My Sportsman of the Year: Joe Haden
December 11, 2014LeBron James a game time decision with knee soreness
December 11, 2014
The Holiday Season is upon us, and for many, the holidays are a time of rituals and traditions. Here at Waiting For Next Year, we believe in tradition as well, and one of our personal favorites is the annual WFNY 12 Days of Christmas contest series! This is now the seventh year in a row we have done this contest, as hard as that is to believe.
How does it work? It’s simple. Every week day from now through Christmas, we will have a different contest with a different prize package to give away to you guys. It’s our small way of showing our appreciation and saying thanks for hanging in there with us for another year. Each day will feature a different, unique contest. Some will require getting a correct answer, some will be selected randomly among all entries, and some will feature haiku writing, of course. So check back every day for your chance to win one of our prize packs!
Previous Day’s Winner
Congrats to maxfnmloans who emphatically stated that he doesn’t consider himself a fan of the NFL, just the Browns. So there’s no way he would consider switching to another franchise. Is that the reason the random number generator picked him? We don’t know, and as of this time the random number generator has not replied to our request for comment.
But we did get a lot of really great responses yesterday and it was fun seeing everyone’s reasons for not switching or switching. Thank you to everyone who participated and congrats again to maxfnmloans!
Today’s Prize Pack
Day Four comes courtesy of a new kid on the block called Cleveland in a Box. What is Cleveland in a Box? Well, it’s tough to ship Michael Symon’s beef cheek pierogies, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get a little bit of Cleveland mailed to your doorstep.
Today’s prize will be a sports-themed box from Cleveland in a Box. You’ll just have to wait and see what kinds of awesome stuff they decide to put in the box. Craig reached out to them because it seems that we might share the same kind of customer / audience. We know we serve a lot of Clevelanders who’ve left their hometown and want to stay in touch. The only thing better than reading about home is putting some Stadium Mustard on your hot dog wherever you happen to live.
And you have to support a company with a mission statement that says, “Spreading a little Cleveland, one box at a time.”
Today’s Contest
Well, since we’re putting Cleveland-centric items in a box, why not dig a little deeper and see what hidden gems we can find to put into a hypothetical and theoretical box1. So here’s the question: What are some Cleveland-centric things you would choose to put into something called ‘Cleveland In a Box’? Again, please be creative with this. The box is a metaphor, meaning you can put anything into the box you want. It could be a meal from a restaurant, a feeling or emotion, `a building, a song, a color. Whatever you want…whatever reminds you of Cleveland and makes you feel Cleveland inside your soul.
As this isn’t a right or wrong or closest to the number contest, the winner will be picked at random among all entries received before midnight ET.
To enter, simply leave a comment in the Comments section below2 with the answer to today’s question. For example, if I were entering the contest, I would say: The #1 thing I would put into the box would be WFNY, of course. It’s a tradition of hope, passion, and misery, wrapped inside the enigma that is Cleveland sports.
See? It’s that easy. So what are you waiting for? Go get your best guesses in below, and good luck!
The Fine Print (in normal sized font) and Rules
Only one entry per person per day is allowed. This is very important. Anyone who submits more than one entry is immediately disqualified. Only one winner per household per year is allowed. Winners will be notified via email. Prizes will not necessarily be delivered by Christmas, but we will try our best to make it happen.
- The box is a metaphor, John [↩]
- and as always, please be aware of our Before You Comment guidelines and technical information [↩]
39 Comments
I would put in the following:
A couple pounds of scar tissue.
A wry, fatalistic sense of humor.
Christmas Ale, of course.
A couple of Terry Pluto’s books.
A grilled cheese from Melt.
A piece of grass that JOHNNY WALKED ON, OMG OMG OMG!
A video of the gang at the Hofbrau Haus kicking it up as Frankie Yankovic plays “Who Stole the Kieshka?”
Some kolachis from Samosky’s.
Some fresh sausage from R&K Meats in Slavic Village.
Rock salt.
BTW, if I win, please send my box to a randomly generated out-of-towner. As a local, I wouldn’t feel right keeping it.
A mason jar of air. My grandpa taking me down to his steel mill and taking in the industrial smells, sulphuric, tar and rubber, smoke and breath vapor mixing and swirling in the cold lake winds. That captures Cleveland to me.
What is Cleveland in a box?
well, start off with things that I actually have sent to me from home
*Great Lakes Beer
*Stadium Mustard (for dogs and sausage)
*Bertman’s Mustard (for other sandwiches and meats)
*Bob Evan’s coffee
*Random Cleveland sports paraphernalia bought at Marc’s because a Cleveland Brown’s seat cover doesn’t make much sense, but you cannot pass it up for $5 either.
add in things I don’t have sent, but really miss
*Family and friends
*Authentic Greek and Middle Eastern food
*Feast of the Assumption in Little Italy (and Little Italy in general)
*Rib cook-offs
*Autumn leaves of many colors particularly through the Emerald Necklace
*Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
*Using roads instead of highways to get to most places
*Grass that is soft (seriously, one of the things I do when I go home is walk barefoot in the wet, soft grass. something so comforting about it compared to the razorblade grass here).
