At first, Jesus Serrano gave his wife a hip fake worthy of Leroy Kelly or Greg Pruitt.When we were sweethearts, I asked him, Are you into any sports? Edna Serrano recalled. And he was like, No, not really.It wasnt until they were married that Edna discovered her husbands idea of heaven was a weekend in Cleveland. Hes a Browns fan to the core, a connoisseur of Bernie Kosar, Ozzie Newsome, Frank Minnifield and Hanford Dixon. He still feels the pain of Brian Sipes playoff interception and Earnest Byners fumble in the 660s and Art Modells treachery in the 90s.None of that would be unusual if Jesus had grown up in Canton or Cuyahoga Falls, but he grew up some 2,300 miles southwest of old Cleveland Municipal Stadium -- in Mexico City. While his friends were playing and talking futbol, Serrano was following American football.Almost four decades after first adopting the team, Serrano, 45, is more immersed in the Browns and Cleveland than ever. Hes in his third year as a season-ticket holder and takes his entire family -- Edna, 12-year-old son Juan Pablo and 8-year-old daughter Valantina -- to multiple games a year at FirstEnergy Stadium. He has been to 35 Browns games in all, including road stops in Pittsburgh, Dallas and New Jersey, and has had the thrill of meeting Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown.This year, with the Browns even more hapless than usual -- flirting with 0-16 -- the Serranos have continued to keep the faith and flown to five games. Theyre sad they had to miss this past Sundays game vs. the Bengals and will miss the Christmas Eve game against the Chargers because of Juan Pablos test schedule and a long-planned holiday family vacation. But no matter where the Serranos are during the final three contests of the season, theyll be watching. Even Browns exhibition games are must-see TV for the family.Jesus Serrano admits it isnt easy being a Browns fan. Hes still waiting for their first Super Bowl, this is their ninth consecutive losing season and they havent been in the playoffs since 2002. Their carousel of coaches, quarterbacks and failed No. 1 picks keeps spinning to a circus tune.I wont lie to you if I tell you its been hard, he said. But I guess whenever you are a fan for a team, you become part of that team, and thats what happened to me.How it all beganOne room of the Serranos home in León, about 250 miles northwest of Mexico City, is dedicated to the Browns. The walls are covered with autographed jerseys, pennants, photos and Dawg Pound signs. Shelves are filled with footballs and other collectibles, along with items from the Indians and Cavaliers, the familys other adopted Cleveland teams.The next thing going up will be a jersey autographed by Pruitt, the big-play running back and kick returner who was a four-time Pro Bowler for the Browns in the 1970s. The Serranos met him at their most recent game in Cleveland, Nov. 27 against the Giants.It was because of Pruitt -- in a roundabout way -- that a 7-year-old kid in Mexico City became a Browns fan.Serranos father returned from a business trip with a souvenir for his son: a Pruitt-autographed football. His father wasnt a sports fan and knew nothing about the Browns. But he had seen his boy latch onto the NFL, so he brought him the ball. It was a random gift with a profound impact.I was talking to my father, and I was telling him, Do you realize all the things you created just with a football? Serrano said of a recent conversation. Thats the beautiful and the strange part of everything, right?Just like that, the Browns were his team.By the time he was 10, Serrano got a taste of what was in store. In a divisional playoff game in Cleveland against Oakland in January 61, the Browns trailed 14-12 with less than a minute remaining but had reached the Raiders 13-yard line. The Browns could have run the ball to set up a game-winning field goal. Instead, Sipe, who was the NFL MVP that season, threw a pass toward Newsome that was intercepted in the end zone. Game over. The Raiders not only won the game, they went on to win the Super Bowl.I remember myself crying, Serrano said.He also recalls the crushing losses to the Denver Broncos in the 1980s (The Drive spearheaded by John Elway) and (The Fumble by Byner) AFC Championship Games.Since the Cleveland franchise was reborn in 1999 after Modell took his team to Baltimore to become the Ravens in 1996, the Browns have had fewer of those heart-crushing losses, simply because theyve been consistently bad, making the playoffs just once.Serrano said he gave up on the NFL in the years Cleveland was without a team, and he was joyful when the Browns returned.It had always been a long-distance romance until eight years ago, when Serrano finally flew to Cleveland for his first game, against the Steelers.I was in tears that day, he said.After that, he tried to get to two to three games a year until he bought season tickets three years ago. (The Browns said he is one of only three season-ticket holders who live outside the U.S. and Canada.) The seats are good: Section 334 in the Club Level, near midfield.Now, several weekends a year, the family packs up and heads to the airport on Friday, flies to