So since we last left my Cleveland team in MFN, we were miring down in a 1-3 record, dead last in the AC South.
I don't know if it's something about not posting about it or what, but things have definitely taken a turn for the better.
The Cleveland team has gone 3-1 in the stretch of 4 games that have been played, the only loss coming by 4 to a (now) 4-4 Green Bay team.
Here are the replays, with no scores so as not to totally spoil things:
vs. Detroit: http://mfn1.myfootballnow.com/watch/1134
at Green Bay: http://mfn1.myfootballnow.com/watch/1155
at New England: http://mfn1.myfootballnow.com/watch/1173
vs. Jacksonville: http://mfn1.myfootballnow.com/watch/1190
The Cleveland defense has been very solid, but still not getting huge push at the line. QB Lyons has continued to underwhelm compared to last season, but is playing well enough to get Ws. He's also managed to be one of the team's better rushers, with Williams performing poorly with the occasional flash. Ranieri has been a solid receiver and an absolute BEAST on special teams, with 4 punts returned for TDs on the season.
As things stand now, Cleveland is only a game back of a 1st place tie in the division, with 8 games to go. No one's running away with things, so there's actually a boxer's chance to get into the Playoffs this year.
Stay tuned as we take this season to the second half, and see where things go from there!
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Some Combine Chatter
So my most recent MTAF:C article was some findings at the NFL Combine that wrapped up early this week (but after the article was posted). Saw some interesting things, and posted about those here.
Also, I'm looking for some ideas for this Monday's article. Already had a Twitter suggestion, and found some in doing a little research myself... But could always use some other thoughts. Drop me a lone or a comment!
Also, I'm looking for some ideas for this Monday's article. Already had a Twitter suggestion, and found some in doing a little research myself... But could always use some other thoughts. Drop me a lone or a comment!
Just a reminder...
Apologies for a lack of updates... The last week plus has been a bit of a crazy time with new daycare and Spring Break rapidly approaching.
MTAF:C publishing is still going strong, and I will be posting about my most recent articles in a moment.
MFN is also proceeding well. Some surprising results lately, so I'll be getting to those soon as well.
Promise to have a little more consistency! :)
MTAF:C publishing is still going strong, and I will be posting about my most recent articles in a moment.
MFN is also proceeding well. Some surprising results lately, so I'll be getting to those soon as well.
Promise to have a little more consistency! :)
Monday, February 17, 2014
Armchair Owner: A Calamity In Brown And Orange
So, I finally got my first win of the 2016 season in MyFootballNow League 1.
It was against the hated Baltimore team. Yes, even in fake ownership, I keep the rivalries.
Here's the replay from the game. Lyons got picked twice, but also threw 2 touchdowns, and Aaron Williams had a nice rushing day with 117 yards and 2 scores. And unlike the first two games, it was my offense that exploded over several drives in a row.
Too bad the momentum couldn't hold.
Watch as my Cleveland team drops the game the next week to Cincinnati. Cincy put up 24 points in 4 drives in the second half, Aaron Williams laid an egg with 4 fumbles... The only bright spots were the resurgence of John Lyons (26/42 for 375, 2TDs/0INTs) and Albert Ranieri's 86-yard first quarter punt return to the house.
Here's the current standings for our league... As you can see, Cleveland is floundering at 1-3, dead last in the AC North. Next game is simming on the 19th, so maybe we'll bounce back.
Or maybe not.
Stay tuned, viewers!
It was against the hated Baltimore team. Yes, even in fake ownership, I keep the rivalries.
Here's the replay from the game. Lyons got picked twice, but also threw 2 touchdowns, and Aaron Williams had a nice rushing day with 117 yards and 2 scores. And unlike the first two games, it was my offense that exploded over several drives in a row.
Too bad the momentum couldn't hold.
Watch as my Cleveland team drops the game the next week to Cincinnati. Cincy put up 24 points in 4 drives in the second half, Aaron Williams laid an egg with 4 fumbles... The only bright spots were the resurgence of John Lyons (26/42 for 375, 2TDs/0INTs) and Albert Ranieri's 86-yard first quarter punt return to the house.
Here's the current standings for our league... As you can see, Cleveland is floundering at 1-3, dead last in the AC North. Next game is simming on the 19th, so maybe we'll bounce back.
Or maybe not.
Stay tuned, viewers!
Not Much On The Browns Front, So...
Folks will recognize the body of the text I used for this week's article for MTAF:C. Was a slow week after the madness Tuesday, and with feeling a bit under the weather after Sunday's Blue Streaks game, it was a day to take a punt.
So here we are, this week's story. Enjoy!
So here we are, this week's story. Enjoy!
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Armchair Adventures: The Ongoing Saga
So, as promised, I'm going to do a post on my MyFootballNow Cleveland team.
This 2016 season thusfar has been a bit of a cluster.
Talk about art imitating life.
So here's my first game of the season... A home game versus Pittsburgh. This link will actually go to a replay play-by-play of the whole game. It's pretty cool.
Anyway... Yeah, as you can see, my offense is... Offensive. The starting QB on my staff, John Lyons, is a virtual stud (current rating of 90 out of a possible 100). He is a dual-threat player with a normally good scrambling ability. When I came in on the team last year, he wound up being a potent QB for a 6-10 team.
This year, he's playing with a hurt knee, and is largely ineffective.
Due to Lyons' knee issues, the ground game is largely docile. Aaron Williams and David Hoard (both 61 rating) both have sparks of decency, but Lyons is the main rushing threat. Running backs seem to be at a premium in the league, so there's no real improvement opportunities yet.
My WR corps are above average, with the star being Albert Ranieri (96 rating). However, he's not the star right now, which is a little odd. Can't tell if the league's catching up to him, if I'm playing teams with a lockdown secondary, or Lyons' ineffectiveness is just making Ranieri a non-factor.
My O-Line is particularly susceptible on the left side it seems, allowing several sacks over there. I'm sure there's a mix of straight and coverage sacks due to Lyons' 'mobility', but it's a bit disconcerting.
My defense has moments of struggle, but is overall okay. The D-Line doesn't seem to get a ton of pressure on the QB, and the secondary doesn't get burned often. However, there's just times where it seems like the secondary is just... Not quite right where they need to be. Not sure if they're just getting gassed early; if that's the case, that's a bad bad thing.
A continuing example would be the next game at home versus Denver.
*sigh* So 0-2 to start the season, with a big game at Baltimore coming up. I've made some tweaks to general gameplanning, so we'll see what happens.
More to come.
This 2016 season thusfar has been a bit of a cluster.
Talk about art imitating life.
So here's my first game of the season... A home game versus Pittsburgh. This link will actually go to a replay play-by-play of the whole game. It's pretty cool.
