Red Right 88

In Cleveland, hope dies last

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20 Jun 2011

Opportunities abound for Browns defense

Lots of interesting news swirling about some of Red Right 88’s favorite sports teams today.

First off, Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator Dick Jauron sat down with the Beacon Journal‘s Nate Ulrich for a Q & A and a few points stood out to us:

  • Jauron wants a physical defense: “We really need a to step up and be a very touch and physical team, not only throughout the whole league, but particularly in our division.”
  • What about the switch to a 4-3? “There are challenges. … The personnel mix is different. The numbers are different. There’s a lot of significant differences. It’ll take some work.
  • The team likes its linebackers – to a certain extent: “We’re really happy with … the starting three, the veteran three with Scott Fujita and Chris Gocong and D’Qwell Jackson. The front three, we’re depending on those guys, really, to play like the veterans they are … and hopefully stay healthy.”

For starters, what’s not to like about a physical defense? We’re so tired of watching the Browns get slapped around by other teams and their defense not being able to dish it back out (and not in the illegal Pittsburgh way).

The Browns need to be able to take a shot and give it back just as good – in the words of Al Swearengen: “Stand it like a man… and give some back” – especially in the division. They showed late in the 2009 season that if you stand up to teams like the Steelers you can get them to quit.

Next, rebuilding the defense is going to take time and patience – no matter how tired Browns fans are of hearing that.

In his book, Take Your Eye off the Ball, Pat Kirwan said it should two years to make the switch from a 3-4 to a 4-3 – if a team is smart about it. Teams generally have three to four players in their front seven with the skills that translate to the new defense. If the front office does its homework, a team can fill out the front seven in two drafts and one free agency period.

The Browns are on their way to rebuilding the front seven after drafting Phil Taylor and Jabaal Sheard to join Ahtyba Rubin on the defensive front. The front four the Browns should be modeling themselves after is Minnesota’s with Kevin Williams and Pat Williams at the tackle spots, and Jared Allen and Ray Edwards at the ends.

Taylor and Rubin can take up a lot of space in the middle, Sheard can hopefully put some pressure on the quarterback and the Ray Edwards role could be filled by … Ray Edwards, who is currently a free agent.

The linebackers do concern us, primarily because there is little depth behind the three players Jauron singled out. We saw what happened last season when Fujita went down with an injury; if any of those three go down again this year there’s not much on the bench to fill the void.

The only quibble we have with Jauron is his use of the word “challenging” – these are opportunities for the Browns, not challenges. The team has the opportunity to finally build a solid defense, one that isn’t an embarrassment against the run and one that can make the opposing offense react to the defense for a change.

And what’s not to like about that?

***

The magic was back at Progressive Field this weekend as the Cleveland Indians swept Pittsburgh.

Cord Phelps sealed the deal on Sunday with a three-run homer in extra innings.

We have to feel bad for Justin Masterson, though. Masterson gave up two runs in the first inning then combined with pretty much the entire bullpen to hold the Pirates scoreless for the next 10 innings. But Masterson walked away with a no decision.

The bullpen has not allowed a run in 22 2/3 innings over seven games.

Masterson, who is now 5-5 with a 3.18 ERA on the season, hasn’t earned a win since April 26. In that 10-start stretch, he is 0-5 with an ERA under 4.00 and has allowed two or fewer earned runs seven times.

He must have done something wrong, because the Tribe has scored all of 20 runs in Masterson’s last 10 starts.

It was nice to see the Indians right the ship, even if it is only temporary and was just against the Pirates. While you can’t count on the Tribe to sweep, they do need to get back into the habit of winning series so that they can start rebuilding their record.

Much like we pondered a few days ago about what the Indians should do with Fausto Carmona, Terry Pluto presented some scary numbers about Carmona in today’s Plain Dealer. According to the article:

  • Carmona’s ERA is the highest of any regular starting pitcher in the American League
  • Carmona allows 40 percent of baserunners to score, also the highest rate among AL starting pitchers
  • Carmona has already given up 14 home runs (in just 91.2 innings pitched) compared to just 17 (in 210.1 innings) last year.

