No Need For Luck

Sunday’s win for the Browns, over the Jacksonville Jaguars, was the first step Colt McCoy took in telling the front office “I can do this.” Sure it was an “ugly” win, and yes he did have the interception in the red zone, which is an absolute no-no, especially when you are a team that already struggles to score period. But, McCoy rallied, himself and the troops, and brought the team back and threw what would eventually be the game winning TD to Josh Cribbs.

I have said all along that it is difficult to judge or compare McCoy to a west coast offense quarterback because the Browns simply do not have the weapons for him to throw to, and at times this year they have not had the offensive line either. McCoy currently ranks 20th in the NFL in passing yards, and of the 19 quarterbacks ahead of him, only 3 have fewer interceptions throw on the season. And, four, have doubled the amount of interceptions he has thrown. He (McCoy) takes care of the football; his red zone interception against the Jags was his first red zone INT of the season.

With all of that being said, he made up my mind on Sunday. It may have been ugly, or a struggle, or not flashy, but he proved that, if we get him some weapons on the outside, he can be a viable quarterback, and he can win you games. It has been a struggle, but McCoy has slowly gotten his completion percentage up to 60% on the season. Clearly, that pales in comparison to the staggering 72% clip that Aaron Rogers is completing, but, has him completing the second highest percentage in the division and only 3 percentage points behind Ben Roethlisberger.

There are a few signs of hope, mainly Greg Little, and Josh Cribbs, but it is clear that the Browns lack speed, size, and reliability on the outsides. Greg Little is showing that he has 1st round talent, but still shows inconsistency (see the deep ball down the right side in the 1st half that Little should have caught) and that is exactly NOT what the Browns need. Cribbs, on the other hand, has impressed me with is improvement as a receiver. We know he is electric on special teams, but the knock has always been he is unpolished as a receiver. This year he looks like a legitimate wide receiver, and he proves ever week that the more you get the ball in his hands the better the results on the field.

The Browns have two first round draft picks in the next draft, and there is some serious talent coming to the NFL, especially at the wide out position. The Browns would be best suited to use those picks on talent that can come in and help this team right away, as opposed to packaging them both for the first overall pick and taking Andrew Luck. It would not matter if we had Andrew Luck or Aaron Rogers right now, they would not have the necessary weapons to stand out in this offense. The improvements are there, but the Browns need talent at skill positions, and they have two chances to improve those positions in the first round.

Just Another Day in the Life of a Browns Fan..

I am sick of hearing it. I refuse to listen to it. If one more person tries to tell me about their cities “bad luck” or “agony” when it comes to sports, I will lose it. I spent Sunday at a bar (the only place I can go to watch my Browns play) with friends from around the country who, because their teams were not playing at the time, sat and watched the Browns unimaginable loss to the 1-7 Rams with me. So, before I get to the game, these were our conversations:

Friend from San Diego: San Diego has the worst sports luck, but nobody cares because we have the best weather. Response I wanted to reply with: Oh really? I am sorry you have teams that make it to the AFC Championship games multiple years, and I am really, really sorry that you have the best weather. Please save it!

Friend from Minnesota: Minnesota has had some pretty bad luck, I mean, look at the Twins, Vikings, and Timberwolves. Response I wanted to reply with: Please! You were a play away from going to the Super Bowl two years ago; the Twins won a world series in the 1990s, and let us not forget the Minnesota Lynx won the WNBA Championship this year! (Ok, ok, I know, yes I did reference a WNBA team, but seriously they won a championship, that is more than anything a Cleveland team has won in six decades!)

As the game unfolded, I proceeded to tell my friends about all things that have gone wrong in Cleveland sports, and to save myself, and Cleveland friends from an intense spike in blood pressure, I will not go into any details (if you want to know more, Google it or something). Here we go, for the Browns you have the Drive, the Fumble, Red Right 88, and that meltdown against the Steelers the only time we have made the playoffs since we returned. The Indians, probably had one of the best teams in baseball history in the mid 1990s, managed to blow a 2 out lead in the last inning of the 1997 world series, and lost in Game 7 in extra innings, and managed to blow a 3-1 lead in the 2007 ALCS to the Red Sox, who then went on to sweep the Rockies in the World Series. The Cavs have the “shot” by MJ to sink the higher seeded Cavs in the first round of 1989 playoffs, and I need not go any further into the recent memory of Cavs fans.

