| How unique are Cleveland sports fans? Well, answer this question:
how exceptional is the fact that a city with three major league franchises has
not won a championship since 1964? And, how distinctive is it that when the
Browns, Indians, or Cavs came close to winning it all, victories were snatched
away from their diehard fans in most improbable ways?
For Cleveland sports fans, the last 43 years has been a long odyssey through
the desert in search of a championship. Since the clock ticked off the unlikely
Browns’ victory in the 1964 NFL Championship against the mighty Johnny Unitas
and the Baltimore Colts, who could have known that Cleveland teams would suit
up for more than 9,500 games and not come away with the title of “champion?” Surviving
the Drought tells the story of what it’s like to be a Cleveland sports
fan through the voices of those who have lived and died with their favorite
teams. The book celebrates their impressive perseverance. It compares Cleveland
sports to other cities and revisits the heartbreaks, but focuses mainly on the
fans' hope, occasional poor judgment, and the creative coping mechanisms
they’ve employed over the last four-plus decades.
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