Depressed yet?

The good news is the Tribe has options,with Jeanmar Gomez and Zach McAllister pitching well in the minors. If Carmona or Mitch Talbot continue to struggle, one of them could be moved to the bullpen to make room for Gomez or McAllister.

If the team does have to make a decision between Carmona or Talbot, it will be interesting to see how much salary (Carmona makes $6.2 million vs. $431,000 for Talbot) will play into the decision.

***

The U.S. Men’s National Team finally played a solid game, beating Jamaica 2-0 to advance to Wednesday’s semifinal of the Gold Cup, where they will get a rematch with Panama.

The Americans were aggressive again on offense and were rewarded for their efforts with goals by Jermaine Jones and Clint Dempsey.

The bad news was Jozy Altidore left nine minutes into the game with a hamstring injury and, after the game, U.S. coach Bob Bradley said he didn’t know what Altidore’s status would be for the remainder of the tournament.

But that’s a concern for another day. For now, it’s good to see the team have its best game of the tournament heading into the semis and raise our hopes for a final date with Mexico next Saturday.

***

Oh yeah, the NBA Draft is this week. The Cavs are playing it close to the vest about what they plan to do with the first and fourth picks in the first round.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Indians, Gold Cup, United States | Leave a comment
08 Jun 2011

Slumping Indians look for reinforcements

Welcome to the big leagues, Cord Phelps.

The struggling, slumping, sinking Cleveland Indians – losers of 11 of their last 15 – finally made a move, reaching into the minor leagues and promoting Phelps.

Phelps will platoon at second base with Orlando Cabrera.

“The kid’s going to get an opportunity to play, and we’re going to have to see if he’ll take advantage of it,” Indians manager Manny Acta said in published reports. “For now, he’s going to play second base, and we’re going to give him the opportunity to play the majority of times against right-handed pitching.

“Orlando’s been there, done that. You can’t rule out Orlando coming back and playing every day. But this kid deserved a shot based on the way he’s played the last two years at Columbus.”

Phelps batted .299 with seven homers, 40 RBI and 31 runs at Columbus, playing shortstop (28 games) and second base (13 games).

Phelps got the start on Wednesday and fit right in with the current offense, going 0-for-4 in his debut.

“You’ve got to earn it,” Phelps told The Plain Dealer. “I was a little nervous at the start, but that’s to be expected. Overall, I felt pretty good. It was exciting.”

The Tribe is currently in a woeful offensive slump. In their last six games they have only scored eight total runs and barely avoided being swept by the last-place Minnesota Twins. Pretty much everyone not named Michael Brantley or Asdrubal Cabrera is struggling right now and it limits what Acta can do.

Look at the batting averages in Wednesday’s lineup: Grady Sizemore (.256), Carlos Santana (.228), Shin-Soo Choo (.240), Matt LaPorta (.240), Jack Hannahan (.231) and Lou Marson (.207).

The manager can move people around in the batting order all he wants, but if no one is hitting it doesn’t make much difference.

Phelps clearly isn’t going to turn the team around by himself, but at least the Tribe did something to try and right the ship.

The move certainly can’t make things any worse than they currently are.

***

Even though the NFL lockout is still going on, that doesn’t mean Browns general manager Tom Heckert isn’t thinking about all the things he can do once the league comes to its senses.

All the extra time has made him more prepared than ever for free agency – whenever it begins.

Most importantly, the Browns:

  • Will not trade for Eagles quarterback Kevin Kolb: ”You can dispel that,” Heckert said. ”We’re not trading for a quarterback. That one I’ll say.”
  • Will not look to sign Plaxico Burress, late of the New York state penal system.
  • Will look for a free safety: “Right now, Mike Adams is penciled in as a guy who’s going to play almost all safety for us, but we’ll see,” Heckert said. “There’s a few guys in free agency and we’ll see what happens with the undrafted rookies, so we still have a couple of options out there.”
  • Haven’t closed the door on fullback Lawrence Vickers: “It’s hard to tell,” Heckert said. “We didn’t really have a chance to talk to him once free agency started because of the rules. It never started. We’ll have to make all of those decisions once everything opens up.”
  • Haven’t decided what to do with quarterback Jake Delhomme: “Whenever the thing opens up, we’ll sit down with Jake and talk to him and decide what’s the best for him and for our organization,” Heckert said. “We have to wait until that happens.”