Anyway... Yeah, as you can see, my offense is... Offensive. The starting QB on my staff, John Lyons, is a virtual stud (current rating of 90 out of a possible 100). He is a dual-threat player with a normally good scrambling ability. When I came in on the team last year, he wound up being a potent QB for a 6-10 team.
This year, he's playing with a hurt knee, and is largely ineffective.
Due to Lyons' knee issues, the ground game is largely docile. Aaron Williams and David Hoard (both 61 rating) both have sparks of decency, but Lyons is the main rushing threat. Running backs seem to be at a premium in the league, so there's no real improvement opportunities yet.
My WR corps are above average, with the star being Albert Ranieri (96 rating). However, he's not the star right now, which is a little odd. Can't tell if the league's catching up to him, if I'm playing teams with a lockdown secondary, or Lyons' ineffectiveness is just making Ranieri a non-factor.
My O-Line is particularly susceptible on the left side it seems, allowing several sacks over there. I'm sure there's a mix of straight and coverage sacks due to Lyons' 'mobility', but it's a bit disconcerting.
My defense has moments of struggle, but is overall okay. The D-Line doesn't seem to get a ton of pressure on the QB, and the secondary doesn't get burned often. However, there's just times where it seems like the secondary is just... Not quite right where they need to be. Not sure if they're just getting gassed early; if that's the case, that's a bad bad thing.
A continuing example would be the next game at home versus Denver.
*sigh* So 0-2 to start the season, with a big game at Baltimore coming up. I've made some tweaks to general gameplanning, so we'll see what happens.
More to come.
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Breaking Browns Article!
Now that it's published... Here is the link!
An enjoyable romp through the interesting news day out of Berea!
Give More Than A Fan: Cleveland, More Than A Fan, and all our sister sites some love after you read that!
An enjoyable romp through the interesting news day out of Berea!
Give More Than A Fan: Cleveland, More Than A Fan, and all our sister sites some love after you read that!
Breaking Browns Business!
Yes, there was a HUUUUUGE shake-up in Berea today.
Yes, I did write an article for MTAF:C regarding it.
Yes, it will be cross-posted on MTAF.
Yes, I'll provide links once they publish a 6:00 and 6:05pm Eastern, respectively.
And yes, I do plan on posting about my MFN team at some point.
So, there you go. Much yes.
Stay tuned.
Yes, I did write an article for MTAF:C regarding it.
Yes, it will be cross-posted on MTAF.
Yes, I'll provide links once they publish a 6:00 and 6:05pm Eastern, respectively.
And yes, I do plan on posting about my MFN team at some point.
So, there you go. Much yes.
Stay tuned.
Monday, February 10, 2014
An Aside From Sports, Because I Can
So I want to take a moment to step on my soapbox. Not for a bad reason or anything, but just looking for a little help from the community I can reach.
The radio station I volunteer with, WJCU, is holding their annual Radiothon. Basically it's the time of year where we reach out to our listeners to ask for tax-deductible donations to keep our station running, and to improve the quality of our non-commercial, 24/7/365 operation product.
As I said, we're a commercial-free station, run by students, and with a wide variety of programming. Anything from "The Heights", our Triple-A weekday offering, to "Metal On Metal" featuring legendary on-air voice Bill Peters, to "NEO Rocks", a grab bag of local talent that really highlights the power of what college radio truly is. This is on top of our community-led programming, plus our extensive lineup of ethnic and diversity programming, plus the fact that our studio is used for classes at John Carroll to help the future broadcasters learn their trade in a state-of-the-art facility
Here's a little on what Radiothon's brought about in the last several years:
In the summer of 2006, WJCU finally succeeded in rehabilitating our ramshackle FM transmission facility. The project also allowed us to increase our signal power to 2500 Watts, and cost approximately $106,000. While we were able to finish the project, we used up our entire cash reserve saved over four years from previous Radiothons. The entire project was paid for by listener donations, and would have been impossible without them.
In 2007, almost all of the $32,000 dollars we raised went into improving our digital infrastructure. This involved creating a dedicated fiber-optic link across campus to the university’s IT facility, and installing a new server, 5 new PC’s, as well as new network switches and routers that have allowed us to upgrade our webstream, and launch a special events streaming channel.
Much of the $37,000 we raised in 2008 was held in reserve for a badly needed studio renovation, but due to additional budget cuts by the university, and uncertainty about further cuts, we postponed that major project and instead focused on a number of other projects:
-Adding an AAC stream for our webcasts so that our online listeners, including those with iPhones, can hear WJCU with audio quality that’s even better than our broadcast signal.
- Equipping both JCU’s Klein TV studio and Marinello little theatre to allow live public performances of local artists (NEO Rocks) with live studio audiences.
-Begin digitizing our 27,000 + CD music library and adding digital playback systems. This has been an expensive and time consuming undertaking that is only now nearing completion.
-Construction of a 3rd “mini-studio” to accommodate overflow production traffic and provide a backup to our production studio.
-Improving station safety and security with a card-key access system.
In 2010, as promised, the proceeds from WJCU’s best-ever Radiothon were used to completely renovate our main on air studio. The result has been a better sounding work environment that is much friendlier to both show hosts (who work for free), and guest artists. This project cost in excess of $65,000.
In July of 2012 we completed a complete renovation of our main production studio, which made it far more flexible and suitable for uses such as talk show style interviews and high quality sound recording. This project cost in excess of $45,000
Last year, we completed several major projects, including:
- Completion of our renovated Studio C, and repurposing the former studio space as a tech center, including a new music library server system.
-Creating and making available a free WJCU App for Android (now available) and Apple (release pending) mobile platforms. Along with this was a complete replacement and upgrade of our streaming infrastructure, which now provides some of the highest quality streaming on the web.
So you can understand why I'm passionate about WJCU in general and Radiothon in specific.
Now I'm not asking anyone to go into things blindly. Head over to our website and listen to some of the programming before Radiothon is over this weekend. If you're Cleveland local, tune into 88.7FM while you're driving or working. Try out our Android app.
If you like what you hear, consider giving a tax-deductible donation to help college radio thrive and survive. You can donate from our website, but to get the most "thank you" out of your donations, call the studio at 216-397-4438. We have premiums through the call-in lines that aren't available to the website donations, plus we can give you a live voice to talk to, a real 'thank you', and quite possibly a shout-out on the air.
If you want to do a little interaction with yours truly, you might just be able to catch me on Fridays from 11am-12:30pm.
Thanks for humoring me on my campaign to keep the airwaves awesome. I'll be back to sports later.
The radio station I volunteer with, WJCU, is holding their annual Radiothon. Basically it's the time of year where we reach out to our listeners to ask for tax-deductible donations to keep our station running, and to improve the quality of our non-commercial, 24/7/365 operation product.
