DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Man Moved to Cleveland b/c of Browns (Some of you older DTers know him)

Some of you know IceCube89 from the old DT and like me have met him at DTI on gameday. It's a very nice article about him moving from Conn to Cleveland.

Eric Barr moves to Cleveland to follow the Browns


BEREA, Ohio -- If Eric Barr's story checks out -- and it looks as if it does -- the competition for the most dedicated Browns fan is over.
We have a winner.

It doesn't matter how many December games you've shivered through, how many road trips to Pittsburgh you've made, or how many brown-and-orange tattoos you are sporting. You are not worthy.

Last month, Barr showed up to work at the Kichler Lighting warehouse in East Hartford, Conn., and sat down with his boss.

"He came to me and said, 'Listen, I'm going to live my dream,' " remembers Michael Flanagan, Barr's supervisor. " 'I'm going to move to Cleveland, and I'm going to follow the Browns, and that's it.' "

Flanagan and the other guys around the warehouse had harassed Barr for years because of his devotion to a team in a city more than 500 miles west, a city where Barr had never even lived. They had heard him talk about moving for years.

"I was like, 'OK, Barr, whatever,' " says Flanagan. "We expected him to come back on Tuesday. But he never came back. . . . We were like, 'He's really gone. Holy cow, he actually did it.' "

In East Hartford, the 33-year-old had a job, with full benefits. He had family. He had furniture.

Now sleeping on the floor of his basement apartment in Berea, Barr has none of that: no job, no family, no furniture. His health insurance runs out at the end of the month.

Yes, ladies, he's single.

But before we mock the guy, there is something kinda wonderful about him.

"My ancestors came over from Ireland with nothing," he says. "I have a blanket. I'm already one step ahead of them."

He's knows what you're thinking.

"I don't think I'm on drugs," says Barr, who does resemble a young Cheech Marin with less 'stache, more jowls and eyes that twinkle with mischief. "You can do a psychological evaluation on me. But I'm sure I'll pass."

He also insists he's not running from anything.

"The only time I've been to jail is when I play Monopoly."

Despite no ties to Cleveland, Barr has visited more than a few times. For the past three years, he's driven the 566 miles each way to attend every home game.

Sometimes he did it alone in his 1992 Nissan Sentra E, which recently topped 190,000 miles. The E, says Barr, stands for "empty options."

"No radio, no air conditioner, top speed of 54 mph," he says matter-of-factly. "It's terrible."

He doesn't bother to lock it.

On the rides, he says, in between the middle fingers from other drivers speeding past, he kept himself occupied by chanting "Here we go, Brownies" or counting down 99 bottles of beer or singing "Eye of the Tiger."

"It was kinda tough," he adds. "I'm not going to lie to you."

He'd sometimes sleep in the car, settling in for the night at a grocery-store parking lot. Other times, he says, he'd spend Saturday night in the legendary parking lot by the stadium.


"If I parked in the muni lot, they would knock on my window and say, 'You have to pay money.' " I said, "OK, I guess it's time to get game-ready."

Watching games in the freezer

Barr's love of the Browns came from his father, who never lived in Cleveland either. But the elder Barr was a blue-collar guy, says Eric, a machinist, and he identified with the toughness of the glory-days Browns.

Eric and his dad watched games together. When the Browns left in 1995, a teenage Eric cried.

When the team returned in 1999, he'd take breaks from his job at Sam's Club and sneak into the freezer to call his dad or watch the game.

"We were pretending to stock frozen chickens," he remembers. "It was 30 degrees below zero in the freezer."

Eventually, he began going to the games, first once a year with the Southern New England Browns Backers. Then in the spring of 2007, he bought a pair of personal seat licenses on eBay.


Joshua Gunter, The Plain DealerEric Barr, who recently moved from Connecticut to Cleveland to be closer to the Browns, sits in his empty apartment in Berea. Until last week, he slept on the floor. Barr now has an air mattress.
"I was the only bidder."

He made friends with some of the regulars in the muni lot and on Cleveland Browns online forums. Soon, Barr -- who is known by the nickname "Ice Cube" after his favorite former Browns player, Gerald McNeil -- didn't have to sleep in his car. He and a bunch of friends now share a half-dozen seats together, in the upper-deck of the stadium in section 537. "It's up next to Saturn," says Barr. "That's where the real fans sit anyway."

