Red Right 88

In Cleveland, hope dies last

Archive for the category “Cleveland Browns”

05 Apr 2010

The Right Move

Eleven years ago the Browns had an opportunity to draft Donovan McNabb. They passed, selecting Tim Couch instead which turned out to be the wrong move. I know, I’m not telling you anything you didn’t already know.

With McNabb being traded over the weekend to Washington for a second-round pick and either a third- or a fourth-round pick, we’re left to wonder if the Browns had made a move would they have landed the QB that could have been the face of the franchise for the past decade? They could have easily matched Washington’s offer and the allure of sending McNabb out of the division may have sealed the deal for the Eagles. But if they were in talks for a McNabb trade, not pulling the trigger was the right call, just as much as not drafting him was the wrong one.

While McNabb certainly would be an improvement over Jake Delhomme for the next few years, he still would not be the long-term solution to the QB position. By holding on to their remaining picks – they have five in the top 100 (spots 7, 38, 71, 85 & 92) the Browns can fill a hole either in the secondary or offensive line with the first pick and then still make a move in the second round (or trade up to the late first round) to grab the potential QB of the future.

We may never know if the Browns were tempted, but in the end the Holmgren/Heckert brain trust made the right call.

In other news, nice work at Cleveland Frowns on ESPN New York’s love affair with LeBron.

And Waiting for Next Year checks in with an additional take on what the McNabb trade could mean for the Browns draft plans.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Donovan McNabb, ESPN, Jake Delhomme, New York, NFL draft, Philadelphia Eagles | Leave a comment
05 Apr 2010
1 Comment

Indian Fever Starts Today

The Wahoo Warriors open their 109th season of baseball this afternoon against the White Sox. Optimism is running, well, tepid is probably the best way to put it.

The consensus puts the Tribe around 75 wins – that’s the over/under in Vegas – with the Beacon Journal’s Sheldon Ocker going high – 82 wins – and Sports Illustrated going low – 66 wins. Everyone else falls into the 75-win range, with the five Plain Dealer writers splitting at two with 75 (Bud Shaw & Bill Livingston), two with 76 (Terry Pluto & Dennis Manoloff) and Paul Hoynes with 77. The New York Times puts the Tribe in fourth place, saying “The Indians should score but will struggle on the mound as they wait for a new wave of talent to mature.”

So what to expect this year? How can the Indians top most expectations? A solid start to the season would help. It’s no secret that the Indians struggled in April & May under Eric Wedge, so a reasonably good start will help things out. If the Tribe can pick up one win they weren’t expecting each month of the season that would add six wins to the 75 and put them at .500. Since most people believe the division can be taken with 88-89 wins, can the Tribe pull out a few more and contend? It’s hard to see that happening, at least this year.

One of the best things that could happen is also one of the worst for the Indians – a deep playoff run by the Cavs. Since everyone will be hyper-focused on the Cavs until June, there will be no pressure on the Tribe early in the season. However, if we all get up the day after the Cavs season ends and find the Indians 10 games under .500 and 12 games out of first, we’ll collectively hit the snooze button until training camp starts for the Browns. Apathy is far, far worse than indifference.

We’ve all been down this road before with a rebuilding team. Sometimes, like in the ’90s, it works. More often for the Tribe it turns out more like the 1970s. The 1996 book Total Indians recalls how fans were optimistic about a young team in 1977 that seemed to be building a core of young players in Buddy Bell, Rick Manning, Charlie Spikes, Duane Kiper, Dennis Eckersley and Jim Kern. That year, the Indians added 20-game winner Wayne Garland via free agency only to see him tear his rotator cuff that spring. Manager Frank Robinson didn’t make it through the season as the team lost 90 games. Two months into the season GM Phil Seghi traded reliever Dave LaRoche for two players and $250,000 to keep the team afloat. The team lost 31 of its first 57 games.

The following year the break-up of the team continued when the Indians traded Eckersley (who ended up in the Hall of Fame) before the season and Bell (six Gold Gloves) after the season for some spare parts.

They summed up the decade by saying “The Indians’ treadmill to nowhere, as usual, was running at full speed.”