As I said, we're a commercial-free station, run by students, and with a wide variety of programming. Anything from "The Heights", our Triple-A weekday offering, to "Metal On Metal" featuring legendary on-air voice Bill Peters, to "NEO Rocks", a grab bag of local talent that really highlights the power of what college radio truly is. This is on top of our community-led programming, plus our extensive lineup of ethnic and diversity programming, plus the fact that our studio is used for classes at John Carroll to help the future broadcasters learn their trade in a state-of-the-art facility
Here's a little on what Radiothon's brought about in the last several years:
In the summer of 2006, WJCU finally succeeded in rehabilitating our ramshackle FM transmission facility. The project also allowed us to increase our signal power to 2500 Watts, and cost approximately $106,000. While we were able to finish the project, we used up our entire cash reserve saved over four years from previous Radiothons. The entire project was paid for by listener donations, and would have been impossible without them.
In 2007, almost all of the $32,000 dollars we raised went into improving our digital infrastructure. This involved creating a dedicated fiber-optic link across campus to the university’s IT facility, and installing a new server, 5 new PC’s, as well as new network switches and routers that have allowed us to upgrade our webstream, and launch a special events streaming channel.
Much of the $37,000 we raised in 2008 was held in reserve for a badly needed studio renovation, but due to additional budget cuts by the university, and uncertainty about further cuts, we postponed that major project and instead focused on a number of other projects:
-Adding an AAC stream for our webcasts so that our online listeners, including those with iPhones, can hear WJCU with audio quality that’s even better than our broadcast signal.
- Equipping both JCU’s Klein TV studio and Marinello little theatre to allow live public performances of local artists (NEO Rocks) with live studio audiences.
-Begin digitizing our 27,000 + CD music library and adding digital playback systems. This has been an expensive and time consuming undertaking that is only now nearing completion.
-Construction of a 3rd “mini-studio” to accommodate overflow production traffic and provide a backup to our production studio.
-Improving station safety and security with a card-key access system.
In 2010, as promised, the proceeds from WJCU’s best-ever Radiothon were used to completely renovate our main on air studio. The result has been a better sounding work environment that is much friendlier to both show hosts (who work for free), and guest artists. This project cost in excess of $65,000.
In July of 2012 we completed a complete renovation of our main production studio, which made it far more flexible and suitable for uses such as talk show style interviews and high quality sound recording. This project cost in excess of $45,000
Last year, we completed several major projects, including:
- Completion of our renovated Studio C, and repurposing the former studio space as a tech center, including a new music library server system.
-Creating and making available a free WJCU App for Android (now available) and Apple (release pending) mobile platforms. Along with this was a complete replacement and upgrade of our streaming infrastructure, which now provides some of the highest quality streaming on the web.
So you can understand why I'm passionate about WJCU in general and Radiothon in specific.
Now I'm not asking anyone to go into things blindly. Head over to our website and listen to some of the programming before Radiothon is over this weekend. If you're Cleveland local, tune into 88.7FM while you're driving or working. Try out our Android app.
If you like what you hear, consider giving a tax-deductible donation to help college radio thrive and survive. You can donate from our website, but to get the most "thank you" out of your donations, call the studio at 216-397-4438. We have premiums through the call-in lines that aren't available to the website donations, plus we can give you a live voice to talk to, a real 'thank you', and quite possibly a shout-out on the air.
If you want to do a little interaction with yours truly, you might just be able to catch me on Fridays from 11am-12:30pm.
Thanks for humoring me on my campaign to keep the airwaves awesome. I'll be back to sports later.
MTAF:C
So, as I said in my last post, More Than A Fan: Cleveland launched today, and the site looks great. Dan Zaleski, Josh Flagner, and all the rest of the crew behind the scenes of both MTAF:C and its parent site, More Than A Fan, have busted their rears to get us up and running, and it shows!
I'm going to 'multi-cast' my first actual live article there on the blog here, for a few reasons:
That's how the 2014 Cleveland Browns offseason started. Rob Chudzinski was let go, the majority of the coordinators headed off to greener pastures... For the second year in a row, Cleveland Browns fans trudged into an offseason full of uncertainties. This was beyond the issues we had come to grips with throughout the season.
The front office, embroiled in their second coaching search in as many years, preached patience as they tried to find their "right guy".
For a second year in a row.
I suppose at some point I'll quit mentioning that fact, but right now it's just a very poignant reminder of the frustrations this fan base as suffered through, since '99 particularly. However, the eventual hire of Mike Pettine (at least for me) strikes a decent chord, and is one I can actually get behind. The pieces fell into place quickly after that, and it seems like we can actually start talking about normal offseason things like the Draft, free agency, and for the love of Pete can we get a decent damn quarterback on this team?
Sorry about that.
Anyway, let's do a quick review of the major pieces of this (mostly) new coaching staff:
Other intriguing hires were new quarterback coach Dowell Loggains (former OC of the Tennessee Titans), wide receivers coach Mike McDaniel (former WR coach of the Washington Redskins), and offensive line coach Andy Moeller (former OL coach of the Baltimore Ravens). Overall, I think this coaching staff is as good as it can be, having come together late in the offseason. However, even with the lateness and quickness it was assembled, I believe that it could be a pleasant surprise with the right pieces in play. Part of that is going to be convincing the current roster of what they're selling. The other part will be convincing others to buy into the "new Cleveland Browns", and coming into the fold.
As it is, the QB talk has already started. Free agency looms, and the Browns are an intriguing player.
It almost feels like a normal offseason should, doesn't it? Let's break it down a little. And while I know that we need help all around the ball, I'll be generally focusing on the offense. That needs help beyond help.
While there are a lot of holes and positions that need to be addressed this offseason, the first priorities are locking up a couple of our impending free agents. T.J. Ward and Alex Mack need to remain in orange and brown for 2014, simple as that. While both were Chud supporters, I feel that Mike Pettine could definitely sell them on his ideas. With the solid amount of cap space the Browns have this offseason, I think Ward and Mack could get fair offers, and still leave the Browns room to be active in free agency. Ward is a likely recipient of the franchise tag, and less of a worry of being lost than Mack. Anyway it's looked at, though, these signings need to happen sooner rather than later.
Quarterback is a definite need, but isn't going to be a free agency fill this offseason. The big names on the board will likely be franchised, and the drop in talent is very noticeable.
An addressable need on the offensive side of the ball would be running back. There are some names on the free agency board that will likely be truly available, like New England's LeGarrette Blount and Green Bay's James Starks. However, a very intriguing name (both for talent and pure name power) is Denver's Knowshon Moreno. Early guesses at his market value run about $4 million, but I could see him signing at $6 million. If the Browns could pull off an offseason coup like that, Moreno would be an immediate upgrade. Fozzy Whittaker and Edwin Baker are good current roster guys, but the Browns really need a feature back like Moreno.
