Red Right 88

In Cleveland, hope dies last

10 May 2012

Blame Homgrem or Shermen?

Welcome to Cleveland, John Hughes. Are you ready to start?

The Cleveland Browns better hope Hughes, the team’s third-round draft pick, is ready for his close-up because it looks like they will need him this fall after starting defensive tackle Phil Taylor injured a pectoral muscle while working out on Thursday.

Of course he did.

“We’re awaiting results of the MRI,” Peter Schaffer, Taylor’s agent, told The Plain Dealer. “He’s staying positive. He’s got a great attitude. He’ll either be 100 percent or come back 100 percent.

Obviously this is an indictment of the lax attitude installed in Berea by team president Mike Holmgren. Or the lack of preparation on coach Pat Shurmur’s part. Or a referendum on owner Randy Lerner’s lack of involvement. Or it could just be that injuries happen.

We’re pretty sure it’s one of those things.

Look, these things happen – just look at Baltimore’s Terrell Suggs and Tampa Bay’s Da’Quan Bowers, who both have suffered torn Achilles tendons.

As it turns out, it’s fortunate the Browns selected Hughes, even if the original plan was to have him provide depth as a rotational player. Now he’s going to need to step up and play big-boy minutes.

Let’s hope he’s up to the challenge.

***

While the Browns were once again bad against the rush last season, finishing 30th in the NFL giving up an average of 147.4 yards per game, turns out they were not historically bad.

Before the 2011 season, there were just 19 defenses in NFL history that gave up more than 5.0 yards per rush for an entire season. Last year, four teams gave up five yards or more each time the opposing team ran the ball – Oakland, Detroit, New Orleans and Tampa Bay.

As bad as the Browns were, they finished 19th in the league with an average of 4.4 yards per rush allowed.

Not sure what that means – after all, it’s not just how many yards you give up but when you give them up – but thought it was worth pointing out.

***

Major League Baseball is reportedly ready to make the ridiculous fake-to-third, throw-to-first pick off play that never works and is one of the things that makes baseball increasingly irritating.

According to The New York Times: The Playing Rules Committee has approved a proposal to make it a balk, with MLB executives and umpires in agreement. The players’ union vetoed the plan for this season to discuss it further. MLB is allowed to implement the change after a one-year wait — no telling whether that would happen if players strongly object. 

 Under the new wording, a pitcher could not fake to third unless he first stepped off the rubber. If he stayed on the rubber, it would be a balk.

Works for us.

***

Sunday is the end of the Premier League season and all 10 games will be shown live in some fashion on Fox’s family of networks and ESPN2.

FX’s live coverage of Sunderland’s match with Manchester United (who are tied for the top spot with Manchester City) will feature in-game highlights (shown in the corner of the screen) of all the goals scored in the other match’s of the day. (h/t EPL Talk)

(Photo by Getty Images)

Posted in baseball, Cleveland Browns, NFL, Phil Taylor, Premier League | Leave a comment
08 May 2012

More proof the Browns owned the draft

Cold Hard Football Facts has been taking a look at the recent NFL Draft and the news is good for Cleveland Browns fans.

Unless you are part of the anti-Holmgren, Heckert and Shurmur crowd – those people won’t like the news.

The site gives the Browns an A- for their draft because the front office succeeded in filling several important needs on the roster.

CHFF points out that what we all know, that the Browns needed to come out of the draft with help for the passing game, which the site ranked as No. 24 in Real QB Rating, No. 29 in Offensive Passer Rating, No. 30 in Real Passing YPA.

Read more…

Posted in Brandon Weeden, Cleveland Browns, NFL draft, Trent Richardson | Leave a comment
06 May 2012

No double may be OK for Liverpool

There will be no need to make any room in the trophy case at Anfield this spring, as Liverpool dropped the FA Cup Final to Chelsea on Saturday, 2-1.

That result may not be the worse thing to happen to the squad in the long run.

Adding a second piece of gaudy silverware this season – Liverpool picked up the Carling Cup back in February – may have blinded the team to the fact that there is still considerable work to be done before the Reds can regain their place as one of England’s Big Four.