Sound familiar to anyone?

Now we’re left to wonder what to make of the coming season. Do we root for Travis Hafner to return to his old self because it will help the team, or because it will increase his trade value? Do we want Grady Sizemore to make the leap to the next level, even though it would mean he would be pricing himself out of Cleveland? That’s the joy of being a Cleveland fan in today’s unbalanced Major League Baseball.

In any event, it will be an interesting season with lots of young players who will hopefully show significant progress during the season.

For a look at what they’re saying in the other Central Division towns, check out:

Chicago Sun-Times

Detroit Free Press

Kansas City Star

Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Posted in baseball, Cleveland, Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Indians, NBA playoffs, opening day, Tribe
30 Mar 2010
4 Comments

Feeling a Draft

With all the recent talk about who the Browns should/shouldn’t/will/won’t draft with the No. 7 pick in the upcoming draft – please, not a QB in the first round and no “projection” players – not as much attention has been made to the selections in later rounds. Of the Browns’ 12 picks in the upcoming draft, seven of them are in rounds four through seven. Can the Browns find talented players who can contribute on the field in the later rounds?

To answer that question, I went back through every Browns draft since 1975 – around the time I started following the team – to see if they were able to find talent in the later rounds (defined here as fifth round or later because the draft used to be 12 rounds). Here’s one person’s take on the 10 best late-round picks by the Browns:

10. Mike Babb (5th round): He started and was a main component on the line for the Browns from 1983-87, and again in 1990 and ’91.

9. Paul Farren (12th round): A solid offensive lineman who played with the team from 1983-1991. A starter from ’85-’90 who missed only three games in that span. He was named the team’s lineman of the year in 1988 and offensive lineman of the year in 1989.

8. Ryan Pontbriand (5th round): A Pro Bowler in ’07 and ’09 as a long-snapper. Butch Davis’ best draft pick.

7. Lawrence Vickers (6th round): A solid blocker who rarely touches the ball.

6. Reggie Langhorne (7th round): Had 261 receptions for 3,597 yards from ’85-’91. A key receiver on the teams that made three AFC Championship game appearances.

5. Michael Jackson (6th round): Played five years with the team, catching 170 passes for 2,797 yards and 28 TDs. Caught Bernie Kosar’s last TD pass as a Brown.

4. Eddie Johnson (7th round): Recorded 712 tackles over his nine-year Browns’ career (’81-’90). A cornerstone on the teams that made three AFC Championship game appearances.

3. Dick Ambrose (12th round): Started in his rookie season, held starting MLB role for rest of his Browns’ career (’75-’83). Led the team in tackles five times.

2. Cody Riesen (7th round): Made two Pro Bowls (’87 & ’88); was on seven playoff teams in his 10 seasons.

1. Earnest Byner (10th round): Three 1,000-yard seasons, 6th in career rushing, 7th in touchdowns and 10th in career receptions.

Thanks to www.clevelandbrowns.com and www.pro-football-reference.com for draft history and stats.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, NFL draft, quarterback
29 Mar 2010
2 Comments

Only the Strong Survive

After years of reading sports articles on mainstream media sites as well as other quality sites (like Waiting for Next Year and Cleveland Frowns) and commenting, we’ve decided to expand our horizons and join the community of bloggers.

This site will primarily be about Cleveland’s pro sports teams – Cavs, Browns & Indians – but we will also talk about other sports topics as they arise. We’re not looking to compete with other, more-established sites, but rather provide another opinion on the local sports scene from what we consider to be a typical Cleveland sports fan of a certain generation – that is, one who has never experienced a championship season.

In our lifetime we’ve seen the Tribe play in two World Series, the Cavs in one NBA finals and the Browns, well, the Browns have been a source of more anguish than any one fan should have to endure.

Other fans get more attention for allegedly being “tortured,” but no one knows heartbreak, unfulfilled promise and utter disappointment more than a Cleveland fan.

But that’s life as a Cleveland fan and that’s what we hope to capture for as long as we can sustain this blog.

Cleveland sports fans: Only the Strong Survive.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Indians

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