Most people know I have a passion for baseball, but I’m a fan of many other sports too. I was excited for the upcoming Olympic Games. I love watching basketball — college more than the NBA. I love watching hockey, golf, and I’m a huge fan of football as well.

My favorite teams are well-known to many. I’m a fan of the Cleveland Indians in the MLB, Notre Dame and Ohio State in college football, the Buffalo Sabres in the NHL, and the Cleveland Browns of the NFL. I loved coaching both baseball/softball, on youth, travel, and school modified and high school levels, and football in the JAMFL, and modified level, coaching 13 years at Washington Middle School with my friend, and football mentor, Fred Natarelli.

I enjoy attending games on all levels, though sitting in cold weather has become something I can do without, which is why I don’t attend many NFL games anymore. The way baseball starts so early now, I may be eliminating some early-season baseball games soon, preferring the warmth of my living room as opposed to the 30-degree temperatures we live in here.

Not to worry though, I still get my fix of college football, on television, on Saturdays, and also in the atmosphere of Waddington’s Tavern on Sundays, where the Browns Backers of Jamestown meet to cheer on the Browns and raise money for some philanthropic efforts which have become a part of our mission statement for the past 10 years.

Our backers group, a charter member of the Browns Backers Worldwide, has donated over $25,000 to many local groups and causes. We have a membership that reached 45 backers this past season, and we’re looking for more to become dues-paying members.

Our group was “born” in 1999, when the Browns returned to the NFL after a previous owner moved the franchise to a city in Maryland. Our president back then was John Miraglia, who organized the group, who annually applied for, and renewed our charter, who found us a place to watch games as a group, and who always made sure we had something to nosh during the game. John stepped down as President about 11 years ago, and I was honored to be the one who tried to fill his shoes, an arduous task to say the least. Unfortunately, John unexpectedly passed away at the beginning of this year, but he will always be remembered, by me, as a great guy, the founder of the Backers of Jamestown, and my friend.

After reading Facebook posts from much larger groups of backers around the country, and seeing pictures of pre and/or after-season dinners and banquets many other groups host, featuring former and current Browns’ players. One of the items we discussed at our weekly in-season meetings was if we could put something like this together for our group too?

Question number one was, how can we bring special guests in, with the limited budget we are under? Other considerations were, what to serve, where could we hold it, how many tickets could we sell, and how can we do this as a social event, not a fundraiser?

Fortunately, we have an amazing membership who have some connections and were willing to pitch in and make this happen.

First task was getting special guests. One member of the Chautauqua Sports Hall Of Fame, Dave Graf , 1971 graduate of Dunkirk High School, was a member of the Cleveland Browns from 1975-79. With the help of Randy Anderson, I was able to contact Dave and ask if he’d like to join us. He readily agreed. Next, with the help of Jamestown High School Coach/Browns Backer, Dave Munella, I got contact information on George Lilja, a lineman for the Browns from 1984-86, currently living in Warren, Pa., working at Warren General Hospital. I contacted him, and he jumped at the opportunity to be there. And, oh yeah, this past season, we got to watch the second-ever player from Jamestown, JHS graduate, Stephen Carlson, sign with the brown and orange and was called up from the practice squad and play for the Cleveland Browns. Ironically, the other Jamestown/NFL player, Jim McKusker, finished his career on the shores of Lake Erie for the Browns.