Prediction: Browns vs Bengals, welcome to the underworld

From www.examiner.com/cleveland, Cleveland Browns Examiner

The Browns (4-10) will face Cincinnati (2-11-1) on Sunday December 21, in Cleveland.

Hell: An endless place of suffering; inflicting pain and punishment.

I think this adequately describes the professional football situation in Ohio. While the Browns are having a season to forget, Cincinnati has not had the season they had hoped for either.

The Bengals lost star quarterback Carson Palmer earlier in the season to injury. Chad Johnson has had an abysmal season with only 540 yards receiving, while the quiet T.J Houshmanzadeh has been their only bright spot.

Here is the good news: The all-time series is tied between the two franchises is 35-35. So, at
least there is something to play for besides for "the worst team in the NFL" competition.

The Browns have reduced expectations looking to get snaps off timely and produce positive offensive yards. The brown and orange have a goal to score an offensive touchdown by the end of the season. With some luck and some holiday magic this may happen against the Bengals.

If the Browns don't score this weekend, it may be their last opportunity.

Next week they play the Pittsburgh Steelers.

That should be a fun experience.

Prediction:
The Browns will have a decent day rushing the football-- Jamal Lewis has his best day of the year.

Cleveland wins an ugly one.

Browns 10 Cincinnati 9

Browns receiver Stallworth fined $5,000

From www.examiner.com/cleveland


The AP is reporting that Browns wide receiver Donte Stallworth is being fined $5,000 for unnecessary roughness spearing an a member of the opposition after an interception.
Wait, is Donte Stallworth in the NFL? Oh yeah, he plays for the Cleveland Browns. You may have missed him this season because he hasn't played that much. Actually to be specific he has played in 8 games and started in six of them. He has 14 receptions for 141 yards and 1 touchdown. No, that's not for one game, that's his stats for the whole season.
Stallworth has been hampered most of the season with a quad strain. The injury that occurred during warm-ups against the Cowboys on week 1 of the NFL season. An injury, mind you, that Stallworth admits could have been prevented if he only warmed up properly on opening day.
Based on his latest hit maybe the Browns should have signed him to play cornerback.
His current contract is for 7 years with a base of 33 million dollars and 10 million guaranteed.
This is what I call a great investment. I'm guessing the Browns management thought Stallworth would try and warm up properly before games.
Either way, I was never in favor of such a long term deal because if you play fantasy football, you know this guy is injured all the time. I looks like fantasy has become reality for the Browns.

Football players and guns

From Examiner.com/cleveland, by Cleveland Browns Examiner

My fellow Examiner David Codrea wrote an article that referenced the recent "shooting drama" involving Plaxico Burress and himself.

I don't claim to have the knowledge or expertise in gun rights that Mr. Codrea has. What I think I can do is give a regular football fans perspective on the whole situation.

Personally, I have never been one to carry a gun. That's just a personal choice, and I believe it's important that people have the right to make that choice. Moreover, at some point in my life I may choose to carry a gun for protection. Carrying a firearm is important to a lot of citizens in this Country and, If done responsibly, can be a great thing.

I have lived and worked in many places that could be considered dangerous. Washington D.C, New York City, Cleveland, and Newark New Jersey at times can be considered dangerous places depending where you are and what you're doing.

I think the point that many fans are trying to make when they complain about athletes such as Plaxico Burress, is not the fact that they carry guns, it's the choices they make.

For instance, If you carry a gun you probably should make sure it's properly licensed. Also, If you carry a gun, it may be a good idea to have some training to prevent accidents. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but I'm guessing Plaxico didn't mean to shoot himself. Furthermore, if he shot himself in the leg then it's a possibility he could have hurt someone else by accident.

I don't know what it's like to be a pro-football player. I don't know where some of the athletes grew up or the sort of life they lived. Additionally, I think it is imperative to understand that the NFL is diverse and has players who grew up both rich and poor, in good neighborhoods and bad.

NFL linebacker Joey Porter maintains that it's important for players to protect themselves because they are targets.

