Romeo's swan song

Another day at the Stadium, another embarrassing defeat. This time at the hands of the lowly Houston Texans 16-6, themselves bringing in a 3-7 record and a road losing streak stretching over a year. It was another game filled with dropped passes, desperate coaching moves, terrible play calling, and more defensive ineptitude. The Browns are now 1-5 at home after being 7-1 there last year, including winning 7 straight. And they 4-7 on the season overall, one in which they entered with such hope.

Thankfully and finally the fans' patience has run out with this team. I've been inside the Stadium for every home game this year and I honestly didn't think it would happen. I've looked around me and seen blind support for a team of losers while they inexcusably pissed away second half leads against the Ravens and Broncos. I think there were still a lot of believers even before yesterday's game when a win would have brought the Browns to only 5-6. But this pathetic performance finally sapped all support from the fans here in Cleveland. Congratulations Browns, I didn't think you could do it. But I'm glad you finally did.

One of the better signs in the Stadium yesterday shows
just how these fans feel about #17's play this year

This moment had to come. Something needs to change with this franchise. This season has been filled with as much nonsense off the field as on it. The Kellen Winslow staph infection adventure, followed by his one-game suspension. The text messaging saga to Winslow's phone from Browns staffers urging him to keep quiet. GM Phil Savage's email-gate. Players talking about quitting. I'm so sick of all of it. And then yesterday came Romeo Crennel's decision to pull Brady Quinn after two interceptions and insert the embattled Derek Anderson. It was a desperate move by a desperate coach of a desperate team. And likely one of Crennel's final moves as the head man on the Browns' sidelines.

Please Browns, if you're going to rebuild again (and you definitely should), please, please, please do it the right way this time. Don't bring in another guy that has never been an NFL head coach before. Back up the Brinks truck to Bill Cowher's home in North Carolina or Strongsville (I loved that dumb rumor) or wherever the hell he is living now. Make him an offer he can't refuse. Show the fans you care about this team's image as much as they do (or did). The current state of the franchise is beyond embarrassing and Cowher can instantly restore some credibility.

Other Browns Notes: Brady Quinn reacts to his benching... Terry Pluto talks about how the Browns torment their own fans... Braylon Edwards hears and accepts the boos... And don't forget about Tony Grossi's noon chat today. This should be a fun one to recap.

Cavs Update: Now for a team that actually rewards you for being a fan: the Cavaliers laid the wood to the Hawks on Saturday night with a 110-96 win at the Q. If you didn't see the game, check out the highlights here. LeBron made three plays that were simply jawdropping to me, and luckily all three of them made that highlight reel. The first is around the 1:25 mark after Ben Wallace blocks a shot, Delonte West picks up the loose ball and thows an alley-oop to LeBron from nearly half court. Just watch LBJ streak past the defense. His speed in the open court is unbelievable. The second play is featured right after that one when LeBron drives through two Hawks defenders in the paint, gets hammered and still throws it down left-handed while losing his headband. His strength is ridiculous. And the third play is shown right after that dunk when LeBron drives through the lane, fakes a behind the back pass, cocks his right arm back and as Austin Carr would say, "throws the hammer down!" Just listen to the sound of the rim. And watch Mo Evans scurry to get out of the way.

So with the win the Cavs are now a perfect 7-0 at home, their best start ever at the Q. And they are 10-3 overall with a two game cushion in the Central over the Pistons. They will have a big stretch of games this week with four games in five nights beginning tomorrow night in New York (where we will surely hear more rumors of LeBron bolting for the pathetic Knicks). Three of the four games will be against sub-.500 teams. In fact, 6 of the Cavs' next 8 games will come against teams that currently have losing records. I feel another streak coming on...

Mike Brown credits his "Committee" for helping the Cavs get off to a fast start this season... And Coach Brown isn't a big fan of gambling for steals... And LeBron isn't tired of the 2010 rumors (yet).

Losers find ways to lose

I don't know what I can say that hasn't been said hundreds of times about the Browns since 1999. They just are not a winning franchise and losing still hangs like a dark cloud over everything they seem to do. There is no more honeymoon period for this organization, at least not for me. It has been almost 10 years since they were reincarnated and we are still watching them invent new ways to lose on a consistent basis. Their debut on Thursday Night Football, a humiliating 34-30 loss to the Broncos, was just the latest example.

