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CLEVELAND (AP) -From a distance, the glowing orange billboard appears to be just another advertisement from a local company trying to lure customers.
But as you approach Cleveland Browns Stadium along the West Shoreway, which skirts the northern edge of downtown and Lake Erie's southern shores, the enormous sign delivers a jolting message stuffed with surprising optimism for this championship-deprived city.
It reads: "THERE'S ALWAYS THIS YEAR."
Welcome to Cleveland, where the glass isn't half full or empty - it's usually shattered.
The Browns, though, coming off a surprising 10-6 season and with a high-powered offense capable of scoring on anyone from anywhere, have their fans in a frenzy.
A city that has only watched the previous 42 Super Bowls on TV and hasn't celebrated a major sports title since 1964 is dreaming of finally seeing its beloved team in the NFL's showcase event.
Or at least getting to the playoffs.
Optimism, a tough concept for many Clevelanders to grasp, is running rampant.
"It's great that everyone here is so fired up," center Hank Fraley said a few days after the Browns drew more than 25,000 to a practice at the stadium. "We still have to go out there and prove ourselves. We didn't do anything last year."
Oh, but they did. Although the Browns, who went just 10-22 in coach Romeo Crennel's first two seasons barely missed making the playoffs in his third, they awakened a proud franchise that had been dead for nearly a decade.
Since their expansion return in 1999, the Browns have made the postseason just once (2002) and have undergone endless turnover on their roster, coaching staff and in their front office. Toss in some horrendous draft picks, costly and freakish injuries, and more than their share of gut-wrenching losses, and it's no wonder Cleveland had become an NFL wasteland.
"It's been rough around here," said kicker Phil Dawson, the lone player left from the Browns' 1999 rebirth.
Well, it appears the dark clouds have passed.
buckeyes1005 
