May 21, 2013

Cheering for the Yankees

October 21, 2012 by 19 Comments

*whew*

I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve grown up rooting for the underdog.

During the college basketball tournament, I automatically root for the underdog, bracket be damned. I’ve taken great joy in watching Michigan fall to Appalachian State, as well as seeing Ohio beat a Paterno-less Penn State squad, despite the outcomes damaging the Big Ten (and by extension, Ohio State). I cheer for the small school. I root for the team that’s due.

My first real sports memory was rooting against Michael Jordan. During his heyday, I would pull whoever was going against Tiger Woods. Some people cheer for greatness, I cheer for the fanbase that hasn’t experienced that Big Win in a long time, if ever. Plus, I get bored watching the same team win year, after year. It’s been pretty much ingrained in me since I’ve began following Cleveland sports. I always side with the underdog.

This makes following Ohio State football a completely different experience.

God hates Cleveland sports.

That’s the joke, right? I’m sure you’ve said it one point. I know I have. A google search for “god hates Cleveland” brings up 52,000 hits, the vast majority being sports related.

As Cleveland fans, we embrace this. We know our sports teams haven’t had the best of luck. We own up to it. Hell, you’re reading this on a site called “Waiting for Next Year”.

It’s gotten to the point that we just laugh whenever someone makes one of those “most tortured sports fans” lists and Cleveland isn’t number one 1 . We scoff at the idea that this even up for debate.

“Oh, you feel Cubs fans are the most tortured? Really? Those people who got to watch Michael Jordan win six titles and Ditka’s Bears win a Superbowl? How cute that you’re upset that your baseball team hasn’t won.”

Teams like the Nationals suffer an epic playoff collapse and one would think that Cleveland fans would empathize. We’ve been in that spot before 2 . We know what that feels like watch your team choke away a game and a series.

But nope.

We’re more miserable! You think the Sonics leaving Seattle is bad? The Browns left Cleveland and then won a Superbowl almost immediately after! Our pain is bigger than your pain!

Our sports misery is a badge of pride. The Drive. The Shot. The Fumble. Art Modell. Jose Mesa. The Decision. These are ours. We take a perverse sense of pride in owning debacles. These losses toughen us up; we know not to get too excited too soon. We’re always waiting for that second shoe.

But Ohio State is different. Ohio State fans don’t have that Cleveland sports baggage.

While Cleveland fans expect the worst, Buckeye fans expect perfection.

If you turn on the twitter machine 3 during a Buckeye game, you’ll see Buckeye fans complaining. Odds are, the Buckeyes are winning, but they probably aren’t winning by enough. They could probably score a few more TDs against that poor MAC team or the defense had the gall to give up a FG and a touchdown, in one half. How dare they!

Not that Ohio State hasn’t had some bad luck. Losing in back-to-back National Championship games sucked pretty hard. Losing to Texas wasn’t fun and neither was losing to USC.

But in 2002, the Ohio State Buckeyes won a title. I cherish that season. Not only is it the only time that I team I follow has actually won a championship, but they got some breaks along the way. That never happens with Cleveland sports. Plus, my alma mater won a title, while I was attending college. It really doesn’t get much more special than that.

I didn’t watch yesterday’s Ohio State game. I had work obligations. I would check my phone periodically, see my twitter TL having a collective freak out and just kinda assumed that this just wasn’t Ohio State’s day. But I wasn’t really paying attention. Seeing them trail by just eight points late in the game gave me some hope, but not a lot. They’d been in some hairy situations earlier this season and I just kind of assumed that it finally caught up with them.

But no. With less than a minute to play, Ohio State’s second string QB led them a game tying drive and sent the game into overtime. Once I saw that Ohio State made a miraculous comeback to force OT, I knew it was over.

One doesn’t usually get that feeling with Cleveland sports. That confidence in your team that “they got this”. That, while they may have played poorly, they’ve righted the ship, calmed their nerves and will go on to take care of business.

This was one of those wins that make other fans of other schools hate Ohio State. Ohio State is one of the elite programs; they’re college football royalty. Ohio State gets the best players, their fans travel well and, like other big time teams in other sports like say, the Lakers, Yankees or (gulp) Steelers, they win games they have no business winning.

I’ve seen this script before. This wasn’t the first time that Purdue gave away a game to Ohio State. Sure, Holy Buckeye was absolutely amazing but a similar outcome occurred in 2003.

