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In Cleveland, hope dies last

Archive for the tag “Cleveland Browns”

04 Apr 2015

Are the Browns dropping hints on the new uniforms?

The Cleveland Browns will unveil their new uniforms on April 14 in what we can assume will be a spectacle worthy of the No. 1 team in town.

While the team has kept a tight lid on what they have planned for one of the most iconic uniform sets in the NFL, word has leaked out that with the new uniforms the club will have nine different sets at its disposal on any given Sunday.

Knowing that, it seems reasonable to deduce that there will be three jersey colors and three pant colors for the team to mix and match. Brown and white seem like a lock for two of the jersey colors, and white and orange would be nice looks for the pants. (Please, no more brown pants).

Which leaves everyone to ponder just what the team has in mind for the third color.

30 Mar 2015

2 Comments

Time to put the Ray Farmer texting “scandal” on mute

Our long national nightmare is finally over as, after an investigation that dragged on for more than two months, the NFL has finally doled out its punishment on Cleveland Browns general manager Ray Farmer for illegally texting coaches during games last season.

Farmer will be suspended without pay for the first four regular-season games of the season this fall and the team has been fined $250,000.

Most importantly, and despite a rush from many in the media to claim that NFL Commissioner Rodger Goodell was going to drop the hammer on the Browns, the team will not lose any draft picks.

Finally, the league found “there was no evidence in the NFL’s review that Browns ownership or any other team executives had knowledge of the prohibited conduct.” So we’re sure that those media members who were so very, very sure that Farmer was taking the fall for someone else will be apologizing.

Posted in Cleveland Browns and tagged Cleveland Browns

29 Mar 2015

Five the hard way

Today we celebrate the five-year anniversary of the launch of our site.

In some cultures the number 5 is considered a lucky number, but it is also one that comes with a bit of a price. People who believe that 5 is their lucky number often judge or enjoy things with their senses, rather than through deep thought, meaning that they often end up with a bad result.

Which pretty much sums up the day-to-day existence of your average Cleveland sports fan.

Sticking with the numbers theme, since we made our inaugural post:

26 Mar 2015

1 Comment

Is the prevailing media narrative fair to Jimmy Haslam?

A little more than two-and-a-half years ago a major shift in the fortunes of the Cleveland Browns took place when it was announced that Jimmy Haslam was buying the team from Randy Lerner.

The move was met with applause from a rabid fan base that was tired of seeing Cleveland’s undisputed No. 1 team being run by Lerner, who was always more of a caretaker of the franchise as opposed to an actual owner. No longer would fans have to concern themselves with Lerner living in New York City or flying to Birmingham, England, on the weekend to watch his other team, Aston Villa in the Premier League.

Now the Browns were going to run by a “hands-on” owner, one who had a minority stake in the Pittsburgh Steelers and had learned the “Steeler way” from the great and all-knowing Rooney family.

Fast forward 31 months and the narrative has definitely changed on Haslam as we can’t seemingly go a week without another media story painting the Browns as dysfunctional, toxic, a dumpster fire and everything in between — including the ridiculous notion that Haslam would trade his ownership of the Browns to take over the Tennessee Titans.

Posted in Cleveland Browns and tagged Cleveland Browns

23 Mar 2015

From the editor’s notebook …

It is starting to sound more and more likely that the rest of the country will get an insider’s look at the Cleveland Browns as Cleveland’s undisputed No. 1 team is reportedly HBO’s top choice for this summer’s edition of Hard Knocks.

Well, ain’t that going to be a party?

In actuality, it may not be all that bad, as the show will give everyone some glamour shots of Cleveland, some really good Mike Pettine moments, and some pretty decent story lines, including:

Posted in bad reporting, Cleveland Browns, Liverpool and tagged Cleveland Browns, Liverpool | Leave a comment

20 Mar 2015

3 Comments

Talking ourselves into the Browns moves in free agency

With the second week of free agency in the NFL winding down, the only players left are the types that not even a bargain-basement shopping team like the Cleveland Browns would take a look at.

Which means we’ve transitioned into the part of free agency where Browns fans start to rationalize how the players the team has brought in will help the squad more than the players that walked out the door since the end of last season.