Another glaring need is some help on the line. My feeling is that Shawn Lauvao is done in Cleveland. I wouldn't mind seeing a Zane Beadles from Denver or Brian Waters from Dallas come in to fill the gaps at guard. Add in perhaps a Zach Strief from New Orleans or David Diehl from the New York Giants to give whomever we have at QB or RB half a shot to do their jobs. I'm willing to admit the O-Line is not my forté, so I'm game for some other prognosticators pulling in some better names.
Wide receiver is the really intriguing position for free agency this offseason. Sadly (or not, depending on perspective) we won't be seeing any more of Davone Bess, whom I hope gets whatever help he might need. Josh Gordon can't do it all by himself, as he largely did in 2013. Several names are out there that could be signed with the promise of an improved situation at signal caller. However, the best name I see coming into Cleveland is Santana Moss from the Redskins. Yes, he's in the afternoon part of his career. However, he's a big name with a veteran presence, and can still play. He's also a big fan of Kyle Shanahan, and I feel could be convinced of what Shanahan plans for a Cleveland offense with a young QB and star wide-out, much like the Redskins did.
And speaking of young QBs...
The majority of current mock drafts this offseason point towards the Browns grabbing a QB in the first round. I don't like the fact that we'll be drafting our 4th quarterback since 1999. However, because the QBs that will be available at #4 this year will be strong, it seems a foregone conclusion. The fan-favorite (and the guy the mock drafts are calling for most) is Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel. I began, like most, hating the idea of "Johnny Football" due to his offseason troubles in 2013. Having been 'exonerated', watching his maturity after getting more training after winning the Heisman Trophy, and just looking purely at his stats, I'm starting to be sold on Manziel. He is a sharp dual-threat quarterback, and a household name. Those are both something this team could use in the worst way.
Another role to possibly fill through the Draft would be running back. Our 2 previous first-round RBs were relative busts (but thank you, Trent Richardson, for getting us another first-rounder this year), so this is another instance of me being uncomfortable with another possible risk. The interesting pick for me would be THE Ohio State University's Carlos Hyde. No, I don't think he's a first-rounder style pick. But he's the bruising power back that the Browns haven't had in a while, and that AFC North play almost requires. Plus he's a known name in the area, which (as you've seen from my previous comments) the Browns could use.
The wide receiver selection in the Draft, like in free agency, offers up some fascinating prospects. The acquisition of a threatening #2 receiver behind Josh Gordon is key this offseason, especially for getting whomever we have behind center some help. The guy I'm liking the most myself is Allen Robinson from Penn State. Robinson is a stacked 6'3", giving him both the strength to bang it out with DBs and the reach to outduel safeties in the corner of the end zone. He's a good route-running talent, and his upside is really attractive to a Mike Pettine "play to the strength of the players" system. There are plenty of other names available; guys like Odell Beckham Jr. from LSU, Sammy Watkins from Clemson, and Manziel target Mike Evans. Evans would be an obvious pick with Manziel for a potent 1-2 punch, but I feel Robinson is better-rounded.
I know for a fact that the QB talk has already started this offseason. Both Terrelle Pryor and Kirk Cousins have been tied to trade talk to the Browns, but I believe that the answer at quarterback will be the Draft and Brian Hoyer. His recovery from ACL surgery has gone very well, and the consensus is that Hoyer and whoever the Browns draft will battle it out for the starting slot. There's an outside chance that Jason Campbell would still be with the team. However, it's a very safe bet that the Brandon Weeden Era is officially over.
I hear the cheers already.
Willis McGahee will also be gone, as that experiment has more than run its course. The stable of backs to include Fozzy Whittaker, Edwin Baker, and whomever comes in from this offseason will be plenty of talent there. Baker and Whittaker proved last year that they could be effective with more touches in my mind.
Wideout and tight end have a solid core in place with Josh Gordon, Jordan Cameron, and Josh Cooper. Bess is on the way out as I stated before, and I tend to feel that Greg Little is on his last legs, as far as chances to prove himself go. MarQueis Gray is a guy I would love to see get more touches. He's one of those talents that's a multi-threat, and would fit well in a number of schemes.
With a number of movable pieces, salary cap flexibility, and plenty of draft picks, this could be a truly make-or-break offseason for our Browns. I'm hoping that the front office is willing to listen to this new coaching staff through the talent evaluation process. I'm also hoping they're willing to cater to a little 'glad-handing' of the fans by bringing in some bigger or more popular names.
I think we deserve it.
Voila! Would love some commentary on this. As is, I'll be direct-linking my articles after this point. I publish on Mondays at 4pm, and will publish the link to the article here sometime Monday night.
Next entry will be a recap of my game over at MyFootballNow. Keep it locked here!
I'm going to 'multi-cast' my first actual live article there on the blog here, for a few reasons:
- I want the 'permanent record' for my own reference.
- I want it to be here and easily available for folks that tune in late.
Exhausting. Frustrating. A sadly all-too-familiar merry-go-round.
That's how the 2014 Cleveland Browns offseason started. Rob Chudzinski was let go, the majority of the coordinators headed off to greener pastures... For the second year in a row, Cleveland Browns fans trudged into an offseason full of uncertainties. This was beyond the issues we had come to grips with throughout the season.
The front office, embroiled in their second coaching search in as many years, preached patience as they tried to find their "right guy".
For a second year in a row.
- Despite being about 375 years in the future, and over 70,000 light years away, Tim Hagan's wife isn't buying into this Browns front office and their offseason 'trek'... (Photo courtesy of Paramount)
I suppose at some point I'll quit mentioning that fact, but right now it's just a very poignant reminder of the frustrations this fan base as suffered through, since '99 particularly. However, the eventual hire of Mike Pettine (at least for me) strikes a decent chord, and is one I can actually get behind. The pieces fell into place quickly after that, and it seems like we can actually start talking about normal offseason things like the Draft, free agency, and for the love of Pete can we get a decent damn quarterback on this team?
Sorry about that.
Anyway, let's do a quick review of the major pieces of this (mostly) new coaching staff:
- Head Coach: Mike Pettine, former defensive coordinator of the Buffalo Bills
- Offensive Coordinator: Kyle Shanahan, former offensive coordinator of the Washington Redskins
- Defensive Coordinator: Jim O'Neil, former linebackers coach of the Buffalo Bills
- Special Teams Coordinator: Chris Tabor, unchanged from last year
Other intriguing hires were new quarterback coach Dowell Loggains (former OC of the Tennessee Titans), wide receivers coach Mike McDaniel (former WR coach of the Washington Redskins), and offensive line coach Andy Moeller (former OL coach of the Baltimore Ravens). Overall, I think this coaching staff is as good as it can be, having come together late in the offseason. However, even with the lateness and quickness it was assembled, I believe that it could be a pleasant surprise with the right pieces in play. Part of that is going to be convincing the current roster of what they're selling. The other part will be convincing others to buy into the "new Cleveland Browns", and coming into the fold.
As it is, the QB talk has already started. Free agency looms, and the Browns are an intriguing player.