Knowing all that certainly makes it easier for us to sleep at night.

***

Check out this cool graphic showing NBA titles represented by championship rings.

(h/t Uni Watch)

***

Finally, our post on the U.S. opening game win over Canada in the Gold Cup is up at MLS Talk. Be sure to check it out.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians, Gold Cup, slumping offense, United States | Leave a comment
06 Jun 2011

Flashes can’t hook the Horns

The Kent State baseball team finally ran out of steam in the 100 degree heat on Monday, losing to Texas to miss out on the first visit to the Super Regionals in school history.

The Golden Flashes had two chances to advance, but lost to the host Longhorns, the No. 5 team in the nation, Sunday night, forcing Monday’s winner-take-all game, which Texas won, 5-0.

Kent made the Longhorns use six pitchers in the shutout, including their top two starters, but couldn’t break through against any of them.

“We’re disappointed to be in the position that we are in,” said KSU coach Scott Stricklin. “To have to be beat twice, it’s tough to handle, it really is. We felt like we were in good shape, and we were. We had a chance to be in both games, and we just couldn’t come up with the big hit. A lot of credit obviously goes to Texas’ defense and its pitching.”

The Flashes ended the season 45-17, becoming just the second team in school history to reach the 45-win mark, joining the 1992 team at the top of the school’s rankings.

They are ranked No. 24 in the nation, earned a No. 3 seed in the national tournament for the first time in school history, won their 11th MAC regular season title and ninth tournament title (their third in a row) and are the first team to win the regular-season and tournament titles in the same year since 2005.

And to think they did it without cheating or lying.

***

So linebacker Matt Roth is resigned to leaving the Browns as a free agent?

Don’t let the door hit you on the way out of town.

We’re sure the Browns can find a way to replace the personal fouls and silly penalties Roth committed on a regular basis last year (on second thought, let’s hope they don’t).

And there’s no doubt they can live without his 3.5 sacks (2 against Cincinnati in one game, 1.5 the remaining 15 games of the season).

Roth is one of those players who thinks he is better than he is; so if this is the end, farewell.

The Browns will be fine without him.

***

Now that Plaxico Burress is out of prison, people are going to try and put the Browns as one of the teams that should sign the wide receiver.

While there’s little doubt the team needs help at receiver, we just don’t see Burress as the answer.

He’s a 34-year-old receiver that hasn’t played the game in two years and who hasn’t actually been in a situation where he could stay in game shape. We remember when Jamal Lewis was released from prison reading stories about how prison diets are intentionally loaded with the types of foods that keep inmates sluggish.

And with training camps most likely going to be shortened this year because of the ongoing lockout, the last thing the Browns need is to wait for Burress to work himself into shape.

With a rookie head coach in Pat Shurmur and a second-year quarterback in Colt McCoy running the offense, the Browns don’t fit what would appear to be the right situation for Burress.

We just don’t see him as being worth the effort for this team right now.

***

Spain definitely taught the U.S. a lesson over the weekend in its 4-0 beating in a friendly at Gillette Stadium.

“Spain is a great team,” U.S. coach Bob Bradley said. “It is a tough test to play them any time. We have always chosen to take these kind of challenges and to play the best teams and it is the best way, to see what the game at the highest level is like, and to improve.

“When you challenge yourself against the best teams, you have to expect difficult moments. If we couldn’t handle that, we wouldn’t play them.”

The U.S. opens group play in the Gold Cup on Tuesday against Canada, which should be a good cure for any hangover from the Spain game. The two teams haven’t played each other since 2007. Canada washed out at the qualifying stage for last year’s World Cup and the Canadians are not exactly a powerhouse.

With the tournament being held at home, the U.S. team has a good chance to right itself and build on some of the public attention it received during last year’s run in the World Cup.