If you go by last season’s rankings at Pro Football Focus, the five main players that the Browns have signed – Tramon Williams, Dwayne Bowe, Randy Starks, Josh McCown and Brian Hartline – carry a collective ranking of -26.7. (That number is heavily weighed down by McCown’s ranking of -18.3, however).

That seems pretty depressing until you look at what the Browns “lost” in free agency. Jabaal Sheard, Miles Austin, Buster Skrine, Jordan Cameron, Ahtyba Rubin and Brian Hoyer carry a collective grade of -40.3 out of town.

While those rankings say that the Browns basically stood still in free agency, if you look at little bit deeper the picture looks a little differently. (See what we mean about the rationalizing?)

Posted in Cleveland Browns and tagged Cleveland Browns, free agency

16 Mar 2015

John Hughes proves that sometimes you just never know

The Cleveland Browns quietly signed defensive lineman John Hughes to a contract extension over the weekend.

The fact that the news was a bit under the radar is fitting for a player who during his time in Cleveland has pretty much just shown up and gone about his business, and who was selected as a Secret Superstar before last season by Pro Football Focus.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” Hughes told the team’s website. “For the Cleveland Browns to have the faith in me and believe in me to sign me a year early, it’s just a great feeling.”

The new deal is reportedly a four-year, $14.4 million contract with $12.8 million in base salary and $3.56 million guaranteed. The extension will pay Hughes an average of $4.8 million a year, a salary that places him in the top 20 of defensive tackles in the NFL.

Not bad for a player that was considered by many “draft experts” as a reach and further proof of former general manager Tom Heckert’s incompetence.

Posted in Cleveland Browns and tagged Cleveland Browns, Pro Days | Leave a comment

12 Mar 2015

2 Comments

On the Browns and the folly of spending big in free agency

Free agency started in the NFL this week and while they have been relatively quiet, the Cleveland Browns have managed to make their share of headlines in the past few days.

And in the process, the Browns may have discovered the franchise’s biggest asset.

The marquee signing, if you want to call it that, so far has been veteran wide receiver Brian Hartline, who spent the past six seasons with Miami. (What, you thought we were going to say Josh McCown?)

Hartline is a solid, if not spectacular, signing by the Browns and represents a younger and more durable version of Miles Austin. Hartline has only missed four games in his career (all in 2010), doesn’t turn the ball over (only three fumbles in his NFL career), has gained a first down on 71 percent of his receptions, and was a 1,000-yard receiver in both 2013 and 2012.

Posted in Cleveland Browns and tagged Cleveland Browns, NFL free agency

09 Mar 2015

From the editor’s notebook …

We were talking with some friends over the weekend about the current state of the Cleveland Cavaliers and wound up at the end of the night not really sure how we currently feel about the team.

Make no mistake, the Cavs are once again one of the most entertaining teams to watch when they have everything working. And you can’t really feel bad about the 20 wins in the past 25 games run the team is currently on.

The Cavs also looked so good when they took apart Golden State a couple of weeks ago and when they had a big road comeback against Toronto last week.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Liverpool and tagged Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Liverpool | Leave a comment

05 Mar 2015

Are we in the golden age of Cleveland coaching?

David Blatt seems to think so.

While Cleveland has gone a collective 145 years and counting without a championship from any of its three professional sports teams,* that doesn’t mean we haven’t see our share of quality men calling the shots in the dugout or on the sidelines.

And we might currently be in the golden age of Cleveland managers and coaches.

The argument for the greatest NFL head coach of all-time begins and ends, of course, with Paul Brown. If you went solely by his time in Cleveland, Brown’s .750 lifetime winning percentage would be third best in NFL history, behind only Guy Chamberlin and John Madden. (And ahead of a guy named Vince Lombardi; maybe you’ve heard of him.) But even adding in his time with Cincinnati, Brown still checks in at No. 11 on the all-time list.

New England’s Bill Belichick is rightfully considered the best coach currently in the NFL, but even Belichick has not taken the Patriots to 10 consecutive league title games, let alone win seven of them. As good as Belichick and Tom Brady are, they are not now, and never will be, Paul Brown and Otto Graham.

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