It almost feels like a normal offseason should, doesn't it? Let's break it down a little. And while I know that we need help all around the ball, I'll be generally focusing on the offense. That needs help beyond help.
Offseason Priority 1: Free Agency
While there are a lot of holes and positions that need to be addressed this offseason, the first priorities are locking up a couple of our impending free agents. T.J. Ward and Alex Mack need to remain in orange and brown for 2014, simple as that. While both were Chud supporters, I feel that Mike Pettine could definitely sell them on his ideas. With the solid amount of cap space the Browns have this offseason, I think Ward and Mack could get fair offers, and still leave the Browns room to be active in free agency. Ward is a likely recipient of the franchise tag, and less of a worry of being lost than Mack. Anyway it's looked at, though, these signings need to happen sooner rather than later.
Quarterback is a definite need, but isn't going to be a free agency fill this offseason. The big names on the board will likely be franchised, and the drop in talent is very noticeable.
An addressable need on the offensive side of the ball would be running back. There are some names on the free agency board that will likely be truly available, like New England's LeGarrette Blount and Green Bay's James Starks. However, a very intriguing name (both for talent and pure name power) is Denver's Knowshon Moreno. Early guesses at his market value run about $4 million, but I could see him signing at $6 million. If the Browns could pull off an offseason coup like that, Moreno would be an immediate upgrade. Fozzy Whittaker and Edwin Baker are good current roster guys, but the Browns really need a feature back like Moreno.
Another glaring need is some help on the line. My feeling is that Shawn Lauvao is done in Cleveland. I wouldn't mind seeing a Zane Beadles from Denver or Brian Waters from Dallas come in to fill the gaps at guard. Add in perhaps a Zach Strief from New Orleans or David Diehl from the New York Giants to give whomever we have at QB or RB half a shot to do their jobs. I'm willing to admit the O-Line is not my forté, so I'm game for some other prognosticators pulling in some better names.
Wide receiver is the really intriguing position for free agency this offseason. Sadly (or not, depending on perspective) we won't be seeing any more of Davone Bess, whom I hope gets whatever help he might need. Josh Gordon can't do it all by himself, as he largely did in 2013. Several names are out there that could be signed with the promise of an improved situation at signal caller. However, the best name I see coming into Cleveland is Santana Moss from the Redskins. Yes, he's in the afternoon part of his career. However, he's a big name with a veteran presence, and can still play. He's also a big fan of Kyle Shanahan, and I feel could be convinced of what Shanahan plans for a Cleveland offense with a young QB and star wide-out, much like the Redskins did.
And speaking of young QBs...
Offseason Priority 2: The Draft
The majority of current mock drafts this offseason point towards the Browns grabbing a QB in the first round. I don't like the fact that we'll be drafting our 4th quarterback since 1999. However, because the QBs that will be available at #4 this year will be strong, it seems a foregone conclusion. The fan-favorite (and the guy the mock drafts are calling for most) is Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel. I began, like most, hating the idea of "Johnny Football" due to his offseason troubles in 2013. Having been 'exonerated', watching his maturity after getting more training after winning the Heisman Trophy, and just looking purely at his stats, I'm starting to be sold on Manziel. He is a sharp dual-threat quarterback, and a household name. Those are both something this team could use in the worst way.
Another role to possibly fill through the Draft would be running back. Our 2 previous first-round RBs were relative busts (but thank you, Trent Richardson, for getting us another first-rounder this year), so this is another instance of me being uncomfortable with another possible risk. The interesting pick for me would be THE Ohio State University's Carlos Hyde. No, I don't think he's a first-rounder style pick. But he's the bruising power back that the Browns haven't had in a while, and that AFC North play almost requires. Plus he's a known name in the area, which (as you've seen from my previous comments) the Browns could use.
The wide receiver selection in the Draft, like in free agency, offers up some fascinating prospects. The acquisition of a threatening #2 receiver behind Josh Gordon is key this offseason, especially for getting whomever we have behind center some help. The guy I'm liking the most myself is Allen Robinson from Penn State. Robinson is a stacked 6'3", giving him both the strength to bang it out with DBs and the reach to outduel safeties in the corner of the end zone. He's a good route-running talent, and his upside is really attractive to a Mike Pettine "play to the strength of the players" system. There are plenty of other names available; guys like Odell Beckham Jr. from LSU, Sammy Watkins from Clemson, and Manziel target Mike Evans. Evans would be an obvious pick with Manziel for a potent 1-2 punch, but I feel Robinson is better-rounded.
Offseason Priority 3: Everything Else
I know for a fact that the QB talk has already started this offseason. Both Terrelle Pryor and Kirk Cousins have been tied to trade talk to the Browns, but I believe that the answer at quarterback will be the Draft and Brian Hoyer. His recovery from ACL surgery has gone very well, and the consensus is that Hoyer and whoever the Browns draft will battle it out for the starting slot. There's an outside chance that Jason Campbell would still be with the team. However, it's a very safe bet that the Brandon Weeden Era is officially over.
I hear the cheers already.
Willis McGahee will also be gone, as that experiment has more than run its course. The stable of backs to include Fozzy Whittaker, Edwin Baker, and whomever comes in from this offseason will be plenty of talent there. Baker and Whittaker proved last year that they could be effective with more touches in my mind.
Wideout and tight end have a solid core in place with Josh Gordon, Jordan Cameron, and Josh Cooper. Bess is on the way out as I stated before, and I tend to feel that Greg Little is on his last legs, as far as chances to prove himself go. MarQueis Gray is a guy I would love to see get more touches. He's one of those talents that's a multi-threat, and would fit well in a number of schemes.
With a number of movable pieces, salary cap flexibility, and plenty of draft picks, this could be a truly make-or-break offseason for our Browns. I'm hoping that the front office is willing to listen to this new coaching staff through the talent evaluation process. I'm also hoping they're willing to cater to a little 'glad-handing' of the fans by bringing in some bigger or more popular names.
I think we deserve it.
Voila! Would love some commentary on this. As is, I'll be direct-linking my articles after this point. I publish on Mondays at 4pm, and will publish the link to the article here sometime Monday night.
Next entry will be a recap of my game over at MyFootballNow. Keep it locked here!
Cleveland Rocks!
The new site that I contribute to, More Than A Fan: Cleveland, goes live today!
Once it's full-fledged live, I'll be sharing a link to get over there.
I'll also be sharing my 'opening the doors' article about the Browns offseason here (though you'll find it pretty easily on the MTAF:C site as well).
In the meantime, you should check out the parent site, More Than A Fan. It's always a good read, plenty of sharp people with good opinions. You'll love it if you're any sorts of sports fan.
In other news, the 2016 Regular Season for MFN-1 is kicking off over at MyFootballNow. I'll be posting once I get a chance to see the sim between my Cleveland team, and them boys from Pittsburghtown!
Stay tuned!
Once it's full-fledged live, I'll be sharing a link to get over there.
