Red Right 88

In Cleveland, hope dies last

Archive for the category “Liverpool”

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
23 Apr 2011

Character still counts

We woke up this morning to the news that Miami wide receiver Brandon Marshall was in the hospital after being stabbed – allegedly by his wife.

This is not the first time Marshall has been in the news for off-field shenanigans:

  • On March 1, 2009, Marshall and his wife, Michi Nogami-Marshall, were both arrested and booked on disorderly conduct charges after two officers saw them kicking and punching each other outside Marshall’s Atlanta condominium. Disorderly conduct charges were later dismissed.
  • The NFL suspended Marshall for three 2008 games under the league’s personal conduct policy, although no specific reason was given. He appealed, and the penalty was reduced to just one game.
  • In May 2009 he was profiled in ESPN’s Outside the Lines about the couple’s abusive relationships. The 911 tapes and police reports documented his checkered past.
  • He was arrested in November 2004 and charged with five misdemeanor counts of trespassing, resisting an officer without violence, refusal to obey an officer, disorderly conduct and assault on an officer. The charges were eventually dropped.
  • In April 2005, he was arrested again in Orange County on a misdemeanor charge of retail or farm theft, but was never prosecuted.
  • He made headlines in January 2007 when Broncos teammate and friend Darrent Williams was killed in a drive-by shooting by gang members in downtown Denver. The shooting took place after an altercation at a nightclub between the gang members and other patrons, including Marshall.

The latest problems for Marshall, who signed a $50 million contract with the Dolphins last year, making him the highest paid wide-receiver in NFL history, remind us that character still counts when teams are looking at players.

When the Broncos were looking to deal Marshall, there were some who wanted the Browns to trade for him. There was also a segment of the fan base that wanted the Browns to draft Dez Bryant last year and some who couldn’t understand why the Browns did not trade for Randy Moss when the Patriots grew tired of his act.

Of course, Bryant is currently busy defending himself against lawsuits claiming he failed to pay $246,000 for jewelry and Moss lasted all of four games before the Vikings released him.

While any of the three would have helped the Browns anemic passing attack, we’re glad they are not on the team. We bag on Brian Robiskie and Mohamed Massaquoi from time to time because they’re not very good, but we’re confident we won’t wake up one day to a headline saying that they are in some off-field trouble.

It’s good, too, that the Browns are determined to shy away from troubled players.

“Those guys in the league that have had issues, those guys are going to be tough for us to mess around with,” general manager Tom Heckert has said in published reports.

So while it may not be true in other NFL cities, at least in Cleveland character still matters.

***

The bad Fausto Carmona showed up for the Indians on Saturday against Minnesota, giving up six runs, seven hits and four walks in just five innings of work as the Tribe fell, 10-3.

It was the first time this season the Twins scored more than five runs in a game (of course) as they entered the day with the lowest run totals in the majors.

But that didn’t matter as the Twins slapped around Carmona and then Chad Durbin (two innings of work, four runs, why is he still on the team?) to hand the Tribe its second consecutive loss.

But all is not lost as Carlos Carrasco will get the start on Sunday in an attempt to give the Indians a split of not only the series, but the six-game road trip. And that’s OK – when you are in first place all that matters is the teams behind you don’t make up ground.

The Tribe split with Kansas City and if they can earn a split with the Twins that’s six division games out of the way without letting the Royals and Twins gain anything.

And that’s not bad at all.

***

Maxi Rodriguez tallied a hat-trick, Dirk Kuyt and Joe Cole each added a goal, and Liverpool closed the gap on fifth-place Tottenham Hotspur with a 5-0 win on Saturday against Birmingham.

”Maxi is a very intelligent footballer. He’s not a direct replacement for Andy but he’s got more goals than him in that one performance,” Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish said in published reports. ”Maxi has not played for a few weeks and came on and did a fantastic job for us.

”Joe also got his reward because he has trained well and he came on and got a goal. It won’t do Joe or Maxi any harm and the joy the players got from Maxi scoring his hat-trick and Joe scoring his goal reflects how close a group they are and that is great for the club.

”They are all playing for each other and the players are going to play better if they are confident and if they are happy going to work they will get better results.”

While the Spurs do have a game in hand, only three points separate the two teams. And Tottenham Hotspur still have to face Chelsea (2nd in the table) and Manchester City (4th) before the next-to-last game of the season against Liverpool against Anfield on May 15.

