Oops, I'm a Browns Fan Now

Growing up, our house was full of girls. My two sisters, my mom, our dog and I...and my Dad. Dad's a sports guy, in a sense. He coached our soccer teams, played football in high school and rugby throughout his 20s and 30s. For whatever reason, though, he doesn't really have a huge passion for professional sports, or really college sports for that matter. He watches, casually, on Saturday and Sunday, when he's relaxing after a busy week. He usually picks a team he'd prefer to win, but never has he been a Yell-at-the-TV, Never Miss a Game, Get All the Gear type of fan.

He doesn't have a team. When I was a kid, I remember him saying that he likes when Ohio State wins, because it means fewer people he knows will bitch, but doesn't actually care too much about the Buckeye stats. Maybe it's because he lived in a few places when he was growing up, as part of a military family. There isn't one team that caught his attention at a young age that was culturally reinforced.

Whatever the reason, I did not grow up as a true fan of any particular team. Not even in college (because my college was not big enough or good enough at sports for it to matter) did I get attached to anyone, but in 2011, that all began to change.

First, my sister graduated from college, and earned a position at a company in Cleveland. She moved there, and as a gesture of community, got a Browns t-shirt. Ok, fair enough. Trying to make friends and such. Shortly there after, I started dating Mike, who is a certified, true blue, Cleveland Browns Fan. I started watching a few of the games with him and his friends, as an act of good-girlfriendry. An act of pity in some ways, since I knew the Browns stink and sometimes the fans need a shoulder to cry on. 

Last November? I went to my first Browns game. It was all innocent enough- the tickets were cheap, my sister wanted us to come visit her, and it was a great way to spend time with family. Innocent, see? And somewhere along the line, I discovered I cared. Was it so Mike wouldn't be down in the dumps? Was it so I could haven't something to talk about with my friends and sisters friends and boyfriends friends who grew up in, live in and embrace the Cleve? Perhaps. All of this is likely. But somehow, I felt a little sad yesterday. Sad when the Browns lost, which is mostly typical, to the Bengals. I was sad when my Cincinnati friends made fun of the Browns. 

And now I'm in. I'm an accidental Browns fan. Isn't that how it always happens? By accident? By culture and circumstance? I wish I could go back in time and never watch any of those games. Never lend a sympathetic ear to the life-long Browns people. 

Go team...