Red Right 88

In Cleveland, hope dies last

Archive for the category “Liverpool”

10 Jan 2011
2 Comments

What if the Browns had hired Rex Ryan?

While watching this weekend’s playoff games we decided to put on our Hindsight Hat and wonder:

What if the Browns had hired Rex Ryan as coach in 2009? Would it have made a difference?

After Saturday’s victory against Indianapolis, Ryan has now led the Jets to three road playoff wins in two seasons. By comparison, the Browns have won two road playoff games in franchise history: the 1955 NFL Championship game against the Rams and a 1969 playoff game against Dallas.

That’s it.

The Jets have also won 20 games over the past two seasons. The Browns haven’t won 20 games in a two-season span since the 1987 and 1988 seasons.

There’s no doubt his personality would have fit in here; just look at his brother Rob, the Browns defensive coordinator. And the two Ryans working together on the Browns defense certainly would have produced positive results.

Rex Ryan talks a big game and he gets his players to back it up.

But would the Browns be in a better situation than they are right now? That’s hard to say. We still would have liked to see Mangini come back for another year of working with Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert.

Even if the Browns had hired Ryan over Mangini, the team would still have had to hire a general manager. Would that have been Tom Heckert? Seems doubtful and we like what we’ve seen of his work so far.

Same with Mike Holmgren. If the Browns had played better in ’09 then owner Randy Lerner may not have felt pressure to bring in someone like Holmgren.

And they would still have needed a quarterback, wide receivers, etc. The situation was still one that couldn’t be fixed over night.

That’s the thing when you play the “what if” game, there are so many variables involved that there is really no way to come up with a definitive answer.

There’s one thing we are sure of, though: things would be a lot more interesting. Of course, not everyone would agree.

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ESPN continues its campaign to dump on Cleveland as much as possible.

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First came the news that Anderson Varejao will miss the rest of the Cavs season with a torn tendon in his foot; then today word comes down that Christian Eyenga is in a walking boot.

No word, though, on if Eyenga picked up one of the Browns spare boots for his injury.

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Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell is in town to interview on Tuesday for the Browns coaching job.

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King Kenny brings hope to Liverpool even in defeat. Dude, we could use a big shot of hope around here right about now.

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Athletes and Twitter are always good for a laugh.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Kenny Dalglish, Liverpool, NFL, Rex Ryan, Ryan Babel
31 Dec 2010
1 Comment

A Look Back at 2010

It was certainly interesting around here in 2010.

After earning the top seed in the playoffs for the second consecutive year, the Cavs became the first team in NBA history to post back-to-back 60-win seasons and not win an NBA title.

The early exit led to major changes, as owner Dan Gilbert fired coach Mike Brown and GM Danny Ferry decided not to remain with the team.

The biggest change, of course, was LeBron James’ decision to leave the team in free agency, which left the Cavs scrambling to decide how to rebuild the franchise.

The Indians have become the Indians of the 1970s again, and there seems to be little hope that they will be able to fix things.

The World Cup helped take our mind off the Cavs and filled in the gap until the Browns started training camp. Judging by the TV ratings, we weren’t the only ones entertained.

The U.S. team provided some great moments, starting with its opening tie against England, to its last-minute win on Landon Donovan’s goal against Algeria. The fun came to an end, though, in extra time against Ghana. And Spain came through in the end, just as we predicted.

We learned Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard is the anti-LeBron and finally saw Tom Hicks and George Gillett exit Anfield, leaving the team in pieces.

Then there were the Browns.

Owner Randy Lerner finally put together a qualified management team in president Mike Holmgren, general manager Tom Heckert and coach Eric Mangini. With all three having clearly defined roles, the team is finally set up for success.

After nailing their first draft, the Browns prepared for a season that would ultimately have them playing one of the toughest schedules in the NFL.

That schedule has certainly contributed to the team’s struggles this year, but clear progress has been made as wins against the Saints and Patriots show.

Now we’re just left to wait out stupid time until Holmgren makes the announcement that Mangini is obviously returning next season.

One more thing: we finally learned the real reason Brady Quinn failed as quarterback of the Browns.

Finally, we launched this site in 2010.

While we had to deal with a few bumps at first with some people who think the Internet is run like a playground and they can call “firsties,” things have gone pretty well.

The guys at Waiting for Next Year have been good to us, as has Cleveland Frowns. And we are grateful for that.