If the Reds can keep it close until then – they face Newcastle United (9th in the table) and Fulham (13th) – the game with Spurs should be the dogs bollocks.

Posted in character, Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians, dogs bollocks, Liverpool | Leave a comment
15 Apr 2011

The week that was in our sports world

Even with the end of their eight-game winning streak, the Indians West Coast trip was a major success for the team.

Sweeping the Mariners helped the Tribe go 4-2 on the trip, even with two losses to the Angels.

Even in the losses the starting pitching was superb.

Fausto Carmona had another solid outing, going seven-and-two-thirds innings, giving up four hits and two runs in the streak-breaking loss. After the Opening Day abomination against the White Sox, Carmona has given up two runs and only six hits in his last two starts, covering 14 and two-thirds innings. That’s a 1.23 ERA.

Of course Carmona has received zero run support (literally) in his past two starts; if that trend continues he could turn into this year’s Kevin Millwood.

Carlos Carrasco was almost as good the next night, giving up just three earned runs in seven innings of work. Just like Carmona, Carrasco has rebounded from a poor first start to post a 2.77 ERA over his last two starts, covering 13 innings.

The Tribe will need that kind of starting pitching, especially with so much of the offense currently struggling. The team has scored just three runs in its last 28 innings, and Carlos Santana (0-for-20), Matt LaPorta (0-for-10), Jack Hannahan (0-for-8), Travis Hafner (0-for-9), Orlando Cabrera (0-for-11), Asdrubal Cabrera (1-for-10) and Travis Buck (0-for-7) are all currently lost at the plate.

While it’s unlikely the Indians will put together another long winning streak, their pitching and defense should keep them in most games. The important thing is that they don’t now go on a five- or six-game losing streak, negating all the good they have done so far.

If they can take two-out-of-three from Baltimore this weekend (weather permitting), they will head to Kansas City for an early-season showdown for first place.

Wait, did we really just write that?

***

The Cavs ended the season this week by winning four of their final six games.

Shockingly, the team didn’t finish with the worst record in the NBA, the Timberwolves somehow managed to beat them out for that “honor.”

So the Cavs probably weren’t as bad as their 19-63 record would indicate, even with a 26-game losing streak and a stretch where they lost 36 of 37 games. If injuries hadn’t taken Anderson Varajeo and Antawn Jamison away from them, those two combined with Baron Davis and J.J. Hickson would have certainly resulted in more wins.

But that’s OK. This team needed to bottom out before it could get better, and another 10 wins or so this season wouldn’t have meant anything in the grand plan.

Now the Cavs enter a summer that should bring many changes to the team.

With two lottery picks and two second-round choices, the team should have a new look next season.

“I haven’t really thought about that,” coach Byron Scott told The Plain Dealer. “I’m just trying to relax a little bit now. (General manager Chris Grant) and I will talk. Obviously, we’re going to sit down and start talking about the future of this basketball team from a player standpoint. But we haven’t talked as of yet. We’ll probably start talking some time early next week.”

Just as important, the team is now a year removed from the departure of LeBron James, which means they should be able to focus solely on rebuilding the team and not worry about parking spaces, which players are being too friendly, or any of the other subplots that dominated this season.

Just like last summer, it will be an interesting and important off-season for the team – but this time it will be for the betterment of the team.

***

The end of the Cavs season also meant the end of Joe Tait’s 39 years as team broadcaster.

There’s no possible way to do justice to how good Tait was at his job and how much he meant to Cavs fans everywhere. We’ll just add our one Tait story to the growing list of tributes:

While in college we worked in the Sports Department at The Beacon Journal as a part-time agate clerk. One night, while waiting for the West Coast scores to come in, the phone rang. We answered and the voice on the other end asked for the score of that day’s Mount Union football game.

He didn’t identify himself, but there was no mistaking that voice, it was Joe Tait calling in – the Cavs were on the road, if we remember correctly – looking for the score. (In the pre-Internet days, people called the local paper looking for information).

We gave him the score and he said thank you.

And that was our one brush with greatness.

***

With less than two weeks to go until the NFL Draft, the Browns reportedly have their draft board set.