Let’s hope they are quick studies.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Gold Cup, Kent State, United States | Leave a comment
03 Jun 2011

Indian Fever goes national

The rest of the country is about to be swept up in Indian fever, as three upcoming Indians games have been picked for a national TV slot.

Fox will televise the Indians game at San Francisco on June 25 and the July 2 game at Cincinnati in its Saturday national telecast position.

ESPN will feature the Tribe and Giants on June 26 in its Sunday night slot.

Get ready for plenty of references to Willie Mays and Dusty Rhodes, Cleveland.

***

Kent State won its opening game in the Austin Regional of the NCAA Championship on Friday, beating Texas State in extra innings.

The Golden Flashes won 4-2 as pinch hitter Jason Bagoly came through with an RBI single in the top of the 11th inning.

The 24th-ranked Golden Flashes (44-15) advances to Saturday’s regional semifinal, where they will face the winner of the Texas-Princeton game.

“We’re in great shape,” said seventh-year head coach and Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year Scott Stricklin. “Everyone assumes we’re playing Texas. Princeton is a good team, but I think we are prepared to play Texas.”

***

What did we learn from the hearing between the NFL and players that took place Friday morning before Judges Steven Collton, William Benton and Kermit Bye of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit?

Well, the lockout is still on, but Judge Bye informed both sides that the panel would reach a decision in “due course.”

He also warned the panel could reach a decision that “neither party will like.” He further added, with a smile, “We wouldn’t be all that hurt if you go out and settle that case” on your own.

Whatever.

***

Which team will be foolish enough to sign wide receiver Plaxico Burress when he is released from jail?

As long as the team doesn’t rhyme with “Cleveland Browns” we will be happy.

***

Finally, some rough news for anyone who likes the summer tradition of corn on the cob (and who doesn’t?)

Because of the seemingly never-ending rain this spring, it is still too wet for many farmers to plant their corn. Normally, about 93 percent of the acreage farmers devote to corn has been seeded by May 29; this year the number was 19 percent.

If we can’t get our weekly corn fix from Szalay’s, things could get ugly this summer.

Posted in baseball, Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians, Kent State, NFL, summer corn, Szalay's | Leave a comment
23 May 2011

Is there help out there for Browns D-line?

While the Browns went a long way to addressing their defensive line needs in the draft by selecting defensive tackle Phil Taylor and defensive end Jabaal Sheard, there is still work to be done.

When (if? someday?) the NFL lockout ends, how good would defensive end Ray Edwards look in Orange & Brown?

Edwards, 26, recorded 16.5 sacks over the past two seasons in Minnesota. Of course, opposing offensives also had to worry about defensive end Jared Allen, but that’s still an impressive number.

The Vikings tendered a one-year qualifying offer to Edwards in March, so depending on how the labor situation works out, the Browns might have to pay some sort of compensation to the Vikings if they were interested and signed Edwards.

They did the same in 2010 with a first-round tender, so it seems reasonable that they would have done the same this year, which means the Browns would have to give up a first-round pick if they offered Edwards a contract that Minnesota declined to match.

Of course, the Browns do hold two first-round picks for next year …

While Edwards is certainly someone to keep an eye on, we’ll take a pass on bust Vernon Gholston. If Rex Ryan, who knows something about defense and motivating players, couldn’t get anything out of Gholston the past two years, it seems unlikely anyone can.

***

Saturday is the Champions League final between Manchester United and Barcelona.

United’s Nemanja Vidic is ready for the match after United celebrated its 19th league title on Sunday.

“We have to come down after this excitement,” the Man U captain told the Daily Mail. “We have to prepare as best as we can for Barcelona. We are celebrating but everyone is thinking about the next game. It is the biggest game of the whole year. We know what it feels like to go to the final and lose. It was one of the saddest moments of my career.”

Of course, Barcelona has to get to Wembley first, as a volcanic ash cloud could disrupt the team’s travel plans.

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola ruled out the possibility of UEFA postponing the game against Manchester United at Wembley, insisting the club will do what the experts advise – even if that means flying on Tuesday, two days ahead of schedule.