We’ve also had the opportunity to meet a few new fans online, including jimkanicki, chris from Two One Six Sports, Malcolm Mathers, Believelander and others who have all helped expand our knowledge base and made us think before we post.

We’re still working to find our voice and figure out exactly what we want to be as a site, but overall it has been a positive experience. We’re looking forward to what 2011 has in store for us and for Cleveland fans everywhere.

Happy New Year everyone.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Indians, Liverpool, NFL, World Cup
07 Dec 2010
2 Comments

Think Before You Write

While our primary focus is on Cleveland sports hear at Red Right 88 headquarters, we occasionally offer insight and opinion on European football, most notably over the summer with the World Cup and, when time permits, our favorite English team, Liverpool.

There’s much we love about the beautiful game, from the passion of the fans, to the songs, the stadiums, relegation, the fact that the game works well and is available on TV in high definition and, unlike some American sports (baseball) it is fairly easy to pick up the basics and follow what’s going on pretty quickly. And the fact that the game is foreign just makes it more interesting.

We picked up the game during the 2006 World Cup and started following Liverpool shortly after. And because we’ve only been a fan for a short time, we tread carefully when we write about the game. We try to stick to games, players we like, things like that. One area we work hard to avoid is diving too far into the darker parts of the sport’s history. Frankly, we’re so new to the sport that it would be foolish to do so, as we just don’t have the depth of knowledge as fans who have been following teams for generations – literally in the case of Liverpool as the team was founded in 1892.

And the one area we would never feel qualified to discuss is the Hillsborough tragedy, where 96 Liverpool supporters lost their lives during a game against Nottingham Forest.

Unfortunately, Alex Beam of The Boston Globe has no such reservations.

In a column, Hardball in Liverpool, Beam writes about how John Henry’s New England Sports Ventures (owners of the Red Sox) are still in the early stages of its ownership of Liverpool. The point of the column seems to be to grind an axe against NESV. Beam writes that:

In a lengthy interview with one of the fan sites, Redandwhitekop.com (kop refers to a part of Anfield stadium), Henry confined himself to boilerplate Belispeak: “This club needs everyone on the same page every day. Every day. We need everyone focused on what needs to be done in the next match facing us and during that match,’’ blah blah blah. He comes across as bloodless and dispassionate, talking about soccer in the same breath as his auto racing interests and baseball — one management template for all. That kind of talk won’t sit well by the Mersey, believe me.

But then, inexplicably, Beam goes off the rails and brings up Hillsborough, classifying it as a riot:

The few sane people I have talked to about Liverpool understand that these are early days for New England Sports Ventures and that meaningful changes probably won’t come until Liverpool’s season ends in May. None of those sane people are in Liverpool, however. Even by the deranged standards of European soccer, Red fans are totally bonkers. Their excitable Internet fan sites are still agonizing over a 21-year-old soccer stadium riot that killed 96 people. One website, Thisisanfield.com, is publishing yet another exhaustive history of the incident, and still actively promotes a boycott of Rupert Murdoch’s tabloid The Sun, two decades after the paper accused Liverpool fans of pickpocketing the corpses, and other outrages.

Why you would bring up a tragedy that killed 96 people when you clearly have no idea what you’re talking about? And why would you judge a fan base for mourning the loss of their own? What purpose does that serve, other than to broadcast your ignorance to everyone?

Needless to say, the outrage over the article was quick. Rather than run a retraction or, better yet, an apology, The Globe ran a correction:

Because of a reporting error, Alex Beam’s column on Tuesday in the “g” section mischaracterized the 1989 Hillsborough stadium disaster involving Liverpool soccer fans as a “riot.” The official investigation into the disaster, which cost 96 lives, placed the blame primarily on poor crowd control and inadequate stadium design.

OK, we know we’re just a fan blog and have nowhere near the reach or influence of a newspaper such as The Globe. But once upon a time we were a working journalist and we still carry those standards with us. We try to have fun here, but we also work hard to be accurate when we write.

And, most importantly, we think before we write. Clearly those same standards are not in play at The Boston Globe, which paints a sad portrait of the state of journalism in this country.

If you want to learn more about what happened that day at Hillsborough, visit This is Anfield for its series of articles about the tragedy.

Posted in bad reporting, Boston Globe, Liverpool
08 Nov 2010

Browns release the poison on Patriots

The Browns dominated the Patriots on Sunday and in the process earned what is surely the defining victory of the Eric Mangini era and the final bit of proof for anyone who doubted this team and refused to see the progress it has made.

