Monday, October 25, 2010

Didn't See That One Coming...


What a strange league the current NFL is. And as long-suffering Browns fans, we should know that more than any other fan base. This team seems to have an uncanny knack at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Entering yesterday afternoon's game in New Orleans, the floundering Browns yet again found themselves with an embarrassing 1-5 record. I lamented the fact that they basically gave away the first two games of the season - losses in Tampa and then at home against the Chiefs. Those were basically must-win games for these Browns, especially considering their brutal 2010 schedule. Yet the hapless Browns found a way again to squander the opportunity for a respectable record and instead were in their all-too familiar position in the cellar of the AFC North.

So why even bother to watch the carnage that was sure to ensue yesterday in New Orleans? Because we are Browns fans. And for once we were finally rewarded with that rare game when everything just seems to go right. How else can you explain their improbable 30-17 win over the defending Super Bowl champions? It was a game they should have had no business winning, but instead they won it going away, with no chance of any fourth quarter collapse this time around. And it was actually fun to watch.

Sure it took some trickery and a few gadget plays. But that's what desperate teams need to do - find a way to win, in any manner possible. And the Browns surely did that yesterday, from the moment they got their hands on the Saints' first punt. I loved the ballsy special teams call there to have Josh Cribbs find Eric Wright on that beautiful cross-field pass. And the play nearly worked to perfection, with only a shoestring tackle preventing a touchdown. The 68-yard fake punt call and then the 4th quarter direct-snap from Peyton Hillis to a wide-open Colt McCoy (on a crucial 3rd down, no less) were also brilliant calls.

The defensive strategy employed by coordinator Rob Ryan also should be applauded. They had Drew Brees confused all-day long, resulting in four interceptions (there honestly could have been at least two more that were dropped). It resulted in a banner day for David Bowens, who got to return two of those interceptions for touchdowns. And Scott Fujita was used perfectly against his former team. Kudos to the entire Browns coaching staff. They severely their opponents in this game and deserve much of the credit for what is surely the biggest win in the 21-game Mangini Era thus far.

Now I'm not naive enough to think that this will become the norm. A lot of things went right for the Browns in this one and it became the perfect storm that eventually overwhelmed the Saints. But this could be a victory to build on. The Browns are obviously much-improved over last season, and until yesterday had nothing to show for it. They now need to start learning how to win. They have the bye week to prepare for even bigger things - hosting the Patriots and then the Jets. Mangini obviously has those games circled on his calendar. Let's just hope the Browns didn't use up all their good karma yesterday.

Random Notes: I honestly didn't think there would be any chance of a quarterback controversy this season, but I guess I forgot this is the Browns we're talking about. With the next game not until November 7, there is a chance the team could have all three quarterbacks healthy again. So if and when that happens, who gets the starting nod? I say it has to be McCoy. He has shocked me with his poise so far and I don't think he has done anything that warrants turning away from him. The team needs to figure out what to do with this position before the draft. McCoy deserves an extended look to help figure out where the team is headed... I love the fact that the coaching staff tried to get Eric Wright involved in a positive play right off the bat yesterday. But it still doesn't change the fact that he is being severely exploited by opposing offenses. Wright's downward spiral this year is dismaying to say the least. And his tackling is horrific. I've rewound a couple plays the past two weeks just to verify his poor tackling effort... I can't believe another Cavs season is just just two days away. My eighth as a season ticket-holder, and obviously first without LeBron. I'm eager to get the post-LBJ era underway and the betrayal behind us. I will probably have some Cavs-related stuff here on Wednesday.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Look what I've become

Before I dive into this topic, let me preface it with a little background info from my most formative years - those being my time in college between 1994 and 1998. I was just a fresh-faced kid from Strongsville, still very Cleveland-centric in all my sports views, and hadn't really spent a lot of time around fans from other cities. That changed when I decided to continue my education two hours west of Cleveland in Bowling Green, OH.

First, you have to understand something about Bowling Green. Although it is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, windy ALL the time, and spring doesn't seem to arrive sometime around June, most people that attend BGSU love their time in that town. There's just something about it that you can only understand if you live there for a significant amount of time. I can't even put my finger on it and I lived there for the better part of those four years.

What I did notice during that time period is most that students in BG seemed to hail from the following six general locations: 1) greater Cleveland (I'm including Akron, even if LeBron won't ever acknowledge that it is Cleveland), 2) Columbus, 3) Toledo/Michigan, 4) Dayton/Cincinnati, 5) Buffalo, and 6) other small Ohio towns (Wapakoneta, Marion, and many other nondescript places like those that just need a category). I was always confused by the Buffalo dynamic. Maybe I just hung around a small group of people from there and I'm remembering it wrong, but it seemed weird to me that people from there would choose Bowling Green.

Anyway, as a rabid Browns/Cavs/Indians fan, my college years were a strange time to be away from home. At the end of my freshman year Art Modell decided to yank the Browns out of Cleveland and take them in Baltimore. They didn't return until a year after I graduated and was already a productive working member of society... or at least pretending to be one. And in hindsight, their "return" to the NFL has brought us nothing but embarrassment for the better part of the last decade. The Cavs were also an afterthought between 1994 and 1998. It was a bad mix of the defensive era in the NBA (routine Mike Fratello coached wins came with scores like 73-70), a team stuck in an undefinable time period (post-Price/Ehlo/Nance/Daugherty and pre-LeBron), some hideous uniforms and court design (who the hell designed that anyway?), and years of playoff failure. So we were left with the Indians...

After 41 years of futility the 1995 Tribe was a team like no other. A 100-win wrecking ball - in a strike-shortened 144-game schedule, no less. They provided some of the best sports memories I've had in my life, most coming during my sophomore year while living in Rodgers Hall in Bowling Green. Which finally brings me to my point... after decades of failure I was of the naive opinion that sports fans from other cities with no real rooting interest would also get behind the Tribe - a feel-good story for baseball after the strike. A city that was able to re-invent itself with Jacobs Field, Gateway, and the Flats. Almost the real-life Major League.

But I was wrong. I quickly found out that fans of the Reds and Tigers were definitely rooting against the Tribe. They couldn't stand the success that Cleveland fans were finally experiencing and hated our late-night screams of joy when Tony Pena gave us our first playoff win in 41 years. The trend continued over the next two years when the Tribe was shocked by the Orioles in the 1996 ALDS, and then by the Marlins in the 1997 World Series. Reds fans that lived in the apartments below us could openly be heard cheering against the Tribe in the 1997 ALDS vs. New York and the ALCS when we got revenge against Baltimore. And a neighbor from Buffalo across the hall was praying the Marlins would stop the Tribe. The goddamn Florida Marlins!?!

I never understood it at the time, but I do now. I've become those bitter fans. The 2010 MLB playoffs have allowed me to come full-circle. Now I'm the one praying the Yankees don't win. I'm the one with the look of smug satisfaction after seeing the Reds get swept by the Phillies. I've come to a cold realization: I can't stand seeing you succeed. If my team can't win then I sure as hell can root against the others that I don't want to win. It's what we've been reduced to as fans of Cleveland teams. So here's to you John Elway, Michael Jordan, Jose Mesa, Edgar Renteria, and LeBron. Thanks for turning me into something I used to hate. Go Rangers!

(I'm chuckling to myself that my previous post had "hope" in the title and centered around the Browns. LOL.)