Was there anyone in the stands at Cleveland Browns Stadium, or watching at home all over northeast Ohio that didn't see this one coming? Our defense was shredded in the 2nd half, giving up another big lead at home and ruining a solid starting debut by quarterback Brady Quinn. I'm embarrassed by this team and fed up with their lack of discipline. Fan loyalty can quickly turn to apathy and when that happens you can lump the Browns in with teams like the Lions and Bengals. Not exactly the company we want to keep in this league.

How do we fix this mess? I think the easiest answer is for Browns owner Randy Lerner to tear two blank checks from his checkbook. Send one to Bill Cowher and the other to Brian Billick. Whomever returns the gesture first with a "yes" gets the job. At least these guys know how to win in this division. That's not to put all of the blame on Romeo, but winning starts at the top. It's quickly becoming evident that this team cannot win with a players' coach. They need someone who cares about winning as much as their fans do...

Do yourselves a favor Cleveland fans: turn 100% of your attention to the Cavaliers. They are a team that knows how to win right now. Start by going to the game tonight and watching them dismantle the Pacers. You'll even get a throwback Cavaliers Hardwood Classics winter hat for your trouble. It's the quickest way to rid your mind of the losers in orange and brown. Go Cavs.

Back home...

To the handful of faithful readers out there, I apologize for the outage this week. I had to travel for work and really didn't have proper computer access to add any good updates. Spending a couple days in Madison, Wisconsin - as nice as it is - made me homesick for Cleveland. Call me crazy, I know. At least I got to miss the Tribe's slide in Boston (I can't stand the effing Red Sox). So we're back below .500 again, but with a chance for redemption this weekend in Chicago. I also got to miss out on the speculation regarding the Browns' brewing QB controversy. But now we know that DA will get the start, with BQ waiting in the wings for his chance to try to keep this sinking ship afloat. And has anyone else heard the Bill Cowher rumors? I briefly heard something on the radio last week about him buying a house in Strongsville. Then I even heard the same when I was in Wisconsin. I love all this speculation (probably based on the same unsubstantiated rumor I heard on the radio). Oh well, back to the grind...

Browns Update: The Browns take on the Bengals in Cincy on Sunday. And thankfully were finally a 1:00 pm start. The good news is if we keep playing like this, we'll have plenty of 1:00pm starts on the schedule next year. One of the more depressing things I did see when I was away from Cleveland is that this will be the fourth time since 1999 that both the Browns and Bengals enter their intrastate rivalry game winless. So four out of the last ten times we've met for the first time in a season, we've both been 0-and-something. Pathetic. But even worse if you're a Bengals fan, because at least we've had the expansion team excuse to lean back on. I really don't know what to expect anymore, especially out of either of these teams. My predictions have been woefully wrong all year, so hopefully I'm wrong again. I'll go with... Bengals 17, Browns 14. But win or lose this Sunday, it's really a win. A true win gets us back on track going into the bye week and some confidence in our preparation for MNF on October 13 vs. the Giants. But a loss probably means the Brady Quinn era will officially begin. And possibly the end of the RAC era (and inevitably more Cowher rumors). So all that should be fun to watch unfold. Although I don't think I'm ready for this franchise to start over again...

Will Sunday be Crennel's farewell?

Other Browns Notes: Tony Grossi talks about Crennel working through the storm... And what is up with our special teams so far? I think most of it comes down to Josh Cribbs playing hurt, although that doesn't explain the terrible punting by Dave Zastudil... At least we now know the Browns aren't eye-gougers. I was really worried about that...

Tribe Update: I won't go into the details of the Tribe losing the last three to the Red Sox. All I can say is F Boston. At least we know that Jhonny Peralta will finally give third base a try this weekend. Hooray!!! Rookie suprirse Scott Lewis will be on the mound for the good guys tonight as they attempt to ruin the postseason plans for the White Sox.

Cavs Update: Only 32 days until the first game! We finally got to hear from Dan Gilbert and Mike Brown in a press conference yesterday. Terry Pluto says that we can count on the Cavs to not disappoint. And I agree 100%. And Brian Windhorst also reports on the opening of camp. Speaking of Brian... I have heard from a very reliable source that he will soon be the Cavs beat writer for the Plain Dealer, following in Terry Pluto's footsteps by leaving the ABJ. If true, this will obviously leave a huge hole for the Beacon Journal, but will be a big plus for Plain Dealer readers. Finally some good Cavs coverage from the PD! It's about time.

I'm digging Coach Brown's new look