And in the process maybe, just maybe, the Browns have finally found a quarterback.

Unlike last year’s last-season win against Pittsburgh (aka the most over-rated win in franchise history), Sunday’s win came against a team riding a five-game winning streak and with the best record in the NFL.

The Browns rolled up 404 yards of offense, with 230 yards rushing and four rushing touchdowns. They controlled the ball for 38 minutes behind 184 rushing yards and two touchdowns by Peyton Hillis. The offensive line had another solid day, and the right side has settled down since Billy Yates has taken over at right guard and Floyd Womack at right tackle.

For the second game in a row the team pulled out the trick plays, this time a handoff to Chansi Stuckey out of the Wildcat that resulted in Stuckey’s 11-yard touchdown run.

The defense held the Patriots to half their season total in points and, for the second week in a row, more than held its own against a top-flight quarterback. The Browns held the Patriots to just seven points through three quarters and when McCoy ran the ball in from 16 yards to give the Browns a 24-7 lead with about five minutes to go in the third quarter, the game was essentially over.

It was probably the first time both sides of the ball played well in the same game and made it truly a team win.

As for McCoy, he’s making it very difficult for the coaches to stick to The Plan once Seneca Wallace and Jake Delhomme are healthy.

McCoy had no interceptions for the second consecutive week, completed 73 percent of his passes on the day and once again avoided making any stupid plays that could have hurt the Browns.

You can see him getting better and more comfortable each week as he gets more practice time with the first team. And when you factor in that no rookie quarterback in the history of the NFL has made his first three starts against teams of the level of Pittsburgh, New Orleans and New England, it’s slowly starting to look as if the Browns have finally found their quarterback.

As sure as the Browns have made true progress this season – they are now 7-5 in their last 12 games after going 1-11 in the previous 12 – it would be foolish to argue or try to downplay that McCoy has not made progress in the past three games.

Bring on the Jets!

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If a big Browns win wasn’t enough to make it an extra-special day, Liverpool took it to top-of-the-table Chelsea, notching a 2-0 win over the defending champs behind Fernando Torres’ two goals.

Liverpool’s worst start to a season in more than 50 years had the Reds in the relegation zone last month, but three straight wins have lifted the 18-time champions to ninth. They are in a five-team group with Tottenham Hotspur – who were shocked over the weekend by Bolton – and only two points behind fifth-place Newcastle.

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Finally, we are only a Pittsburgh cover against the always overrated Cincinnati Bengals Monday night to nail a perfect week in the 2010 Cheddar Bay Invitational at Cleveland Frowns and continue to close the gap on leader jimkanicki.

Posted in Cheddar Bay, Cleveland Browns, Colt McCoy, defining victory, Fernando Torres, Liverpool | Leave a comment
05 Nov 2010

Captain Fantastic Does it Again

Not only did Steven Gerrard save Liverpool’s Europa League title hopes with a hat trick Thursday against Napoli, he may have also saved the Reds season and the job of manager Roy Hodgson, who was understandably excited about the win.

The 3-1 win puts Liverpool on the verge of qualifying for the knockout stages and should be the spark the team needs heading into its Sunday showdown with top-of-the-table Chelsea.

After a rough (to put it mildly) start to the season that saw the Reds sitting in the relegation zone, a bitter battle over the sale of the club and assorted injuries, Liverpool has pulled to within 5 points of fourth place and a return to the Champions League next season.

It won’t be easy, but if they can come away from Anfield on Sunday with a point (or points) off Chelsea there is still plenty of season left (we’re not even to Boxing Day yet) to get things turned around.

Thursday night against Napoli was a good start. Now lets see if the team can carry that over to Sunday.

Posted in Europa League, Liverpool, Steven Gerrard | Leave a comment
21 Oct 2010

Don’t the Browns already have a coach?

After a few weeks without anyone taking the temperature of the office furniture in Berea, the nonsense has come back thanks to a line from ESPN broadcaster Jon Gruden.

Gruden was on Rich Eisen’s podcast show and Eisen asked Gruden if he would listen if someone wanted him to coach again next year.

“I think I might,” Gruden said.

That’s all. Not, “I’m coaching next year.” Or “I’m already moving my furniture into the coach’s office in Berea.” Just that he would think about it if someone came calling.

That didn’t stop the speculation from the “experts” who quickly drew the conclusion that Gruden will be on the sidelines for the Browns next year:

I guess we should be thankful that no one is trying to sell Gruden as an in-season replacement.

