Check out this characterization by former Plain Dealer reporter Mark Gillispie, who last month joined the Associated Press. In reporting on Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald’s proposal to divvy up some of the recently-renewed sin tax funds on the basis of the local franchises’ on-field results, Gillespie nutshells our local football team thusly:

The Browns? It’s arguable, perhaps likely, that the Browns are the most loved and most reviled of all the professional franchises in Cleveland. Love and hate. Hope and despair. If the Browns ever wanted to put something on the bare sides of their orange helmets, the Chinese symbol for yin and yang might get a few votes.

A Sunday in Cleveland during the NFL season is a time to pray and wonder why God hates the Browns and its fans. Yet Sunday after Sunday, diehards sit in front of their televisions or squeeze into expensive seats at FirstEnergy Stadium and typically suffer the consequences. 

Is this post-PD catharsis, or does this kind of writing score him points with his new employer? Maybe Gillispie can pitch a piece to the AP’s religion desk and get to the root of God’s antipathy. As if speculating on a helmet logo weren’t sacrilege enough.