-based fan Chris McNeil, whose Twitter account, @Reflog_18, has a huge following thanks, in part, to brilliant tweets like trolling pro-Trump Twitter users (including a fake GOP account that turned out to be a Russian bot) into thinking a photo of the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers NBA championship parade was the crowd at a Trump rally in Arizona.
As the Browns barreled towards an 0-16 record in 2016, McNeil came up with the idea of the parade which was derailed when the Browns pulled off a Christmas Eve miracle victory over the San Diego Chargers. Despite a 1-15 record, there would be no winless parade.
Until the Browns managed to do worse this year, failing to win a single game. And the parade was on again.
And McNeil gets that frustration, the idea that no NFL team should be this bad, that no NFL team should seem to hit rock bottom and only get worse.
Speaking to the Cleveland Plain-Dealerearlier in 2017 about plans for the 2016 parade, he said:
"You either get it or you don't. If you don't get it, what am I going to do? Then you probably don't get what I do on Twitter. And if you don't, that's fine," he said. "But it wasn't supposed to be, 'We're the Browns, look at us, we suck.' It was about giving it to the ownership. We want to be good. We're not celebrating losing. A lot of people made that mistake."
It was a feeling that held true on Saturday. Besides one sign making fun of beleaguered rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer, I didn't see any other signs mocking players. But I did see a lot of signs directed at Haslam who isn't exactly known for his smooth business dealings.
It's worth mentioning, too, that the parade has raised thousands of dollars for the Cleveland Food Bank, proof that, at its core, this parade isn't something nefarious for the city.
As frustrated as the players must feel, imagine being a years-long season-ticket holder who continues to pour money into supporting a team whose management shows no apparent effort to be, well, worth that support.
The fans and the city deserve better. Yesterday's parade wasn't one of celebration but one of commiserating. These are dark times and if we only find misery in the distractions, well, then something's gotta give eventually.
McNeil, after all, is a fan who has said before that he wants the Browns to succeed, not to be a joke; he recently told ESPN, "The last thing I want to do is embarrass the city... We just want to see the Browns win."
Tweet may have been deleted
So did the thousands that were at the stadium on Saturday. They were there out of love for a team that just hasn't loved them back in a long time.
And in the end, if you're going to be made miserable by something you love, you might as well try to have a good time.
Nate Parker is finally thinking about the woman who accused him of rape2025-04-26 17:35
本澤馬錄像帶案10月受審 或因敲詐入獄五年仍嘴硬2025-04-26 17:33
滄州雄獅官宣阿不都海米提加盟 助蘇寧首奪中超冠軍2025-04-26 16:42
深足全隊為普拉利甘吉捐款 官方圖片包含待官宣球員2025-04-26 16:23
Is Samsung's Galaxy Note7 really the best phone?2025-04-26 16:21
匪夷所思 !西班牙門將貿然出擊 給對手送上“大禮”2025-04-26 15:41
卓爾外援國家隊首秀即進球 歸化埃弗拉已徹底沒戲2025-04-26 15:41
神奇黑馬!北馬其頓掀翻德國 三戰9球攻擊力冠絕全組2025-04-26 15:23
Honda's all2025-04-26 15:20
江蘇隊前主帥德拉甘震驚球隊解散 不停問:球迷怎麽辦 ?2025-04-26 15:04
Give your kitchen sponge a rest on this adorable bed2025-04-26 17:32
又見大聖 !貝爾19次首發造14球 率隊終結不勝魔咒2025-04-26 17:20
李鐵心中已有主力陣容答案 艾克森作用比裏皮時期更突出2025-04-26 17:10
國足國內熱身7連勝進26球 過招泰山將模擬戰敘利亞2025-04-26 17:06
You will love/hate Cards Against Humanity's new fortune cookies2025-04-26 16:40
國家隊的加斯科因:成名意大利之夏 險率三獅破宿命2025-04-26 16:38
意大利前瞻:半數主力因傷缺陣 力爭連續25場不敗2025-04-26 16:15
加斯科因糟亂人生 :被酒精消磨了天賦 場外惹事不斷2025-04-26 15:47
Richard Branson 'thought he was going to die' in bike accident2025-04-26 15:44
加斯科因糟亂人生 :被酒精消磨了天賦 場外惹事不斷2025-04-26 15:21