I'll also be sharing my 'opening the doors' article about the Browns offseason here (though you'll find it pretty easily on the MTAF:C site as well).
In the meantime, you should check out the parent site, More Than A Fan. It's always a good read, plenty of sharp people with good opinions. You'll love it if you're any sorts of sports fan.
In other news, the 2016 Regular Season for MFN-1 is kicking off over at MyFootballNow. I'll be posting once I get a chance to see the sim between my Cleveland team, and them boys from Pittsburghtown!
Stay tuned!
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Armchair Owner Revisited
When we last left off, I was talking about MyFootBall now, the site where I was acting as the GM of the team from Cleveland. Yes, in my mind they're the Browns, but not quite so in the site.
Anyway, I had noticed that I couldn't really share the experience with outside folks, like the readers of my blog. I brought up my questions of this possibility with the site admin.
And lo and behold, the next morning, the site admin had not only made the change to allow 'outside looks' at the various aspects, but actually wondered why he hadn't considered the ability before.
I really do enjoy how quickly things get addressed here.
Anyway, I wanted to share a few things from the site. First would be a link to my current roster, which can be found here. As you can see, there's a few tabs with loads of info.
The main roster view gives an overview of the folks on my team, who's active and inactive (inactive is italicized), injuries, and a basic breakdown of rating. There's the current rating (CUR) which is a general idea of how good a player is, while the future rating (FUT) is a somewhat malleable picture of potential.
We've just kicked of the 2016 season, so as of the date of this blog posting, there's no stats. Sad face.
There's a Transactions tab as well, which lists signings, cuts, injuries, etc., and that covers players and coaching staff. Depending on how far you look back, you'll see different things. I took the team over in 2015, so... Anything that and beyond is questionable to me.
Lastly there's an attendance tab. I haven't quite seen a particular effect there... Might be tied to my salary cap which, as of this posting, I'm over. Ugh.
Anyway, I'll be tossing little tidbits from the site, and my continuing seasons, as we go along. But feel free to follow along on your own, and ask any questions you'd like!
Anyway, I had noticed that I couldn't really share the experience with outside folks, like the readers of my blog. I brought up my questions of this possibility with the site admin.
And lo and behold, the next morning, the site admin had not only made the change to allow 'outside looks' at the various aspects, but actually wondered why he hadn't considered the ability before.
I really do enjoy how quickly things get addressed here.
Anyway, I wanted to share a few things from the site. First would be a link to my current roster, which can be found here. As you can see, there's a few tabs with loads of info.
The main roster view gives an overview of the folks on my team, who's active and inactive (inactive is italicized), injuries, and a basic breakdown of rating. There's the current rating (CUR) which is a general idea of how good a player is, while the future rating (FUT) is a somewhat malleable picture of potential.
We've just kicked of the 2016 season, so as of the date of this blog posting, there's no stats. Sad face.
There's a Transactions tab as well, which lists signings, cuts, injuries, etc., and that covers players and coaching staff. Depending on how far you look back, you'll see different things. I took the team over in 2015, so... Anything that and beyond is questionable to me.
Lastly there's an attendance tab. I haven't quite seen a particular effect there... Might be tied to my salary cap which, as of this posting, I'm over. Ugh.
Anyway, I'll be tossing little tidbits from the site, and my continuing seasons, as we go along. But feel free to follow along on your own, and ask any questions you'd like!
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Armchair Owner!
So I've been puttering around on this site called MyFootballNow for a while now. "What is it?" you might ask. Well, it's a site which gives you the ability to take control of a 'professional' football team.
I say 'professional' because, while the general setup of the NFL is in place (majority of the team cities, colors, and leagues are true to form), the rosters are fictional, the teams are only referred to by city, etc. Personally I like the fictional set-up because it gives me a little room to have some fun with my team's history and what-not, but still feel like I'm playing the team in question.
So in the beginning, I was a part of (now-defunct, in the form I was playing it in at least) League 5, as the owner of the San Francisco franchise. A team with a good, mobile QB and a decent running game, I managed to hit the extensive free agency pool for a little shore-up talent and go into the playoffs. I lost to the eventual League Championship... err... champions in the Conference round, but was confident going into the following season.
Until the league folded.
See, the site is set up to where if a league falls below a certain threshold of human team owners (it was recently changed to 25% of the league's teams), the league automatically disappears until enough people sign up once more. The human owners that were still left get to take up residence on another team in a different league. So it happened I was given the chance to settle in another league, and found my Cleveland franchise available.
C'mon, who hasn't wanted to armchair owner their favorite team?
As it was, I nabbed up the Cleveland job in the 'special' League 1. League 1 is special because it's running what the site calls the "Bleeding Edge" game engine.
Computer gaming nuts would recognize this as 'Beta'.
MFN's "Bleeding Edge" engine incorporates any and all game enhancements, bug fixes, and the like that players have requested and suggested. These are implemented in League 1 and well-tested by us before they trickle out to the other leagues.Of course, these changes can cause issues on their own, and it can make for interesting fun (sarcasm implied), but the league soldiers on despite whatever chaos is sewn.
It's just like Goodell's run of the NFL, honestly.
But honestly, if you want to give it a shot, it's a good amount of fun. The sims play out 6 days a week, so seasons move quick. Your first team is a freebie as well, and credits for additional teams (or to remove the not-very obtrusive ads) aren't too expensive. And if you want a little bonus, use this referral link to sign-up:
http://goo.gl/OVMbdD
If you wind up buying credits, we both get a bonus 10 credits for your first purchase! Not too shabby. And if you join, look for JCSwishMan33 in MFN-1. I'll be trying to improve on Cleveland's 6-10 record in 2015, with a near-completely-new coaching staff.
Talk about (virtual) art imitating life...
I say 'professional' because, while the general setup of the NFL is in place (majority of the team cities, colors, and leagues are true to form), the rosters are fictional, the teams are only referred to by city, etc. Personally I like the fictional set-up because it gives me a little room to have some fun with my team's history and what-not, but still feel like I'm playing the team in question.
So in the beginning, I was a part of (now-defunct, in the form I was playing it in at least) League 5, as the owner of the San Francisco franchise. A team with a good, mobile QB and a decent running game, I managed to hit the extensive free agency pool for a little shore-up talent and go into the playoffs. I lost to the eventual League Championship... err... champions in the Conference round, but was confident going into the following season.
Until the league folded.
See, the site is set up to where if a league falls below a certain threshold of human team owners (it was recently changed to 25% of the league's teams), the league automatically disappears until enough people sign up once more. The human owners that were still left get to take up residence on another team in a different league. So it happened I was given the chance to settle in another league, and found my Cleveland franchise available.
C'mon, who hasn't wanted to armchair owner their favorite team?
As it was, I nabbed up the Cleveland job in the 'special' League 1. League 1 is special because it's running what the site calls the "Bleeding Edge" game engine.
