Written by Thomas Moore

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So 2012 has come and gone without another championship from any of Cleveland’s teams.

While there were no titles to celebrate, there were still plenty of stories, from firings to trades, to too many losses and too few wins.

Let's take a look at the year in Cleveland sports, starting with the first quarter of the year.

The Cleveland Browns opened the new year in predictable fashion, dropping the season’s final game against Pittsburgh by a score of 13-9. While it wasn’t as bad as the previous year, when the Browns lost 41-9 to the Steelers, the loss ended Pat Shurmur’s first year as coach with a 4-12 record.

The end of the season also led the Browns to continue their decade-long quest to find a quarterback. In an NFL that has turned into a passing man’s game, Colt McCoy and Seneca Wallace were no longer going to cut it. Coach Pat Shurmur also finally realized that having an offensive coordinator on the staff is kind of important.

A few days after the season ended, Browns team president Mike Holmgren and general manager Tom Heckert held their season-ending press conference (little did they know it would be the final one for each of them) and told Browns fans to Keep Calm while the team Carried On.

Heading into the NFL playoffs, Browns fans were left to wonder why everyone else gets to have all the fun.

With the Browns needing a new quarterback, speculation turned inexplicably to the team acquiring Arizona’s Kevin Kolb, which would have left the Browns on the road to nowhere.

Steven Gerrard reminded fans that he is still the anti-LeBron as Liverpool’s captain signed a contract to remain with his boyhood team.

Even though it was only January, it’s never too early to talk about what the Browns should do in the draft.

One of the weirdest days in Cleveland sports (and that is saying a lot) occurred when the news broke that Indians pitcher Fausto Carmona was really 31-year-old Roberto Hernandez Heredia.

Not to be outdone, Plain Dealer beat writer Tony Grossi took to Twitter to call Browns owner Randy Lerner a “pathetic figure” who is the most “irrelevant billionaire in the world.”

As the New England Patriots competed for a Super Bowl spot, it was a good time to remind fans outside of Cleveland that as good as Bill Belichick and Tom Brady are, they have a long way to go to match the duo of Paul Brown and Otto Graham.

The coaching blunders in the AFC and NFC Championship games left us wondering if anyone can really coach this game.

When the Detroit Tigers signed Prince Fielder to a $214 million contract, it lead some Tribe fans to become confused about the fact that the Dolans being unable to spend money is not the same thing as being unwilling to spend.

The news that The Plain Dealer had removed Tony Grossi from the Browns beat lead us to wonder why the media struggles so hard with using Twitter.

The Browns hired Brad Childress as offensive coordinator, although Pat Shurmur would still call the plays. Or something.

And we closed out the month by asking, “It’s Cleveland, what’s not to like?”

The start of February brought another Super Bowl appearance from Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots. And while we may have forgiven Belichick we will never forget what a mess he made of the Browns.

Not to be outdone by the Tigers, the Indians signed first baseman Casey Kotchman to a one-year contract.

Even though the NFL Draft was still more than two months away, the first rumblings about the Browns selecting RG3 started.

England’s John Terry was stripped of his captain’s band for the national team after charges of racially abusing QPR’s Anton Ferdinand, while Liverpool’s Luis Suárez was given an eight-game suspension for a verbal altercation with Manchester United’s Patrice Evra. That led us to wonder if English football is more racist than American sports.

As debate heated up over whether it would be better for the Cavs to make the playoffs as an eighth-seed or gain another lottery pick, injuries to Kyrie Irving and Anderson Varajeo effectively answered the question.

With NFL free agency on the horizon, speculation about what the Browns would (or would not) do began to heat up and general manager Tom Heckert pondered the D’Qwell Jackson Dilemma.

At the urging of Browns owner Randy Lerner, coach Pat Shurmur hosted Alex McLeish, manager of Aston Villa, for a few days in Berea to share ideas about player evaluation, scouting, rehab programs and training. Who says the Browns are never innovative?

With the Miami Heat in town for a game with the Cavs, LeBron James talked about possibly returning to Cleveland some day.

With Brad Childress in place as offensive coordinator, Browns coach Pat Shurmur and Childress prepared for the NFL Combine. Which raised legitimate questions over whether the offensive-minded duo could handle a talent like RG3 if the Browns drafted him.

Liverpool ended a six-year run without a trophy by winning the Carling Cup final against Cardiff. What? It’s still one more trophy than a Cleveland team lifted during 2012.

The Browns got busy in free agency, resigning linebacker D’Qwell Jackson to deal that included $19 million in guaranteed money.

March brought the news that Browns running back Peyton Hillis was considering retiring so he could become an International Man of Mystery.

The Browns continued to take care of their free agents, placing the franchise tag on kicker Phil Dawson.

The heat began to turn up on the Browns as it became clear the St. Louis Rams were willing to trade out of the No. 2 spot in the NFL Draft, opening the door for the Browns to play Let’s Make a Deal.

But it wasn’t RG3 that was going to solve the quarterback problems for the Browns, to some it was Green Bay backup quarterback Matt Flynn.

All the speculation about draft picks and free agency left us wondering if Browns fans were going to need a healthy dose of Prozac once it was all said and done.

The RG3 tease finally came to an end when the Washington Redskins mortgaged their future in a trade with St. Louis.

Free agency opened in the NFL and, because the Browns did not “do something” right away that apparently meant the season was over before it even began. While the Browns may not have made the kind of moves that generate headlines, they did add some much-needed depth to the defense.

And they dodged a bullet by not signing Matt Flynn and by not trading for Tim Tebow.

All the losing lead us to worry that Cleveland sports fans were finally at the breaking point.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton and several of his assistants for their alleged role in the team’s bounty program. The probe would eventually envelope Browns linebacker Scott Fujita, who spent the majority of the year working to clear his name.

After the popular site UniWatch announced a contest to rebrand the Cleveland Indians, we (figuratively) sat down with UniWatch founder Paul Lukas and weekend editor Phil Hecken for a Q&A on the state of Cleveland’s uniforms.

With RG3 out of the picture, the Browns were left to ponder what they would do with the first of their two first-round draft picks.

Not wanting the Browns to hog all the attention, the Indians optioned Lonnie Chisenhall and Matt LaPorta to Columbus as the end of spring training loomed on the horizon.

Coming tomorrow: The Browns make some surprising moves on draft day, the Indians get off to a nice start, and we talk Celtic football with a Cleveland fan.

(Photo by ClevelandBrowns.com)