Cleveland -- usually with a layover in Dallas, Houston or Atlanta and a trip through customs -- and spends Friday night and Saturday seeing the sights. Theyll go to an Indians or Cavs game, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the zoo or other attractions and find new restaurants and return to favorites. Sunday is game day, with everyone wearing Browns jerseys and hats, and the flight home is Monday.Serrano has his own accounting firm in Mexico City (he commutes there from León, too, at least once a week), so he can control his schedule.Yet its an enormous investment of time and money. He estimates its an $8,000-$9,000 bill each trip to Cleveland. And for what? This isnt the Patriots; its the Browns. Is it worth it?Yes, its worth it 100 percent, because this is the thing that has united us as a family, Serrano said.Added Edna: Its not only to attend the game, but its the time to share with family, doing things together, talk. Every time I go there, I like to think we are celebrating life.Edna, who once was so surprised to have learned shed married an NFL fan, said shes now a partner in crime to her husbands Browns addiction.The most fervent fan in the family, however, might be Juan Pablo. He admitted it can be frustrating to travel eight or more hours just to see his team lose, but he cant get enough of being at FirstEnergy Stadium. He tries to get autographs and savor the atmosphere before, during and after games.Its incredible, Juan Pablo said. All the people are shouting. Its a great experience.By now, the Serranos feel at home in Cleveland. Theyve become friends with fans near their seats and know the people at hotels and restaurants.The city has embraced us in a wonderful way, Jesus said.I bleed brown and orangeWhile soccer is king in Mexico, American football has a growing fan base there. The NFL estimates it has more than 20 million fans in Mexico. Several games per week are televised in the country, and fans such as the Serranos can buy DirecTVs Sunday Ticket package to watch the teams of their choice.Serrano has many friends who are NFL fans and said about 40 percent of his sons schoolmates follow the league, too.Like any fan, Serrano questions some of the moves the Browns make, and he suffers as he watches them lose, in person or on TV. But he believes the Browns will one day win a Super Bowl. Even now, with an 0-13 record, he thinks the team is just one or two players away from turning things around.We have all the patience in the world, he said.Does he ever wish his dad had brought him a ball signed by a Cowboy, a Steeler or a Packer, just so he could have enjoyed a championship now and then?No. I have to tell you that, he said. I bleed brown and orange. Green Adidas Outdoor Shoes . The Browns coaching search remains incomplete. Adidas Outdoor Shoes . Pierce was ejected in the third quarter of Indianas 103-86 win Monday. George Hill stole a bad pass and was going in for a layup, and Pierce hustled back and appeared to be trying to wrap him up. http://www.cheapadidasoutdoorshoes.com/ . Robinson finished with 17 points, all but two in the second half, and Lawson had 14 after halftime and finished with a game-high 11 assists as the Nuggets handed Dallas its first home loss in eight games this season. J.J. Hickson led Denver with 22, and Kenneth Faried added 10 points and 10 rebounds. Blue Adidas Outdoor Shoes .ca NBA Power Rankings, ahead of the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs. Red Adidas Outdoor Shoes . Luis Suarezs double powered Liverpool to a 4-0 victory over Fulham, and Southampton easily overcame Hull 4-1 to continue the south coast clubs impressive start to the season. Liverpool and Southampton sent Chelsea down to fourth place as the west London club was held to 2-2 at home.Ive watched TSNs Kraft Celebration Tour for years. Ive seen the yelling, howling and screaming from the fans that showed up at these venues from coast to coast. But like millions of Canadians, I never got a chance to watch it live until Sunday. The tour came to Bridgewater on the south shore of Nova Scotia - about an hour from Halifax. I live 25 minutes away from Bridgewater in a place called Liverpool, so I took the opportunity to see for myself what the real deal was. And oh my, theres so much that the TV broadcast doesnt show. Now the production on Sunday was the very first time that a broadcast team (Rod Smith and Kate Beirness) did back-to-back shows in the history of this event. The pattern is usually the Western Canadian stop (with Jennifer Hedger and Darren Dutchyshen), followed the Eastern Canadian stop and so forth. But this year, the Western crew did the show from way up north in Fort Smith in the Northwest Territories. With the distance they had to travel with all the gear and equipment by truck and bus, it made more sense to have the Eastern crew do back-to-back shows. And there was a LOT of gear, as five trucks were needed to carry the TSN set and all that Kraft Tour paraphernalia. Now Rod and Kate finished in Morell, PEI on Saturday evening, boarded the bus and hit the road to touch down in Bridgewater around 2am on Sunday. And the crews for the tour usually have more than