Computer gaming nuts would recognize this as 'Beta'.
MFN's "Bleeding Edge" engine incorporates any and all game enhancements, bug fixes, and the like that players have requested and suggested. These are implemented in League 1 and well-tested by us before they trickle out to the other leagues.Of course, these changes can cause issues on their own, and it can make for interesting fun (sarcasm implied), but the league soldiers on despite whatever chaos is sewn.
It's just like Goodell's run of the NFL, honestly.
But honestly, if you want to give it a shot, it's a good amount of fun. The sims play out 6 days a week, so seasons move quick. Your first team is a freebie as well, and credits for additional teams (or to remove the not-very obtrusive ads) aren't too expensive. And if you want a little bonus, use this referral link to sign-up:
http://goo.gl/OVMbdD
If you wind up buying credits, we both get a bonus 10 credits for your first purchase! Not too shabby. And if you join, look for JCSwishMan33 in MFN-1. I'll be trying to improve on Cleveland's 6-10 record in 2015, with a near-completely-new coaching staff.
Talk about (virtual) art imitating life...
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Some Insights, Part 2
While the site's launch isn't until the 10th, I'm really excited about writing for MTAF:C. And while I don't expect the first article I wrote to be buried in content by the site's opening, I'd like to share it here so that people can get a feel for what they'll be seeing every Monday at 4pm Eastern. Enjoy!
All I wanted for my birthday was a full and finalized Cleveland Browns coaching staff.
The Browns, as is their habit of getting a fan's hopes up, then remembering they don't really give a bulldog's backside about winning, then realizing that they should probably try and appease the people with the butts that they have to put in the seats, have half-wrapped an already-used package for me, and included a card that said, "Happy New Year, 2002 / 2007".
This "lovely" package comes to me after the Browns ran former head coach Rob Chudzinski out on a rail, a move I found ridiculously knee-jerk and largely unfair. Yes, Chud "steered" the Browns to a 4-12 record in 2013. A kitten could've probably done that on pure cuteness and threat of tiny claws.
- Thankfully this didn't come to pass, but it would've been cute... (Image credit to sportspickle.com)
However, I feel like Chud, Norv Turner, and Ray Horton were on the border of something decent. Not good, but decent. I mean, there were very few true blow-out losses in the '13 season, and the team was in several games they probably shouldn't have been in. To say that we were dealing with a fluid situation at quarterback and running back is being Mother Theresa and Pope Francis levels of kind. The defense was overall well above average, but was gassed near the end of the season as the secondary was a bit of an issue (also another understatement from watching some of the games). Six Browns went to and played in the Fantasy Football Bowl, and they did quite well. There were several bright spots on this team throughout the year, but not enough consistency.
The front office solved that issue by blowing up the whole of the coaching staff, ensuring that the lack of consistency continued.
Bravo, Stooges. Bravo.
But even in the bleakness that is considered the norm of Cleveland sports, we try to put the past behind us, and look towards the future. Well, unless your name is Art Modell, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, John Elway...
Anyway, we look towards the future, and the name we've finally come to is Mike Pettine. Pettine, a defensive mind from the New York Jets and (most recently) the Buffalo Bills, looks like one of those guys that you just don't want to mess with. The Twitter was alight with comparisons to one WWE wrestler:
Mike Pettine kind of looks like Stone Cold Steve Austin. So he's got that going for him.
— Ben Axelrod (@BenAxelrod) January 23, 2014
Or another:
New #Browns coach Mike Pettine or wrestling superstar Goldberg? #EvCoRadioShow pic.twitter.com/0Gur9z0xSf
— ESPN 106.3 (@ESPN1063) January 23, 2014
Or a slash-fic wet dream of the combination of the two:
I'm convinced. Mike Pettine is the love child of Goldberg and Stone Cold Steve Austin pic.twitter.com/qp9f7HKN5e
— Brian (@216Brian) January 22, 2014
I myself likened him to Jesse "The Body" Ventura of gubernatorial old, before he went completely conspiracy crazy.
- Tell me to say "Barkevious Mingo" one more time... "The Body" dares you... (Image courtesy of prowrestling.wikia.com)
The Browns press conference to announce Pettine's hiring was, of course, the talk around town, even up til now. The man who said that he "wasn't trying to win press conferences" said all the right things. The man who wasn't comfortable being in the limelight made himself comfortable by talking about the talent the team has, talking about needing to "get a little bloody" in the AFC North, and talking about how the team has to be held accountable and start bucking the losing attitude that seems to have invaded the locker room (and possibly spelled doom for Chud after the team 'gave up' last season).
On the surface, I was simply happy that the Browns finally got a guy... Any guy... To fill the role so that this monstrosity of rebuilding could begin.
Again.
However, diving a little deeper into the presser (which I sadly didn't see live), I'm liking what Pettine is saying. Yes, I know as Browns fans we've heard the good song-and-dance before, but there's something a little different about this one. Maybe it's the fact that he's not an "Ohio guy"; several of our former coaches had some sort of past connections to the team, and that might have allowed them some latitude in their minds. There's also the fact that Pettine is coming out of a defensive system in Buffalo that was actually pretty good in 2013. Talent-wise, I feel the Browns are as good or a bit better than the Buffalo staff was, which bodes well for a Browns defense that was (as I mentioned previously) a good squad. Pettine's hire, along with pivotal pieces he brought with him from his Buffalo staff (including the Browns' new DC Jim O'Neil), gives me the feeling like the defense is set up for an improved year next year. So long as the secondary gets addressed, either by scheme or personnel changes, there's a lot of hope for avoiding some of the last-chance victories our opponents had like last year.
The big piece to the puzzle, unsolved until Saturday, was the offensive coordinator. The offense last year was, in a word, rubbish. There was no consistency, going through several quarterbacks and a stable of runners in 16 games. There was also the matter of the majority of the receiving corps underachieving horribly, with Josh Gordon and Jordan Cameron the only real threats. Now we have Kyle Shanahan, formerly of the Washington Redskins, onboard as our OC.
I am a supreme fan of this hire. While some of the 'pundits' were questioning how well the interview with Shanahan went, Pettine and the Browns front office apparently saw enough good to bring Shanahan onboard. The big thing on this is that we might finally get some stability in the quarterback position, though the name might not be known right now. The leader in the clubhouse (at least someone already on our roster) would likely be Brian Hoyer, who seems to be recovering decently from ACL surgery. However, the likelihood everyone seems to be leaning towards is the drafting of Johnny Manziel with the first of the Browns' two first-round draft picks. With either man at the helm, the Browns under Shanahan get the good, mobile quarterback that was part of the success the Redskins under Shanahan and with RG3 in command.
