Pluto to Shurmur (good read)

[OconRecon]

Pat Shurmur, Meet Cleveland: You think Rams fans had it bad? Browns fans are unparalleled in their fervor and heartbreak -- Terry Pluto
Published: Saturday, January 15, 2011, 9:00 PM
By Terry Pluto, The Plain Dealer

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Welcome to Cleveland, Pat Shurmur.

It's always nice to see a new head coach in Browns Town, where you are the fifth to open a season since the franchise returned in 1999.

One thing Browns fans know how to do is watch coaches being hired, then fired. They know how to get their hopes up in the August sun of training camp and then feel their hearts sink in the first snows of November.

That is what football life is like here, where the Browns have the NFL's second-worst record since 1999.

Pat, you must understand that your fan base is an abused football family. Don't ever say the word "move" during a news conference, even if you mean the team is moving forward. There is nothing good about the Browns moving, after what Art Modell did to the franchise in 1995 by hijacking it to Baltimore.
You grew up in the Detroit area, then played and coached at Michigan State. You were born in Ann Arbor. Even though you are in Buckeye territory, no one will care if you win some games on Sunday. But if you keep losing and are booed, don't blame it on being from Michigan.

It didn't work for Braylon Edwards, and it won't work for you.

You probably followed the Detroit Lions as a kid. You may think you know what it means to lose and the impact it has on the fans. After all, the Lions and Browns are two of only four franchises -- Houston and Jacksonville being the others -- never to reach the Super Bowl. But at least the Lions never moved to somewhere like Bangor, Maine!

In Northeast Ohio, we don't want to hear about their suffering.
Never say a kind word about Baltimore or Pittsburgh. That's Pittspuke to most Browns fans, who quote the late, legendary Godfather of Cleveland sports talk -- Pete Franklin.

If you must say something about the Ravens or the Steelers, try this: "I don't know who we want to beat more, Pittsburgh or Baltimore. We hate 'em. We loathe 'em. We hope they never win a game -- even when they play each other! We hope they tie, 0-0, and the stupid game never ends."

Then say something wise about Paul Brown being the father of pro football; the greatest coach ever. Throw in occasional references to Otto Graham, Frank Ryan, Brian Sipe and Bernie Kosar.

Especially Kosar. The fans here worship Kosar, because he loves the fans.

Never say anything about a favored Browns player having "diminishing skills." Check with Bill Belichick and Modell about that.

Say 1964 was your favorite year, even though you weren't born yet. If you don't know what 1964 means to Cleveland fans ... in the name of Jim Brown, Gary Collins and Blanton Collier and beating Baltimore, 27-0 -- you better find out!

Once you do learn the significance of 1964, understand that your fans are the most miserable in pro sports, and proud of it.

Your last stop was St. Louis, where the Rams were 6-42 from 2007-09. You may think you know about an emotionally scarred fan base after spending the past two seasons there, and seeing how excited the fans were when the Rams were 7-9 last season.

St. Louis fans complaining? About what? The Rams went to the 1999 Super Bowl. You know what happened to Browns fans in 1999? The franchise returned as an expansion team. They were 2-14.

In 2003, the Rams were 12-4. The Browns were 5-11 and Butch Davis was building up to his panic attack that led to quitting the Browns in 2004.
In seven of the past eight years, the Browns have lost at least 10 games. No wonder Browns fans have their own language.

When they scream, "Metcalf up the middle," it's not a play suggestion. If you hear about Red Right 88, the proper response is wailing and gnashing of teeth. If someone mentions The Fumble, a moment of silence is in order.

Whatever you do, never, ever even think about putting a logo on those orange helmets. Don't talk about how the weather is cold. Fans here revel in frostbite and chattering teeth.

You are in Browns Town, where the team has won one playoff game since 1989. That was in 1994, a year before the move was announced. The Browns have been back to the postseason once since -- a loss in 2002.
Assuming Colt McCoy opens 2011 at quarterback, he will be the fourth to start a season in the past four years -- and the 10th to start a season since 1999.
This has got to stop, just like all the losing.

Of course Browns fans are howling for a championship, but they long for a team they can believe in, a coach and front office that inspires confidence and maybe, just maybe, two winning seasons in a row along with a trip to the playoffs.

You do that, and you'll discover the real truth about Browns Town -- it is, by far, the best football city in the world.

[Danamal]

Wow,
He is basically calling the Fans impatient irrational morons.
Maybe he does need to learn Pluto's playbook and kiss Cleveland's ass for the good of all of the fans and team stability...who knows anymore?

[Sez.EJ]

Wow that's depressing. I Hope Shurmur never sees that mess.

[Greythan]

He needs to see it and know it. A leader of this team who isn't aware of the franchise's history is doomed to fail.

Should he dwell on it? Of course not. But he should damn well know it.

[ThankyouFather]

Originally Posted by Greythan

He needs to see it and know it. A leader of this team who isn't aware of the franchise's history is doomed to fail.

Should he dwell on it? Of course not. But he should damn well know it.

well said my friend.

