The Remote Report: Watching the Cleveland Browns ‘From a Distance’
By Kevin Nye
Not only am I taking this chance to pay homage to a talent as unique and wonderful as Bette Midler, but I’m taking this chance to say that I’m still keeping up on Browns news from across the Atlantic. This team has a unique hold on me. I realize that I’m not saying anything groundbreaking by suggesting that my connection to the Cleveland Browns is an unhealthy one (and there are people much worse off than me), but it is manifesting itself in a new way.
I mentioned a few months back that I’ll be heading to Europe this fall, and that time is finally upon us. Prior to the trip I had been debating the merits of watching the Browns play their two games that I’d be missing. I really looked at the schedule and thought about the time zone differences and mulled over what city I’d be in and whether that city is big enough to have a Browns Backers club – or at least an NFL fan contingency to watch games with.
I know that when attending a game at Cleveland Browns Stadium, there are always announcements of Browns Backers clubs from
various parts of the country or world. I’ve seen places in Africa represented, and I’ve seen places from southern Ohio represented. It’s true that the sanctioned Browns fans (which is a ridiculous concept, by the way, and is the reason that I generally don’t go to official Browns Backers bars – I’m looking at you, Chicago Dawg Pound at Red Ivy!) are well represented around the world, and it’s true that we pretend the Browns have the most loyal fan base in the world and are trying tirelessly to devise a way to prove that theory. So is it unlikely to think that Vienna or Prague don’t have a little circle of Cleveland folk?
I bet it’s possible.
So if you know someone in Milan or somewhere near there who has any interest in meeting up with a couple of Clevelanders for the Ravens game, be sure to tell them to get in touch with me, as there will be two of us who may be looking for a home-cooked meal.
Of course, there are two sides to every coin; this watch-the-Browns-from-Europe thought process continued until very late in the trip-planning stages. I ran it by the friend who I’m going with and his thoughts were, “No. This trip is going to be fun. We’re not ruining it by watching the Browns.”
Woof.