Still Sore Losers

There may not be a more tortured fan base than Cleveland. Not having won a championship of any sort since 1964, the city has come close numerous times, only to have their hopes shattered by some terrible play or occurrence. They even have names for all of them, which need no clarification (in fact, going into detail may or may not get you shot if you are anywhere near East Cleveland). "The Shot", "The Fumble" , "The Drive", The Decision. Just the mere mentioning of some names make the city collectively cringe. Jose Mesa, Art Modell, LeBron James. One would think that a fan base like that deserved some sort of success. But looking at how Cleveland fans have conducted themselves since the Decision, especially after the incident that occurred after the Browns' overtime loss to the Jets last week, it made me realize something: those fans don't deserve it.

To recap, the quietly dangerous Browns lost a key fumble late in overtime to New York, then four Cleveland defenders let Santonio Holmes weave through them like they were tackling dummies en route to the end zone. Among those in the stands was a Jets fan who lived in Cleveland, but was born in New York. He decided to take his eight-year-old son to the game, the boy's first ever NFL game. Being New York fans, they wore Jets jerseys. The game was fine, but afterwards, according to the boy's mother, Cleveland fans began throwing food and yelling at the boy and his father. Then, one drunken idiot tackled the boy to the ground. Not accidentally pushed or ran into him. But actually full on tackled the kid, leaving him with some scratches and a few tears.

Are you serious? A little kid?

Look, I'm as big a sports fan as anyone. As I was watching the Steelers get manhandled by New England last week I was getting angry at the television. But it's just a football game. Sports are meant to be a distraction from life. They aren't supposed to get this real. No amount of "fandom", no amount of alcohol, can be used as a defense in this case. No matter how passionate a fan you are, does the game really matter that much? Win or lose, you still live your life just the same. The only difference between winning and losing is -- or should be -- a few minutes of being annoyed or happy. Of course there are exceptions. When the Browns left Cleveland fans had a right to be angry and hold a grudge against Art Modell. Conversely, when New Orleans won the Super Bowl last year the entire city earned the right to party. But short of something drastic, there is absolutely no reason to be so emotional to the point where you lose self-control.

And in this case, the lack of self-control and common decency was disgusting. It would have been bad enough had this happened to some drunken Jets fan who was going around bragging about the win. But no, it happened to be a father who was minding his own business after a nice afternoon enjoying football. And he was with his kid. Kids are off-limits. If you feel the need to harass or make fun of a little kid for being a Jets fan, you are sick. But to go all the way and tackle an eight year old is the lowest of lows. People who do that are scumbags. It shouldn't have to be said that kids are off-limits. The fact that it needs to be shows how insanely stupid Cleveland fans have become.

Could it be that I'm being a little unfair for judging an entire city's fan base off of a group of idiots merely because of one isolated -- although sickening -- incident? You could make that argument. But ever since the Decision, fans have been nutty. Just look at the night James said he was leaving. Fans burned a jersey in the streets. Extra police was called in to handle crowds. Fans disowned LeBron, like he was some sort of monster. He's a basketball player. Obviously he handled the situation very poorly. He should have told the organization before that he wasn't coming back. He should not have announced it in a one-hour, nationally televised event. It was a backstabbing move. But do you really think the city would have reacted any differently had he done it via a press release at noon on a random Tuesday? I don't think so. The jerseys still would have been burned. The police would have still been called upon and fans would still be incredibly bitter.

I get it that LeBron inspired hope in the city. He was born there, he was raised there, he was supposed to give the city something to cheer for.  But it was entirely his right to leave Cleveland. Nowhere under the term "unrestricted free agent" is there some magic fine print that says "except you have to stay with your original team." Do I think he made the right choice? No. He handled the entire process poorly and he chose the wrong team. But that doesn't give the city a right to go berserk. It doesn't give them a right to go "Oh, woe is us!" It doesn't give them a right to act however they want. Most people are expecting the Cavaliers to finish well below .500 this year. The Indians are still rebuilding. The Browns are perennially terrible. And to be honest, that's exactly what this fan base deserves right now.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar once said "You can't win unless you learn how to lose." You would think that after all these years, after all these heartbreaks, the city of Cleveland would have learned by now. I guess not, and until they do, I hope they never get to experience success. They aren't ready for it.