Things I've Learned from Watching the Browns

Cleveland's top sportswriter Terry Pluto wonders why, 66 long years after their team's last championship, despite a relentless pattern of heartbreak, teasing, and more heartbreak, capped with a decade of utter futility, fans still stick with the Cleveland Browns. Nobody's in a better position than Pluto to learn why: He gets a daily barraged of emails from readers letting their hearts bleed out, orange and brown. For this book he asked, and they told him, What is it about this team that makes you love them, hate them, and keep coming back for more? Covering the Browns from 1965 through present day, it includes stories from fans and former Browns players, as well as Pluto's expert analysis. It does for Cleveland football what Pluto's classic book about the Indians, "The Curse of Rocky Colavito," did for Cleveland baseball: It won't make the pain go away, but it might help you remember why it's worth enduring.