With all of that said, I sat and watched the Browns play, maybe, one of their most complete games of the season, and yet, they still managed to not find the end zone. The coaches pulled out the trick plays, wide receivers made plays, Colt McCoy was accurate, and still the Browns could not score a touch-down. Thankfully, Phil Dawson, the team MVP (yes I know, he is our kicker), was spot on from four different points kicking field goals in a windy Cleveland Browns Stadium from 44,32,29, and 43 yards, respectively.
And then, when it looked like the Browns had positioned themselves perfectly to have Dawson kick his fifth field goal of the day, and take the lead late in the fourth quarter, it happened. I have said it before, and I am sure I will say it again; it was one of those “only in Cleveland moments.”

It would have been Dawson’s shortest field goal of the day, two yards longer than an extra point attempt. A chip shot, as they like to call it. I sat there at the bar, with my temporary Browns fans friends, about to watch the Browns get a nice win, and all I could do was watch in disbelief, as the snap rolled and bounced to the holder, who somehow managed to control it and hold it, and then as Dawson managed to get the kick off, only for it to be deflected wide left with two minutes to go in the game.
Now, it is not entirely absurd that a snap is bad, it could happen to any team in the NFL. But then you realize that the Browns long snapper is a Pro-Bowler, one of the best in the NFL, and you watch the slow motion replay you see that somehow, some way, the Browns left guard, who should probably try out for Dancing With The Stars because he has to have the quickest feet in America, managed to deflect the snap with his leg, you realize how absurd this actually was. Bad snaps are one thing, but I have never seen a lineman deflect a snap with his leg on a field goal attempt.

I could not even be mad. I mean, sure, I was mad, but then I remember, “It’s the Browns, and I’m a Cleveland fan.” I have become so engrained with stuff like this, that I almost expect it to happen. The Cleveland Browns are clearly the poster child for Murphy’s Law.

So I do not want to hear it anymore, from anyone other than Cleveland fans. Please spare me from your, “it has been a couple of years since we won a championship” talk, or, “man my teams have really bad luck.” I do not, no, I cannot take it anymore, and if you don’t believe me, come join me this Sunday at the bar, and watch a Browns game with me (yes, I will be there, just like all the other weeks, in my jersey rooting on my team). I guarantee you will leave saying, “Man my team ain’t so bad after all.”

Happy Valley and the Shadow of Shame

He was the last “living dinosaur.” A Legend. His legacy was golden, and could not be touched. Or, so we thought. Joe Paterno stood for everything that was great about collegiate athletics: loyalty, he’s been coaching there for over four decades; passion, players go to Penn State to play for Coach Paterno because of his passion; integrity, when Paterno says something, you listen, he is the John Wooden of college football.

But, not long after winning his record setting 408th game on Saturday, all of that was about to come crashing down. The recent charges that his former assistant faces are brutal, disgusting, and could quite possibly tarnish everything that Paterno has done for Penn State, and college football. To the NCAA, this has probably been one of the longest years it can remember. Scandal after scandal, violation after violation kept coming across the desks of those in charge in Indianapolis. This, however, might be the straw that breaks the camels’ back.

This is not a scandal at Penn State it is a full fledged mess that came barreling over the top of the dam on Sunday. And, what this shows is just how flawed the NCAA and college athletics have been, for a very long time. What makes this even more disturbing, grotesque, unbelievable, insert your own adjective here, is that these acts were done by a person, by people, who were supposed to be the model, who were supposed to be leading our young individuals.

It is one thing when student-athletes make mistakes. And sure, trading your stuff for tattoos, or smoking dope, or taking money from someone associated with the school might seem stupid, silly, and ignorant. But when it’s the coaches, and administrators that are taking part in something that is profusely, and morbidly wrong, what does that say about the student-athletes. How can we degrade a student-athlete for being young and immature when the people leading and developing him or her are acting irresponsible, and decidedly more immature?

I do not want to get into the disgusting, and embarrassing details of what the former Penn State coach, Jerry Sandusky, did or took part in. If you want to read more about that you can find it on your own time. What is bothersome to me, and should be to everyone, is that the graduate assistant coach who saw it, the head coach who is in charge, and the administrators who found out about it, never, not even once, contacted authorities to let them know that this was going on.

We are talking about children, many of whom were not even teenagers (not that it would make it OK if they were), who were victims of a sick, repulsive person. And the University just swept it underneath the rug and tried to pretend nothing happened. All they did was tell Sandusky he could no longer bring youth down on the field for football games. In fact, Sandusky was at Beaver Stadium on Saturday to see Paterno get his landmark victory.