When Mike Holmgren decided to bring Eric Mangini back as coach it was clear he was going to give him the full year. It wouldn’t make any sense to bring Mangini back only to fire him after six or seven games – Holmgren needs a full season to evaluate Mangini and it’s only fair to give him that.

As to Gruden, what is it about him that makes anyone think we’d want him to coach the Browns? People like to point out that he is a “Super Bowl-winning coach*,” but that was in 2002 and with Tony Dungy’s players. Once Gruden started turning the roster over and bringing in his own players the team went downhill.

And Gruden’s inability to settle on a quarterback in Tampa makes the past few years in Cleveland quarterback issues look like a dream.

Finally, since every coach and every player is great, as Gruden tells us each week on Monday Night Football, can we really trust his ability to judge talent?

If some other team wants to take a shot on Gruden, if they fall in love with his bad haircut and goofy faces, good for them.

But there’s no place for him in Cleveland.

Not now and not next year.

*We really need a statute of limitations of about 10 years on the phrase “Super Bowl-winning.” It’s a bit ridiculous when people refer for Mike Shanahan as a “Super Bowl-winning coach” when his last Super Bowl was in 1998; same with Brett Favre who won a Super Bowl in 1996. That’s a long time ago.

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Oh, and all that talk about James Harrison retiring? Yeah, not so much.

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I often wish we had more aspects of European soccer crowds in American sports – check out this video from Anfield, how sweet would it be to see that at a Browns game? – then something like this happens and makes me think that maybe we can do with a little less passion.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, hot seats, Jon Gruden, Liverpool | Leave a comment
06 Oct 2010

Ruminations and Ramblings

Thoughts on a October Wednesday:

  • The NFL hit Browns safety T.J. Ward with a $15,000 fine for his hit on Jordan Shipley. As expected, the Bengals are still crying over the hit.”I just want to let it be known that it wasn’t malicious intent to knock him out or to get him hurt,” Ward told The Plain Dealer. “It was just part of the game. I just reacted to what I saw and tried to make a play. The way it happened, I didn’t really try to hit him with everything I had, but still it was a pretty violent hit. I wasn’t trying to aim for his helmet in any way. I just hit what I saw. It all happened so fast.” Something tells us that Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco will have one eye on Ward when the teams meet again in December.
  • It was three years ago yesterday that the Indians and Fausto Carmona beat the Yankees in Game 2 of the Divisional Series in the game where the midges attacked Joba Chamberlain’s fat head. Seems more like 30 years after the way the Indians have played the past few years.
  • Very glad the Browns apparently were not involved in the talks to acquire Randy Moss from the Patriots. While the team does need a major upgrade at wide receiver, it’s hard to see how someone like Moss, while talented, would have fit in with the culture that Eric Mangini is trying to build in the locker room and on the field.
  • Not sure how we feel about the news that Boston Red Sox principal owner John Henry wants to buy Liverpool. Certainly getting rid of the current owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett is a positive, and the fact that they are opposed to the sale seems like a good sign. But some are urging caution, making the point that Henry wants the team as a business venture, rather than as a passion. But maybe that’s not a bad thing. The Dolans bought the Indians in part because they are fans and that hasn’t work out so well. Maybe someone with deep pockets that stays out of the way – like Randy Lerner at Aston Villa – isn’t all that bad of a scenario.
  • You kind of hate to feel good about another team’s misery, unless it is Pittsburgh, but the news that Max Hall is the new starting quarterback in Arizona gives us a good chuckle. You do have to feel bad for Cardinal fans, though, as they tried to talk themselves into Derek Anderson the way we did in Cleveland for three years. The worse part is betting against Anderson was a nice safety valve to have each week; now that’s gone.
  • Only 11 more days until Pittsburgh. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here a bit.
Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians, Derek Anderson, Liverpool, T.J. Ward | Leave a comment
28 Sep 2010

Why Can’t We Have Nice Things?

Came across this on The Spoiler site: it’s a video presentation of Qatar’s proposed stadiums as part of its bid to host the 2022 World Cup.

Why can’t we take a water taxi to a Browns game at Cleveland Browns Stadium?

Why can’t we have cooling and/or heating technology in the stands?

Why can’t our stadiums have a 420,000-square-foot media facade?

Why can’t our stadiums reflect the landscape and uniqueness of Northeast Ohio?