There's also the matter of running backs, which have been a particular weakness for this team. McGahee is definitely not the answer going forward, nor do I feel that Ogbonnaya is the first choice. I think Fozzy Whittaker is an intriguing choice moving forward, but I feel (and others are thinking) that, once again the Browns will be drafting a running back early. Seems to be a repeat of recent years, but... This time I think we've got some people that might actually have some plans, some know-how on the who and what for doing it their way, and doing it well.
So am I happy with my birthday present?
The packaging and toys look pretty in the box.
Too bad assembly won't happen until Training Camp.
Some Insights, Part 1
So as you might've seen somewhere or another, I managed to snag a gig as the Senior Browns Columnist for the new (and not as of yet launched) More Than A Fan: Cleveland website (coming 2/10/14!). Now anyone that knows me knows I'm more of an Indians guy, and it's only been recently that I've really been railing on the Browns.
Slight coincidence there.
"So, Jeff," you might be wondering, "how the heck did you get the gig for Senior Browns Columnist?" Well, it's an easier answer knowing that MTAF:C is more of an opinions site than a news site, and frankly that runs right up my alley.
Just ask my wife. She'll tell you about my opinionations!
Anyway, I'm going to share the writing sample I had to submit to get me in the door. It describes why we are (or maybe more specifically, why I am) a Browns fan. Maybe that'll answer some questions. :)
Even if it is just a pebble at a time.
Commentary welcome, of course!
Slight coincidence there.
"So, Jeff," you might be wondering, "how the heck did you get the gig for Senior Browns Columnist?" Well, it's an easier answer knowing that MTAF:C is more of an opinions site than a news site, and frankly that runs right up my alley.
Just ask my wife. She'll tell you about my opinionations!
Anyway, I'm going to share the writing sample I had to submit to get me in the door. It describes why we are (or maybe more specifically, why I am) a Browns fan. Maybe that'll answer some questions. :)
So... The Browns.
Yeah, we know they're mired in probably one of the most
miserable and inept periods that a professional sports team could be locked in.
Our head coach of one year was canned within hours of the last game of the
season, and the search continues with seemingly no end. We've been looking at a
possible hemorrhaging of other coaching talent if the interviewing process is
any indication. We just had a wide receiver arrested in Miami. Needless to say
this postseason hasn't gone too well.
Oh, should we mention our owner being under Federal
investigation, having no answers at quarterback for yet another offseason,
having questions with outgoing free agents, who can we sign, who can we
draft... Heck, how are we going to even DECIDE all that with a coaching staff
that's going to be basically built from scratch?
Should I go on?
With all this uncertainty, head-scratching, and (let's be
frank here) seeming utter buffoonery, you would probably ask, “What's the
point? Why don't I just go cheer for another team, a GOOD team?” Oh, trust me.
I say the same thing; my wife's a Green Bay fan, and it's nice to see them
(usually) win. But I always gravitate back to the Browns, much to my wife's
chagrin.
So why do we follow the orange and brown, given their unerring
ability to make us shake our heads, reach for the antacids, cry, or get us into
screaming fits that would make Michael Myers actually pause?
The Browns ARE Cleveland, or at least an emotional microcosm
thereof.
This team is as much of the fabric of this city as rock 'n
roll. When they left to become the Ratbi... Err... The Ravens, the city
suffered a blow like the shuttering of the steel industry. Every loss to a
rival is like the Cuyahoga caught fire again.
And you might be saying, “Well no ****, Jeff... But I'm
tired of big steel going away and the river burning week after week, season
after season. So what's my motivation for keeping on with this lot?” And my
answer right at this moment would be an honest one.
“Right now, not much.”
What I CAN tell you, however, is that this city has fight,
tenacity, grit, and heart. This is a blue collar city, and it's showed in our
sports teams, though like any blue collar job the final results took a long
time to manifest. But think about this:
The Indians, a team that was such a laughing stock for years
that Charlie Sheen was our best pitcher, has been in the playoffs 7 times in
the last 18 seasons. This after a 41 year drought.
The Cavaliers, a notoriously up and down team, has had the
same playoffs 'success' in the same timeframe.
The Lake Erie Monsters, though they've not been around long,
were preceded by the Cleveland Barons and the Cleveland Lumberjacks. The
Monsters and Barons only had one playoff appearance each in their respective
'lives' (so far for the Monsters), but the Lumberjacks were near perennial
playoff contenders. The total in 18 seasons? 8 playoff trips.
As hard as it might be to see (for Browns fans), there is
indeed a pattern of winning here. While it's true that the Browns haven't caught
this flame, it took all those other teams previously mentioned time and some
luck to get there. The Indians... Again, it was 41 years since their last
playoff stint. It took a strike-shortened season, a new stadium, reinvigorated
fan base, and a cadre of plucky players to pull it off. The Cavs... After the
mid-90's successes with a blue-collar team that “worked real hard”, it took a
single local 'Superman' to bounce us back into relevance. The Monsters... They
might not have the pedigree (or the pure unadulterated good fortune) as their
Lumberjack predecessors, but the winning history is there.
These new Browns may have the old name, the old history, but
they're a new team. They might not be shaking off “The Drive”, “The Fumble”,
and “Red Right 88” from their psyche, but they ARE trying to shake off a lot of
bad taste from “The Move”, because this particular team really doesn't HAVE a
history of their own.
We ARE an expansion team. And as such, we're no going to see
much success until there's a solid foundation in place. Yes, even 15 years
later. They're coming into their own, but in pieces. We saw a flash from Hoyer
here, flashes from Gordon and Cameron there. Whether or not we need a few good
pieces more, or one excellent piece, is not for me to decide, though I have
some opinion.
Jimmy Haslam, an embattled and beleaguered owner, has
preached patience. And yes, our patience has worn thin. But we have the chance
now to effect change. We have more venues and platforms to speak up and speak
out now than we ever did when our team was taken. The likelihood of the front
office listening to us is slim to none, but if Haslam felt the need to send a
letter to the fans... We have to be doing something right.
We ARE the Browns in this day and age as much as anyone on
staff is, and we need to make our voices heard. If we want a good team, one we
can cheer for and be proud of, we have to set the tone. If we sit on our hands,
the front office has no idea which direction to go. They NEED us.
So, what's your motivation to keep on with this lot? Our
voices can move mountains and make monument to our greatness.
Commentary welcome, of course!
Friday, January 31, 2014
Something New...
So, in my infinite wisdom, I've managed to lose track of my old blog.
Shows how much I was using it, eh?
So we're going to go with something new.
Not sure how often it's going to be updated or what not, but we'll go with what feels right. I will be sharing posts from other places (MTAF: Cleveland when it launches, etc), so hopefully it won't be a lonely place over here.
Enjoy!
Shows how much I was using it, eh?
So we're going to go with something new.
Not sure how often it's going to be updated or what not, but we'll go with what feels right. I will be sharing posts from other places (MTAF: Cleveland when it launches, etc), so hopefully it won't be a lonely place over here.
Enjoy!
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