The city of Cleveland has not won a championship since Jim Brown led them to the NFL title in 1964 against the Baltimore Colts winning 27-0. Brown retired from football just before the 1966 season because Art Modell would not give him time off during the preseason to finish filming "The Dirty Dozen". Ironically, the Browns returned to the championship game that year and lost to the Colts 33-0. As a 12year-old, I went down to Cleveland Stadium and bought a ticket to this game for $10 and froze my ass off. Cleveland sports has suffered the loss of many superstars and fan favorites over the years, many of which have gone on to win titles themselves.
Paul Warfield, Manny Ramirez, and Ron Harper were all part of Cleveland teams that made it to the championship game and eventually won with another team. They even got rid off a couple of good coaches that have gone on to win championships. I can remember when the Cavs hired Chuck Daly and he told them that he could win with James Edwards and Bill Laimbeer, who were considered journeymen in the NBA at the time. The Detroit pistons are forever grateful. Then the Cleveland fans and media ran Bill Belichick out of town because he said Bernie Kosar had"diminished skills" and traded him to Dallas, where Kosar got a Super Bowl ring riding the bench. And here is where the real irony comes in.
When Cleveland wouldn't remodel Cleveland Stadium or build a new one, Art Modell took his team to where? Baltimore, a city that also lost their beloved Colts, and he won a Super Bowl. Oh, and let's not forget the man who the team is named after, Paul Brown, who was run out of Cleveland, and then in 1970 the NFL rewarded him with the Cincinnati Bengals, who also won a Super Bowl. In actuality, the Steelers play in a division with three Browns franchises. By the way, the new Browns passed on several players that may have gotten them over the hump. They took Tim Couch over Donovan McNabb, and Joe Thomas over Adrian Peterson, the closest thing to Jim Brown I have seen.
The Cleveland Indians, I hate that name, finally made it to the World Series in the 90's, and ironically, the Atlanta Braves won their only World Series title during their National League Dynasty run against Cleveland. The NBA made sure Cleveland got LeBron James during their secret draft lottery, even though Lenny Wilkins threw the last game of the season when he was coaching the Toronto Raptors, guaranteeing Denver would have the worst record in the league. They played Cleveland that night and the Cleveland fans went into panic mode in fear of losing their homegrown hero. There is no doubt LeBron James will win a championship, but will he do it in Cleveland?
