Browns Consider Bringing Back Brian Sipe

     Obviously, that's a joke.  But it's not far off considering the fact that they are considering Vinny Testaverde for the backup job.  I for one feel this isn't a bad move.  Bringing in Vinny near the end of camp would be good because it would give Charlie the veteran presence that he needs, and he's probably better than what we have going right now with Dorsey and Anderson.  Plus, Vinny is the last QB to win a playoff game for the Browns.  Who cares if that was 12 years ago, and he was a seasoned veteran then.

    There's really no downside to this, as if Charlie should falter or go down at any point during the season the Browns would be hurt significantly.  That's why so much depends on his success this season.  I'm still not convince we should have mortgaged our future on this guy by having nobody behind him, but if he is the real deal this team could turn heads this year.

     On a side note, it's hard to believe, but Vinny is actually OLDER than a favorite son of ours–one BERNIE KOSAR.  I think you know where I'm going with this…

Your Cleveland Sports Roundup

 

Since I haven't been able to post much lately, I figured I would give a recap of the past week in the land of The Burning River.  Let's just say, it hasn't been good.

• The Indians have dropped to 15 games out.  This after getting swept by the mighty Beer drinkers of Wisconsin.  For a positive spin, they are now only 11.5 games out of last place.  Although, we did learn in the process that CC should probably be our DH.  Boy were we wrong for question Charlie Manuel about his ability to hit.
• Jason Johnson, it was good to know you.  Actually, it wasn't.  Was anybody really excited when we signed this guy to begin with?  He was at best mediocre for his career, and let's just say he wasn't at his best with us.  This does mean that we will finally get a look at Jeremy Sowers. 
• Mini-Camp was completed by the Browns, and the biggest news is that they don't like their QB situation.  Were they really shocked to find out that they can't find a servicable back-up between Ken Dorsey, Derek Anderson, Lang Campbell, et al?  Hell, many people could argue that their number 1 guy isn't even a number 1 guy at all.  There were also reports of Kellen Winslow being near 100% which is fantastic.  It's like getting another 1st round pick if that guy can play a full season this year.
• Just a quick fact:  between the Browns starting QB, and their backup, there is a combined 1 season worth of starts (16).  I don't think there's any doubt as to where the question marks will be this season. 
• And finally, the Bernie and Babette Kosar divorce saga just won't die.  Bernie went on WTAM yesterday saying how the allegations are way off base, and how he is still trying to mend things with his wife.  C'mon Babs, how you not take him back?  He's Bernie Kosar, Cleveland Legend.  Also, by far more people get to my site by searching for "babette kosar" than by any other means.  Weird.

(UPDATE:  Somehow Jason Johnson was already picked up by the Red Sox.  Wow.)

New Look

Since WordPress opened up some of it's layouts to customization, I've been playing around with some different layouts, and I think I like this one the best.  Probbaly not done though.  Any feedback is appreciated…

Where’s The Luggage?

     I only ask because we're getting pretty close to packing it in.  And, let's be real here, even if the Tribe does make some sort of turnaround do we really have a shot at making the post-season?  The answer of course is, unfortunately, no.  Believe me, I am usually the very last guy to admit defeat, but had our hopes not been raised at the beginning of the season by all of the positive publicity about our team, we would have raised the white flag long ago.

     Now, we stand closer to last place than we are to first place, and there are too many problems to fix in order to right the ship and leap over 3 teams by the end of the season.  Indeed, the reality is setting in that you can't win 93 games one year and then take away  your best starter and reliever, replace them with mediocre talent, add little if anything else, and somehow expect to improve.  The numbers just don't add up. 

     For many people, the blame game has already started.  What bothers me is that many want to blame Wedge for the debacle that is occuring this season, and I can't understand why.  Let's see:  He took a team to win 93 games last year, was then handed a much less talented team this year, and the results are showing that in the win/loss column.  It seems very clear to me that the problem isn't management or coaching, but the fact that we're not putting a good team on the field.  This won't change until Dolan realizes that you have to open up the pocket-book in order to win.  There's no getting around that, no matter what argument you bring. 

     What I really question is whether or not Dolan cares about winning.  What reason does he have to spend a ton of money to make a team better, when we still come out to the park, and watch the game on his network regardless?  He can keep running out a mediocre group of guys year after year, trade away some young stars before they get too expensive, increase the payroll by 3-5million a year, and continue to profit from the team.  Before you know it, our young stars aren't going to be young anymore, and it's going to be rebuilding time all over again.  Guaranteed.

The good news?  Browns season is just two months away!  Mediocrity is the best.

Big Ben Is Not Dumb

To begin with, I am not making fun of what happened to Big Ben today, nor am I suggesting that I am happy that it happend.  That aside, I'd like to point out something that others may have missed.  Most people in the blogosphere and the sportsworld are already attacking Roethlisberger because of his refusal to wear a helmet, especially after what happened to KII.  However, I think there's an angle that they're all missing.

      As I have mentioned before, and even talk about in my FAQ section, the majority of the people in Pittsburgh are, in fact, not attractive.  This point in not arguable, and I am not the first to bring this up.  However, Mr. Roethlisberger (minus his caveman beard) wasn't all that bad looking if I may say so as a straight man.  He seems to do well with the ladies, and he has that whole 'bad boy' look going for him.  Problem is, by not being ugly he doesn't fit in with the rest of the community. 