“We hope the volcano stays asleep for a few more days and allows our fans to get there,” Guardiola told The Guardian. “We will do what [the experts] tell us to do. If that means travelling on Wednesday or even tomorrow then so be it. If not, we will travel on Thursday as originally planned. If they say don’t worry, we’ll relax; if they say get a move on, we will. What they say we will do, we will do. We will try to plan as far ahead as possible.”

And we thought the Indians getting rained out was a pain.

Posted in Champions League, Cleveland Browns | Leave a comment
23 May 2011

Manny being Manny a winner

It’s easy to love this Indians team.

They have the best record in baseball at 29-15. The largest division lead by far in baseball – seven games. What’s not to like?

But it is more than that.

It’s the team never quitting, especially at home.

It’s a different player coming through seemingly every night.

If it’s not Travis Hafner hitting a game-winning home run against Seattle, it’s Travis Buck hitting a late-game homer against the Reds or Asdrubal Cabrera going 5-for-5 on Sunday to lead a sweep of Cincinnati.

It’s a starting rotation that has 19 wins against only 10 losses. And a bullpen that is the best in the American League.

And it’s manager Manny Acta.

We admit we were neutral when the Indians hired Acta last year. We don’t follow the National League – their snootiness about pitchers hitting and over-exaggeration on the “nuances of the double-switch” make us ill – and Acta had managed in Washington so we didn’t know much about him.

But we like his approach to the game. He takes things day to day – not in the soul-less “grind it out” way of Eric Wedge – but more of a “let’s take care of today” mentality. He worries about what he can control and deals with the rest when he has to.

The injuries to the pitching staff are a perfect example. While some were worried about what the team would do when Mitch Talbot was ready to come off the disabled list, Acta knew things would work out.

It’s unfortunate that the decision was made for the team as Alex White is now out for the next three months, but the fact that Acta kept the team focused on each day’s game – just worrying about what they can control – fills us with confidence that the Indians have the right guy in charge.

Just another reason to like Manny being Manny.

***

The Premier League season came to an end on Sunday, with Blackpool and Birmingham joining West Ham in being relegated in the closest race in league history.

And after putting on such a strong run since Kenny Dalglish took over in January, Liverpool lost its last two games of the season to miss out on European play for the first time since 1999.

“The end of the season has come at a good time for us,” Dalslish told the Daily Mail. “I’m proud of the players and the way they turned it round. It’s been a long time since this club hasn’t been in Europe but we have to get used to it. This club didn’t build its history and tradition on losing games. We don’t want that to be a habit.”

If the team can add a few more players and pick up next season where they left off this one, that shouldn’t be a problem.

“The squad only needs tinkering,” Dalglish said. “If people want to see the best players and assets of the football club wearing a red shirt, that’s what we want to try and provide. We want to get the highest quality of player in that we can. That’s what position we have been put into, and that’s what we will try to do.”

Sounds good to us.

***

Had some quiet time this morning at Red Right 88 headquarters, so we put on the DVD of the Browns 1989 opener against Pittsburgh and a couple of things stood out to us.

The Browns starting backfield was Tim Manoa and Keith Jones. No wonder the Browns drafted Eric Metcalf for that season.

Who didn’t love the Bubby Brister era in Pittsburgh? In that game, Bubby was 4-of-8 in the first half for seven yards and two interceptions. Even Derek Anderson mocks those numbers.

We forgot how much fun it was to watch Webster Slaughter, Brian Brennan and Reggie Langhorne abuse the over-rated Rod Woodson twice a year.

The Browns defense, at least that first year under Bud Carson, was really good. Guys swarmed to the ball, hit people and made things happen. We haven’t seen that around here for a while now.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians, Kenny Dalglish, Liverpool, Manny Acta | Leave a comment
19 May 2011

Browns feeling lockout’s pinch?

How much is the ongoing NFL lockout impacting the Browns?

Well, it’s certainly not helping.

Josh Cribbs told ESPN’s First Take the Browns are hurting because they can’t work with the coaches to install the new offensive and defensive systems.