“[Our draft board] is pretty much set,” General manager Tom Heckert said on a conference call with season-ticket holders. “There are obviously some tweaks. We’re not exactly sure exactly who we’re going to take with the first pick. It all depends on what happens in front of us. Right now, we’re just going through different scenarios. If we trade up, who do we trade up for? If we trade back, who can we still get? Those are the things we’re pretty much thinking of.”

We have some thoughts on who we would like the Browns to pick which we’ll save for later. For now, as long as they don’t draft a quarterback with their first pick – whenever that may be – we’re fine. Based on last year’s draft, we trust the front office to make the right selections on draft day and will continue to do so until they prove otherwise.

***

The Champions League semifinals are now set: Manchester United will face Schalke and Barcelona will take on Real Madrid.

Man U should go throw to the final comfortably, although Schalke did take out last year’s winner, Inter Milan.

Apparently Barcelona-Real Madrid is some kind of big rivalry? We kid!

Anyway, should be a fun round of games.

***

Finally, today is the anniversary of the Hillsborough Disaster, when 96 innocent football fans tragically died when many of them were crushed to death at a FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at the Hillsborough ground in Sheffield, England.

We don’t really feel comfortable talking about the tragedy as we have only been Liverpool fans for a few years, so if anyone is interested, EPL Talk is the place to go.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Indians, Joe Tait, Liverpool | Leave a comment
12 Apr 2011

The grass isn’t always greener

Fernando Torres continued to learn a hard lesson today during Chelsea’s 2-1 elimination loss to Manchester United in the Champions League:

The grass isn’t always greener.

Torres just had to move from Liverpool to Chelsea, thinking the Blues were not only a better fit for his talents, but also offered him a better chance of winning Champions League glory and league titles.

“‘The Champions League is a big ambition and all the footballers want to play in it,” Torres said at the time of his move from Liverpool. “I have a very bad memory of the semi-final of the Champions League in my first season in England when Chelsea beat us and they played the final. Hopefully now I’m here we can go through to the final together and win.

“Chelsea have the chance every season to win all the trophies that they play for, so when you have the chance to play in a team like this you cannot say no. I felt from last summer that I needed a step forward in my career.”

So how’s that working out?

Chelsea currently sits in third place in the Premier League, 11 points behind Manchester United with seven games to play. It’s pretty clear they are not catching Man U at the top of the table.

Torres, the £50million-man, hasn’t scored in 11 games with Chelsea.

And now they are out of the Champions League, with Torres being substituted at halftime by manager Carlo Ancelotti, who may lose his job after the season over disagreements with owner Roman Abramovich about the best way to use Torres. Ancelotti even admitted after the game that playing Torres may have been a mistake.

“Maybe. Could be. But I thought for a lot of time before taking this decision,” Ancelotti told The Guardian. “I preferred to start with Fernando for this kind of game, with this kind of tactics. But Didier (Drogba) played very well in the second half.”

Torres works best operating as a lone striker. He is quick, adept on the counterattack, can hold the ball and is smart enough to use the ball to bring support from deep into play. He was used most successfully at Liverpool in that role, but Chelsea persists in using him in a 4-4-2.

The schedule certainly has not done him any favors, as playing for Spain in the European Championship, the Confederations Cup and the World Cup, he hasn’t had a summer off to recover since 2007.

But now he carries the burden of being the £50million-man, which means people want goals, not excuses.

We’ll always have a soft spot for Torres. We enjoyed watching him at Liverpool and still enjoy his play with Spain.

We just wish he would realized that Anfield was the best spot for him.

Posted in Champions League, Chelsea, Fernando Torres, Liverpool, regrets | Leave a comment
06 Apr 2011

Better to be lucky than good

Sometimes in sports it’s better to be lucky than good. Too often, the Browns have been neither, both on the field and on draft day.

We were reminded of that when we read an article by Bob Labriola at steelers.com about how Pittsburgh – thanks to the Browns, of course – landed Hall of Fame cornerback Rod Woodson in the 1987 draft.

The Steelers owned the 10th overall pick in the draft because of their 6-10 record in 1986. The Browns had finished 12-4 and ended the season, of course, with the overtime loss to Denver in the the AFC Championship game.

On draft day, the Browns traded Chip Banks to the San Diego Chargers for the fifth pick of the first round. Since Banks was an outside linebacker, the Browns could have selected Penn State’s Shane Conlan, the highest-rated linebacker in the draft. But coach Marty Schottenheimer out-thought himself, and Cleveland used the fifth overall pick on Duke linebacker Mike Junkin.

