A Laughing Stock

I can guarantee that is probably what 90% of people in the league think of the Browns right now after learning that we just traded away Charlie Frye after 1.5 quarters of football in 2007. Let’s get this straight: this was the guy that they put all of their faith in last year by cutting Dilfer and having no experienced back-up, then named him the starter after mini-camp, OTA’s, and a full training camp of QB competition, only to cut him after less than a half?

I’m not arguing that we should have kept him, but something is seriously wrong there. That the powers that be (Savage, Crennel) would bad this guy for 2 seasons, declare him the winner of the competition after all that evaluation time only to cut him after 1 quarter of bad football? Either they are extremely terrible at judging talent and evaluating their roster, or they are terrible decision makers. Frye can not shoulder all of the blame for this fiasco. If he was that bad, so bad that he warranted being traded so early, it should have been plainly obvious to all involved that this was the case a long time ago.

Situations like these don’t happen on other NFL teams. Other NFL teams have management in place to make sure that sound decisions are made–the Browns simply don’t. It’s quite possible that the entire brain-trust of the Cleveland Browns (Crennel, Savage, and Lerner) are all in over their heads. In business it’s called the Peter Principle–that in an organization employees tend to rise to one level above their own competence. At this point it’s appears that Romeo is a much better D Coordinator than a Head Coach, Savage is a very good scout or player personnel director, and that Mr. Lerner is good at inheriting his father’s fortunes.

No offense to any of them. I would give a ton to be an NFL scout, D coordinator, or billionaire, but they are clearly not cut for the positions that they are in. And if they can’t deliver something respectable to such a loyal fan base with such a great tradition something needs to give. It’s one thing to deliver a losing team–that is at least acceptable for a while. It’s quite another to deliver something that is totally inept, dysfunctional, and brings shame to the organization, city, and fans associated with it.

This was once a very proud franchise, and with every humiliation it gets harder to say that you are proud to be a Browns fan. For a team built on the pillars of such legends as Otto Graham, Jim Brown, Paul Brown and the like, this is a complete disgrace. Everyone can handle losing to a certain extent, but nobody–especially a fan base that has given so much to the organization–deservers to be continually embarrassed publicly in the worst possible ways. It would be hard to write a script as disheartening as what the Browns have delivered to their fans for the last 15 years.

Oh yeah, and while they continue to embarrass you they will be charging you insane amounts for tickets, make you purchase a ‘license’ to buy said tickets, rip you off on merchandise, lie to you continually, and make sure you don’t have fun while you’re at the game. This is our reward for being so loyal that the NFL decided we deserved another franchise after having the first one ripped from us? The joke is on us.

The bottom line is that it starts at the top, and if Randy Lerner can’t devote himself to running an organization then he needs to step aside. Clearly lacks the understanding of what it takes to run a football team, why the Browns are special to Cleveland, and why the Browns once had a great tradition. Unless he can surround himself with people that can do right with the fans, the city, and the tradition of the Cleveland Browns then he needs to do what Art Modell promised us he would do-sell the Browns and get out of Cleveland.

Central To Success

    

     After a weekend where I think all but 3 players on the Browns current roster were either cut, dropped, signed, re-signed, released, signed to the practice squad, placed on IR, placed on the PUP list, waived-injured, had their contracts terminated, or sent to NFL Europe one position is still undergoing changes–and of course it’s the Center.

     If you think the Browns have it bad, you have no idea.  Take a look at the flip side of the Center situation where the Steelers have started (escept for a few games) just 3 Centers since 1974!  The Browns have had 3 starting Centers in the last 3 weeks!  Granted, pre-season games don’t count in the Steelers stat, but it’s still amazing that they have only had 3 regular centers in 32 years, and the Browns have had about 4 in the past month. 

     The situation at Center is really a microchosm of the two teams’ entire franchises.  On one hand you have the Steelers–reliable, winning, 6 Super Bowl appearances, