The Cleveland Browns were off in more than one way today. They had their usual turnovers and general malaise, and got beat by the Chargers 38-14. What made the loss even harder to swallow was that the game was not available on television!
Evidently there is a local rule that if the Steelers and Browns are playing at the same time, and one team is at home and the other away, the away game will be broadcast. Because we can all just load up and go to Cleveland or Pittsburgh for the game, right? (That is a whole other blog post, in which we write about the cost of going to an NFL game.)
This seems to be a little bit of cable network insanity and there has to be a way to get around it. There never used to be a problem because our cable company offered a Cleveland station as part of the basic package. Problem solved. If the game was not on a Youngstown station, we could tune in to Cleveland. Then, the cable company decided to drop the Cleveland station.
Lots of frustrated Browns fans were at the local bars today, including Don and Nathan. Buffalo Wild Wings was full to capacity, and their outdoor patio was even overflowing with football fans. Quaker Steak and Lube was also packed, but they were able to find a booth in the corner, and watched the game until the last few minutes of the third quarter. The bars were emptying at that point because of the Browns’ poor performance.
It is 74 miles from Youngstown to Cleveland, and 67 miles from Youngstown to Pittsburgh. Location would rightfully make Youngstown a split city, but we are in Ohio! Doesn’t it seem like the majority of folks would be Browns fans and if only one game could be on TV, it would be the Browns? That is not the way it works around here, and ESPN even came to Youngstown a few years ago to do a special on the intense rivalry.
Next year we will have to look ahead each week and make sure the Browns game is going to be broadcast locally. If not, then we will make plans to meet up with friends and watch it at a sports bar. The chips, dip and wings were the upside of watching the game away from home!
Right on Sally. 👍