Of course they did.

As the rest of the picks fell into place – the Cardinals whiffed by selecting quarterback Kelly Stouffer at No. 6 – Woodson fell to the Steelers.

So remember this story the next time you read that the Steelers win because the Rooneys do things “the right way.” Sometimes it just comes down to dumb luck. (h/t James Walker at ESPN)

***

We were understandably excited when we read that Liverpool plans to invest in some “top players” over the summer as the Reds continue on improving the club.

“There will be movement, that’s for sure,” Damien Comolli, the club’s director of football, told The Guardian. “We are very attractive for a lot of players because of what we did in January and a game like that [the 3-1 defeat of Manchester United] is fantastic publicity for us around the world. Since the day after I was getting phone calls from agents telling me that their player would love to come and that we are going to compete next year if we get it right. We are attractive to a lot of top players and we want to bring top players to this club.”

Despite the prospect of another season apart from the European elite, Comolli believes the club’s profile and the ambition of Fenway Sports Group will produce substantial investment this summer.

And then we saw this in The Wall Street Journal:

Basketball star LeBron James is joining forces with renowned hedge-fund manager John Henry and veteran Hollywood producer Tom Werner in a deal that brings together one of the biggest stars in sports and two of the world’s most renowned teams.

The deal between Mr. James and Fenway Sports Group will give Mr. James a minority interest in the soccer club Liverpool, which FSG owns. FSG, which also owns the Boston Red Sox, is partnering with Mr. James’s sports-marketing firm, LRMR Branding & Marketing to become the exclusive world-wide representative for Mr. James.

The deal marks the first time that a professional athlete at the top of his game has taken an ownership interest in a team with the size and reach of Liverpool, which is one of the most popular and powerful sports teams in the world.

Mr. James said he was “humbled” by the deal and looked forward to donning a red Liverpool jersey and visiting Anfield, the team’s legendary stadium.

According to Deloitte’s 2010 Football Money League report, Liverpool is the world’s eighth-biggest soccer team by revenue, with $320 million in revenue during the 2009-10 season. Liverpool and Manchester United have won 18 top division championships, the most among English teams, and both are wildly popular in Asia, where Liverpool will tour this summer.

“Eighteen championships,” Mr. James said. “I see myself trying to do the same things they have.”

Well that’s just great. We finally get over James leaving the Cavs and now he’s back in our sporting lives.

And forget about 18 championships – would it have killed James to give just one to Cleveland?

***

Just say no to Hate the Heat parties.

***

Dejan Stanković scored a sick goal for Inter Milan in its Champions League game against Schalke.

***

We obviously think Cleveland’s a great place, but sometimes we’re disappointed.

Posted in Cleveland, Cleveland Browns, LeBron James, Liverpool, NFL draft | Leave a comment
31 Mar 2011

The circus has finally left town

While we were certainly happy – and surprised – the Cavs beat the visiting Heat on Tuesday night, we’re just as happy we’ve made it to the point where now Miami should just be another game on the schedule.

Tuesday’s win doesn’t really change anything – the Heat are still a playoff team and the Cavs are headed for the lottery – but with only a handful of games left in this season its time to turn the page and put all the nonsense behind us.

We don’t want to hear anymore about parking garage issues, about Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert tweeting, about who came out for player introductions, about karma or which players laughed and which ones were serious.

We’re ready and willing for the Heat to be just another game – at least until the Cavs rebuild and can consistently compete with Miami.

The circus has left town. It’s time we turn the page.

But we’ll never get tired of this.

***

While the Cavs are winding down, the Indians are ready – weather permitting – to open another season.

For some reason we really can’t put our finger on, we’re much more optimistic about the team than we were at this time last year. Maybe it’s because the Indians have the youngest 40-man roster in the league, or it could be that, after the season we’ve just been through with the Cavs, we’re looking for something to believe in.

It could be something as simple as, with baseball season starting that means summer in Cleveland isn’t that far behind.

In any event, despite what White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen says, we think Cleveland’s as good a place as any to get the season rolling.

***

Liverpool’s shirt sponsor, Standard Charter, wants the team to start signing more Asian players because it will be good for the bank’s business.

