More pain for city's fans

When a city hasn't won a major sports championship in 38 years, some weeks are worse than others.
For instance, when the Cleveland Browns lost the NFL Championship Game to the Minnesota Vikings on Jan. 4, 1970, the end of the world didn't seem near. Surely, Blanton Collier's troops would return to earn a Super Bowl berth.
But 17 years would pass before the Browns would qualify for another championship game.
And when the good times finally returned (after four Pittsburgh Steeler Super Bowl victories), they lasted several years as the Browns played the Broncos for the AFC title three times in four seasons.
Broncos prevail
But because John Elway's team prevailed all three times, you could put Jan. 11, 1987, Jan. 17, 1988 and Jan. 14, 1990 on the sad days list.
Then came 1995 with a double punch: the Indians qualified for the World Series for the first time in 41 seasons just as Art Modell was secretly preparing to relocate the Browns in Baltimore.
Atlanta's six-game World Series win in October 1995 broke Tribe fans aching hearts. Modell's move added insult to injury.
Two years later (while Browns fans awaited a new team and a new stadium) Indians fans hurt even worse when ace reliever Jose Mesa couldn't hold a ninth-inning in a Game 7 loss to the five-year-old Florida Marlins.
When you think about all the heartache that Cleveland fans have had to endure, the past six days are just part of the legacy. You'd think this stuff would stop hurting but ...
Last Sunday, Butch Davis' Browns choked against the inferior Carolina Panthers, scoring just two field goals at home against a team that had lost eight consecutive games.
The Browns' 13-6 loss lowered their record to 6-6, keeping them 1 1/2 games behind the Steelers (7-4-1) with four games to play. Instead of contending for the franchise's first playoff berth since 1994, the Browns' hopes have been all but flushed away.
Best hope
Cleveland's best hope for the postseason depends upon the Steelers losing twice. (It's possible the Browns could earn one of the two AFC wild card berths with a 10-6 record but unlikely as four teams not leading their divisions have a better record.)
This much is certain -- another loss by the Browns and Baltimore Ravens sends the Steelers to the playoffs.
And if the Browns defeat the Indianapolis Colts on Dec. 15, that result could help the Steelers earn a playoff bye in the first round.
Monday, the Indians' most-beloved slugger announced he was moving east to play with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Jim Thome bolted the shores of Lake Erie because the Phillies waved about $25 million more to lure him out of the Tribe's clubhouse. If offered such a choice, who among us wouldn't grab the money?
Tribe fans have a right to be upset -- after years of cheering for superstar-laden teams, the Indians have been reduced to rebuilding status, which is another way of saying Pittsburgh Pirates. When Major League Baseball and the players' association reached a contract agreement in late August, baseball officials sold fans on the idea that competitive balance was a priority, that mid-market clubs could keep their stars.
Skeptical
The Indians obviously don't believe the new contract is helpful; otherwise, they would have never dumped pitcher Bartolo Colon on the Expos before the pact was reached or not anted up enough cash to keep Thome at home.
We've heard from Indians fans who are so outraged at Thome's departure that they have vowed to not spend anymore cash at Jacobs Field. We can't blame them.
Sometimes it seems that Cleveland's drought may never end.
What a sad week it's been.
XTom Williams is a sportswriter for The Vindicator. Write him at williams@vindy.com.