One thing you will never say about me is that I am a Pittsburgh Steelers fan and one thing that you will always be able to say about me is that I am a Cleveland Browns fan. Growing up in northeast Ohio you are taught that the Browns are the only team to cheer for and the Steelers are the enemy. As a Cleveland Browns fan it has been tough and you learn to become tough from all the years of hardship we have had to endure. I will give Steeler fans one thing, they should be happy from all the winning and be disappointed when they do not make the playoffs.
For the last year and a half I have been dating a Steeler fan, this makes Sunday's very interesting but fun. In 2011 I wanted to take her to the Browns/Steelers game in Cleveland but she was talked out of it by others who said Browns fans are mean. Mean wasn't the words that were used, they were actually adjectives like rude, cruel, disgusting, vulgar, and harassing. We did not go and ended up going to the Steelers/Rams game instead, boring!
We recently attended the Steelers/Browns game in Pittsburgh and I was dressed in my Browns gear amongst a sea of Steeler fans (as expected) with one other Browns fan sitting right in front of me. Prior to us going I read an article about Pittsburgh fans living in Cleveland and how they are treated. It was an interesting read and I thought I would share that article with you here followed by my experience in Pittsburgh.
Upon arriving in the vicinity of the Heinz Field while still in my truck I was greeted with boos, comments of "there's a Browns fan," and chants of "Cleveland Sucks!" These are all expected no matter where you go so those did not bother me at all. Walking through the parking lot was not very eventful either so I was doing alright, mind you I am a Browns fan so I am tough. Upon entering the stadium it became a totally different story as I started high giving my fellow Browns fans. We got to our seats and I greeted my follow Browns fan in front of me and observed all the other Steeler fans around me. To my left was a group of four very rowdy (drunk) Steeler fans, no big deal. These guys were constantly standing up cheering as they should but as the game went on they got worse. At one point the one guy decided to put his hands on me after a big Steeler play, thankfully I am strong and did nothing. He continued to yell profanities in my face and the other Browns fan. At one point he dumped his beer all over the person in front of him, if it were me I would have been kicked out. The first time I went to the concession stand I stood in line for not that long until I got to the counter, this I could not believe. I ordered two beers and nachos, nothing difficult. The person at the register tells me that he cannot serve me because I am a Browns fan and needed to go to a different concession stand, well this was not happening. Upon me telling him that he decided to charge me more than he was supposed to and claimed that he typed in the wrong amount. Thankfully I know my math and paid him what I was supposed to. I went back to the same concession stand and stood in line forever being harassed by Steelers fans behind me with names that I have never heard before. Again I ignored them because they were the ignorant ones not me. I ended up with the same concession stand attendant and he just walked away from me asking someone else to serve me. After the game was over, the Browns lost, I walked out with my head held high all the way back to my truck only to find the entire bed filled with empty beer cans.
Before you go to a game or decide that you want to bash the other teams fan base just remember that you probably are making your team look a lot worse than the team that you are bashing. Not every fan can be lumped into this, I am only pointing out the few that I encountered and I am sure Browns fans have treated Steeler fans and others like this as well.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Friday, November 9, 2012
A History Lesson
The 2013 Major League Baseball season will begin on April 1, 2013 which is exactly 141 days from today and it will be 100 days on December 22, 2012. Major League Baseball has been making history over the last two decades with the advent of the wild card and then the expansion of the wild card system. We have had the first tie in the All-Star Game which has now forced us to create a rule that gives the winning side home field advantage in the World Series. Major League Baseball has seen its home run record fall a few times and not thanks to what many are saying was the steroid era, this is still up for debate. We have also introduced four new teams with all of them going to the World Series and two of them winning the whole thing, Cubs and Indians fans sure are not happy about that. Major League Baseball will make one more piece of history coming up in the 2013 season and that is due to realignment when the Houston Astros move to the American League giving both sides 15 teams which means we will have interleague play all season long.
If you watch Major League Baseball you are sure to see something that has never happened before and so for the next 141 days I am going to highlight a day in Major League Baseball history.
November 9, 1953- Reaffirming its earlier position, the United States Supreme Court rules, 7-2, baseball is a sport and not a business. This decision exempts baseball from anti-trusts laws (http://www.nationalpastime.com/).