“The real power for what Liverpool could do for us, and I think for the English Premier League, is if there was a way they could nurture foreign players from Asia … a great Asian player — you see what Park Ji-sung does for Manchester United,” Gavin Laws, the bank’s head of corporate affairs, said at the SoccerEx conference.

“The markets in Asia and the Middle East are so nationalistic, they are very proud about their countries. [Matches] become huge events. One appearance from a player, say from Dubai in the Premier League, and you’d have the whole of Dubai watching it.”

Well, as long as it would be good for the bank’s business, why not? Let’s not focus on signing the best players so you can compete for championships and gain exposure that way, let’s just let a corporate suit decide what market is best for business.

Hopefully the Dolans don’t get wind of this, we all know they need every penny they can get.

Posted in Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Indians, Liverpool | Leave a comment
20 Mar 2011

A Good Day for the Good Guys

Sunday was a good day, as Kent State beat Fairfield 72-68 to reach the quarterfinals of the NIT.

The Golden Flashes were led by Randal Holt’s 22 points, while Carlton Guyton added 16, Michael Porrini had 11 and Justin Manns contributed 10.

Kent State, which is now 25-11 on the season, will play at Colorado on Tuesday night. Not sure what they have to do to be worthy of a home game here, but what are you going to do?

After being screwed over by the NCAA despite winning the MAC regular season title and going to overtime of the conference title game, the Golden Flashes are making the most of their chance in the NIT.

It’s too bad Kent didn’t get a chance to compete in the NCAA Tournament, but if the Golden Flashes had gone then that means one of the 11 Big East teams would have been left out.

And just how is the Big East doing in the tournament?

Well, if Notre Dame defeats Florida State in the Sunday night game, the Big East will end up with a whole three teams in the Sweet 16. Or, just one more than the Mountain West Conference.

And the only No. 1 seed to lose so far is Pittsburgh, from the Big East, of course.

We’re sure glad they just had to 11 teams from that conference.

***

And congratulations to Kent State junior Dustin Kilgore, who won the 197-pound championship at the NCAA Division I wrestling championships in Philadelphia.

Kilgore defeated Oklahoma State’s Clayton Foster, who was previously unbeaten on the season, to become Kent State’s first national-champion wrestler as well as the school’s career leader in wins.

***

Liverpool kept its hopes alive for playing in Europe next season with a 2-0 win over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

Dirk Kuyt and Luis Suarez found the back of the net as the Reds closed the gap on fifth-place Tottenham Hotspur, who were held to a 0-0 draw with West Ham United.

With eight games to go, Liverpool trails Spurs by just four points.

The two face off at Anfield on May 15 in the penultimate game of the season.

Posted in Kent State, Liverpool | Leave a comment
15 Mar 2011

Holmgren to fans: Keep Calm & Carry On

Browns President Mike Holmgren met the media on Monday and delivered a message to Browns fan that can be paraphrased as “keep calm and carry on.”

Holmgen said it’s “business as usual” for the team during the lockout.

“It is our feeling and hope that we will play football games [this season],” Holmgren told The Plain Dealer. “We’ve worked very, very hard to begin to establish a program that will win and we are proceeding along those lines.”

”I realize what I’m asking the Cleveland Browns fans to do because they’ve probably heard somebody say, ‘Hey, hang in there,’ for a little bit of time now. But in trying to be real straight with them, I am very, very encouraged about the direction of the football team,” Holmgren told The Beacon Journal. “This will get done, and we will play again. Stay rooting for your favorite team. It’s OK to get frustrated and ticked off on occasion, but the beauty of it is you’ll be there when the good times come.”

Good times? In Cleveland? Sign us up!

The problem is, no one knows when we will see football again. We’re still confident that, someway, there will be a season this fall, but no one really knows what impact the work stoppage will have on the Browns as they install new offensive and defensive systems.

Wisely, the Browns made sure quarterback Colt McCoy received a copy of the playbook before teams had to cut off contact with the players, which should pay off once teams can start practicing again.

“You can visualize yourself doing it and I think he can,” coach Pat Shurmur told The Plain Dealer. “When he gets more and more schooled in our approach, I think it’ll become more familiar and hopefully he’ll be happier and happier about it.

“I think he has the attributes that will make him a good quarterback in any system, especially our system. First and foremost is decision-making. If you have a guy that’s a bad decision-maker, he’ll always break your heart. But Colt’s a good decision-maker.”

