CLEVELAND, OHIO (TheOBR.com) - Good morning, Cleveland Browns fans!
THE DAILY BLOVIATION
The epic 2025 World Series has finally concluded in early November, and the chatter poured across my screen late last night: "Best World Series!", "Baseball is back!" and many more exclamations of delight as the game went to extra innings. It was, without a doubt, the most thrilling MLB championship in years.
Back in the day, I used to watch the then-Cleveland Indians baseball games religiously, rushing home on Tuesday and Friday nights (back before cable, when the games were on Channel 43) to catch them live. I have fond memories of the voices of Joe Tait, Herb Score, and many others pouring out of the radio or TV. During the period when the Browns left, the Cleveland franchise, which was then a competitive one, was my sports savior.
I drifted away from MLB baseball mainly because of this site's birth in the 1990s and its requirement for me to focus my limited time and mental resources on football. I no longer had three hours to watch a daily baseball game.
I must admit that watching the Florida Marlins purchase the 1997 MLB championship played a role in my drifting away. Cleveland doesn't have a team that can compete financially to achieve victories. The Cleveland Guardians are often ingenious at maximizing their smaller payroll, but the big picture is that they haven't won a World Series since 1948. In the meantime, the financially blessed Dodgers and Yankees have won 23 and appeared in 42.
That World Series, and this one (as great as it was), is also an explicit demonstration that the NFL has gotten it right about competitive balance. I expected the rich Dodgers franchise to win, and they did, despite being pushed to their limits.
In part because of the NFL's competitive balance and the simple fact that any team not located around Lake Erie can win in any year, the NFL has, over the past 50 years, emerged as the undisputed champion of the American sports scene. The draft, free agency, and salary caps are all carefully managed to provide the league and its players with the best opportunity for each of the 32 teams to make a compelling case that they could win it all.
Browns fans
The Browns in 2025: This is fun (Photo: Getty)
Competitive parity means that it's harder for fans to give up on their local franchises, which helps explain why the Cleveland Browns still have a solid following despite over 25 years of utter incompetence on the franchise's part. There's no inherent barrier to the Browns being able to win someday, other than being run continuously by ownership that tries and fails.
It's only through constant and often embarrassing losses that the franchise has managed to lose many of its dedicated fans, who fought for its return and rushed to embrace it when it returned in 1999. It's been an extraordinary accomplishment.
Now, many fans will be priced out of seeing the game live by Jimmy Haslam's Upper 5%-friendly PriceyDome. This team better give the rest of us something to root for in the interim, or they will have pulled off a feat that's nearly impossible in frittering away the greatest fanbase the league has ever seen.
Have a good one! GO BROWNS!
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THE LIFT
Positive news from the world of sports and beyond...
A 14-year study of 25K people finds hopeful people live better lives - (goodgoodgood.co)
I was not part of this study of "hopeful" people. All it takes is one look at my Bloviation output to discern a certain level of cynicism about what the world has planned for us. Then again, following the Cleveland Browns sort of bangs the hope out of you. But some hope remains, or I wouldn't be here, suggesting that the Browns give Dillon Gabriel two more games in case something clicks before trotting out Shedeur Sanders. Some have told me that level of hope borders on silly. Probably so.
WRAPPING UP
When not listening to the Raconteurs, Barry McBride is the Publisher and Founder of the OBR and bloviates this nonsense every morning. You can follow him on Twitter @barrymcbride or write him at barry@theobr.com if you are so compelled.
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