“It does hurt us because at a time when there’s not a lockout, teams who have new coaches are allowed a certain amount of time to prepare,” Cribbs said. “And because of this lockout, we’re not.”

If this was a normal year, the Browns would be allowed to hold an extra minicamp because they have a new coach in Pat Shurmur.

Now? They have to be content with Camp Colt.

“Colt has been rounding up the troops and planning short minicamps to get the playbook down pat as much as we can, to get the plays down pat,” Cribbs said. “We’re really limited on the amount of things we can do because of the amount of information that we have.

“But at the same time, the minicamps that we’re having are beneficial. We’re getting our throwing down pat and the timing with the quarterback. It’s really beneficial … but we are set back a little bit because of the lockout.”

Speaking of McCoy, can he be the quarterback that helps the Browns close the gap on Pittsburgh and Baltimore?

“It’s horrible; there’s nothing good about [inexperienced quarterbacks] facing the Ravens and Steelers,” said Matt Williamson of Scouts Inc. “They’re not carbon copies of each other, but their philosophy is pretty similar. They’re going to take away your running game, and you’re not going to outwork them in the trenches or move them. Then you’re one-dimensional, and then you’re in trouble.

“I really worry about the guy’s arm strength. I just can’t get around that. When the weather gets bad, he’s not going to be able to complete passes in Cleveland. I think he’s a real good fit in the West Coast offense. I think he has some moxie to him and I like the way he plays. But when it’s December and the Steelers and Ravens are in town, you better be able to complete a deep out.”

It’s getting a little old hearing about McCoy’s alleged lack of arm strength. You know who else had “average arm strength”? Brian Sipe. It’s not always how hard you throw the ball, but when and where you throw it that counts.

“It takes a while, but you make the cold and the wind your asset,” Sipe said in Terry Pluto’s book, Things I’ve Learned from Watching the Browns. “You learn to play in it by practicing in it. Then, when the other teams come to the lakefront, they aren’t ready for it.

“You should embrace the cold. It helps you as a quarterback because it slows the game down. You can see things better. Playing in that weather is part of what made us a tough team mentally.”

McCoy has the skills needed for a West Coast offense, which the Browns are now planning to run. He’ll be fine.

***

In the world of a different kind of football, the Premier League’s 20 clubs collectively lost close to half a billion pounds last year despite making record income, a Guardian analysis of their most recent accounts has revealed.

In the 2009-10 financial year, the clubs currently in the Premier League made total revenues of £2.1 billion (that’s billion with a b), principally from their billion-pound TV deals and the world’s most expensive tickets. Yet 16 of the 20 clubs made losses, totalling a record £484 million, and the same number relied on funding from their wealthy owners.

Aston Villa lost £38 million as the club’s owner, Randy Lerner, struggles to compete with clubs whose commercial income and potential is much greater than Villa’s.

According to the report, “these are sobering figures … signalling why reality bit for Randy Lerner’s ‘good American’ takeover at Villa Park. Lerner has problems to address despite £206 million invested. Their turnover of £91 million at the 42,582-capacity Villa Park is the Premier League’s seventh highest, but is so far behind Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal they risk becoming a seller of players to the top clubs.”

So in addition to the NFL lockout, Lerner has that on his plate to worry about.

***

Lost in all the hoopla about Jake Peavy’s performance against the Tribe on Wednesday night was that Justin Masterson was just as good.

Even though he took the loss, Masterson threw a five-hitter, striking out eight and walking two in his first complete game of the season.

Masterson went 5-0 with a 2.18 ERA in his first five starts of the season. In his last four starts, he’s 0-2 with a 2.78 ERA. In three of those games, he’s allowed two or fewer earned runs.

He keeps that up and we’re sure everything will be just fine.

***

Kyrie Irving plans to only have medical tests at the NBA combine, and will skip the on-court tests and drills.

“I’m just going doing medical here,” said Irving, the presumed No. 1 pick. “There’s no particular reason. I’m still working out around here (privately) but I’m not doing anything at the combine.”

No need to wear yourself out kid. Just focus on getting ready for Byron Scott’s training camp this fall.

