Red Right 88

In Cleveland, hope dies last

21 Apr 2013

Talking Browns football with Scotland’s Sad Factory

Being a fan of Cleveland sports is one of the better aspects of life, aside from the no championship thing, of course.

The allure of the Browns, Indians and Cavaliers is not just confined to Northeast Ohio, however, as the power of Cleveland sports extends not only across the country but internationally as well.

Which brings us to Murray Alexander

Murray is a 24-year-old from Glasgow, Scotland, and the author of The Factory of Sadness, a blog about the Cleveland Browns that has been “churning out canned heartbreak since 1796.” You can also find him on Twitter @SadFactory.

Murray was kind enough to sit down for a virtual Q&A on how he became a Browns fan, why things are going to be better under the new regime and the team’s prospects for 2013.

To see what he had to say, head over to The Cleveland Fan.

20 Apr 2013

Brownie Bits

Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam said he’s not going anywhere in a brief press conference on Friday in Knoxville.

“I thought to myself, ‘well why would I do that?’” he said in published reports. “Candidly I haven’t done anything wrong number one. And number two, if there’s ever a time a company need our leadership it’s right now.

“We feel confident that this company is run the right way and will be continued to run the right way.”

Mrs. Haslam even chimed in on this week’s events at Pilot Flying J.

“(Jimmy) hasn’t done anything wrong,” Dee Haslam told knoxvillebiz.com. “He’s probably one of the best CEOs anywhere.”

We like the fact that the owner of the local football team is confident and willing to fight for what he believes. That bodes well for the future prospects of the Browns.

We just wish that owner wasn’t currently facing a federal investigation into his company’s business practices.

But that’s just us.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Jimmy Haslam, NFL draft and tagged Cleveland Browns, Jimmy Haslam, NFL draft | Leave a comment

19 Apr 2013

Stop the coaching carousel, we want to get off

The Cleveland Cavaliers made the speculation that has surrounded the team for the past few weeks reality on Thursday, firing head coach Byron Scott.

Scott was “released” from his duties in Cleveland (the team’s word) after compiling a record of 64-166 and successfully guiding the team into the NBA lottery for three consecutive years.

In other words, Scott did what he was ostensibly hired to do.

Just since September, every pro team in town has fired its manager or head coach, leaving current Tribe manager Terry Francona, who was managing his 14th game with the Tribe on Thursday night, as the most-tenured manager or coach of Cleveland’s three sports team.

Whatever. We’re too tired and we just want to get off the coaching carousel for a while.

For the full story, head over to The Cleveland Fan.

(Photo by The Plain Dealer)

Posted in Byron Scott, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dan Gilbert and tagged Byron Scott, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dan Gilbert | Leave a comment

16 Apr 2013

1 Comment

Pilot Flying J raid may be most Only in Cleveland story ever

Over the years we have seen and heard our share of strange stories when it comes to Cleveland sports.

From bankrupt owners, to bad trades, ill-timed injuries, prevent defenses in the playoffs, players burning their uniforms in trash cans, fat guys eating beer cans, players taking their “talents to South Beach,” and more disappointment than any one fan base should ever witness, we though we had seen it all.

Posted in Cleveland Browns and tagged Cleveland Browns

16 Apr 2013

Where does Byron Scott rank among Cavs coaches?

This week will bring an end to the 2012-13 NBA season for the Cleveland Cavaliers and, for the third consecutive season, the Cavs will be sitting at home when the playoffs begin.

Much has been made over the past few weeks about the future of Cavs coach Byron Scott, who carries a record of 64-164 as he closes out his third year as coach, making him the longest-tenured coach of a Cleveland sports team. It’s not so much the losing – after all, the Cavs have openly been in rebuilding mode almost from the day Scott took the job – but the historic nature of the losing.

From blowing 20-plus point leads numerous times – including Tuesday night’s in Indiana, when the Cavs became just the second team in the shot-clock era to lose a game that they led by more than 20 points with less than nine minutes to play – to an ongoing lack of attention to defense, many are wondering if Scott will be back for a fourth season when the Cavs return this fall.

All the talk about Scott’s coaching future made us start to wonder just where Scott ranks among Cavs coaches throughout the years. We started following sports in the mid-1970s, so we’ve actually seen every head coach that’s ever led the Cavs onto the hardwood.

The Cavs have had 12 full-time coaches since entering the NBA in the fall of 1970 (we’re not counting interims, so sorry Don Delaney, Keith Smart, Brendan Malone, among others. And really sorry, Chuck Daly). While Scott is not the best coach the Cavs have ever employed, he’s certainly not the worst.

