Born Winners
Hari grew up in Memphis, where there were no local sports teams to follow. Instead everyone followed the local high school and college teams (Go Tigers!) or followed a sports team from another area. So Hari developed a love of the NY Yankees early (in part because of his grandmother's fervent adoration of the Bronx Bombers), followed the Atlanta Braves, and was a fan of the Washington Redskins due to his time living in Bethesda. So he spent his youth cheering for a variety of teams with great history and tradition and varying results over the years.
I grew up in Cleveland... the home of the downtrodden sports fan. I remember going to Indians games at the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium, where maybe 10% of the seats were filled, and they were the local loveable losers. They even made a movie about how bad our team was (Major League)! Yes, we had a few great years when the Jake was new, but even that ended in tears as Jose Mesa blew what seemed like a guaranteed win. I won't even talk about the Cavs, and their repeated humiliation at the hands of the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan. The Browns were a little better - we had the Cardiac Kids (guaranteed to give you a heart attack), and a few decent years with Bernie Kosar. But there was also The Drive and The Fumble which don't even need explaining (look 'em up on Wikipedia if you aren't familiar). As if that wasn't bad enough, then we lost our team! We got to keep the name (whoop-ti-doo) but the "new" Browns should be called the Clowns as they have been nothing but a colossal disappointment. As a Cleveland sports fan there's only one guarantee: your heart will be broken, and ultimately your team is going to lose. You know it is going to happen, you just don't know how or when.
But my boys... they're growing up in the shadow of New York City. Home of winners. Where they call the parade route the "Canyon of Heroes" and they use it - regularly! The Yankees have won 27 World Series (that's 26% of all World series games - meaning they win the Series on average once every 4 years!). Their most recent win came in 2009... the year Colin was born. The Giants have won 4 Superbowls and the Jets have one. And the most recent local Superbowl win was the Giants, last weekend... the year Ryan was born.
We live in a culture of winners. Of sports fans who expect victory and demand excellence. And while sports is a pastime and entertainment, it does have an impact on the local mentality. Sports fans in this area carry themselves a little differently than they did back in Cleveland. In Cleveland everyone walked around with a chip on their shoulder. They are fervent fans, don't get me wrong! But there's always a dark cloud over their heads, and they're just waiting for the next bad thing to happen. The draft pick who doesn't pan out. The superstar who gets injured, or leaves for a more lucrative contract in a bigger market. The team who shows promise and then falls apart.
Some will call me a turncoat. A Johny-Come-Lately. They might say I'm hopping on the proverbial bandwagon. That it is easy to follow teams like the Yankees and Giants - who wouldn't want to cheer for a winner? But honestly... why should I continue the Sisyphean task of cheering for a team that has no chance of winning? Why would I want to cheer year after year after year for a loser?
I would never want to curse my boys with the hopelessness of being a Cleveland Sports fan. And living here they won't have to. They'll grow up cheering for the Memphis Tigers, the NY Yankees, the Giants and the Jets... and I'm thrilled. I'm happy to support the teams that my boys will call their own. I want them to grow up with hope and high expectations. I want them to feel the fever of a winning season, and the joy that comes when your team succeeds. So let's hear it for my boys... born into a culture of winning!
I grew up in Cleveland... the home of the downtrodden sports fan. I remember going to Indians games at the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium, where maybe 10% of the seats were filled, and they were the local loveable losers. They even made a movie about how bad our team was (Major League)! Yes, we had a few great years when the Jake was new, but even that ended in tears as Jose Mesa blew what seemed like a guaranteed win. I won't even talk about the Cavs, and their repeated humiliation at the hands of the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan. The Browns were a little better - we had the Cardiac Kids (guaranteed to give you a heart attack), and a few decent years with Bernie Kosar. But there was also The Drive and The Fumble which don't even need explaining (look 'em up on Wikipedia if you aren't familiar). As if that wasn't bad enough, then we lost our team! We got to keep the name (whoop-ti-doo) but the "new" Browns should be called the Clowns as they have been nothing but a colossal disappointment. As a Cleveland sports fan there's only one guarantee: your heart will be broken, and ultimately your team is going to lose. You know it is going to happen, you just don't know how or when.
We live in a culture of winners. Of sports fans who expect victory and demand excellence. And while sports is a pastime and entertainment, it does have an impact on the local mentality. Sports fans in this area carry themselves a little differently than they did back in Cleveland. In Cleveland everyone walked around with a chip on their shoulder. They are fervent fans, don't get me wrong! But there's always a dark cloud over their heads, and they're just waiting for the next bad thing to happen. The draft pick who doesn't pan out. The superstar who gets injured, or leaves for a more lucrative contract in a bigger market. The team who shows promise and then falls apart.
Some will call me a turncoat. A Johny-Come-Lately. They might say I'm hopping on the proverbial bandwagon. That it is easy to follow teams like the Yankees and Giants - who wouldn't want to cheer for a winner? But honestly... why should I continue the Sisyphean task of cheering for a team that has no chance of winning? Why would I want to cheer year after year after year for a loser?
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