Imagine is baseball were found as a business and had to follow anti-trust laws, our game certainly would not be the same today. At the time in 1953 I could understand that this would happen because baseball was America's past time whereas the NFL and NBA were still in their start up phases trying to figure out what direction they were going. Major League Baseball had been around for well over 50 years by this point and knew were they were going. In today's market though you could not accuse Major League Baseball of trying to monopolize the market because they have been overtaken by the NFL and NBA, in which questions have been raised about the NFL but have been found to be the same as the MLB in 1953.
If you watch Major League Baseball you are sure to see something that has never happened before and so for the next 141 days I am going to highlight a day in Major League Baseball history.
November 9, 1953- Reaffirming its earlier position, the United States Supreme Court rules, 7-2, baseball is a sport and not a business. This decision exempts baseball from anti-trusts laws (http://www.nationalpastime.com/).
Imagine is baseball were found as a business and had to follow anti-trust laws, our game certainly would not be the same today. At the time in 1953 I could understand that this would happen because baseball was America's past time whereas the NFL and NBA were still in their start up phases trying to figure out what direction they were going. Major League Baseball had been around for well over 50 years by this point and knew were they were going. In today's market though you could not accuse Major League Baseball of trying to monopolize the market because they have been overtaken by the NFL and NBA, in which questions have been raised about the NFL but have been found to be the same as the MLB in 1953.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Player-Manager
Remember the days when baseball had player-managers, yeah, neither do I except for in 1984 when Pete Rose did it for the Cincinnati Reds and then 1975 when Frank Robinson did it for the Cleveland Indians. You have to go all the way back to the early start of 20th century when a majority of teams used this system, although in 2011 GM Kenny Williams of the White Sox thought about using Paul Konerko in this role after letting go Ozzie Guillen.
I have a feeling that this trend is coming back but not exactly how you think it is. Take a look at some of the recently hired managers in baseball and what they have done for their teams.
Mike Matheny- This first time manager of the St. Louis Cardinals did not have a hard time adjusting to his surroundings. Being an ex-player for the team in the early 2000's Matheny was very comfortable coming into the clubhouse, even though the team lost their stud first baseman Albert Pujols. Matheny took the Cardinals to the playoffs winning the wild card round, beat the Washington Nationals in the NLDS and then losing in seven games to the eventual World Series champion San Francisco Giants. It looks like the Cardinals have a very positive upside to their future.
Robin Ventura- Everyone knows one thing about Robin Ventura, he is the guy that tried to take Nolan Ryan's head off after being hit by a pitch. What you may not know is that he had the Chicago White Sox in the playoff race all the way down to the wire. Even though his team plays in the beleaguered American League Central he still guided them to victory over the teams they should have beat. Just like Matheny, Ventura had a history with his team having played the majority of his career there. Also like Matheny, Ventura has a bright future of guiding his White Sox teams to many postseasons.
Don Mattingly- Coming into the 2012 season everyone had written the Los Angeles Dodgers off due to the ownership mess they were in, everyone but Don Mattingly. Mattingly was always known for his consistent play on the field and he brought that to the Dodgers when he took over in 2011. He kept the team and the city of Los Angeles in it all season long with the Dodgers finishing two games out of the wild card race at the end of the season. With a new ownership group, a rebuilt lineup, and Mattingly at the helm look for the Dodgers to contend.
John Farrell- Even though Farrell is now the manager of the Boston Red Sox we need to look at what he did with the Toronto Blue Jays for the last two seasons. The American League East is the toughest division in baseball to win and John Farrell kept the Blue Jays competitive to say the least. He kept the energy up in the locker room which is probably one of the main reasons the Red Sox sought his services for the upcoming 2013 season. His managerial style with this team will be something watch throughout the season.
Mike Socosica- This no nonsense manager of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim has been with the team since 2000 and guiding them the playoffs six times with a World Series win in 2002 and only having a losing record twice during that time. There has been speculation that change could be made but that was squashed when Socosica signed an extension through 2018. The Angels have the talent and I could see Socosica turning in Tony LaRussa.
Joe Girardi- Who knew that Girardi won the National League Manager of the Year in 2006 after being fired by the Florida Marlins towards the end of the season. This tells you the success he had prior to becoming the New York Yankees manager where all he did was not make the playoffs in his first season but then win the World Series in his second season. Being the Yankess manager is not as tough anymore since the passing of George Steinbrenner but the fans still expect you to win and that is what he doing.
