Please, Browns?

In Cleveland Browns football lore, "THE DRIVE" stands out with painful clarity.  In the AFC Championship game, played at the old Browns stadium, the Browns lost when John Elway of the Denver Broncos drove the ball 98 yards in the last minute to tie the game, and then the Broncos won on a field goal in overtime. 

My husband's family had business ties with the Loews family at that time who owned a big share of CBS, and H-bomb and I were all set to see our Browns play in Super Bowl XXI in Pasadena, California.  We had the promise of tickets, we had the travel arrangements made, we were psyched!  The deflation of excitement in our family room that afternoon in January 1987 was bigger than poking a hole in a dirigible. 

We went to Superbowl XXI.  Did I care about the game?  NO!  I only wanted Elway to lose.  I don't even remember the game itself.  What I do recall was Harry's former business partner (we took he and his wife with us) telling the gate guard that he was a physician and needed to park close to the Rose Bowl stadium in case there was an emergency and he had to get out quickly.  I countered with saying he was kidding, and that didn't gain me any favor with partner Al, but it was a foreboding about his character.  Some years later it was discovered that Al had been cheating H-bomb for years in revenue and they parted ways. I also remember sitting in fantastic seats on special cushions given to every ticket holder and below us I could see OJ Simpson and his wife Nicole.  Darryl Strawberry was also seated nearby.  We all know what happened to Nicole Simpson, and Darryl Strawberry was arrested not long after for beating up his wife.  So much for celebrity gazing.  A happy memory was being in the ladies room waiting in line (even at the Super Bowl) and chatting with a Giant's player's wife who was pregnant and due to deliver any day but so excited to be at the game and thinking how down to earth and delightful she was.

But the thing that really strikes me today, the morning after the Super Bowl of 2015 is how simple the half-time show was compared to today.  It was definitely full of fun, and fireworks and such, but no where near the confusing mish mash I saw yesterday.  Muddled lyrics, the voice second to the performance and the performance definitely falling way short of the constant hysteria of lights, props and noise. Missy Elliott rocked her performance and the backup dancers were amazing.  Keep it simple if there is talent to showcase.  I still remember Bruce Springsteens performance with him sliding across the stage on his knees with microphone placed suggestively between his legs in a mocking fun way.  He looked like he was having a blast and we did watching him. 

I am still hoping for the year that takes the Cleveland Browns fans into, and then past the anxiety of the post season, and into a spot in this crazy Super Bowl scene.  That year, when it comes, will have an entertainer with class, commercials that make one howl with laughter (sorry, not the right venue for sappy, sad and stupid), and of course, we will win - forever putting our losing history behind and creating a new era of pride in Cleveland sports to match the pride we feel already for the City.  Please, Browns???