The Asymmetrical World of Ryan Pontbriand
November 14, 2011The “New” Browns: Losing In Ways Nobody Can Imagine
November 14, 2011
I haven’t read Scott Raab’s new book with the shocking title. Shocking might actually be overstating things. It doesn’t really shock me. I mean “shocking” in the sense that I imagine what my mom would think if she came across it in a Borders. You know. If Borders still existed? I will read the book as soon as I get my hands on a copy, but only because the reviews I’ve read so far let me know that this isn’t a typical mouth-breathing, knuckle-dragging spew of hate toward LeBron. Those types of things are so 2010. I am also going to try and head to the Happy Dog tonight to hear Scott Raab talk about his book. I want to check out this guy and hope that he is just a cautionary tale for me and my generation.
Scott Raab has his championship ticket stub, but he also told Sam Drew that he is going to turn 60 next year. That means that unless he was a giant indoor soccer fan it has been over 45 years of rooting, wondering, and ultimately losing. That’s the long view only, of course. When the teams are horrible, you convince yourself that “just competing” would be good enough. When they start being competitive, “just making the playoffs” would be a success. When they start making the playoffs? That’s when the nightmares truly begin. When you look back at your lifetime you only remember championships or times when your teams got close and failed.
My perspective on all of it has changed though. I wrote about a year and a half ago that the Browns had six years to get their act together because it was the birth of my first son. I figured he would really be ready to be a legit Browns fan at age 6 like I became in 1985. It seemed like a reasonable goal, really. Now a year and a half is gone and that window of time to improve is down to 4.5 years. The Browns are in the midst of yet another rebuild. I like some of the foundational pieces, but the distance to completion is still pretty far away, especially considering the size of the neighboring houses in Pittsburgh and Baltimore.***
But the birth of my son colored the rest of my opinion about LeBron’s Cavaliers teams too. In a post-Decision world the loss to the Celtics and the Magic before them is just added to my list of disappointments. They aren’t really on my son’s list, which is the one I care about most now. I don’t want him to have to go to school with a bunch of bandwagon Steelers fans. I don’t want him to have to stare at classmates who are “NBA fans” rather than Cavaliers fans because all the good free agents team up in other cities with nicer real estate, parties and weather. I want him to enjoy going to see the Indians for reasons other than their fireworks and dollar dog nights.
So, I’ll be reading Scott Raab’s book and going to hear him talk about it because I am interested in his story and perspective as a sports fan. I won’t be reading the book to dwell on the negatives associated with LeBron James. I don’t have a lot of hate left to fuel. That chapter was written and is closed to a large extent for me. Hopefully I’ll get to write a different story for me and also for my son. It might not sell as well as Raab’s book might, but it would be a hell of a lot more fun to write.
*** No, I still don’t believe Cincy will be able to take this solid start and build a perennial winner. We’ve seen this play out before as they wasted their opportunities with Carson Palmer and Chad Johnson Ochocinco.
11 Comments
Everyone says good things about the book, that it is actually articulate and not just a LeBron hatefest. I’ll pick up a copy tomorrow to find out for sure.
” That’s when the nightmares truly begin. When you look back at your lifetime you only remember championships or times when your teams got close and failed.”
this may be true for you, but I have just as many nightmares from the bad years. 1-11 with no signs of improvement followed by the 4 game winning streak (that ultimately proved to be a mirage) is just one of the terrible years that is stuck in my craw.
in particular, it’s the years where there is some hope to start the year that end in complete disarray that I find particularly haunting (’08 Browns & ’08 Indians the most recent examples).
as for Raab’s book, I doubt that I will read it. For one, I am not a fan of his writing style for large books (don’t mind a quick story in a magazine, but I don’t think I could stomach a full book). Secondly, too much negative going on in Cleveland sports at the moment to open up such wounds.
See… this is why I love this site. It’s a sports blog, but here we are debating the merits of Scott Raab’s writing style. There are some smart cookies (I don’t include myself necessarily) around here.
BTW, thanks for turning me on to this book. I read the excerpts and immediately ordered the kindle version. I’m looking forward to getting it.
I’m with mgbode and won’t be buying or reading this book. As I wrote when Scott posted his review a few weeks back, it strikes me as essentially Cleveland pity-porn based on old tired stereotypes and hyperbole (e.g. “It’s forever fourth down and 98 yards to go”). Nonsense.
And if it’s true that the book is actually a thoughtful reflection, I find its title to be misleading, cynical, and self-serving. I don’t have anything against Raab, but he (and his publisher) knows what he’s doing with the packaging/marketing/promotion of this book, and it’s playing to our baser instincts of hatred, revenge, and spite. No thanks. I’ve moved on from Lebron and am not defined exclusively by Cleveland sports outcomes.
Hear Hear humboldt. Yeah, none of us are happy that it’s been a long time since Cleveland’s last championship, but whining about Lebron doesn’t make anything any better. Raab is out to make a ton of money on the fact that people in Cleveland somehow seem to enjoy being miserable about their sports teams and letting that infect other aspects of their lives. Don’t feed the monster.
“For one, I am not a fan of his writing style for large books (don’t mind a quick story in a magazine, but I don’t think I could stomach a full book”
It’s actually broken up very well for a 300-page book, especially for someone writing their first book. The chapters are concise despite Scott’s excellent ability to bounce from thought to thought and make it all intertwine. The guy is just a really, really good writer, topic aside. If you like Cleveland sports and don’t mind re-living a few unfortunate events, I can’t see how you wouldn’t enjoy the book.
@Scott – it’s a personal preference. the first person narrative where the absolutely inane things going on within the story that are brought up is what would drive me nuts. i do not care that a hotel hamburger cost $45. i do not care that raab has gained weight. The Hunter S. Thompson style is fine for a quick magazine read, but it gets old quickly for me.
I prefer the Joe Posnanski style of writing, particularly for books. He becomes enveloped in the story without involving himself other than to set his stories up. And, usually in his actual books, he cuts that out completely. He weaves his narrative with stories he has gleemed directly, through others, and through the national perspectives of the time.
Again, personal preference, I know alot of people like Raab’s style even for the longer books. It’s just not for me.
Regarding the title, I heard Raab say that he didn’t get to choose the title. This book wasn’t necessarily meant to be about Cleveland sports failures. It just kind of happened that way. Raab seemed kind of surprised that the publisher decided to go with the flashy / slightly profane title too.
Despite the lurid title I don’t expect Raab’s book to be the “pity porn” to which we’re all so accustomed, and to which I’ve contributed my fair share. Raab’s a very good writer and while he spews some venom his anger isn’t mindless. He’s a pretty funny Twitter follow, too.
Craig – There’s only two ways I can think of responding to that. Either Raab is an awful liar, or he did a hell of a job trolling for a year. There’s no way that the guy who has been spewing such foul-mouthed venom for over a year whenever he had a chance to open his mouth (or twitter account) was surprised with that title unless he got paid enough to turn into the wretched human being he has reverted back into.
I thought the title just made us Cleveland fans look bitter and angry, but after listening to him on Jason Whitlock’s podcast it sounds like the book’s content doesn’t match the title.