Ron Washington- Two words for you - World Series (twice)! The Texas Rangers manager has turned this team into a contender every year and will continue to do so as he leads by example. He continues to push his team to the limit and the continue to respond, however, the 2013 season will be telling due to the fact that their best player, Josh Hamilton, is a free agent so look out!
Terry Francona- As a lifelong Cleveland Indians fan I am excited over this hire, although I am not going to lie, I would have been just as excited if Sandy Alomar Jr. were hired. Francona's resume speaks for itself by taking the Boston Red Sox to the World Series and winning it twice in three year since prior to that it had been 84 years since their last win. In 2011 the Red Sox parted ways and brought in Bobby Valentine which only made Francona shine brighter, hopefully he will be able to do to the Indians what he did for the Red Sox.
Kirk Gibson- The always entertaining manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks, nothing special about this guy or this team other than the fact they always keep it interesting. Gibson played with reckless abandon and he manages with the same style.
Bud Black- He manges the San Diego Padres, how many of you knew that? How many of you knew that San Diego still had a baseball team? It is my opinion that the Padres have the easiest manager's position because nobody watches them because of their location! Beautiful ballpark but the beaches are so much better.
So in review you see that all of these ex-players have had a level of success during their career and even though I realize there are a few more ex-players that are managing today I wanted to highlight these once since they are more recent. Let's hope the newly hired Mike Redmond of the Miami Marlins and Walt Weiss of the Colorado Rockies have similar success rates, who by the way both are celebrating their 20th season in the Major Leagues; not the managers the teams.
I have a feeling that this trend is coming back but not exactly how you think it is. Take a look at some of the recently hired managers in baseball and what they have done for their teams.
Mike Matheny- This first time manager of the St. Louis Cardinals did not have a hard time adjusting to his surroundings. Being an ex-player for the team in the early 2000's Matheny was very comfortable coming into the clubhouse, even though the team lost their stud first baseman Albert Pujols. Matheny took the Cardinals to the playoffs winning the wild card round, beat the Washington Nationals in the NLDS and then losing in seven games to the eventual World Series champion San Francisco Giants. It looks like the Cardinals have a very positive upside to their future.
Robin Ventura- Everyone knows one thing about Robin Ventura, he is the guy that tried to take Nolan Ryan's head off after being hit by a pitch. What you may not know is that he had the Chicago White Sox in the playoff race all the way down to the wire. Even though his team plays in the beleaguered American League Central he still guided them to victory over the teams they should have beat. Just like Matheny, Ventura had a history with his team having played the majority of his career there. Also like Matheny, Ventura has a bright future of guiding his White Sox teams to many postseasons.
Don Mattingly- Coming into the 2012 season everyone had written the Los Angeles Dodgers off due to the ownership mess they were in, everyone but Don Mattingly. Mattingly was always known for his consistent play on the field and he brought that to the Dodgers when he took over in 2011. He kept the team and the city of Los Angeles in it all season long with the Dodgers finishing two games out of the wild card race at the end of the season. With a new ownership group, a rebuilt lineup, and Mattingly at the helm look for the Dodgers to contend.
John Farrell- Even though Farrell is now the manager of the Boston Red Sox we need to look at what he did with the Toronto Blue Jays for the last two seasons. The American League East is the toughest division in baseball to win and John Farrell kept the Blue Jays competitive to say the least. He kept the energy up in the locker room which is probably one of the main reasons the Red Sox sought his services for the upcoming 2013 season. His managerial style with this team will be something watch throughout the season.
Mike Socosica- This no nonsense manager of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim has been with the team since 2000 and guiding them the playoffs six times with a World Series win in 2002 and only having a losing record twice during that time. There has been speculation that change could be made but that was squashed when Socosica signed an extension through 2018. The Angels have the talent and I could see Socosica turning in Tony LaRussa.
Joe Girardi- Who knew that Girardi won the National League Manager of the Year in 2006 after being fired by the Florida Marlins towards the end of the season. This tells you the success he had prior to becoming the New York Yankees manager where all he did was not make the playoffs in his first season but then win the World Series in his second season. Being the Yankess manager is not as tough anymore since the passing of George Steinbrenner but the fans still expect you to win and that is what he doing.
Ron Washington- Two words for you - World Series (twice)! The Texas Rangers manager has turned this team into a contender every year and will continue to do so as he leads by example. He continues to push his team to the limit and the continue to respond, however, the 2013 season will be telling due to the fact that their best player, Josh Hamilton, is a free agent so look out!