It’s a weird experience to watch your team actually pull victory from the jaws of defeat. To see them play like crap for 95% of the game yet see them ahead after the final whistle sounds. I’m not used to it. Usually I’m pulling for the Purdues of the world. The teams without many games on national TV. The small schools. The Clevelands.

But Ohio State is different. They’re a Big Time Program. An evil empire. A team that gets featured on ESPN. Buckeye nation. The Luckeyes.

Not gonna lie, feels pretty nice.

(AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

___________________________________

  1. Bill Simmons linked to a Cincinnati Sports Misery compilation in his most recent column and I just laughed [back]
  2. *waves to Pedro Martinez and Josh Beckett* [back]
  3. follow me, @BenCox83! [back]

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  • TomWFNY

    As a Cleveland fan who has no reason to root for the Buckeyes, this hits at the heart of it. The Buckeyes are not at all Cleveland. Columbus is not Cleveland. The Buckeyes won in ’02, and their basketball team keeps on managing to not be mediocre. They lost a great coach, only to replace him with… Urban Meyer. The Crew won in ’08. The Blue Jackets… well, they belong in Cleveland.

    Edit: I just looked through my old comments and see that half of them are me griping about Ohio State. Whoops.

  • NoVA Buckeye

    On ElevenWarriors, I read a great line that describes being a Cleveland fan as being lost in the middle of the ocean, but then comes a boat (Ohio State) to save you, but this is no ordinary boat, it’s a cruise with an amazing party that lasts all week long

  • Jim

    I’ve always wondered why I could never get into OSU football from a young age, and why in recent years I’ve developed a bit of a hatred for them. I think you just answered those questions for me, so thank you. You’re right: OSU is essentially an anti-Cleveland kind of team, and I guess I could just never really get used to that.

  • chuckr

    Wow! So much Buckeye hatred here! Luckeyes? Blasphemer!

  • saggy

    ahhhh, factory of sadness. just such an awesome title.

    This is not directed at Ben personally, but generally to underdog-rooters:
    rooting for the underdog is for wimps. you put nothing on the line so there’s absolutely nothing to lose.
    “Oh, they lost? well, they were supposed to. No biggie.”
    “Oh they won???!?!!!! That’s great! I was pulling for them!”

    rooting for the Yanks, Buckeyes, etc… is how a real man roots. you put your pride and ego on the line, and sometimes it gets beat up. But at least you CARE enough to do so.

  • mgbode

    that is exactly how people feel about the Browns. just go check out the postgame threads. a bunch of “good try’s” and “better luck next times” in there. noone upset at all!

  • MallaLubba

    I feel that is a horrible analysis. …nothing on the line? I understand the concept your proposing but you forget about the constant belittling that occurs. When someone roots for a perennial underdog, he/she gets constant criticism by those that root for constant contenders. “Why?” “They suck.” “You’re kidding, right?” “No one roots for ___” Of course, by association, those types of jabs are pointed at the fan.
    You put no pride or ego on the line when you root for a constant contender due to the the “next win” scenario. If you’re ego is slightly beat up due to a single loss, it can be easily defended by any number of championships or the very next win (that will likely occur quickly) or a history of success.

    In fact, I would say it’s completely the other way around. All you put on the line when you root for an underdog is your pride and your ego. There is no other intangible to offer. A constant contender has no use for your pride. They will not need to channel that in their path towards a win. An underdog may lack the talent needed to overcome a contender’s talent and therefore could actually benefit from a stadium/ building full of support that only pride was able to build because results/statistics/history/etc does not support.

  • MallaLubba

    …that being said:
    I, too, have been a fan of the perennial underdog. I am in no way interested in that label on my teams. All I hope for is for my teams to be a constant contender. I want to root for my team and know that it will pull off the win and/or completely dominate the game.
    I would love to be able to root for the “yankees” so long as I don’t have to root for the Yankees.

  • mgbode

    well, A-Rod needs all the support he can get.

  • JK

    I had no idea there was this much anti OSU angst in Cleveland.

    It’s kinda sad really, you cant root for tOSU cuz they’re not losers..? K then.

