For me personally, my first disappointment came on January 4, 1981. During the 1980 season, I worked at Cleveland Municipal Stadium as a vendor. I worked 4 of the 8 home games that year and could have worked that playoff game against the Oakland Raiders, but with a temperature of 4° and a windchill of -36° I figured I wouldn't have made much money so I decided to watch the game on TV instead. With Cleveland trailing 12-14 at the end of the game and the Browns only needing a field goal to win, the Browns opted instead to try to get a touchdown and threw an interception in the end zone. I watched stunned in disbelief not being able to say anything. Any Browns fan can tell you, we now simply refer to this as Red Right 88. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Right_88) Although this was my first disappointment, it would be far from the last.
Any Browns fan can also tell you about "The Drive" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Drive) in the 1986 AFC Championship game, where John Elway lead the Denver Broncos 98 yards in the closing minutes tying the game and preventing Cleveland from it's first Superbowl. Or "The Fumble" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fumble) in the 1987 AFC Championship against the same Broncos, where Earnest Byner looked to score the tying touchdown only to fumble it at the 2 yard line, thus again ending another disappointment for Cleveland sports fans.
Sure, there have been some good Cleveland teams that almost made it. Perhaps the best (arguably) Cleveland pro sports team was the 1995 Cleveland Indians. The team won 100 out of 144 games that year, swept Boston in the first round, defeated Seattle in the ALCS only to fall short to the Atlanta Braves in the World Series.
Although the 1995 Indians might have been the best team, the closest Cleveland came to win a championship was in the 1997 World Series against the Florida Marlins. The 1997 Indians finished the regular season with a record of 86-75. They had an electric series against the New york Yankees in the first round when they overcame a 2 games to 1 deficit and beat the Yankees in the final 2 games of the best of five series. The ALCS was no less exciting as a homerun by unlikely hero, Tony Fernandez, in the 11th inning of game 6 broke a scoreless tie and propelled the Indians to their second World Series in three years. After splitting the first six games of the Series, it came down to a winner take all game 7. The Indians led 2-1 going into the bottom of the ninth with the years best closer in Jose Mesa on the mound. Only 3 outs away from winning the first title for the beleaguered city in 33 years. I could not even sit to watch the ninth inning. As you may know, the Indians gave up the tying run in the ninth and the winning run in the eleventh. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_World_Series) The Indians haven't made in back to the World Series in the 13 years since and do not look likely to go back in the foreseeable future.
And while pro basketball has only been a part of Cleveland since 1970, the disappointments are there too. There were great teams of the late 80's and early 90's that just could not get past Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. In 1989, the Cavaliers were leading the Bulls in the deciding game of the series, 100-99 with 3 seconds left. What happened next is simply referred to as "The Shot" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shot) as Jordan nailed the buzzer beater to end the Cavaliers season.
And while the Cavs made it to the NBA Finals, led by LeBron James, in 2007, the effects of "The Decision" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Decision_%28LeBron_James%29#2010_free_agency) will linger in Cleveland folklore for many years to come.
While nothing I have wrote so far is news to any Cleveland sports fan, how, you may ask, can one city's teams have so much bad luck over such a long period of time? I can have only one conclusion to that answer. The city's sports franchises are cursed... by me! You see, I was born on December 29, 1964, less than 48 hours after the Browns won the NFL Championship. While many Cleveland sports fans have endured heartaches, none have suffered longer than me. I apologize to all my fellow Cleveland fans who have had to suffer due to my existence. I hope to live for many years to come and maybe, just maybe, two days after I die, Cleveland will again win another major sports championship.
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