Turns out, HBO is having a problem finding a team for this season’s version of the popular series, Hard Knocks.
According to The New York Post, the cable channel expects to have a team in place by June 1. The Jets, Broncos, Falcons, Texans, 49ers and Redskins have all reportedly turned down a chance to appear on the show.
Well, how about the Cleveland Browns?
Cleveland Browns legend Jim Brown, with the help of the local media, continued to grind his axe against Mike Holmgren on Thursday.
ESPN Cleveland’s Tony Grossi gave Brown the opportunity to continue to talk down the team’s top pick, running back Trent Richardson.
“I haven’t heard anyone say anything special about (Richardson). Have you?” Brown said. “I think Richardson is a fine young man. I think he’s a good all-around football player. But from my standpoint, that’s ordinary. You talk about someone that’s going to move or light up the franchise or create a certain kind of thing, that’s what I’m talking about. I’m not trying to be mean. There are certain people you look at and there’s something special about them. I don’t see it.
“When you think of greatness and the great backs, they all had some individual traits that you can identify – quickness, balance, power, speed,” Brown said. “I think the kid is a good working back, and if you’ve got everything else around him he can play his role. But when it comes to outstanding, I don’t see anything outstanding about him. It’s not said in a cruel manner. He’s very efficient, and that’s what you want.”
Like everyone else, Brown is entitled to his opinion. While it’s not clear what the end game is to his comments, we have a pretty good idea about his motivation.
We weren’t that surprised when we heard the news that Tampa Bay traded former Cleveland Browns tight end Kellen Winslow to Seattle
After all, the Bucs have a new coach and when you can get someone like Greg Schiano, who took Rutgers to the middle of the all-powerful Big East, well you just have to let him call the shots.
“(Schiano) said he was kind of upset that I wasn’t there working with the team in the offseason and for the first week of OTAs,” Winslow told the hosts of the The Opening Drive on Sirius NFL Radio.
“But look, I’ve been there the last three years and I’ve had a successful career so far. You don’t just get rid of one of your best players like that. I have nothing bad to say about Coach Schiano. It was just a disagreement on why I’m not there yet.”
Tampa likely shares the same concern the Browns did when they traded Winslow following the 2008 season – while he is talented and only 28, Winslow has the knee of an 80-year-old, and the thought of paying him base salaries of $3.3 million, $4.5 million, and $5.5 million over the next three years is more of a risk than Tampa probably wants to take.
Winslow is one of those Only in Cleveland stories that fans have come to know all too well over the years. Hugely talented when he was drafted out of Miami in the first round of the 2004 draft, Winslow broke his leg two games into his rookie season (during the Jeff Garcia 0.0 game, talk about an OIC moment) and missed the rest of the year.
Cleveland Indians reliever Chris Perez really did it this time with his comments after Saturday’s win against Miami.
Or did he?
You’ll nead to head to The Cleveland Fan to find out.
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It’s no surprise that people had a lot to say about Perez and his comments. Here’s a good sampling:
Tribe Weekend Wrap: The Pure Rage Edition at WFNY
Indians closer Chris Perez tells working stiffs of Cleveland to suck it up and spend more money on Major League Baseball and $8 beers at Cleveland Frowns
No Need To Boo Perez, He’s Just Like Us at Did the Tribe Win Last Night?
Chris Perez’ comments offer harsh does of reality to Cleveland fans at WFNY
Chris Perez is a good closer, good teammate without much perspective by Terry Pluto
Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman made headlines over the weekend by going public with his desire to bring an NBA team to Ohio’s capital city.
We normally wouldn’t care about this – we don’t live in Columbus after all – but then we saw some chatter on Twitter about an idea for the Blue Jackets to play 10 games a year in Cleveland and the Cavaliers to play a like number of games in Columbus.
We’re going to be nice here, so we’ll say that is one of the most unappealing ideas we’ve heard in a while.
To learn why, head over to The Cleveland Fan.