  • Garry_Owen

    Frankly, I’m done with this “woe is us” Cleveland sports attitude. It’s loser talk rooted in a spirit of poverty. This nonsense of “rooting for a winner just isn’t Cleveland” is ugliness, deceit, and feces. It sounds like people would prefer that our teams never win so that we can cling to our filth and poverty. Stupid. So, when the Browns or Indians or Cavs finally win a Championship, I guess we’ll all just say, “Hey, that was great, but I sure hope they don’t win another – ‘cuz, that’s just not Cleveland.” We’re like the people that blow their entire minimum wage paycheck on lottery tickets hoping to “hit the big one,” but have no desire to better themselves and find real, life-giving work. This needs to end.
    The reason for Clevelanders to root for Ohio State is that it keeps us properly grounded in our actual identity as conquerors and champions and people proud of our success, and not of our failure. Red Right 88, the Drive, the Fumble, the Shot, the ’95 Series, the Mesa Collapse, Art Modell’s ghost, and the freaking Decision can all go pound sand. Go Buckeyes. Go Cleveland. I am, proudly, each and both.
    [Having said all of that, my hypocrisy knows no limits. The only sports website I visit is, indeed, called "Waiting For Next Year," and I'm dying to get my hands on a Factory of Sadness T-Shirt!]

  • mgbode

    you have it all wrong Garry. that isn’t like you.

    we cling to this spirit because when the Indians, Cavs, or Browns finally break-through and win a championship we all get to call off work for a week and get drunk on delirium (or other substances if that’s your thing). and, noone will question it no matter where you live.

    it’s a great setup and plan. now, if one of these teams would just cooperate before I retire in 30yrs.

  • Garry_Owen

    You can’t worry about what people think of you. Just go on that bender.

  • mgbode

    if my son’s flag football team (which i coach) wins out the remaining 2 games, then i might have that delirium that i need :)

  • Garry_Owen

    It would be nice for the new Browns coach to have one championship under his belt.

  • TomWFNY

    It’s not that I don’t root for Ohio State because they aren’t losers, it’s that I don’t root for Ohio State because I have no reason to. I didn’t go there. No one in my family went there. Cleveland sports are a matter of regionalism; you root for them because they are the local boys. College sports are purely mercenarial, you root for them because you go there, and you want to make your school look better. Alternatively, you root for them because they’re local, but then you look like a fool cheering against your own school when the Buckeyes come to play (Like Pittsburgh fans in Cleveland).

    However, the crux of this isn’t that I can’t root for Ohio State because they win, but, rather that the culture of Ohio State is vastly different from that of Cleveland. Ohio State expects to not just win, but dominate. I’d love to have one team that makes me feel like that, but part of Cleveland fan-dom is that you don’t just jump ship for whoever is looking good (see again, Pittsburgh fans in Cleveland).

  • JK

    It still sounds like you cant root for OSU because they win.. or.. expect to win?

    I’m from Columbus, I like the Buckeyes, Browns, Cavs, Indians. How is that any different from someone living in Cleveland & liking the same teams?

  • TomWFNY

    It’s not at all different, and I’m not begrudging you your supporting interests. But why would I root for Ohio State if I was born in Columbus but attend(ed), say, Michigan? As a corollary, sacrificing educational opportunities just so you can go to a school with a football team you like is poor decision making. In contrast, I (and you) root for Cleveland because that’s where we’re from. It’s regionalism.

    So, I don’t root for Ohio State because I have a vested interest in other schools doing well. I root for Cleveland because I’m from there.

    As for the culture of winning v. culture of losing, my point is that it’s a stark contrast between the two. You read about the Browns, and the talk is about how they’re improving, fighting for a win, etc. With the Buckeyes, they can thrash Our Sisters of the Poor and the following morning articles will criticize them for not doing enough. My point is that this is strange for both view points to be on one site, and that the Buckeyes’ view is very un-”Clevelandlike.”

  • JK

    I understand. I misunderstood to a certain extent to I believe. It makes sense that you have other rooting interests in NCAA & that would obviously conflict with rooting for tOSU. But as far as the regionalism goes you were using that to explain why you didn’t root for tOSU but then you attributed it to why I like Cleveland, just thought that was kind of funny. I do understand your point too now about the winning (or lack there of) culture between the two. My point was basically that all other factors aside (such as you attending other schools or having any type of affiliation towards any other school), tOSU is just as much as an Ohio thing as it is a Columbus thing.