*concert festivals at Blossom
*Westside Market
*the Northcoast
and some weather that is just so Cleveland
*rainy days
*absence of sun for what seems like months on end
*days that begin the day with a foot of snow on the ground and end in the 60s
*beautiful backdrops of trees and fields covered in snow
*parking lots with piles of brown snow and slush
*and, of course, that one day in January that is sunny, beautiful and everyone ditches work/school and comes outdoors in short sleeves in an absolutely fantastic mood.
The #1 thing I would put into the box would be all of the ticket stubs, shirts, caps, novelties, saved newspaper and magazine articles featuring Cleveland sports teams – memories from growing up a fan
Christmas Ale, Dog Bones, Stadium Mustard, a Browns Jersey that has a number between 0-15 and has the name QB on the back.
Memories of the old dawgpound for the last game, hack saws, F-Modell Chants, bleacher seats on the field, flip down seat souvineers, true browns players/fans with a tear of sadness as if someone just died, the article from the newspaper the next week showing the new browns stadium, a parking pass to the muni lot, a “piss on art” hat.
The Trent Richardson Draft Card,
The Brandon Weeden draft Card,
The PD articles endorsing both players,
West Side Market
An expiring Cy Young Pitcher Contract
A traffic light camera
A sign proclaiming “at least we’re not Detroit”
is Bob Evans only in Cleveland?
Browns season opener, 1:01 p.m., kicker holding up his hand, receiving team jumping in place, just like my heart.
View down Cain Park hill’s perfectly frozen snow from height of an 8 year old standing on a sled.
Sounds of total strangers greeting strangers on the street in that open but not nosy midwest way.
The way the fam is dearer, the food tastes better, the problems shrunken to manageable hiccups after a playoff win.
[decided NOT to include Art Modell, since that’s grisly and redundant and it’s generally wrong to reduce a man to his worst moment. Let’s see how long before I delete this parenthetical]
Big Chuck and Lil John’s greatest bits dvd.
Michael Stanley Band tickets.
WMMS buzzard t-shirt.
– An iPod with a pre-programmed Cleveland-themed playlist
– A polish boy (of sandwich variety)
– Mary Kay Cabot.
Stadium Mustard, Christmas Ale, a pizza from Mama Santas (the rest of you eastsiders can have Geraci’s, I’ll take Mama’s everyday and twice on Sunday), and an 8XL steak from The Place That Cannot Be Discussed (Harv knows what I’m not talking about).
A mixtape that includes Tom Hamilton homerun calls, Jim Donovan’s “Run William Run” call, and Joe Tait’s greatest hits (including Lebron’s playoff game winner over the Magic).
A DVD that includes highlights of Lebron, Andy, Z, and the 90’s Cavs; Haden, Joe Thomas, Kosar, and the Kardiac Kids; Brantley, Kluber, Omar, and the rest of the 90’s Tribe.
And a snowglobe with downtown Cleveland in it so they know what the weather is like 8 months a year.
Melt Grilled cheese (Tom and Chee’s in Cincy is good but it doesn’t quite satisfy me)
That and Christmas Ale is just about all I could want and need.
no. but, it is Ohio-based (from New Albany outside Columbus) and not in Texas at all. more importantly, it’s something I have sent to me because it reminds me of when I lived in Cleveland.
At least four snow shovels and a couple of guitar picks from the Hall…maybe a few locks of Anderson Varejao’s hair
I did not know that.
http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120405125646/twilightsaga/images/b/b2/The_more_you_know.gif
What are some Cleveland-centric things you would choose to put into something called ‘Cleveland In a Box’?
The Following Cleveland Browns jerseys:
#2
#11
#18
#13
#10
#5
#12
#8
#9
#3
#10
#11
#7
#17
#12
#6
#3
#9
#17
#6
#2
I’d put in Heartbreak, Regret, Depression, Pride and Pierogies.
I would put Great Lakes Christmas Ale, a generous amount of mental toughness, a sampling of first-round draft busts, some orange barrels and pot holes, an often-injured 1B/DH, a sarcastic sense of humor, some warm clothing, some Michael Symon food, and Angelo’s pizza.
Stadium Mustard. I am amazed this isn’t available in every stadium.
What are some Cleveland-centric things you would choose to put into something called ‘Cleveland In a Box’?
