The Ultimate Conundrum: Can you, as a Browns fan, root for the Bengals to win the Super Bowl?

[daddywags]

Me? No. You? I don't care.

 

[Peachtree]

I didn't really dislike Cincinnati until college. They are one of the worst fanbases in football.

I don't care that Joey's a Cleveland fan. I am taking the field.

 

[bushwick_bill]

What minor league team did you allegedly play for?

I was a star short stop at the age of 21, 5'4 with gold glover talent and a power bat weighing in at 135 pounds... I was in the farm system for the Indians that night...

 

[bushwick_bill]

I feel like there are more hardcore Bengals fans in Columbus than there are in Cincinnati.

I always thought this way and it really bothered me. I also knew people in Columbus when I lived that were Indians fans because they were good but also Bungles fans at the same time...

 

[Out of the Rafters at the Q]

I always thought this way and it really bothered me. I also knew people in Columbus when I lived that were Indians fans because they were good but also Bungles fans at the same time...

Yeah. I feel like a lot of it depends on which way the wind blows and what markets you get on TV.

Reds/Indians, Bluejackets, Cavs, Browns/Bengals/Steelers... but 100% Buckeyes first and foremost.

 

[UDcleveland]

I don’t particularly care, since at the end of the day, it’s sports. Rooting against teams out of spite gives me the same weird cringy vibes as grown men “super fans” painting their faces, drunkenly yelling at kids and thinking they are the shit.

That said, I love giving Bengals fans shit about their utter lack of originality. They run around chanting “Who Dey” like the Saints didn’t have “Who Dat” first… and now I noticed they play “Bang on the drum all day” after touchdowns at home like the Packers haven’t done that for years. Fuck, they’re not even the first team founded by Paul Brown in their own state. They also call Cincinnati “the Queen City” for reasons unknown, other than, you know, there’s already a city that calls itself that (Charlotte).

 

[Urban]

Not sure where that statement even comes from. Baseball, sure, but even in "Bad" years, Cavs haven't really been at the bottom of the league in attendance (Ranking at worst 19th and 22nd the two years after LeBron left the first time).

2019, 8th. Ignore the covid year. 2020, 17th. 2021, 12th. And last year 9th.

Not sure what your definition of "good" is, but based on attendance (and viewership and market size), I don't think anything really supports the statement "Cleveland only cares about the Cavs when they're good".

That's a pretty stark drop off when they were consistently Top 3 in attendance when LeBron was in Cleveland

2007- 3rd
2008- 3rd
2009- 5th
2010- 2nd

2011- 3rd *STHs still locked into their packages
2012- 19th
2013- 22nd
2014- 16th

2015- 2nd
2016- 2nd
2017- 2nd
2018- 2nd

2019- 8th *STHs still locked into their packages
2020- 17th

 

[Urban]

There might not be 5 fanbases in the NBA that care about their team when they're bad. That entire league revolves around front running and bandwagoning.

Browns attendance dropped near the bottom of the league because the fans cared. Boycotting was our response to the incompetence of Haslam's ownership and it worked.

Won't touch on the Guardians thing, there's multiple threads dedicated to that discussion in the proper section. I will say, though, it's definitely not wrong to criticize the fanbase for the lack of support there.

Couldn't you get tickets to Watson's home debut vs Baltimore for less than $10?

I dunno, Cleveland fans love to beat their chest about their fandom but it's a bit of a house of cards

 

[Omar The Horse]

I could do it if i didn‘t have friends who are from Cincinnati that consistently talk shit for years about the Bengals/Browns

 

[Lee]

Whe the tourny starts, as a Purdue fan, i alwaus root for other Big Ten schools. But as a Browns fan, fuck the Steelers, Bengals and Ravens, its just different,

 

[Dr. Claw]

The only time it came close to me as an Eagles fan was the last 2 times the Giants went to the Bowl. I was mostly looking for Brady to lose (which is the case until the glorious day we are all rid of him as an active player in the NFL). It would have been worse if it were Dallas (see this year's playoffs).

After I've spent the last nearly 2 decades in Cleveland, around Browns fans? HELL NO. Especially after the rise of Burrow (who ironically I think is actually a good QB, has cool Cavs takes, etc.) But that fanbase has become Dallas-like to me in a short while based on social media interaction during that period.

 

[The Oi]

I find it infuriating when other teams exist and win games.

Ruins my entire month.

 

[Ohio]

Couldn't you get tickets to Watson's home debut vs Baltimore for less than $10?

I dunno, Cleveland fans love to beat their chest about their fandom but it's a bit of a house of cards

It was -30 degrees outside, dude.

These arguments are disingenuous and you know it.

 

[Urban]

It was -30 degrees outside, dude.

These arguments are disingenuous and you know it.

No it wasn't, you're thinking of the Saints game

 

[Ohio]

No it wasn't, you're thinking of the Saints game

Ah, well, that was the game where tickets were going for $10.