October 22, 2002
Sunday morning I met with a bunch of Browns fans to take a bus to the Browns-Texans game. It was the first game I'd been to at Cleveland Browns Staudium (actually the first ever, either there or at Lakefront). The game went well enough. As for the stadium, it was nice but not impressive.
For the two-hour trip we had several cases' worth of beer and some old Browns highlights. Once we got to the stadium we broke out the keg and the burgers and dogs and commenced a three-hours-plus tailgate party. We kicked the keg and the 150 cans, and a few of us even bought $6 Buds at the game. All in all, great fun in 45-degree weather.
Cleveland Browns Staudium brought back the Dawg Pound, but really in name only. At Lakefront the Pound was at the open end of the field -- you had to be about half in the bag to sit there in the first place. Now the entire stadium is closed in except for a couple openings away from the lake. Heinz Field here in Pittsburgh would actually have a better Dawg Pound than Browns Stadium -- it has an open end that faces the rivers. The only ways I could tell where I was were the bleachers that replaced the seats, and the "Dawg Pd" printed on my ticket. Enh.
The game itself went well, if you ignore the fiest half. The Browns looked completely mystified on both offense and defense. In fact, it took a special teams play -- a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the third -- to really spark the team. Eventually the Browns offense managed to wear down a depth-deprived defense (what happened to the Browns defense last week) and doubled up the Texans 34-17. Maybe they'll get some confidence back going into the Jets game next week. If they win they'll be contenders. If they lose they're pretty much done.
Oh, and the fans. Everyone thinks they're horrible for booing Tim Couch and the offense. Well, they're not. They've all been told this is the year the team will contend. Not win the Super Bowl, not even win a playoff game; just contend. And right now they're way inconsistent and don't look like contenders. The fans are frustrated and they're letting the players know it. Just like when Steelers fans boo Kordell Stewart, and for the same reason: They're not playing up to their potential.
It's partially the players' fault, because it looks like they're sandbagging it out there sometimes, and it's partially the coaches' fault, because they're being too damn conservative. But all of 'em need to get straightened around before they learn the hard way how annoyed fans can get.
So...
Road trip: Rockin'
Stadium: OK
Game: Good
Team: Needs improvement
Fans: Justified