I agree with Mr. Porter, if you make a lot of money and live in big houses you could be considered a target for crime. I'm actually in favor of athletes' rights to carry firearms for protection, but it's also important that the players use common sense.

For example, if I knew I would using the subway late night in NYC I would try my best to dress casual. I know this sounds silly to some people, it's just that I felt if I was wearing something more flashy it would invite more attention. I didn't change my lifestyle or sacrifice my identity, I just adapted to circumstances. Circumstances never change in our existence. We may want them to, they just never will.

Crime exists and it usually happens at night. I don't have numbers or stats, just my instinct. Yes, crime happens anywhere and anytime I just feel that it's more likely to occur in a dark subway, alone, with an expensive watch, sneakers, and on my way to Queens at 4 in the morning. Don't get me wrong, I think the subway system is safe to use, it's not the same system the "Warriors" were using in 1979. I think just think it is important to plan ahead to try and prevent "accidents".

So, like Romeo Crennel mentioned, there are ways to carry a firearm responsibly and lawfully. In turn, there are also some things you can do so you don't have to use your firearm. Some really elementary examples might be: live more modestly, don't hang out in poor areas and wear flashy clothes or jewelry, and don't go out to places that make you vulnerable.

Why should pro athletes live by different standards than most?

Because they do live by different standards than most.

They are rich, famous, and popular. With great power comes great responsibility.

But as Mr. Codrea states, "sometimes the wolf comes to your door anyway."

In that case, you have to protect yourself.

From www.examiner.com/cleveland, Cleveland Browns Examiner

For the second week in a row I find it pointless to even write a summary of the Browns game. The Browns lost, again, and it wasn't even close. I predicted the game final to be 30-9 and the actual score had the Browns on the losing end against the Tennessee Titans 28-9.

For a third straight week the Browns failed to score a touchdown, while Romeo Crennel failed again to show any class.

The feeble coach passed up many opportunities to "go for it" on fourth down. I guess "going for it" would be displaying too much pride and urgency for the bumbling Browns. It would mean that the coach was interested in showing a sense of pride rather than politics on the field of play. This was further illustrated by kicking a field goal when the Browns were losing 21-6. Don't forget Crennel not challenging a late Braylon Edwards catch that appeared in bounds. This is just a taste of Romeo Crennel's brilliant head coaching skills.

The Browns also failed to get Josh Cribbs the ball more than 13 times, and as Bill Livingston points out, six of those touches were on kick returns. They continued to stick with a inept Ken Dorsey as he put up Derek Anderson-like numbers.

The failure to improvise and give Cribbs a chance summarizes Crennel's entire coaching career in Cleveland. As a head coach in Cleveland, Romeo Crennel was a coward. This is a harsh thing to say but on the field of play he hasn't proved otherwise.

I just finished watching the Pittsburgh Steelers game (I admit it) and was witness to the sort of character their team has. On fourth and goal, down thirteen points, head coach Mike Tomlin went for it. The Steelers should have kicked a field goal in this situation but the Steelers don't play pee-wee football. Pittsburgh ended up botching the attempt but winning the game.

Nonetheless, the Pittsburgh Steelers, "play to win the game". They have guts, and win or lose, the coaching staff and players lay it all out on the line. They risked losing the game in order to win it. They cared more about winning rather than delivering the status quo.

Unfortunately, the same can't be said of Crennel and the Browns.

I still can't understand why Randy Lerner hasn't pulled Crennel from his position immediately. The players have stopped playing for him and he continues to commit fundamental coaching follies. There is a draft coming and the Browns have to stop living in denial; the Romeo Crennel era is over.

If they are going to establish new leadership, the earlier the better. Even if a head coach has not been decided on, the Browns need to end their relationship with Crennel. To not do so perpetuates an era of cultural losing and acceptance of failure. As Mike Singletary would say, "we can't do it".

Now that's a coach with some passion and who has his team on the right track.

Passion and intensity = desire and results.

Just a thought

Head Coach: A Cleveland Browns job that requires no experience

From Examiner.com/cleveland, Cleveland Browns Examiner

I recently received a comment from a reader on my article, "Bruce Gradkowski signs with Browns, Plain Dealer writer Terry Pluto: 'Browns fans were wrong'.

