No, I’m not writing about movies any longer through a series of unfortunate of events.  However, I am lucky in that I get to begin my career anew by writing about my other passion - sports.

People who learned what I did for a living often asked me if I ever got tired of writing about movies.  Like any job, there were moments when I wish I was doing something else.  My theory about movies is that there exists six basic plots and I’ve seen them all hundreds of times over.  As much as I love the work of certain directors and actors, even they couldn’t keep the job totally interesting and satisfying.  Would I be a movie critic again?  Heck yes.  Because there are times when one really terrific films makes up for all the drek you have to sit through.

But the one thing I noticed in my 12 years of writing about film was that they were having a lot less of an emotional impact on me.  It’s time for me to feel again.  Like many of those who grew up in Northeast Ohio, I was nurtured on my relatives’ memories of Jim Brown, Leroy Kelly and Bill Nelson.  Growing up I would get my own memories from trekking out to Lakeland Community College in Lake County to see the likes of Kosar, Slaughter, Mack, Byner and Brennan.  I remember Red Right 88.  I was there to see the Browns make an improbable comeback against the New York Jets in a playoff game that went into double overtime.  I saw The Drive the following week and cried with the rest of Cleveland.

I spent a summer with The Cleveland Indians learning what I could about the business of Major League Baseball at the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium and, of course, what person my age doesn’t remember two World Series’ heartbreaks after so many years of suffering.  As for the Cleveland Cavaliers.  Think: Miracle of Richfield.  Now we seemingly have our next miracle in LeBron James.

Until he came along the only whiff of a championship we got here in Ohio came courtesy of the Ohio State Buckeyes in that unexpected run to the National Championship in 2002.  Now they appear headed in that direction again. 

In this space, I’ll rant and rave.  Scream and cry and hopefully, in the process write something that makes sense to some of you out there.  I hope you enjoy it or loathe it.  Just read it.