I am not even sure how the NCAA will handle this mess. The comparisons of how they handled the scandal at Ohio State and LSU are not even in the same atmosphere of severity. To sit back and think about the media outrage, and societal outcry over what five student-athletes did at Ohio State by trading and selling their game jerseys and trophies for tattoos; I cannot even fathom how that would even come close to being comparable to what happened at Penn State. To think that Jim Tressel lost his job because he did not go directly to the AD when learning about the allegations when he first found out is a more punishable offense than Joe Paterno who simply told his AD what his graduate assistant had seen take place in the showers at the football facility is senseless. How could you believe that simply telling the AD about sexual abuse of a child was doing your duties? Not once thinking, “This is wrong. I should call the police.”

Paterno is not a viewed as a suspect in the investigation, but his statement ought to make him one. “If true…While I did what I was supposed to do with the one charge brought to my attention…I cannot help but be deeply saddened these matters are alleged to have occurred.” Where to begin with this statement? Well, how about the beginning, if true? Clearly we have an eyewitness account of sexual abuse of a child, rape of a child, if true Joe? How about the “While I did what I was supposed to do...”? Really? You have a witness saying he saw a child under the age of 10 being sexually abused by an adult in the shower of the football facilities and all you are supposed to do is tell your AD? Last time I checked reporting child abuse or sexual abuse is the law. Just because you told your AD, and covered your tracks, does not get you off the hook for what you did not do.

Nor does it make what the graduate assistant who witnessed this act right either. The fact that the person who witnessed it and Paterno never followed up with this, nor ever contacted the police about what they saw is a matter of ethics, and moral judgment. And if the people in charge cannot make the right moral and ethical decision, how can we expect the student-athletes they are leading to do so?

Dumb and Dumber..

As we get ready to sit down this weekend and watch a game that has been proclaimed "the game of all games" for two weeks now, I can help but think of how seriously flawed the NCAA is.

Sure, I will watch when #1 LSU invades Bryant Denny Stadium to take on #2 Alabama. But all I will be able to think about is 8 different players. Three who play for LSU and five who play or used to play for Ohio State.

I know, we've all been beaten to death with the scandal that "rocked" Ohio State, especially us Buckeye fans. We know Terelle Pryor is gone, and so is Jim Tressel, and that Boom Herron and Devier Posey, two cogs in our offense, we're suspended for 5 games, all over about $2,500 worth of tattoos. (ironically a couple of days go NCAA prez Mark Emmert made it ok for schools to add $2,000 to each student-athlete's scholarship to cover "incidental costs")

But the real reason I will be watching the three LSU players (Tyrann Mathieu, Spencer Ware, and Tharold Simon) is because it is their first game back. They are returning to the field after being suspended for 1 game after testing positive for synthetic marijuana and violation the teams drug policy.

Where is the NCAA on this one????

Apparently trading your own stuff for tattoos is good for at least a 5 game suspension (even though former Georgia wide out A.J. Green was only suspended 4 for selling his jersey to an AGENT in 2010!) yet doing drugs during the season doesn't even warrant NCAA interest? The one game suspension was team imposed by coach Les Miles.

Now I'm sure everyone will think I'm just coming off as a homer, but, hello? Those three guys broke a law by taking illegal drugs (I'm not arguing for or against legalization here, simply stating as it stands today smoking pot is against the law), and the NCAA doesn't seem to care. But as soon as players start taking their own personal stuff, given to them by their institution or even the NCAA, and trading or selling it, they have a problem. Not to mention that for at least one of the players at LSU it was their "second offense" with the LSU substance abuse policy.

Now, I am not saying what the Ohio State players did was right, it is clearly a moral choice they were ok living with. And I'm not saying the way Jim Tressel handled it was the proper way to go about things. But, if the NCAA is going to continue to preside over college athletics, and continue to run these lengthy, costly investigations into players selling their jerseys, or receiving improper benefits then they need to be prepared to step in on instances like these, where players disregard the laws.

Ohio State had its season hijacked by the NCAA because 5 kids made a stupid decision, even though the stuff they traded was their own. LSU barely missed a beat when their three players were suspended for ONE measly game even though those kids made probably an even dumber decision.

The NCAA is balancing on a thin high wire, and if they are going to be the authority they want to be, then they need to handle everything that falls under their umbrella. Otherwise, their high wire act will come crashing down and bring a new era in college athletics. Who knows, maybe even a cleaner one.