Hiram Boyd may be one of Cleveland’s most controversial personalities, but he struck a chord with me the other night.
If you follow me on Twitter, or simply know me, you’ll know that my good friend, Jake Dungan, and I hosted a weekly radio show for Indians Baseball Insider throughout the summer called Call to the Bullpen.
Hiram would chime in week-after-week, as he normally does with Cleveland radio shows, and offer his thoughts or opinions on the Indians. Hiram seemingly enjoyed calling our show because we wouldn’t cut him off and we’d debate with him for an extended period of time before he insisted on simply listening.
Well, this past week, Jake and I hosted a special offseason edition of Call to the Bullpen, as we will sporadically throughout the winter, and, of course, Hiram called in.
We were in the midst of a conversation about the Indians and closer-extraordinaire, Brian Wilson. I offered my thoughts on WIlson said something along the lines of, “we don’t need a distraction like him on this team.”
“Hayden,” he said. “You disappointed me with something you said earlier. I would love to have Brian Wilson on this team.”
Of course, I was willing to listen to his point and ready to hear out his argument when he said something that struck me to my core.
“You’re just like the rest of them,” Hiram said. “Clevelanders are so afraid of change. Cleveland is afraid of stuff that is different. They’re afraid of people that are different.”
Instantly, the bells and whistles started chiming in my head. The proverbial lightbulb went off. Suddenly, I heard Drew Carey- the newly appointed, Cleveland-born host of “The Price is Right”- say “Hayden, come on down!”.
It all made sense.
Hiram Boyd, Cleveland’s “craziest” fan, made a point that I think hits the nail on the head.
Let me preface this argument by saying that Cleveland fans are the best fans in America. Undoubtedly.
Maybe not the smartest, maybe not the quietest, but they are certainly the most involved, loyal and passionate fans anywhere. Period.
That being said, I want to delve in to Hiram’s point and why it makes so much sense to me and why it’s absolutely true.
Cleveland is afraid of change. It’s afraid of the truly new and uncomfortable. It wants new faces, but the same attitudes and ideals.
Let’s start with the Browns.
How can you say that Browns fans are afraid of change?
The Browns have had 20 different quarterbacks and 7 different head coaches since 1999. How are they afraid of change?
Look at the 20 different quarterbacks we’ve had. Was any one of those guys different than the other in terms of performance or demeanor?
Was Tim Couch any different, really than Derek Anderson? Was Derek Anderson any different than Brady Quinn? Was Brady Quinn any different from Colt McCoy? Was Colt McCoy any different than Brandon Weeden?
Of course, they all had different styles of play, but they were all cut from the same mold. They were all “safe”. None made any trouble, kept their mouths relatively quiet, etc, etc. None was really a risk taker, on or off the field.
Look at the couple of times when the Browns did take “risks” in the draft. Braylon Edwards was probably the best receiver the Browns have had since 1999 and Kellen Winslow was certainly a playmaker and the best tight end since Ozzie Newsome.
Ultimately, they didn’t pan out for a while, but that’s because Cleveland fans helped to drive these “risks” out of town.
Interesting.
Lets move on to Browns head coaches.
If you really, really look at it, was Chris Palmer different from Butch Davis? Was Butch Davis any different from Terry Robiskie? Was Terry Robiskie any different from Romeo Crennel? Was Romeo Crennel any different from Eric Mangini? Was Eric Mangini any different than Pat Shurmur? Was Pat Shurmur any different from Rob Chudzinski?
Again, they all had different styles of coaching and treated the media differently, but again, they were all safe. Nothing exciting, nothing different. Cut from the same cloth.
Rob Chudzinski, in his first season, has shown an aggression that we’ve never seen from Browns coaches prior. Is it a coincidence that the Browns are 4-5 and on the brink of a winning record against the AFC North division for the first time since 1999?
Again, interesting.
Finally, when the Browns regime was finally changed, as the Lerner’s left town, Clevelanders, for the most part, were already skeptical of Jimmy Haslam, Joe Banner and Mike Lombardi. They wanted change, but at the same time, they really didn’t. The Lerners stunk, but at least they were comfortable.
They “understood” us. That’s another phrase that’s comfortable for Browns fans. It makes outsiders immediately disliked and makes Browns fans feel as if they are somehow special, despite never having seen a Super Bowl appearance.
Anyways, as soon as the new regime took hold, Browns fans became uncomfortable and at the slightest sign of trouble from Haslam, were already calling for his resignation. “Bring back the Lerners,” they said, despite the years of misery caused by Randy and the family.
Already, with the new and uncomfortable regime, the Browns have shown signs of vast improvement in just one season. Again, looking at a chance to have a winning record in the AFC North for the first time since 1999.
Alas, interesting.
Even the other day, as the Browns announced big time stadium renovations, fans were already pointing out the flaws with the system.
Again, just another example of Clevelanders and their inability to cope with change.
The Browns are the most glaringly obvious example of this attitude problem in Cleveland, but it comes with the Indians and Cavs as well.
Many fans clamored for Sandy Alomar Jr. rather than Terry Francona to manage the Indians.
Francona won the Mananger of the Year award.
Fans whined about Nick Swisher’s massive contract.
Swisher lead the Indians in home runs, despite dealing with injury throughout the season.
Cavaliers fans wanted Mike Brown fired when LeBron became a free agent.
Three years later, we welcome him back with open arms.
Kyrie Irving was far too risky a pick to make over the established Derrick Williams.
One is Uncle Drew and one rides the bench.
The bottomline is this: no fan-base is more vocal about change but less willing to actually change.
Browns fans are constantly calling for a new quarterback, yet, won’t consider Johnny Manziel or anyone out of the ordinary to do the job. We constantly bash the quarterbacks that come in and yearn for the old days with Bernie.
Indians fans are constantly calling out for big time free agents, yet complain when we finally bring them in. We constantly say, “why can’t we just develop talent in the 90’s?” rather than appreciating the big time free agents we bring in.
Cavs fans constantly called for a new coach, yet missed the old one when they realized what they had. We say, “why did we get rid of Mike Brown in the first place?” when just years before we said, “get rid of Mike Brown, he’s obviously not a good coach.”
It’s not even simply the sports teams that Clevelanders complain about. When city officials want to bring this city to the 21st Century, add new buildings, create parks and opportunities for employment, many argue and complain. When there’s an election and many complained about mayor Frank Jackson, they re-elected him anyway. Even something so trivial as a name change for Cleveland Browns Stadium created an uproar, despite the fact that it brought in added funds for the organization.
As Hiram said, Clevelanders clamor for change yet change nothing. They do the same things over and over again, without any difference in their actions. As Hiram said, this is literally the definition of insanity.
I just want to thank Hiram for helping me to see what I was completely blind to before. Again, this doesn’t go for all Clevelanders, but there’s certainly a large majority to whom it applies.
I love Cleveland and that’s why I’m saying that it’s time for Cleveland to actually change. Change the mentality, change the city and change the culture.
Accept the change and embrace it.
Cleveland’s best times weren’t in the past. They lie directly in the future.
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