The End of the Road or Last Dance With Yinz

When I first planned this tour, I said that this final game would be the hardest one to attend because of it being played on New Year's Day, however, if I made it to the first 15 you'd be hard pressed to stop me from going to this one.  After making arrangements with my cousin who lives in the Pittsburgh area with her Steelers fan husband (booooooo), we settled in for a fun New Year's Eve party at their place and a thoroughly entertaining game day experience on January 1st.


First things first.  In all of the years attending Browns games in the tailgate lots, I NEVER saw an opposing team's gear being sold.  Yet here we are in Pittsburgh and I see Browns gear and a decent selection of it to boot.

My Cousin Jenny and I made our presence known on North Shore Drive just outside of Heinz Field. One thing I enjoyed was all of the bars and eateries on this strip where you could hang out outside with a burger and a beer before the game.







After walking around a bit through the tailgate lots, I was able to track down a Steelers Kickoff Edition Bud Light can and as I have been able to do for most of the season...


















...I was able to find a Browns fan to pose with it.






















One of these years I'm getting a Browns Onesie. I know I could rock it.



















This fan thought it was acceptable to wear her boyfriend's Steelers gear with her Browns hat.  Just to clear things up, it's NEVER acceptable to do that.  EVER.


















Some people were confused, some people felt bad, but most people just stayed quiet and didn't say anything when they passed by me.  Maybe it was the mask?









I should contact Anheuser-Busch for a sponsorship.  If you've been following along, you'll see I've been featuring those Kickoff Edition Bud Light cans A LOT.



















One more time.  I call this one, "Puck Fittsburgh" or "Don't F#ck With Cleveland".




















After all of that excitement, it was finally time to get in the game.

Here is a view OF my seat.

And here is a view FROM my seat. As usual I waited until the day before to pick up my ticket.  As I browsed the Browns sideline on StubHub, I saw a single ticket become available for $115 right here.  I figured since it was the last game I should treat myself to a nice seat.  Plus, if anyone started anything with me, I could always hop the railing with the Browns players and staff to have my back.

For being a New Years Day game, there was a decent turnout.  Because it was New Years Day, the fans were nursing their hangovers and were eerily quiet during the first half as the Browns did whatever they wanted to do with little to no distractions.  Being the smart fan that I am, I also stayed quiet because you shouldn't poke a sleeping bear, but as the game wore on, the fans got more and more involved and so I followed suit.

In the end, we weren't able to pull off what would have been a sweet road victory, but I had a sweet time nonetheless.  I picked up the final souvenir cup in my collection.  I put my Browns Backer coozie on it, however, as the saying goes, "You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig."

I posted up with my flag one last time at Heinz Field...

...and this guy won't be talking shit to Browns fans anytime soon. They're so cute when they look scared.

After the game, I was chatting with someone from the stadium staff about our "rivalry" and how we both hoped for it to come back soon when I heard, "Hey Browns fan!" from the field.  I turned around and one of the equipment managers tossed this official New Era player's cap up to me.

It was the perfect ending to one hell of an adventure.

This is the part where I say, "Stay tuned! There's more to come!", but there are no more games.  This is it.  Dream achieved.  As I walked out of the stadium after the game, I got a bit choked up.  I had always dreamed about attending every game in one full season. I never thought it would be during the worst season in Cleveland Browns history.  I met so many fun and interesting people plus a few Browns personnel and alumni.  The Browns Backer Nation helped make my journey worth while and kept me going.  Though I had a few people join me on the journey, it was mostly a solo adventure.  I knew I had the mental capacity to plan and execute a trip like this and now I have the souvenir cup collection to prove it.  You've realized a dream...now what do you do?

As far as being a Browns fan is concerned, I'm focused on next season and in particular, LONDON! If you didn't hear, the Browns have been selected as one of eight NFL teams to play in London next season.  My plan is to settle down for a second, get adjusted to not having a Sunday obligation, and then start figuring out how to pay for this next adventure.  In addition to that, I plan on designing a Cleveland Browns themed superhero suit for the trip which will probably debut at a select few Browns games as well. (I'm thinking Superman-ish with a cape and the C across the chest. I'm taking suggestions so please leave some in the comments below.)  And finally, as fun as this was, I would really enjoy having one or more Browns fans join me.  If you're interested in taking a 10-12 day excursion with me, let me know ASAP because flight and hotel accommodations are relatively inexpensive at this time and we should book soon.

Final thoughts:  Follow your dream, no matter how crazy or "stupid" it may seem.  Start working on it as soon as you think about it and it sounds good to you.  Plan out three days worth of things you can do to get the ball rolling.  Never give up.  To stay motivated throughout the process, share your excitement about it with other people and then keep in mind the people that mirror your excitement, for they will show you how excited you really are and will keep you from giving up.

"Whether you think you can, or think you can't, you're right."  -Henry Ford

I'll see you next season...stay tuned!