FanNation - The Republic of Sport

OK, let me tell you how my week's gone so far.  Power at my house went out about 8:05 PM Sunday night, about 10 minutes before kick-off of the long awaited Steelers-Browns game (Steelers fan).  We had a bad wind storm in Pittsburgh resulting from Hurricane Ike.    Let me also say, my new 50" Plasma TV was just installed on Friday, so I was really looking forward to watching the game.  Instead, I end up "watching" the game via refreshing the ESPN play-by-play (text) on my blackberry while I'm staring helplessly at my new, useless 50" TV by candlelight.  Then, I wake up and shave, shower and get dressed in the dark, as power was still out.  Go to work and have a frantic day trying to meet a deadline, then go home to find not only power is STILL out, but it will be out for a few more days, because the electric companies are on a skeleton crew having sent most of their people to Texas to help with the aftermath of Ike (no question they need it more than I do, but it still doesn't change the fact I have no power). Not to mention, I find out I have to leave town for work early Tuesday morning.  So, I rush to pack prior to it getting dark, go to bed, get up early, then get on the road.  Then, I get a speeding ticket about 45 minutes into a 4+ hour drive.So let's just say,my week isn't off to a great start as we approach hump day.

 That being said, my week can't compare to that of the Cleveland Browns, and to a lesser extent, their fans.  I mean, this IS the year, right?  The year they FINALLY get over the hump, passing up the Steelers, winning the AFC North and making the playoffs all at the same time!  I mean, they have a pro bowl QB, an explosive offense with one of the best o-lines in football, and they bolstered their only weakness by bringing in Rogers and Williams, so their D was going to be strong.  Then, they come in and lose to Dallas in week 1.  OK, no shame there.  Dallas is pretty good.  Then, in the game where the Browns were all set to make a statement in a primetime, nationally televised game against their biggest rival and the team they're trying to hurdle, they LOSE in front of their very own rabid Dawg Pound.

And, to make matters worse, they wake up on Monday morning realizing not only did they lose to their arch rival, but they now find themselves in a position that makes all those lofty predictions and goals very challenging to reach.  Let's review.

1. They now find themselves trailing the Steelers by 2 games, and knowing the best they can hope for is a tie head to head, and that happening only if they beat the Steelers in the season finale at Heinz field, in late December.

2. They look at their tough schedule, and realize if they're to reach their goals, it becomes even tougher, as they have 2 home games in the books without a W to show for it.  And let's face it, who in Cleveland WASN'T counting Week 2 as a W as they counted wins and losses when the schedule was released?  You can probably count them on one hand, not counting Pittsburgh transplants.

3. The DA from the 2nd half of 2007 has showed up for 2 of 2 games, and that's NOT the DA that put up the stats that put him in the Pro Bowl.

4.  That tough schedule the Steelers had that everyone in Cleveland was predicting would part of their downfall?  Well, NE isn't the same NE without Brady (will still be a tough game) and SD isn't looking as powerful as they've in the past.  Those are the 2 big differences in the Browns and Steelers schedules. And let's not overlook the fact that the teams the Browns play instead of NE and SD, Denver and Bufalo, both look to be IMROVED.

So yeah, my week has sucked so far, but the things I've dealt with will soon be behind me.  But while there's ALLOT of football left, and the Browns could recover and still reach their goals, those goals appear to be allot further away than they were 2 weeks ago.  So that being said, as bad as my week's been, Worst Week Ever has to go to the Cleveland Browns and their fans.