Jamyson Frierson – My Cleveland Story
Hello FanSided and Factory of Sadness followers. My name is Jamyson Frierson and i will be covering and writing about all of our beloved teams on a regular to daily basis. I go to the University of Akron and will be entering into my senior year. I grew up on the east-side of Cleveland in a suburb of Euclid ( GO PANTHERS). I was lucky enough to stay within the Euclid city school system throughout my childhood and play numerous sports on the way, mainly football. Being a Cleveland sports fan was a way of life in my household.
Both of my parents instilled this upon me and my sister as we were both growing up and we rarely missed any games. Unfortunately, I wasn’t born in time to enjoy the Browns and their successes in the mid 80’s. By the time i was able to comprehend sports as a whole, the Browns had “moved” to Baltimore, the Cavs were in a transitioning period after trading away Mark Price to the then Washington Bullets and the Indians were lighting the MLB on fire on 9th and Carnegie.
Seeing how passionate, die hard and relentless our fan base is, is what led me to being as such over the years. I’ve seen a number of games at my young age already. I have a few memorable ones I definitely remember. My first would would be in 1997 when the Tribe went against the Toronto Blue Jays. It was Roger Clemens against Paul Shuey. As vaunted as our offense was, we were no match for Clemens but it was still an excellent game. He had the complete game shutout with 10 strikeouts. It was definitely a treat even if we lost 0-4.
Even though we had LeBron since 2003, I didn’t go to my first Cavaliers game until 2008. It was the Cavs against the New York Knicks on LeBron’s golden bobblehead night. I didn’t win the golden one unfortunately but it was the first time I was able to see him, even all the way up in Loud-ville in person. He was a gazelle up and down the court and was two steps ahead of everything. Watching all of the games on TV is one thing, seeing it up and close and live was another. The Cavs ended up dominating the game 118-82.
Of course I have to save the best for last. My favorite all-time experience was “Bottlegate,” in 2001 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. I wasn’t there but I remember it being one of the worst officiated games I had ever seen in my life. We came into the game at 6-7 and were trying to get closer to the wildcard. Terry McAuley made one of the worst calls ever by saying Quincy Morgan bobbled the touchdown pass from Tim Couch instead of having full possession. Whether this occurred or not, the Browns had already ran another play therefore killing any chance of review
I was irate as well as fans and the bottles came a-flying down on the referees and Jaguar players. I’m not one for reaction like that but it was well deserved. We got SCREWED big time. At least the next year we clinched our first playoff spot since coming back in 1999 ( Run William Run!).
I always tell people there is nothing harder in this world than being a Cleveland sports fan but regardless, i love all of my teams equally. I will be writing about the numerous happenings of the Browns, Cavs and Indians and giving my spin and take on those happenings. There is always something interesting happening among our teams so it should never be hard to find something. Most importantly, your feedback is what I look forward too most. Interacting with my readers and followers will be an easier way for me to get to know you guys and see how you feel and how I can improve. Happy reading and see you guys soon!