He and some of his friends wear orange jumpsuits to the games. "This is not a costume," he insists. "This is actually what they wear in the prisons in Connecticut."

As his devotion to the brown-and-orange grew, he began planning to move to "where the action is." He even had a job transfer to Northeast Ohio in the works, he says, before the economy tanked.

"People move to Florida because they like palm trees, they like sand, they like beaches," says Barr. "I like being in the muni lot at 4:30 a.m."

This year, the move could wait no longer.

"I'm getting older and older," says Barr. "I'm missing out. I told myself, 'Just do it. You'll survive.' "

He set his sights on one suburb, obviously.

"I moved to Berea because Berea is where training camp is," he says. "It makes sense because it's only a half-mile down the road."

As he began to telephone landlords, he realized he had a problem. The calls, he says, all seemed to go like this:

"I'm interested in a one-bedroom apartment."

"That's great. So you've got a job lined up. Where are you working?"

"I don't have a job."

"Why are you moving here?"

"Well, I love the Browns."

"You're moving here because you love the Browns? [click]"

Finally, after what he estimates as more than 50 calls, he talked to Sandy Jaycox, resident manager of the Riverview Apartments in Berea.

"I thought at first he was joking," says Jaycox. "I really did. Nobody just up and quits their job to move here.

"I thought, if he doesn't fax back the application, then we'll know," she says. "Then when he did, it was like, 'Oh, OK, I guess this guy is serious.' "

Barr promised to pay the first year of his $480-a-month rent upfront. And a background check came up clean.

On move-in day, Sept. 17, Barr showed up with only the old Sentra.

"I was like, 'Where's your stuff?' " says Jaycox, laughing.

Turns out, Barr brought only what he could fit in the car.

"His first question," says Jaycox, "was, 'Where's the best place to buy some furniture?' "

Barr is actually not that far along. When a photographer and reporter visited his place two weeks ago, the apartment was still bare, save for some suitcases, a shower curtain and the mayonnaise, cheese and Hot Pockets in the fridge. Barr sleeps on an air mattress covered with a Browns blanket. Next to the "bed": his season tickets.

"If you come in here, you can take anything you want," he says. "Just don't take my season tickets."

He says he went to the grocery store not too long after moving in and bought cereal. He came home and realized he didn't have a bowl.

He spends part of his days at the Berea library applying for jobs and shining up his resume. The rest of the day he's at the rec center shooting hoops.

There have been some pleasant surprises -- "You can buy beer on Sundays!" -- and some criticisms -- "Too many deer."

He's gone on a few interviews and is confident he'll find something.

"I don't have furniture. I don't have a TV. I don't have a computer," he says, serious for a moment. "You do a lot of soul-searching. The first couple nights, I just sat here, it was cold. I just had my blanket and I'm sitting here and I'm like, 'Is this really worth it?'

"You know something? Yeah," he says. "I'm going to make it. It's just going to take a little time. . . . I will survive. Because I am determined. That's what's good about Browns fans. We're resilient. When you knock them down, they keep coming back for more. Why? I don't know."

Barr likes to compare his new start to the team's. Both don't seem to have much now, but the foundation is there and things -- seemingly -- can only go one way.

"One day, I'm going to get a job, some furniture," he says, "maybe a bed."

Priscilla Barr, who lives in New York City, insists her brother is not crazy.

"I didn't think it was stupid," she says. "Actually, I thought it was kind of smart. He's going out there every other weekend anyway. He might as well move there. It's his dream city.

"He's always loved Cleveland, and he knew that was where he was supposed to be," she adds. "He's so happy when he's there. I'm really proud of him for leaving. It takes guts to go somewhere without a job."

Eric is confident he won't be jobless for long, partly because he isn't picky.

"I'll do anything," he insists. "I just can't work Sundays."


cleveland.com

This is horrible.

Wow

This Guy deserves a job working for the Browns. Hope somehow he gets it

I ran in to Ice as I was waiting for a friend before the Cincy game where he told me what he did.

It may have raised my eyebrows a bit, but hey, if that's the dream, then that is the dream. Not many people actually follow what it is they want to do with their life.