In no particular order…
– The 1995 Cleveland Indians Media Guide
– A Mark Price Blue Cavs Jersey with Orange Numbers and Cavs Hoop Logo
– Stadium Mustard
– Bertman’s Mustard
– Holcomb Hometown Spicy-Brown Mustard and Barbecue Sauce (for good measure)
– Coca-Cola Monsters of the Gridiron “Bad Bone” / Eric Turner Card
– The Bleacher Bums – “Bernie, Bernie – Oh Yeah How You can Throw” LP
– GV Artwork Swag
– Major League Blu Ray – Wild Thing Edition
– Bone Thugs-n-Harmony – Creepin on ah Come Up
– Kid Cudi – Cleveland is the Reason LP
– Tom Hamilton
As a transplant in Philly, I already have my checklist ready every time I go back:
DanDee Cheese Twisties. There’s nothing that compares. (to munch on during the game)
Bertman’s mustard. (on my hot dog during half time)
Christmas Ale (to nurse my sorrows after the loss)
Sloppy Gyro from Steve’s (to revive my spirit and masochisic fandom before the next game)
and a tape recorder full of friends & family using the old midwest jargon. “pop”, “subs”, “sprinkles”, “tennies/gym shoes”, and “sweet!”
OK, now I’m all nostalgic, and these $%#@ cheetos ain’t cutting it.
sunsets on lake erie, the skyline, bridges over the river, the art deco architecture in the playhouses/severeance hall —– really the beauty of our city is often overlooked (and always missed by me down in TX). a sunday plain dealer, pierogies/fish frys/melt grilled cheese, chill attitudes, gray skys
A picture of the skyline and gray skies.
A burger from Swenson’s (more Akron-y but close enough)
Some Handel’s ice cream (see above)
A polish boy from Hot Sauce Williams
A Michael Stanley Band LP
Mike Polk
My deteriorating Cavs foam finger from the 90-91 season
Tom Hamilton’s voice
The entire Muni Lot (assuming it stays quietly in the box when not wanted)
Most importantly, all the friends and family from the area that are dearly missed
One bottle of Ball Park Mustard. A job offer letter, and a one way ticket home.
I would put in a large bag of Dan Dee Corn Twisters. They may not be specific to Cleveland, but they remind me of home (and Euclid Shore Junior High School) whenever I get back to Ohio – melt in your mouth goodness!!
The best thing I can think of to put in a metaphorical Cleveland box are memories. Memories of sneaking out of bed to watch the Indians world series games. Of picking a week of football games with my dad. Of dates with my wife. I think only those memories come close to representing the warmth I feel about that city.
What are some Cleveland-centric things you would choose to put into something called ‘Cleveland In a Box’?
2 Cavs tickets
A dozen potato pierogies from St. Josaphats
Box of lime chocolates from Lilys in Tremont
Vintage blue Cleveland Force jersey
The Curse of Rocky Colvaito by Terry Pluto
Gift card for Melt
Great Lakes Christmas Ale glass
Christmas Ale
1964 Browns Championship ticket stub
Seat from Municipal stadium
American Splendor by Harvey Pekar
Malley’s Chocolate pretzels
I would package the beautiful Cleveland Winters. I was just discussing with a coworker in NJ how we have the crappy cold weather and we can’t even get snow out of it. Just miserable endless rain.
Zeus gave Cleveland Browns fans a gift. It was a box, and it was locked. It came with a note. The note said: “DO NOT OPEN.” Attached to the note was a key. It was all very curious.
You can guess what happened next. One Browns fan’s curiosity got the better of her. One day, she used the key to open the box. As she raised the lid, out flew all the bad things in the world today – Red Right 88, The Drive, The Fumble, The Move, Bottlegate, and on and on. The Browns fan slammed the lid closed, but it was too late.
Another Browns fan heard her weeping. He came running. She opened the lid to show him it was empty. Quickly, before she could slam the lid shut, one last tiny thing flew out. That tiny thing was named Hope. And Hope made all the difference in the world.
aaaaaand you must be from Parma
Yellow tail perch and walleye.
LOL
Alas, Stark County is home.
Stadium Mustard and Christmas Ale.
A hot grumster from Grums sandwich shop
A frozen in time version of the ’95 Tribe season, Slovenian sausages, the Mark Price Right on the Money poster, and a F**k Modell t-shirt.
Stadium Mustard
Orange Barrels
Tom Hamilton
Joe Tait
Gib Shanley/Nev Chandler/Jim Donovan/ (wasn’t a fan of Casey Coleman)
Terry Pluto
Marc’s
Angelo’s Pizza
I would put:
A burrito from Ohio City burrito
A sign that says “the Jake”
A mini guitar for the rock hall
and a bottle of Christmas Ale