Liverpool currently sits ninth in the Premier League table with two games to go. Win those last two and they could reach as high as seventh, well out of a Champions League spot, again, and the much-needed money (an estimated $45 million or more) that comes along with it for next season.

It some ways it would be a bit of a miracle to finish as high as seventh as Liverpool has only won four league matches out of 17 since the calendar flipped to 2012.

Read more…

Posted in FA Cup, Liverpool, patience | Leave a comment
04 May 2012

May a big month for the Tribe

May is going to turn into a key month for the Cleveland Indians, both in the standings and at the box office.

Now that the NFL Draft is over, and with the NBA lottery not being held until May 30, the rest of this month the Indians are not competing (for the most part) for the attention of Cleveland fans.

If they can get through the month in decent shape, the Indians could be set up for another fun summer.

Hit up The Cleveland Fan for the rest of the story.

(Photo by The Associated Press)

Posted in Cleveland Indians | Leave a comment
03 May 2012

Keep Colt, cut Brad

Lots of chatter today on the theory put out by ESPN Cleveland’s Tony Grossi that the Browns soured on Colt McCoy after Brad McCoy, Colt’s father, went off about the circumstances surrounding Colt’s concussion at the hands of Pittsburgh sociopath James Harrison.

Grossi wrote that: I was told at the time that Brad McCoy’s comments meant the end of McCoy in Cleveland, but I didn’t believe it then. The comments did not drive the pursuit of a new quarterback, but I believe they contributed to McCoy’s demise.

OK, this is all pretty simple.

First off, the Browns need to tell Brad McCoy to bugger off. This isn’t a high school game in Texas, it’s the NFL. The front office has enough problems trying to rebuild the Browns into a viable NFL franchise without worrying about what the back-up quarterback’s daddy thinks.

Second, because he is six years younger than fellow quarterback Seneca Wallace, the Browns needs to dump Wallace and keep McCoy as the backup to new starter Brandon Weeden.
 
There, problem solved and the non-story is put to rest.

Only in friggin’ Cleveland do we have to deal with this kind of nonsense.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Colt McCoy, utter nonsense | Leave a comment
02 May 2012

Is there a silver lining to Fujita’s suspension?

The Cleveland Browns now know they will be without Scott Fujita for three games this fall, as the NFL announced on Tuesday that the veteran linebacker and three other players have been suspended without pay for conduct detrimental to the NFL as a result of their leadership roles in the “bounty” program that ran in New Orleans from 2009 to 2011.

“It is the obligation of everyone, including the players on the field, to ensure that rules designed to promote player safety, fair play, and the integrity of the game are adhered to and effectively and consistently enforced,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. “Respect for the men that play the game starts with the way players conduct themselves with each other on the field.”

According to an NFL statement announcing the suspensions: “The record established that Fujita, a linebacker, pledged a significant amount of money to the prohibited pay-for-performance/bounty pool during the 2009 NFL Playoffs when he played for the Saints. The pool to which he pledged paid large cash rewards for “cart-offs” and “knockouts,” plays during which an opposing player was injured.”

Read more…

Posted in Cleveland Browns, NFL, Scott Fujita | Leave a comment
01 May 2012
4 Comments

You Don’t Know Joe

We’ve known Chicago Sun-Times columnist Joe Cowley for almost 25 years, going back to our days together at Kent State working in the sports department of the school newspaper, The Daily Kent Stater.

Those were fun times as we busted our asses for three-plus years, working to figure out where our careers were going to take us and how we could break into the sports writing business. Along the way we also worked hard to change the way The Stater handled its sports coverage.

We shared the football and mens’ basketball team beats and, not content to settle for adding a basic quote from the Sports Information Director to wire copy, we traveled to every away game, something that previous staff members rarely, if ever, had done. We toured all the exotic locations the Mid-American Conference had to offer, from Muncie, Ind., to Mount Pleasant, Mich., and all points in between. There were also trips to Morgantown, W.Va., Raleigh and St. Louis.

Some of the best times were covering the MAC mens’ basketball tournament, which was held at that time in Cobo Arena in Detroit.