***

Finally, check out the latest from Fresh Brewed Tees.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians, Colt McCoy, Josh Cribbs, Kyrie Irving, NFL lockout, Randy Lerner | Leave a comment
15 May 2011

A real dog of a weekend

The weather and Tottenham Hotspur conspired to make it one crappy weekend in these parts.

After the Indians started a new home winning streak Friday night on Travis Hafner’s two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth – with more than 33,000 in attendance – the weather washed out games Saturday and Sunday.

”Now it feels like [Friday’s win] was ages ago,” manager Manny Acta said in published reports after Sunday’s rainout. ”We really wanted to use all that energy we got from that walk-off homer on [Saturday] and [Sunday]. It’s too bad that we couldn’t use all the energy we had built up. It feels like a long time ago when Travis hit that home run.”

So instead of building on the enthusiasm of another late win, the Tribe sat around for two days and now heads back out on the road for four games.

Of course.

The NBA playoffs carry on, sans the Cavaliers.

Because of the owners, the NFL lockout drags on, so there are no rookie minicamps or OTAs to think about.

And with a chance to clinch a spot in Europe for next season, Liverpool lost – at home no less – to Tottenham Hotspur.

It probably shouldn’t have come as too much of a surprise that, in a week where there was so much hoopla around Kenny Daglish being name permanent manager, the Reds would come out a bit flat. Of course, they were playing at home, so we may be going a little easy on them.

But there’s no question we could have done without Luis Suarez falling down every five minutes. Once it became obvious that referee Howard Webb was not going to be calling any touch fouls, Suarez needed to man up and start playing.

And Webb will receive some criticism over some of his calls, especially his foul call on John Flanagan that resulted in a penalty kick to Spurs.

But bottom line, Liverpool didn’t play well enough and didn’t deserve to win.

There is still an outside shot Liverpool could grab fifth place. If they beat Aston Villa on the road next week and Spurs lose at home to Birmingham, the Reds take fifth.

Maybe it’s for the better if they don’t, though. If Liverpool doesn’t have to worry about competing in the Europa tournament next year, they can focus solely on the league and shoot for something bigger than pool play with Levski Sofia and Club Brugge.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Indians, Liverpool, wasted weekend | Leave a comment
11 May 2011
2 Comments

The Interchangeable Fan

In the past few months, as Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel’s web of lies have unraveled and more shenanigans have been exposed in the football program, we’ve realized something that had previously escaped us:

Ohio State fans are college football’s equivalent of Pittsburgh Steeler fans.

They both have an irrational sense of entitlement, they both think their team’s you-know-what doesn’t stink, and no matter what their coach, owner, athletic director or player says or does, they always fall back on the argument that “(fill in the blank) did something worse” or that critics are just “haters.”

They both stagger through life with blinders on, seeing no evil, hearing no evil and speaking no evil.

And both carry a paranoia that someone is always out to get them.

With OSU fans it’s the NCAA or the media, primarily The Columbus Dispatch. We know it is hard for some people to understand, but The Dispatch is not a public relations arm of the university, existing only to write fawning pieces about the latest recruiting class.

With Steeler fans, the NFL is the boogeyman.

And you truly haven’t experienced paranoia and irrational thinking until you’ve heard Adrian from the Burgh on Sirius NFL Radio. Words simply cannot do him justice.

After taking a closer look, Scarlet and Gray & Black and Gold are closer on the color wheel than most would want to admit.

***

We’re sure the Bengals were happy when they made wide receiver A.J. Green their first pick in last month’s NFL Draft.

But being the Bengals, they apparently forgot how Browns corner back Joe Haden shut down Green in college:

  • In 2009, the Gators won a blowout over the Bulldogs, 41-17. Green was a non-factor. Haden held the receiver to just three catches for 50 yards and zero touchdowns. Green’s biggest play in the game was a 19-yard reception. But other than that, Green had trouble shaking Haden.
  • In 2008, Florida won another blowout, 49-10. Green had more success this time, with five receptions for 91 yards. Probably worth noting is Green’s quarterback that year was Matthew Stafford, who turned out to be the No. 1 overall pick of the Detroit Lions. To Haden’s credit, he intercepted Stafford in the game and returned the pick 88 yards.