[Vegasdogg]

I think one reason some fans did not want to see Eric go was because, at least I thought so, he got it. He mentioned the city and the fans multiple times, all the time. He got what we are going through and I think he really did want it to work out. The guy is genuine.

There is a spirit here that cannot be faked. That is the thing I took with me to Vegas in 2005 - being from Cleveland I can spot fakes because I been around real people my entire life. My family, my friends, people I met at John Carroll, people I have played against -- man we all just centered around real people and dumped the fakes.

We can spot a fake. Shurmur better be real. I think Holmgren and Heckert are real, so I have to follow that assumption.

[Riffer X]

Originally Posted by Vegasdogg

I think one reason some fans did not want to see Eric go was because, at least I thought so, he got it. He mentioned the city and the fans multiple times, all the time. He got what we are going through and I think he really did want it to work out. The guy is genuine.

There is a spirit here that cannot be faked. That is the thing I took with me to Vegas in 2005 - being from Cleveland I can spot fakes because I been around real people my entire life. My family, my friends, people I met at John Carroll, people I have played against -- man we all just centered around real people and dumped the fakes.

We can spot a fake. Shurmur better be real. I think Holmgren and Heckert are real, so I have to follow that assumption.

Damn straight EM got it, and he also wanted to mold a team that fit the fans identity in this town. We are the fan base that should have a tough as shit football team, not Crackmore or the Puke.

That was a huge part of my disappointment from his firing. He got his start here and gets it, big time. He wanted us to be happy--I guarantee ten times more than he cared about the NY fucks.

Shurmur is just another guy trying to further a career in football. One thing good though, is his ties to GB with his dad. Anybody that has coached there understands a community backing their team at a rabid level.

One of my bitches since 99 has been the players and their lack of understanding the Pitt rivalry. I put that a lot on the coaches making them understand it. I know the game has changed, but a team should feed off what the fans feel. I think EM also understood we want to be the bullies against our division, the fans and the team could really rally behind that.

[Enigmatic Evil]

Mangini was genuine you hit the nail on the head with that one. I thought he worked hard for this team and though he may have had his flaws as a coach, who doesn't? He was becoming a coach you wanted to believe in. It's hard to move on from that as fans, when we had a guy here who was likable, he worked hard and he understood where WE as fans were coming from.

That's what I think the big point of this little piece of poetic justice is. Should Shurmur ever read this, or something like this. He just needs to realize where all of us fans are coming from and what we WANT from this team. Riff brings up a big point, if he spent some years in GB, he understands rabid fan bases.

I'm hoping Shurmur took note of the things Mangini did WELL and hopes to build upon that. There were things that Mangini failed at, and I felt that during the game he seemed like he was a completely different coach. Plus, the scowl...

The scowl...

Yeah I don't want to go there but I'm just saying it wasn't all roses and buttercups for Mangini, he was let go because he didn't really do enough for this team in his two years. Yes, you could argue that he had this team pointed in the right direction and was building an essential attitude for this team.

Now it's up to Shurmur to keep that going.

Originally Posted by Vegasdogg

I think one reason some fans did not want to see Eric go was because, at least I thought so, he got it. He mentioned the city and the fans multiple times, all the time. He got what we are going through and I think he really did want it to work out. The guy is genuine.

There is a spirit here that cannot be faked. That is the thing I took with me to Vegas in 2005 - being from Cleveland I can spot fakes because I been around real people my entire life. My family, my friends, people I met at John Carroll, people I have played against -- man we all just centered around real people and dumped the fakes.

We can spot a fake. Shurmur better be real. I think Holmgren and Heckert are real, so I have to follow that assumption.

Originally Posted by Riffer X

Damn straight EM got it, and he also wanted to mold a team that fit the fans identity in this town. We are the fan base that should have a tough as shit football team, not Crackmore or the Puke.

That was a huge part of my disappointment from his firing. He got his start here and gets it, big time. He wanted us to be happy--I guarantee ten times more than he cared about the NY fucks.

Shurmur is just another guy trying to further a career in football. One thing good though, is his ties to GB with his dad. Anybody that has coached there understands a community backing their team at a rabid level.

One of my bitches since 99 has been the players and their lack of understanding the Pitt rivalry. I put that a lot on the coaches making them understand it. I know the game has changed, but a team should feed off what the fans feel. I think EM also understood we want to be the bullies against our division, the fans and the team could really rally behind that.

[Vegasdogg]

Originally Posted by Enigmatic Evil

There were things that Mangini failed at, and I felt that during the game he seemed like he was a completely different coach.

Don't get me wrong, I was not a fan of Mangini on game day. Which perhaps is a pretty important part of his job.

I liked Eric, I just don't want to seem like I am changing my mind about him as the HC.

Not one kickoff and already people are discouraged by Holmgren's hiring of the HC and the DC.

Everyone talked about Mangini not being the sexy HC, and now they're pissed Mike didn't replace this group with a bunch of sexy choices.

Eh, what are you gonna do.

[grumpy_dinosaur]

Being around his uncle in GB and working for 10 years of his career in Phili, I'd say he probably knows rabid fanbases.