I wish Eric well.

Good luck to him.

This is comical. That guy was the biggest troll ever. Called the Browns the Clowns in almost every post. Called everyone else worse names.

Quote:

---

Yes, ladies, he's single.

---

Shocking.

Quote:

---

"You can do a psychological evaluation on me. But I'm sure I'll pass."

---

That actually would be shocking.

Wow... he has more guts than I do. LOL I hope it all works out for him.

What happens when he's kicked out of his apartment for not being able to pay the rent?

I've met him before at DTI. Interesting guy to say the least.

No offense to the guy, but that sounds like a classic stalker profile. He sounds obsessive and delusional.

*L*
Reading that story, I wondered if he looks like Robert DeNiro because he sure sounds like him ... cue Cape Fear music.

This guy gives this the word idiot a totally new definition.
He cares more about the Browns than the Browns care about him.
He gives up a situation where he has job,benefits,family just so he can be close to a franchise stuck ineptness since '99.
theres people out of work and he just walks away from a job I bet hundreds would stand in line for.
This clown is really out of the realm of reality.
maybe he can move in with Big Dawg and do his grocery shopping.

Dude, it's his life and he can do whatever he wants with it, who are you to tell him what he should or shouldn't be doing. If he's happy I say good for him.

Nobody is telling him what to do, they are just commenting on what he is doing. Nobody gives a crap what he does, I certainly don't.

I do feel sorry for Cleveland though.

Frankly, I hope he makes it.

Too many people live their lives never following their dreams. No one can say that he didn't follow his.

I do wonder about the timing ..... moving and giving up a decent job with benefits in the middle of a recession ..... but he has followed his heart.

Since he's single, I think I found a lady who he might be interested in, she has furniture. Hope he's catholic.

Anyone know where I can get a hat like the one he is wearing in the pic?

It's funny, when I first moved out at 18, I moved to Columbus. I had a roommate, and we split all of the expenses. I moved down there with 2 suitcases, a little TV, a stereo, and a couple of pans, a microwave, a pillow, and some mis-matched silverware. I think it took me 5 minutes to move all of my stuff in. lol I slept on the floor for about a week until I cheapened up and bought a bed.

Ah the things we do at 18. We had a Big Bear grocery store across the street, and, at first, most of our funtiture was made out of milk crates. Don't tell anyone!

When I was in my Gainesville apartment while in school I found a wooden spool the phone company used to store telephone wire....maybe the power company...I used it as a table by my recliner. I cleaned it up, took a torch and added some burn marks on the top and then added a coat of varnish.

It looked pretty good IMO. I don't think any of the girls who saw it were totally enamored with it, but then again, they weren't over there for my table.

In my first place here in Houston (the one with the airmatress) I ended up finding two couches, a couple of end tables, sheleves, and a kitchen table all on the side of the road within about 3 months.... I eventually bought a bed, but the bed was the only piece of furniture I bought for that place.

Ironically, after I moved to a nicer place and bought some nice furniture I met my wife (literally a month after I had the new furniture delievered).

speaking of DTI, where is it? i will be going to the game AND partying at the muni lot thanksgiving weekend

why on earth is this story even getting attention? Its Steelers week, who cares about a random fan....give me an article about the game instead!

I know eric and hes a cool dude. I get tickets from him now and then. To me he's the definition of a true browns fan and his story is amazing. He has alot of heart and im glad he's one of us. This article just shows that we have the best fans in football. Good luck eric and i'll have to hit you up in berea one of these days to have a cold one.

He sounds insane. Like, in a bad way.

I'm shocked by most of your responses, You guys are harsh. Follow your dreams Eric!

Grateful, if you haven't met him in person as some of us have, then you wouldn't understand. He is a crotch pheasant...but I wish him luck. This is something I woulda expected outta Dilfer tho.

Quote:

---

yeah that's right, now its coming back to me. He was buddies with Worldchamps. After they were banned from every other site they formed a smack site together. It was all real Jim Romish. They used to come on The Dark Side and hype their site all the time.

---

It wasn't WC, it was Crimefighter....a steeler troll that got banned for PM's he sent me and others claiming he wanted to switch to become a Browns fan after becoming friends with Cube. It was quite funny, actually.