Fans experience highs and lows of game

By BRIAN RICHESSON
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
GIRARD -- Grown men hugged and women screamed. Yes, the Cleveland Browns were going to win a playoff game.
Against the Pittsburgh Steelers, no less.
For once, it seemed, the Browns wouldn't need late-game heroics. Not with a 24-7 third-quarter lead. Not with quarterback Kelly Holcomb again proving to be the perfect back-up to the injured Tim Couch.
"Let me hear you, Browns fans!" boomed Jim Powers, emcee during The Browns Boosters playoff party Sunday at the Creekside Golf Dome. "We still have a lot of time, but 24-7 is so damn good!"
Steelers regroup
As it turned out, there was too much time remaining. Too much time for Steelers quarterback Tommy Maddox to crash the Browns' party.
"I never doubted them," said Kevin Hall, 36, of Girard, one of the few Steelers fans at the party. "But it got real tight."
Steelers fan Hermine Snyder of Youngstown admitted she was skeptical.
"Slim and none," she said of her team's chances at one point, "but three's a charm."
It was the Steelers' third victory over the Browns this season.
"You always know in the Browns-Steelers rivalry that no one is out of the game, no matter how far down they are," said Browns fan Bill Liberato, 53, of Canfield.
"Let's face it," he added, "Pittsburgh is a veteran team and [Steelers coach Bill] Cowher has the most seniority of any NFL coach."
Actually, Cowher has been with the same team longer than any other current NFL coach.
What a performance
If nothing else, Browns fans had to be impressed with the play of Holcomb, who was forced into the huddle after Couch broke his leg last week against the Atlanta Falcons.
"The whole attitude of the offense changes the minute that man is in. They get fired up and focused," said Maggie Zayac of Warren. "I can't say enough about Kelly Holcomb."
Holcomb completed 26-of-43 passes for 429 yards and three touchdowns to help off-set the Browns' lack of production on the ground.
"They should trade Couch and keep Holcomb," Hall said.
In the end, Holcomb couldn't do enough to save the Browns. He led them into Steelers territory in the final seconds but simply ran out of time.
"What more could you ask of a quarterback than what he did today?" Liberato said.
Browns Boosters
Around 150 fans attended the party, hosted by the Browns Boosters, a second-year organization whose membership has grown immensely in a short time.
"We started the year with 200; now we have 400," said president Jeff Joseph. "We never really expected it to grow so fast."
The organization, which makes its home at the Creekside Golf Dome, prides itself on bringing Browns players -- past and present -- to town.
The Browns Boosters also perform charitable work in the community and host parties such as Sunday's. They only wish the outcome would have been different.
richesson@vindy.com