a day to get the next show ready. Not this time. "We usually set up some the day before or have most of it ready and on the day of the event do the rest," a crew staffer told me. But this was not the case in Bridgewater. Here, the crew got up early Sunday morning to set up and with an hour to go was still working on the set. And there are a lot of people involved with this prodigious production. It takes 40-50 people to do this, along with 100 volunteers from the area to help with the banners and make the signs - a lot of planning and lots of work to be done in a very short time. All those exhibits - the puck shooting game, the basketball hoops, the booths and other TSN-Kraft material - just dont appear, it takes many to do the work and they consume a lot of time. But the showcase piece of the tour is the SportsCentre set. And that in itself takes hours to prepare. It gets put up and taken down in one day, so every conceivable check and measure is done to ensure that its totally ready for the live broadcast. Cameramen focusing camera lens. Audio feeds and microphone chords being set up. All this and pre-show tests that still have to be done. It has to be done to perfection. Remember, this is a live show. It has to be done right or youll spot the mistakes right away. I arrived four hours before the on-air time and there were already a few hundred people. And that swelled to over 2,000 by showtime. "It was a terrific turnout for a small town - we were impressed," the public relations person told me. Rod and Kate were in the show planning meeting when I got there, but were happy to meet up with me afterwards. Im accustomed to seeing Rod in a suit, so it was a surprise seeing him and Kate were wearing more casual Kraft Celebration Tour T-Shirts. For Rod, Morell was his first ever tour expperience and an awesome eye-opener.dddddddddddd "Its everything that Ive heard about and more," he said. "This is just great. Morell on Saturday and Bridgewater today (Sunday) - its a great Canadian small town experience that I would probably never get. The people, their energy, and the enthusiasm is terrific. I like small town Canada and to be able to go to Kinsmen Field and run a few football plays was such an experience." And Kinsmen Field received $25,000 from Kraft - the reason that Bridgewater entered the competition for the Kraft Celebration tour. "The field has a serious drainage problem," explained Rod. "The money will help. It hasnt rained around here in two weeks and the field is still soggy." Kate, his co-host, and is already a veteran of the tour. "Ive been doing this for three summers and Im still amazed as to what happens," she said. "Here it is, hours before the show starts and there are hundreds of people. Theres going to be a thousand by air time, maybe more - amazing." Kate is a real competitive gal. She and Rod went fishing for Mackerel in PEI and emphatically said, "Rod caught two but I caught three," with a smile. She also took a series of pigskin passes from Rod and I must say the lady can catch. "Its so great to go into towns across Canada and highlight something that is important to them, thats terrific," said Kate. As for working with the Rod the Tour rookie? "Hes a real pro and a trooper," she said. And Rod was effusive in his praise about her, saying, "Shes dynamite and really knows her stuff." The idea of Bridgewater applying for the Tour started a year ago, when John Peters saw the show on television and said, "We should apply for this." And after finding a good cause to vouch for, he joined with the Bridgewater minor football program and decided to write a letter to TSN (And the minor football program was highlighted with kids around the SportsCentre set Sunday dressed in blue jerseys). A call later from TSN told Peters that they made the Top 20 places and they were matched against the town of Windsor, Nova Scotia in the 24-hour run off. "We called and got great cooperation from the local radio stations (CKBW and HANK-FM)," he told me. "We used Twitter, Facebook and other social media to get the word out and to get people all over Canada to vote for us." And it worked, as some 223,000 votes came in and made Bridgewater the winner. Local radio morning man Mike Richards summed it up very well when he said, "It was a terrific day for the South Shore of Nova Scotia and Bridgewater. Its a great community event and to think that over 2,000 people attended in this small town is spectacular." When I first saw this tour years ago, I thought it was the best thing Ive ever seen on TSN. It puts people whove watched this network - since its inception in 1984 - in touch with them. I still feel this way and after experiencing the Tour live, Im even stronger in my belief. Theres nothing like it in sports television. This is pure Canadianna. For TSN.ca, Im Alex J. Walling. Alex J. can be reached via email at: ajw@eastlink.ca China NFL Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Online Stitched Hockey Jerseys Wholesale Baseball Jerseys Football Jerseys Outlet College Jerseys For Sale Cheap MLB Jerseys Wholesale Soccer Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys For Sale Wholesale NFL Jerseys ' ' '