Kenny Dalglish is out as manager of Liverpool, just 16 months into his second stint in charge of the club that he once starred for.
John Henry, Liverpool’s principal owner and chairman Tom Werner made the decision after meeting with Dalglish in Boston earlier this week.
“Kenny came into the club as manager at our request at a time when Liverpool Football Club really needed him,” Werner said. “He didn’t ask to be manager; he was asked to assume the role. He did so because he knew the club needed him. He did more than anyone else to stabilise Liverpool over the past year and a half and to get us once again looking forward. We owe him a great debt of gratitude.
“However, results in the Premier League have been disappointing and we believe to build on the progress that has already been made, we need to make a change.”
In some ways it is not that surprising, as Liverpool finished the season in eighth in the Premier League, four points behind in-town rival Everton, 17 points behind fourth place Tottenham Hotspur (the final Champions League spot) and a whopping 37 points behind league champion Manchester City. It was their worst finish in 18 years and the lowest point total since the 1953-54 season.
So who had Derek Lowe in the American League Cy Young sweepstakes?
The 38-year-old Lowe notched his first shutout in seven years as the first-place Cleveland Indians beat Minnesota on Tuesday, 5-0.
In the process, Lowe became the first pitcher since 2002 to throw a shutout without striking anyone out. After only winning nine games last year with the Braves, Lowe is now 6-1 on the season with an ERA of 2.05.
“It’s been a really gratifying start,” Lowe said after the game. “Coming into the season, there were so many questions about ‘Are you done? Are you going to retire? Blah, blah.’ So I worked my tail off, not just to prove people wrong, but to get myself back to where I knew I should be.
What a weekend for the Cleveland Browns.
From Brandon Weeden’s cannon arm, to Trent Richardson’s muscles to Travis Benjamin’s speed, the Browns won the weekend at the rookie minicamp.
So get those playoff tickets ready, Uncle Mike, we’re gassing up the car and heading to Berea.
OK, jokes aside, it was nice to hear some good news coming out of Berea at the end of the three-day, five-practice minicamp.
“It was a good practice, a good minicamp,” Browns coach Pat Shurmur said. “I told the players it was a very good start, but we have a long way to go before we’re ready to play a game and do the things we’re ready to do.”
The Browns got their first look at Weeden as the rookie quarterback from Oklahoma State started the transition from the spread offense he ran in college to the Browns version of the West Coast Offense.
“Fortunately for me, the Senior Bowl was a nice little appetizer just because the terminology is the same,” Weeden said. “A lot of the formations were the same, so I could kind of recall going back to that. But, it’s different and for me I have to spit it out in the huddle and there are plays that are this long. You just have to get comfortable with it, understand how it all works, why we are doing certain things and once you get a feel for it, it plays itself out. I think everybody did really well with it. Overall, I am happy with the way everybody performed because everybody got better, competed and really everybody produced.”
What an end to the 2011-12 British Premier League season.
The task was simple for Manchester City: win at home (or at least mirror Manchester United’s result on the day), against a Queens Park Rangers that had not won on the road all season, and City would claim its first league title since 1968.
So of course Manchester City trailed 2-1 heading into stoppage time against QPR, which had played a man down since the 55 minute mark. But goals by Edin Dzeko Sergio Agüero, who tallied with only about a minute left, gave City the title.
Just the way everyone expected the final day to turn out.
“It was incredible – they deserved this,” Manchester City manager Robert Mancini told The Daily Mail. “To win like this is incredible. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a finale like this. We didn’t deserve to lose, we had a lot of chances and we deserved to win the game and the championship.
Patience is the companion of wisdom – St. Augustine
If you are going to be a fan of Cleveland’s sports teams, you need more than a fair share of patience.
But patience is great only if it comes with its twin – hope. We need hope that things will get better, that there is a plan in place for Cleveland’s sports teams, that the championship parade will one day roll through downtown Cleveland.
Head over to The Cleveland Fan for the rest of the story.
(Photo by The Associated Press)
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