Of course, that’s what make the Bengals the Bengals.

***

The ’70s were a strange, strange decade. (h/t UniWatch)

Posted in Cleveland Browns, culture of lies, Jim Tressel, Joe Haden, Ohio State
09 May 2011

Apparently, the Browns had a monster draft

We were very happy with what the Browns did on draft weekend a few weeks back.

Phil Taylor, Jabaal Sheard and Greg Little, and the rest were all solid picks, filling holes along the roster.

But if their former coaches are to be believed, our enthusiasm was unnecessarily muted.

Little’s receivers coach at North Carolina is convinced that his former star can make an impact as a rookie – and beyond.

“Greg made it his mission to the get the NFL, and now that he’s there, he’s going to have to continue to work at it,” Charlie Williams, Little’s coach at UNC, told The Plain Dealer. “How hard he works during the off-season and season will determine how long he stays in the league.

“If Greg had played his senior year, he would’ve had big numbers. I don’t know where he would’ve stacked up with (A.J. Green and Julio Jones), but I truly believe if Greg had played his senior year, he would’ve had a chance to be a first-rounder.”

And the Browns final pick, safety Erig Hagg, was the “steal of the draft” according to his position coach at Nebraska, Carl Pelini.

”Truthfully, as we look at our personnel for next year, trying to replace Eric is probably our most difficult task because he was such a versatile player,” Pelini told the Beacon Journal. ”He’s a long safety who was physical in run support, and yet he was as good a cover guy as any of our corners.

”In my mind, Eric was probably our defensive MVP for the last two years. You can use him in so many different ways and in so many different roles. Guys like him don’t come along very often.”

It bears mentioning that Hagg played on a defense that featured Prince Amukamara and Ndamukong Suh, both first-round draft picks, and six other Cornhuskers who were drafted this year.

Now it’s true that the coaches are probably over-selling the players a bit, but right now they know them better than anyone else. And it’s good to know the Browns selected players that come so highly recommended.

Let’s hope we have a chance to see them on the field this fall.

***

How much would not having the Browns play this season hurt Northeast Ohio?

No one’s really sure, but it won’t be pretty. Estimates on how much the Browns mean to the local economy range from $34.6 million to $63 million, according to The Plain Dealer.

However, that number may be a bit inflated.

“Browns weekends are very good weekends downtown, there’s no doubt about it,” said David Gilbert, President and CEO of the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission. “But the economic impact from sports teams and sporting events is driven by out-of-town visitors, people who come in from out of market and spend their money in market. The vast majority of fans at games are locals. So, from that standpoint, I’d say [a lockout] hurts, but is not devastating.”

There’s no question, though, that Berea will take a big hit if the lockout wipes out or shortens training camp.

Restaurants, gas stations and coffee shops, among others, will feel a bite if the 10,000 or more fans who visit training camp each year don’t have anything to watch.

The Browns are Berea’s biggest income-tax contributor, providing more than a quarter of the city’s income-tax base – that was $2.49 million in 2010.

It’s going to be bad enough if there is no football to watch. The economic impact will just make it worse.

***

How amazing has Liverpool’s run been since Kenny Dalglish took over as manager?

The Reds made it 13 goals in their last three games and Maxi Rodriguez completed his second hat-trick over the same period, as Liverpool rolled over Fulham, 5-2, on Tuesday and tightened the noose around Tottenham Hotspur.

This from a club that was sitting in 12th place when King Kenny took the helm in January. Since then, Liverpool has taken 33 points from a possible 48 to overtake Spurs for fifth place.

Tottenham Hotspur has a game in hand, which comes Tuesday when they take on Manchester City. Lose, and Spurs are two points back of Liverpool with two games to play.

And they face the prospect of heading to Anfield on Sunday with the winner almost certain to grab the all-important fifth spot and a place in Europe next year.

Should be one heck of a game.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Kenny Dalglish, Liverpool, NFL draft | Leave a comment

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