The comment was from a reader going by the alias wgP. He pointed out a statistic that I found shocking, and honestly, had never realized.

Year after year, Browns fans have been searching for leadership from a coach that has the tools to take them to the Super Bowl. Yet, there might be a reason why we haven't found that leadership.

Did you know that of all the Browns head coaches throughout the years, only two (Nick Skorich and Terry Robiskie as an interim coach for the Redskins) touted NFL head coaching experience? That means from 1946 until the present all but two of our coaches have been rookies.

Experience and identity is what the Browns franchise needs. In that case, maybe it's time to bring in a coach with some actual NFL coaching experience.

Just a thought.

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Here are the numbers:

Paul Brown 1946-1962

Blanton Collier 1963-1970

Nick Skorich 1971-1974

Forrest Greg 1975-1977

Dick Modzelewski 1977(interim)

Sam Rutigliano 1978-1984

Marty Schottenheimer 1984-1988

Bud Carson 1989- 1990

Jim Shofner 1990 (interim)

Bill Belichick 1991-1995

Chris Palmer 1999-2000

Butch Davis 2001-2004

Terry Robiskie 2004 (interim)

Romeo Crennel 2005-present

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Thanks wgP for the facts!

From Examiner.com, Cleveland Browns Examiner


Brady Quinn told Cleveland reporters late Wednesday that his surgery on his index finger was successful.

Quinn said about his finger, "I'll have full function of it again".

Quinn is planning to return to the Browns and be with them when they face the Tennessee Titans this Sunday at 1 pm et..

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Phil Savage recently stated in a press conference, '"I got four years left on a contract, I'd love to be able to finish that out".

So, basically he's saying 'wait til next year'. This is a phrase that Cleveland fans have been hearing for an obscene amount of years.

Savages' comments address more scrutiny that his job may be in jeopardy.

I've always have been a Phil Savage supporter, and even with some of the weird behavior, it's still too early to fire him.

I do not, however, think the same about Romeo Crennel. I have been clear about this over the last couple of months. Savage has put a lot of talent on the field for the Cleveland Browns and they have underperformed. Whether it was the players who choked or the coaches who didn't prepare them to win, the record for Romeo Crennel is not flattering.

The most stunning stat in his four seasons is that Romeo Crennel has never beat the Steelers. Not once has he beat the Browns most hated rival. That is like Jim Tressel losing every game to Michigan. That alone should set off an alarm in your head.

How can you compete in the AFC north if you can't beat the Steelers? In fact, Romeo can't seem to prepare his team to win any clutch game. The only example of his team winning a 'big' game is on Monday Night Football this year against the New York Giants. He then followed up this game by choking in Washington D.C. to the Redskins.

The point is, the Browns have talented players on their team. Those player have been put there by Phil Savage. Of course there have been mistakes like the signing of Donte' Stallworth, Braylon's Drops, and injuries with Joe Jurevicius. Nonetheless, Phil Savage has put talent on the field and they are not being put in the position to win. Phil Savage should be given a shot to complete his tenure and see what sort of results he gets with a new coaching staff in place.

The new question is if Bill Cowher comes to town, does that mean the end for Phil Savage? Could they come to a compromise and form a dangerous duo?

I guess we'll have to 'wait til next year' to find out.

Cowher09.com closing in on 10,000 signatures

From Examiner.com, Cleveland Browns Examiner

If you have not heard of http://www.cowher09.com/ than you're probably in the minority. The site is a living and breathing petition to Browns owner Randy Lerner to get Bill Cowher into Cleveland and reignite a winning tradition.
The website that started out as a sort of cult following for disgruntled Browns fans is now starting to be a sort of powerhouse. If you attend any Browns game, read any forum, or watch the Brownies on television, you will most likely hear the chants or see the T-shirts.
If you go to the site you'll see that it is closing in on 10,000 signatures and growing.
We'll see if the wishes of so many comes true with the hiring of Bill Cowher. Nonetheless, you can give credit to Cowher09.com for keeping the cause relevant and pressing.