Terry Francona- As a lifelong Cleveland Indians fan I am excited over this hire, although I am not going to lie, I would have been just as excited if Sandy Alomar Jr. were hired. Francona's resume speaks for itself by taking the Boston Red Sox to the World Series and winning it twice in three year since prior to that it had been 84 years since their last win. In 2011 the Red Sox parted ways and brought in Bobby Valentine which only made Francona shine brighter, hopefully he will be able to do to the Indians what he did for the Red Sox.
Kirk Gibson- The always entertaining manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks, nothing special about this guy or this team other than the fact they always keep it interesting. Gibson played with reckless abandon and he manages with the same style.
Bud Black- He manges the San Diego Padres, how many of you knew that? How many of you knew that San Diego still had a baseball team? It is my opinion that the Padres have the easiest manager's position because nobody watches them because of their location! Beautiful ballpark but the beaches are so much better.
So in review you see that all of these ex-players have had a level of success during their career and even though I realize there are a few more ex-players that are managing today I wanted to highlight these once since they are more recent. Let's hope the newly hired Mike Redmond of the Miami Marlins and Walt Weiss of the Colorado Rockies have similar success rates, who by the way both are celebrating their 20th season in the Major Leagues; not the managers the teams.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
All Star Break Check Up
Well it is that time of year again, the All Star Break. The time when Major League Baseball players go to a city and watch their counterparts hit monster home runs and just have fun playing the game of baseball. It is also the time of year for most baseball fans, bloggers, analysts and anyone else who made picks at the beginning of the season to see how they are doing. I made my picks at the beginning of the season and lets see how I am doing:
American League East:
American League East:
- My pick: Boston Red Sox
- Actual leader: Boston Red Sox
American League Central:
- My pick: Cleveland Indians
- Actual leader: Detroit Tigers
American League West:
- My pick: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
- Actual leader: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
National League East:
- My pick: Philadelphia Phillies
- Actual leader: Philadelphia Phillies
National League Central:
- My pick: Chicago Cubs
- Actual leader: St. Louis Cardinals
National League West:
- My pick: Los Angeles Dodgers
- Actual leader: Los Angeles Dodgers
Well it seems that I am not doing all that bad, the Central Division is giving me a hard time but who would have thought the Cleveland Indians would be doing as poorly as they are, Cliff Lee and Carl Pavano are pitching great but the bats are not producing runs and it never helps when your best player gets hurt. Fans of the Chicago Cubs are used to losing but when they are coming off a 97 win season the expected a log more then what they are getting. However, being 3.5 games out at the break with 5 of the best players having the worst of their career is not bad considering everything else.
The second half of the season should be interesting, I am sticking with my Chicago Cubs pick but I am going to change my American League Central pick to the Chicago White Sox. I like the mix of good hitting and their dominate pitching, as long as they can stay healthy they will stay in that race. A few other stories to follow in the second half:
- Roy Halladay will be traded to the Phillies.
- Pedro Martinez will win 8 games for the Phillies and 2 games in the playoffs for them.
- The Rays will continue their charge in the American League East and make the playoffs for the second year in row but this time as the Wild Card.
- Manny Ramirez will end up with 30 plus home runs and 110 plus RBI's.
- Alex Rodriguez will continue to struggle and do nothing for the Yankees to make a run to the playoffs.
- The Pittsburgh Pirates will finish over .500 this year.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Happy Birthday America.... Mr. Davis and Mr. Steinbrenner
On this July 4th our nation celebrates its 232nd birthday while Al Davis celebrates his 80th birthday and George Steinbrenner celebrates his 79th birthday; combined they are 159 years old. All three birthday's that we celebrate today are famous for many reasons in their own way, lets take a look at the top 5 reasons we should celebrate these famous birthday's.
The United States of America:
- Leader of the free world, every country strives to be like the USA but can only hope to duplicate its power.
- One of the toughest military in the world that will never give up.
- We are stubborn because we have fought through a Depression, two World Wars, 9/11 and we'll keep on fighting.
- Families will come together to set off fireworks.
- We are free to do what we want, when we want and how we want.
Al Davis:
- The way he made the NFL a multi-billion dollar organization with the merger of the AFL and NFL.
- Hiring the first black coach in Art Shell and first female CEO in the NFL, Amy Trask.
- Making John Madden the greatest video gamer of all time.
- Knowing all the short cuts between Oakland and Los Angeles to miss all the traffic.