To find out just where Scott ranks, head over to The Cleveland Fan.

Posted in Byron Scott, Cleveland Cavaliers and tagged Byron Scott, Cleveland Cavaliers | Leave a comment

14 Apr 2013

1 Comment

Radio home of the Indians drops the ball during broadcast

We were running errands this afternoon and listening to the Cleveland Indians game on WTAM, the flagship station of the team.

The Tribe was trailing, 2-1, heading into the bottom of the seventh inning as they were looking to sweep the Chicago White Sox in the weekend’s three-game series.

Just as play-by-play man Tom Hamilton was setting the table during the seventh-inning stretch, we were ripped from Progressive Field by the 3 p.m. “news update” from WTAM’s weekend news staff.

Posted in Cleveland fans, Cleveland Indians and tagged Cleveland Indians

13 Apr 2013

He’s one Tough Mudder

The Tough Mudder is a 12-13 mile obstacle course designed by British Special Forces to test a participant’s all-around strength, stamina, mental grit and camaraderie.

The worldwide event was founded by Will Dean, a former counter-terrorism agent for the British government. While working on his master’s degree at Harvard, Dean created Tough Mudder because he was looking for a challenge that marathons, triathlons and other adventure runs did not offer.

Started in 2010 with just three races, there were 35 Tough Mudders held in 2012. The event has seen more than 700,000 people participate in a course that features anywhere from 25 to 30 obstacles, ranging from the Artic Enema, to the Ball Shrinker, Dirty Ballerina, Electric Eel and the Turd’s Nest, just to name a few. According to the group’s website, it is “the premier adventure challenge series in the world.”

The group has also raised more than $5 million for the Wounded Warrior Project by offering a discount off the registration fee for any participant who pledges to raise $150.

Steve Roush, a 47-year-old from North Canton, will run in his second Tough Mudder when the event comes to the Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport on April 27-28.

To see what Steve has to say about the experience of being a Tough Mudder, head over to The Cleveland Fan.

Posted in Cleveland and tagged Cleveland, Tough Mudder | Leave a comment

11 Apr 2013

Browns trade backup linebacker for backup running back

The Cleveland Browns were up to business again on Thursday, trading second-year linebacker Emmanuel Acho to Philadelphia for third-year running back Dion Lewis.

Funny, we thought that Browns CEO Joe Banner was the “arch-nemesis” of the Eagles. Interesting that they would be willing trading partners if that were true.

It’s not hard to figure out why Philadelphia would be a landing spot for Acho, a sixth-round pick in 2012 from the University of Texas. Eagles defensive coordinator Bill Davis was Acho’s position coach last year in Cleveland, while offensive coordinator Pat Shumur was Acho’s head coach for the Browns.

Posted in Cleveland Browns and tagged Cleveland Browns | Leave a comment

10 Apr 2013

There is something oddly familiar about the Indians so far

The Cleveland Indians have a familiar look to them through the first eight games of the 2013 season.

It’s not so much the offense,even though the 2-3-4 for part of the lineup (Asdrubal Cabrera, Jason Kipnis and Nick Swisher, the man with the largest free agent contract in franchise history) are hitting a combined .172 with just two home runs and six RBI on the season.

Or that the Tribe has scored one or fewer runs three times in the past six games, helping contribute to the Indians losing five of those games.

No, it’s the starting pitching that is giving Tribe fans flashbacks to 2012, when the Indians had the worst starting rotation in the American League.

Posted in Cleveland Indians and tagged Cleveland Indians | Leave a comment

09 Apr 2013

Browns sign free agent wide receiver David Nelson

The Cleveland Browns added to their depth at wide receiver on Monday, signing unrestricted free agent David Nelson to a reported one-year contract.

Nelson is a big target (6-foot-5 and 214 pounds) and, more importantly, was second in receptions for the Buffalo Bills in 2010 and 2011. For his NFL career, he has 94 receptions for 1,042 yards and eight touchdowns.

In their rankings of free agent wide receivers, Pro Football Focus wrote that Nelson “possesses the kind of size and talent that plenty of personnel people around the league will think they can exploit. … In 2011, Nelson emerged as one of the leading slot receivers in the league, finishing seventh overall in terms of slot yardage.”

What’s that? You don’t remember seeing Nelson on the field when the Browns took on Buffalo in Week 3?

Posted in Cleveland Browns and tagged Cleveland Browns, David Nelson | Leave a comment

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