Why can’t we ever have anything nice?

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Disappointing news if true: Brian Windhorst may be leaving the Plain Dealer to join ESPN and cover the Miami Heat. Sad news for Cavs fans as we would be losing one of the best NBA beat writers around, and to cover the Heat no less.

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As if following the Cleveland teams hasn’t been tough lately, we are still dealing with the mess in Liverpool created by owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett. Red Right 88’s English cousin, Red Right 26.82 meters, pointed us to this story preaching patience.

Posted in bad owners, coveting nice things, Liverpool, Unique stadiums | Leave a comment
23 Aug 2010

Duo writes the book on bad owners

It’s clear following Monday’s 3-0 loss that Liverpool is a mess under the ownership of Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

As we pointed out a few weeks ago, the (soon to be) outgoing owners have turned one of England’s most-storied clubs into a struggling squad with an uncertain future.

We know bad owners in Cleveland, from Ted Stepien to Art Modell to just about everyone who owned the Indians prior to the Jacobs brothers. So watching these two ruin Liverpool has been painful.

Paul Bestall at EPL Talk has come out with a spot-on look at the current state of the squad under Hicks and Gillett. Some of the “highlights” include:

  • Hicks and Gillett want not just ridiculous, but utterly stupid amounts of money for a club they’ve effectively bankrupted.
  • A fan base determined to run the owners out of town.
  • A stadium that has never made it off the drawing board.
  • Manchester City pulled Liverpool to bits tonight at times without really playing that well. Couple this with some performances on the tail end of last season and it reminded me of the last time a Liverpool squad looked this thin on quality. Under Graeme Souness, Liverpool had become a shadow of a side within 3 years, struggling to qualify for the UEFA Cup as it was then, never mind the Champions League.
  • The arrival of Roy Hodgson cannot paper over the cracks in this Liverpool squad. Hopelessly weak in areas it used to excel in, players shuffled about to try and make do and an attack so lightweight it looked made of paper. This is the worst Liverpool squad in 15 years, no question about it.

And the blame rests solely in the owners’ box for this mess. It seemed like Kenny Huang was going to finally start cleaning-up this mess with his bid for the club, but Huang pulled out last week after reportedly growing impatient.

Now what? Hicks and Gillett are determined to hold onto the team until they can sell it for a payoff they clearly haven’t earned. When Hicks and Gillett bought Liverpool FC, the club reportedly had a debt of approximately £44 million. That debt has now grown to £237 million.

And if the team continues slipping down the table? Apparently Hicks and Gillett have taken the position that will be the next owner’s problem.

Just lovely.

Posted in bad owners, EPL, Liverpool, sinking ship | Leave a comment
11 Aug 2010

Psst, want to buy a soccer team?

With Saturday bringing the start of the new Premier League season, it’s been a good summer for Liverpool.

First Steven Gerrard, aka the anti-LeBron, recommitted to the team, then Fernando Torres, fresh off a World Cup victory with Spain, announced he was staying at Anfield. Rafa Benitez, his ego and odd player rotations are in Italy, replaced by Roy Hodgson.

And it looked like, at long last, the team would be rid of goofball owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett, who after running the team into the ground since buying it in 2007 decided to put it up for sale last spring.

But even that hasn’t gone smoothly. At first, Chinese investor Kenny Huang appeared to be the front runner to buy the club. (His name should sound familiar to Cavs fans – he advised Chinese investors bidding to acquire a 15 percent stake in the Cavaliers, although the deal did not work out).

More potential owners have come out in recent weeks, although the Sahara Group has apparently pulled out; while the interest from Yayha Kirdi has left many fans cold.

Hicks and Gillett prefer Kirdi, of course, as he is reportedly willing to pay 600 million pounds for the club, twice the value of the other offers and enough to ensure the owners of turning a profit. The other offers would allow the pair to walk away without losing any money.

It’s not surprising that Hicks and Gillett can’t even get this right. Gillett, while he was owner of the Montreal Canadians, was part of the NHL when it closed down for a year because the owners couldn’t figure out how to control themselves from overspending on contracts.

Hicks famously bid against himself as owner of the Texas Rangers to give Alex Rodriguez $250 million, and recently sold the team out of bankruptcy.

Just the duo you want running your club.

And we think the Dolans are bad.

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Finally, more good news from the always top-notch EPL Talk.

Posted in Fernando Torres, Liverpool, Premier League, Steven Gerrard | Leave a comment

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