Read more…

Posted in Joe Cowley, Kent State
01 May 2012

Roll Trent, the Old Man & Winning Ugly

After three days and almost 20 hours of hearing analysts drone on about short arms, small hands, loose hips and tight ankles, the 2012 NFL Draft has come to a close.

The Cleveland Browns selected 11 players over the draft’s three days, filling obvious holes – running back, quarterback and right tackle – and adding depth at some unexpected places, primarily at defensive tackle.

There is only one question, though, that really matters – are the Browns better off today than they were before the draft started?

To find the answer, head over to The Cleveland Fan.

Posted in Brandon Weeden, Cleveland Browns, NFL draft, Trent Richardson | Leave a comment
29 Apr 2012

So what else is happening in Cleveland?

Woke up this morning from a three-day NFL Draft stupor and realized there are other things going on in Cleveland sports.

Like the first place Cleveland Indians, who took two-out-three from the Angels this weekend.

Sunday it was Derek Lowe, who threw 7.2 shutout innings to run his record to 4-1 on the season. His sinker was sharp – he retired 12 Angles on ground balls – and Lowe has pitched at least six innings in all four of his wins.

“Lowe was outstanding,” manager Manny Acta said after the game. “He had command of that sinker and also a good slider. Any time you can take two of three from that pitching staff is great. Our pitchers matched up great against them.”

The starting pitching was dynamite all weekend, as Justin Masterson went 8.1 innings on Friday night, giving up four hits and two runs, while Jeanmar Gomez scattered five hits and just two runs over six innings of work Saturday night.

Read more…

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Indians, great pitching, Kent State | Leave a comment
27 Apr 2012

Browns cowboy up with Weeden

The Cleveland Browns ended the Colt McCoy era Thursday night, selecting Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden with the second of their two first-round picks on the NFL Draft.

“He was a winner,” coach Pat Shurmur said on the team’s website. “He obviously took a non-traditional path to being an NFL quarterback, but he’s a very mature guy. I think he’s an outstanding thrower. He’s a good decision-maker, very accurate. He found a way at Oklahoma State to really compete and win a lot of football games against a lot of the quarterbacks we’ve been talking about leading up to the draft. I wasn’t concerned about his age. He is a quarterback that helped lead his team to a lot of victories.”

Weeden earned the Oklahoma State starting job in 2010 and broke 15 school records. During his four-year career in Stillwater, Weeden threw for 9,260 yards and 75 touchdowns.

“As you know, maturity, leadership, how you go about business in a locker room, I think that goes a long way — especially playing this position,” Weeden told Kurt Warner on the NFL Network. “I use you as an example all the time. You had a tremendous career, won a lot of games starting at 28, all the way through your 30s and had a fantastic career. I’m not comparing myself to you — I hope to be mentioned in the same sentence as you — but longevity-wise, I think I’ve got a lot of football left in my tank. If I can play for eight, 10, 12 years, that’s a heck of an NFL career and something I would take a lot of pride in.”

We’ve heard the grumblings that Weeden is too old and that the Browns could have waited and picked him with their second-round pick. But if the team truly believes he is the guy, why risk it? Especially with all the trade activity going on in the first round.

According to NFL.com, “Weeden has an NFL-quality frame that allows him to look over the offensive line and deliver his throws without a hitch. His quick release is his strongest asset, as he consistently fires the ball with a compact throwing motion and strong delivery. The ball zips off his arm, and he has the ability to fit it in any tight space. He is ‘all of the above’ in terms of being a mature, poised leader. He is an accurate passer on throws short and long, and he has that gunslinger mentality to go for the deep ball when it’s an option. He understands route progressions and throwing the ball to allow his receiver to make a play.”

We’re going to wait until after tonight’s second and third round before really going into how the Browns did in the draft, but after selecting Alabama running back Trent Richardson and Weeden, there’s no doubt the Browns are a better team today than they were yesterday.

And when was the last time Browns fans could say that?

Posted in Brandon Weeden, Cleveland Browns, NFL draft | Leave a comment

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