     Thus, in order to repel his feelings of being a misfit and to avoid being an outcast with his homely neighbors, Ben decided to take action.  He's been trying for over a year in fact.  Since he first responded to Winslow's accided by saying that he refuses to wear a helmet.  At the time, everyone thought he was just young and dumb.  But oh no, there is method to his madness.  Ben was simply, desperatly trying to fit in.  And today, with one fell faceplant into a windshield while not wearing his helmet, he has accomplished that. 

     Yes, like Rudulph, the ugly duckling, Shrek, so many 8th graders, and Buffalo Bill from "Silence of the Lambs", Ben Roethlisberger was just trying to fit in with everyone else around him.  One brojen jaw, a nine-inch laceration, and a broken sinus cavity later, Big Ben is no longer a Pittsburgh misfit.  He will forever be perfectly in tune with the rest of his Pittsburgh brethren:  Ugly and Dumb.

(editor's note:  The posting of these comments were made only after his health and general well-being were confirmed to be OK.  This was not an attempt to take joy in, celebrate, or find amusing in any way the seriousness of Mr. Roethlisberger's accident.  We at The Burning River wish him a speedy recovery, and would never have wished this on him or any other Steeler, as hard as that is for us to say). 

Cleveland Teams Hate Me

     I've always felt that I was bad luck to my favorite teams.  As I've mentioned before, the first Browns game played after I was born was the Red Right 88 playoff game against the Raiders, and the first game I ever went to was a 42-0 loss to the Bills and resulted in the firing of our Head Coach Bud Carson.  The first Tribe game I went to they won with a walk-off homer in 14 innings–but only after I was forced to leave early because I had school the next day.

     Recently, this trend has been getting worse.  I was at yesterday's "business man's special", and the Tribe played like they were taking the day off like everyone else in the stands.  The last game I went to was the Memorial Day schalacking they took at the hands of the White Sox 11-0.  That means the Indians have scored a grand total of 1 run the last 18 innings of baseball played in my presence!  Seriously, I have seen this much bad baseball since little league.  They are a cool 1-3 in my presence this year.  I think I should just stop going all together.

     As far as the other teams go, I went to 4 regular season Cavs game last year (all losses), but I did go to Game 1 of the playoffs which was a win.  Cavs=1-4 in my presence.  For the Browns I have season tickets, but the two games I chose not to go to were wins (Bears, Titans). 

     I guess though, that since Cleveland teams typically have losing records as of late, it should be quite hard to attend a game and see a win.  But still, I'm starting to forget what it's like to watch your team win.

Cleveland Sports Teams Hate Attention

    

 That's what I'm starting to think.  Is it a pre-requisite that all Cleveland teams must suck tremendously whenever they are playing in a nationally televised game?  The Tribe have played in two ESPN Sunday Night games this year.  Last night was a 14-2 shalacking with our ace throwing, and the other was a season-opening crushing at the hands of the White Sox where our ace got put on the DL.  In total the Tribe is 0-3 in national broadcast games this year.

     The Cavs seem to have no better luck in the spotlight, including getting blown-out 3 times to the Pistons on ABC's Sunday afternoon broadcast (the last two coming in the playoffs, the final one being game 7).  I don't have the actual numbers for Nationally broadcasted games, but the Cavs were consistently coming up emtpy on the grand stage.   

     Then there are the Browns.  0-1 last year on ESPN, with that being a blow-out loss to the Steelers in P*******gh.  In 2004 they were also 0-1, with that being the Sunday Night game where Ed Reed returned a last-second Jeff Garcia interception 107 yards to end the game.  In fact, since the Browns returned to the NFL in 1999, they are an amazing 1-6 in nationally televised primetime games.

     so what is it with our teams?  Why do they hate being in the spotlight?  Are they ashamed that they are from Cleveland?  Do they not like the fact they they are in HD?  Does that freaky SkyCam thing scare them?  I need some help on this one.

Good Morning, It’s June.

     Looks like the Tribe decided to finally come out of their winter hibernation and start playing baseball for real now.  It's almost like they think spring training is 3 months long, and the games don't count until the kids are out of school or something.  I'd like to think it's coincidence, but we're going on 3 straight years now.  However, they're still 8.5 in back of the DETROIT FREAKING TIGERS, and despite already beating the ChiSux more this year than all of last year they are still 6 games back of them.  Like I said on Tuesday, this year is going to be doubly hard to play catch up since we're chasing two teams.

     The month of may wasn't a complete loss though.  Consider that on May 1st, the Indians were at .500, and 6 games out of first.  One month later they were at .500, but 8.5 game out.  So after what most people would consider a disastrous month, we only gave up 2.5 games to the division leader.  In addition, the team ERA was 4.05 in the Month of May which was a full 1.5 points lower than it was for April, and the bullpen went 17 games with an ERA barely above 1 (thanks to the AP for that one).  That is really the best news because they are going nowhere unless the pitching staff turns it around.  In any event, it will be interesting to see where we are come July 1.  This is a huge month for the Tribe to get back on track, and they now have some momentum.