Somewhere in the sprawling city of Melbourne, Australia, a modest United
States flag flies in a man's backyard.
The man is not an American.
But he is a fan of Cleveland.
When curious neighbors or onlookers ask Mark Pirak about his taste in flags,
he usually brushes the questions off politely. It's a long story, you wouldn't
understand, he often says, preferring not to go into detail.
There are any number of good reasons for the brush off. Time is a big one.
Time is of the essence to Pirak. Doctors have given him three months to live.
Cancer has spread into his bones.
His reticence to talk about the American flag, however, goes somewhat deeper
than his pending mortality. It goes to a defensive and prideful place that only
Clevelanders would fully understand.
How can Pirak, 50, a man who spent his life working in Australia's
hospitality industry, easily explain that the American flag reminds him of a
shrinking, Midwestern U.S. city that he adores and of the Cleveland Browns, a
perennial losing franchise that he worships?
How can he easily explain to other sports-obsessed Aussies that his undivided
sporting loyalty is to a franchise located 10,000 miles from home, a franchise
whose games are rarely broadcast in Australia?
How could he possibly hope to easily explain a long distance love affair that
invariably ends in sporting disappointments, like fumbles or
abandonment?
Pirak, you see, has been a Browns fan since 1986, the year he first visited
America. That's the year when he wrote to every team in the NFL and the Browns
were the only one to respond with tickets to a game. His love affair with
Cleveland was born on an October afternoon that saw the Browns lose to the Green
Bay Packers by a field goal. The team went 12-4 that year.
I Skyped with Pirak Thursday evening from the home of his best friend in
Cleveland, prominent restaurateur George Schindler. The two met in 1989 and have
grown as close as brothers. Schindler and his wife, Karen, are leaving Tuesday
for Australia for what is likely to be their last visit with their dear friend
and his family.
The point of our online video chat was to talk football. And Pirak is as
dialed in to the Browns as any caller you will hear on sports talk radio.
He was ready to talk about the Brown's current line. About the rookie
quarterback. About the rookie running back with the suspect knee. About Browns
history.
The only thing he didn't really want to talk about was deceased owner Art
Modell.
So how does an Aussie, on a 14-hour time difference, watch a Browns game,
anyway?
"That's easy," Pirak said with a smile.
"I get up at 3 on Monday morning, turn on my computer and stream it over the
Internet. I just have to hope that my connection stays good."
A man dying of cancer who gets up at 3 a.m. to follow the Browns over a
computer from Australia closely resembles the definition of the word fanatic. He
should be given serious consideration for fan, if not madman, of the year. His
is an uncommon devotion even among the most devoted NFL fan base in the
world.
But it's not just that Pirak closely follows the team. It's bigger than that.
He has a remarkable love and compassion for this town, a love one doesn't often
hear from those who don't claim native status.
"One of my last wishes is that the people of Cleveland will not have to wait
too much longer for what they deserve. The town and its fans deserve a
championship team. You just have to keep believing."
"I love the people there because they're friendly. But the one word that best
describes them is genuine. There's nothing false about them."
When Pirak's intestinal cancer was discovered in 2009, he was nearly dead and
didn't know it. Doctors removed a tumor the size of a pineapple. They thought
they had it all.
They didn't.
The cancer quickly spread to his bladder, his prostate and his bowels. Major
surgeries followed. He should have died, he said.
He didn't.
But now the cancer is in his bone marrow. His last hope is an experimental
treatment. It's a roll of the dice. He finds himself thrust into the realm of
miracles as his only hope.
Yet, despite his adversity, he talks about his Browns, and he smiles broadly.
His enthusiasm is a reminder of our powerful sporting brand that – despite a
long string of losing seasons -- still manages to unite and inspire people near
and far.
On a trip to Cleveland in 2010, Pirak met with a cancer specialist at
University Hospitals Ireland Cancer Center. When the physician asked how Pirak
felt, he responded with a line for the ages:
"I've been a Browns fan for 25 years. Do I really need to say more?"
No, he really doesn't. He's one of us.
http://www.cleveland.com/browns/
