Such awesome stories, love reading all of them. Great thread DL05.

I was born in 76. I'm from a small town in the Cambridge area in Southeastern Ohio. I became a Browns/Tribe/Cavs/Ohio State fan because of my Dad. My Grandpa was an Indians fan, but did not care for the other sports. Most of our relatives were from the Cleveland and surrounding areas. I faintly remember going to my first Tribe game with family (and grandpa). It was the Tribe vs. Red Sox, Yaz hit his last hr before he retired. I was a Brett Butler fan, though I thought Brook Jacoby and Cory Snyder were so cool (collecting baseball cards will do that to you as a kid, haha) b/c they would wear that eye black under their eyes.

As for the Browns, I remember the heart break of watching the Browns/Broncos games at home. I faintly remember going to the Browns/Colts game and seeing Eric Dickerson play in grade school.

Once I graduated HS, I joined the Army and was stationed in Fort Hood. It was my first taste of being away from home and looking back was worth it. I did four years, then came back home. I was homesick and wanted to stay in the area. I switched over to the PA National Guard and moved to Pittsburgh for college. It really was a great experience as a young kid in my 20s. Went to college downtown, partied mostly in the Southside and quite often would see sports players (Big Ben, Bettis, Hines Ward, Charles Barkley, MJ, etc) out partying it up too. After I finished college, I moved back home for about a year, switched to the Army Reserve and was hired at the Akron VA clinic. I lived in Green for a few years. I enjoyed my time there; it was nice to be able to get up to a game whenever I had time. That was the closest I lived to Cleveland.

Though I liked my job, I wanted to do more and travel more. So I went back on to Active Duty and worked at Fort Bragg for about a year at the high command. Then I received my orders for DC. I loved it there. DC was a great assignment. History all over the place and sports all in the surrounding areas.

Which brings me to current day Hawaii. I love where I am. I still love playing GI Joe. Though most people might not like it, I love watching Ohio State on Saturdays at 6 am, and the Browns at 7 am on Sundays. Though, there are days when we are losing, I start looking out my window at the ocean/beach and try to talk myself into turning off the game and go enjoy the sun instead...it never happens, I have to watch the game through. Hey, on the positive side, a lot of those this past year we made the comeback.