The Woes of Being an Ohio Sports Fan

*FAN SUBMISSION by Alex Lambert of Columbus, OH. Follow him on Twitter @jlamb4415.*

Courtesy: Huffington Post

In light of the recent disappointments in Ohio (i.e. The Orange Bowl, the Bengals losing to the Chargers, and OSU losing to MSU last night), I thought this would be an excellent time to take a look at the misery that is Ohio sports. It’s not easy being an Ohio sports fan. Whether it’s perpetually being in the bottom 5 of the league (the Browns), blowing every big game possible (The Buckeyes), to early playoff exits (The entire state of Ohio), these teams have found a way to disappoint Ohio sports fans year in and year out. Here’s a look at the history of the major sports teams in Ohio since 2006. Keep in mind that we do love our sports teams as much as any other state, we’re just starving for a championship from someone other than the Columbus Crew or the Columbus Destroyers.

2006:

• OSU Football: steam role through season, including beating #2 Michigan 42-39. Are embarrassed by Florida in National Championship game 41-14.
• OSU Basketball: Make incredible run in tournament only to lose to florida 75-84 in championship. Coincidentally, this is the same year that every Buckeye fan decided Florida was their second least favorite team. We all know who’s still first.
• Reds: finish 80-82.
• Indians: finish 78-84.
• Bengals: finish 8-8. Lose final three games of season to miss the playoffs..
• Browns: finish 4-12.
• Cavs: finish 50-32 and finally knock off Detroit in the Eastern semifinals. Swept by San Antonio in Finals.

2007:

• OSU Football: lose second straight National Championship 24-38 to LSU.
• OSU Basketball: CHAMPIONS!!!!…of the NIT tournament.
• Reds: finish 72-90.
• Indians: finish 96-66. Lose to Boston in NLCS 4 games to 3 after being up 3 games to 1.
• Bengals: finish 7-9.
• Browns: finish 10-6 yet fail to make playoffs. A win in week 16 against Bengals would have clinched the spot, but lost 19-14. Then needed Titans to lose to Colts, but the Colts sat Peyton Manning and the Titans ended up making the playoffs on a tiebreaker.
• Cavs: finish 45-37. Lose to Boston 4 games to 3 in Eastern Semis

2008:

• OSU Football: lose 21-24 to Texas in Fiesta Bowl. In prime position for the upset before giving up a touchdown with 16 seconds left.
• OSU Basketball: lose 72-74 in OT to Siena in first round of tournament.
• Reds: finish 74-88.
• Indians: finish 81-81.
• Bengals: finish 4-11-1.
• Browns: finish 4-12. Romeo Crennel is fired.
• Cavs: finish 66-16. Lose to Orlando 4 games to 2 in Eastern Semis

2009:

• OSU Football: defeat Oregon 26-17 in Rose Bowl. Yes! We have something to celebrate about!
• OSU Basketball: lose 73-76 to Tennessee in Sweet Sixteen.
• Reds: finish 78-84.
• Indians; finish 65-97.
• Bengals: finish 10-6 lose in first round of playoffs to Jets 24-14.
• Browns: finish 5-11.
• Cavs: finish 61-21. Mike Brown is fired and Lebron James leaves for Miami.

2010:

• OSU Football: avoid second half meltdown, defeat Arkansas 31-26. We have something else to celebrate about! Just kidding. Win is later vacated and scandal comes out. Jim Tressel resigns.
• OSU Basketball: Projected the top team to win the tournament but lose to Kentucky in Sweet Sixteen 60-62.
• Reds: finish 91-71. Are swept by the Phillies in the first round, having the first and only no-hitter in postseason history thrown against them by Roy Halladay.
• Indians: finish 69-93.
• Bengals: finish 4-12.
• Browns: finish 5-11. Eric Mangini is fired
• Cavs: finish 19-63

2011:

• OSU Football: finish 6-7, including a lost to the Gators AGAIN. We get Urban though so that’s a plus.
• OSU Basketball: lose to Kansas 62-64 in final four.
• Reds: finish 79-83.
• Indians: finish 80-82.
• Bengals: finish 9-7. Lose in first round to Texans 31-10
• Browns: finish 4-12 including losing their last 6 games.
• Cavs: finish 21-45.

2012:

• OSU Football: go undefeated which amounts to nothing because of the bowl ban.
• OSU Basketball: end season on 8 game win-streak, including winning the B1G tournament and defeating #1 ranked Indiana on Indiana’s senior night. Run is abruptly ended by losing to NINTH-SEEDED Wichita State in the elite eight, 66-70.
• Reds: finish 97-65. Lose to Giants 3 games to 2 in the NLDS and become the first and only team to be up 2-0 and lose all three remaining games. Oh, and did I mention that all three of those games were at HOME!?
• Indians: finish 68-94.
• Bengals: finish 10-6. Lose in first round to Texans 31-10.
• Browns: finish 5-11. Pat Shurmer is fired.
• Cavs: finish 24-58.

2013:

• OSU Football: lose to MSU 24-34 in B1G championship game, lose to Clemson 35-40 in Orange Bowl.
• OSU Basketball: Maybe this will be the year.
• Reds: finish 90-72. End the season on 5 straight losses (including a 3-game sweep to Pittsburgh), and are embarrassed in the one-game playoff to Pittsburgh, losing 6-2.
• Indians: Improbable Indians team finishes 92-70 under new manager Terry Francona, including going 21-6 in September and winning their last 10 games of the regular season. Indians abruptly lose in wild card game to Rays 4-0 in front of home crowd.
• Bengals: finish 11-5. Lost to Chargers 10-27 in first round of playoffs. Extend playoff victory drought to 23 years.
• Browns: finish 4-12. Trade away former 3rd overall pick Trent Richardson after just 3rd game of season. Rod Chudzinski is fired.
• Cavs: As of the day this article is posted, the Cavs are 12-23. Things are looking up now though since Bynum is out and Deng is in!

Obviously this doesn’t capture everything bad that has happened in the past seven years, but it gives those outside of Ohio a better look at what we’ve had to deal with. And I know, I know, we have been blessed with sports on the whole. Ohio State is consistently a powerhouse in basketball and football, there were some great years in Cleveland with the Cavs, and lately the Reds Indians and Bengals have all been competitive. It’s not like our teams are absolutely horrible (outside of the Browns), but rather they find new ways to rip our hearts every year. I will never stop loving Ohio sports, and I will never stop watching, but I think I speak for every sports fan in Ohio when I say WE NEED A CHAMPIONSHIP!