- Knowing that if Hollywood can not find anyone to play Freddy Kruger they can always call on him.
George Steinbrenner:
- Spent money like it was going out of style which led to baseball players making $25 million a year.
- Luxury tax!
- Corporate sponsorships no matter how big a fine the commissioner of baseball gave him.
- Creating the team that everyone loves to hate.
- Building a $1.3 billion stadium that fans can not go to since ticket prices are so high.
Happy Birthday America, Al Davis and George Steinbrenner!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Shaq and LeBron
Here is my prediction of what will happen with the Cavs after acquiring Shaq, one of these three things will happen.
1. Shaq and LeBron will win the 2010 NBA Championship. After they win Shaq will retire and LeBron will remain in Cleveland but questions will start to be asked; can LeBron win a championship without Shaq? Sound familiar?
2. Shaq gets hurt and retires after season as LeBron bolts for more money in the NBA.
3. Shaq and LeBron win the NBA Championship in 2010 and they both leave to play in Greece for a combined $2 billion!
1. Shaq and LeBron will win the 2010 NBA Championship. After they win Shaq will retire and LeBron will remain in Cleveland but questions will start to be asked; can LeBron win a championship without Shaq? Sound familiar?
2. Shaq gets hurt and retires after season as LeBron bolts for more money in the NBA.
3. Shaq and LeBron win the NBA Championship in 2010 and they both leave to play in Greece for a combined $2 billion!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Sports Movies
I was flipping through the channels tonight before the Indians game started and found this movie called "The Final Season." I remember seeing advertisements about it on MLB.com and remember saying that I would probably like to see that. Seeing as it was never shown on any major television station I forgot all about it, until tonight. I came into the movie about 45 minutes into it but was able to figure out what was going on very quickly. The movie is about Norway High School which was a baseball powerhouse in the state of Iowa for a near quarter century. Because it was a small school district the state decided to shut the school down and combine with a neighboring high school. The team also just lost its coach that built them into the powerhouse to the Detroit Tigers as a coach in their minor league system, so nobody was picking them to do anything. The players were down and out, but the coach brought their spirits back up and they ended up winning the state championship, so cliche! Great movie and I highly suggest spending a night watching it.
Watching this tonight got me thinking about my top 10 list of all time great sports movies:
1. Hooisers: How can you go wrong with this feel good story and it's true just like the one above.
2. Rocky: So what the hero loses and couple of times and Rocky becomes old, but just think of the message it brought to everyone.
3. Rudy: Great inspiration for any young football player or athlete.
4. Hoop Dreams: Many people probably have not seen this but it is about to Chicago basketball players who had promising careers in front of them, this movie takes you on their journey.
5. Major League: No sports movie is funnier than this one.
6. The Rookie: Story of an aging coach who tried out for the Major Leagues and made it.
7. Bull Durham: I just recently feel in love with this move, you have to watch it and then go online to read the quotes.
8. A League of Their Own: Women's baseball, great story, great actors.
9. King Pin: A 1970's drunk who takes an Amish boy to Las Vegas for a bowling tournament, classic!
10. Go Tigers, It's More Than A Game: I am biased towards this movie because it is a documentary about my high school and its football rich tradition during my senior year.
I know there are many movies that could be on this list and please let me know what I am missing or what you would put on there.
Watching this tonight got me thinking about my top 10 list of all time great sports movies:
1. Hooisers: How can you go wrong with this feel good story and it's true just like the one above.
2. Rocky: So what the hero loses and couple of times and Rocky becomes old, but just think of the message it brought to everyone.
3. Rudy: Great inspiration for any young football player or athlete.
4. Hoop Dreams: Many people probably have not seen this but it is about to Chicago basketball players who had promising careers in front of them, this movie takes you on their journey.
5. Major League: No sports movie is funnier than this one.
6. The Rookie: Story of an aging coach who tried out for the Major Leagues and made it.
7. Bull Durham: I just recently feel in love with this move, you have to watch it and then go online to read the quotes.
8. A League of Their Own: Women's baseball, great story, great actors.
9. King Pin: A 1970's drunk who takes an Amish boy to Las Vegas for a bowling tournament, classic!
10. Go Tigers, It's More Than A Game: I am biased towards this movie because it is a documentary about my high school and its football rich tradition during my senior year.
I know there are many movies that could be on this list and please let me know what I am missing or what you would put on there.
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