We want to believe it’s just football and, since this is the NFL, the players will be able to pick up the new system somewhat easily. Shurmur sounds like he believes that to be the case.

“I guess I’m looking at it more as the glass as half-full than empty,” Shurmur said. “I feel as though the systems we’re teaching are proven. I’ve seen them be taught in a short amount of time. I’m not anxious about it.”

Well, that makes one of us, although it’s good to know the coaching staff isn’t in a panic.

***

Staying in Berea, Holmgren has some in a tizzy because he’s doing the proper thing by scouting and evaluating available college players – even quarterbacks.

“I think with our due diligence as an organization and a personnel department, it’s our obligation to evaluate the best players coming out of college football,” Holmgren said. “Cam Newton is one of those and so, yes, we are looking hard. It’s fun for me anyway; I’ve told you this before.”

This is a good thing; we’re not sure why some can’t see that.

***

Speaking of doing their due diligence, Texas A&M linebacker Von Miller will reportedly visit the Browns in April.

After his strong combine and pro day, Miller is earning a lot of interest among the teams at the top of the draft and is considered by many the top linebacker in the draft.

***

Finally, happy birthday to Liverpool FC!

The club was founded on this day in 1892 by John Houlding, owner of the Anfield stadium. Houlding needed a team for the grounds following a disagreement with Everton that saw the Toffees move to Goodison Park, so Houlding started Liverpool.

Eighteen league titles and five European Cups later, the club is still going strong.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Colt McCoy, Keep calm, Liverpool, Mike Holmgren, NFL draft | Leave a comment
07 Mar 2011

Surprisingly, Browns still division’s best

As bad as the Browns have been for the past couple of decades, they are still the best team in the AFC North, at least when it comes to all-time winning percentage.

  • The Browns’ .549 all-time winning percentage (485-398-13) is best in the division
  • Baltimore is at 535 (128-111-1)
  • Pittsburgh is at .520 (541-499-20)
  • No surprise, the Bengals bring up the rear at .435 (286-372-2)

So they have that going for them, which is nice. Hopefully the new regime of Mike Holmgren, Tom Heckert and Pat Shurmur can get the team back on a winning track before those numbers drop.

***

Oh dear, this isn’t good.

According to Yahoo! Sports, Ohio State coach Jim Tressel was informed that several Buckeyes players were selling memorabilia more than eight months before the school claims it was made aware of the scheme, a two-month investigation has found.

Tressel received information that players were selling items to Edward Rife – the owner of Fine Line Ink Tattoos in Columbus – as early as April 2010, according to a source. However, neither Ohio State nor the NCAA investigated the transactions or the players’ relationship with Rife until December 2010, when the school claims it was informed of the situation by the local United States Attorney’s office.

Oh boy. If this is true, we hope Tressel doesn’t hurt himself falling off his high horse.

(H/T to Ben Blog)

***

Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow and New York Knicks center Amare Stoudemire have both backed Brandon Davies, who was kicked off the basketball team for a violation of the BYU honor code. The Salt Lake Tribune has reported Davies violated the code by having premarital sex with his girlfriend.

And we are supposed to care what Tebow and Stoudemire think, why?

***

Spring has returned at Anfield.

***

Interesting article at EPL Talk about how the influence of Americans on English soccer is resulting in a growth in statistical analysis among teams.

***

This was posted on UniWatch a few days ago and we still have no idea what is going on in this photo.

Posted in Anfield, Cleveland Browns, Liverpool | Leave a comment
06 Mar 2011

Hats off to Dirk Kuyt

Who’s better than Dirk Kuyt right now after his hat trick against Manchester United?

“It’s perfect,” Kuyt told Sky Sports afterwards. “You dream about the hat trick and to do it against United is the best feeling ever.

“I’m more than happy but I have to thank Luis (Suárez) because he played great and created two of the goals. They were quite easy goals, I used to score them in Holland when I played more like a striker. They count and I’m more than happy to take them.”

We’re happy, too, Dirk. We’re happy, too.

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Following their loss to Chicago on Sunday, Miami is now a combined 2-8 on the season against Chicago, Boston and Orlando, and 12-18 against teams with winning records.

But they do lead the league in tears.

Just in case you were wondering.

Posted in Dirk Kuyt, Liverpool | Leave a comment

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