How bad is it right now to be a Cleveland sports fan?
It’s bad, obviously, as to paraphrase one of Coughlin’s Laws, “everything in Cleveland sports ends badly, otherwise it wouldn’t be Cleveland.”
But just how bad is it compared to other historically bad times in Cleveland sports? And, yes, we get that comparing poor eras is a very Cleveland thing to do.
On Wednesday, Craig at Waiting for Next Year proposed that this is one of the worst times in Cleveland sports, what with the current negative streaks surrounding the Indians, Browns and Cavs. Craig wonders how it could get much worse, pointing out that:
- The 2012 Cleveland Indians had an 11-game losing streak, 9-game losing streak, 6-game losing streak, and a 5-game losing streak all in the same season. Nearly 20 percent of the MLB season was spent slumping hard in Manny Acta’s last year in Cleveland.
- The Cleveland Browns start 2012 with five straight losses. They also ended the season with three straight losses as Pat Shurmur was shown the door and Randy Lerner sold the team.
- The Cavaliers had a 6-game losing streak, 4-game losing streak, 5-game losing streak, 6-game losing streak, 10-game losing streak and a 6-game losing streak all in the same season. That’s nearly half the season spent in pretty exceptionally bad streaks.
That led us to have a conversation with Harv 21 about how, while things are bad now, it just seems worse because we are experiencing it in the here and now. We’re going through difficult times; it just seems like hard times because we are currently living them.
In a town where we know a lot about losing, it’s hard to think that right now is as bad as it has ever been, especially when you consider that the late 1970s through early 1980s seemed to be just as bad, if not worse, than the current streak we are witnessing from the Big 3 teams in town.
So how do the two eras compare?
I wouldn't say that the Cleveland Browns are under siege at the moment, but that's only because they are perpetually under siege. Having spent nearly a decade and a half in a bunker will give anyone a bunker mentality. Still, all the bad press flowing from Berea these days suggests that nothing much has changed and also that the Browns really could use a better media rep.
On Tuesday night, the Cleveland Indians beat the Oakland A's 1-0. It was the second straight win for the Tribe over the As. It also was the team's 8th win in their last 9 games and pushed their season record to 16-14. Overall, a decent start to the season, right? The answer depends on what you're measuring.
Remember the beginning of Raiders of the Lost Ark?
What’s in a name? According to Bill Shakespeare, a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet. But then again, that's easy to say if you're a guy with an awesome name like Shakespeare. In the world of sports, a name can be the difference between a century of cult status and an eternity of obscurity. It’s the key to carving out a nostalgic little corner of the public consciousness—whether or not your talent actually warranted it. Why else would people still remember the likes of Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje or God Shammgod? Or take such delight in the Browns drafting a guy named Barkevious Mingo? The truth is, a name can take you a long way.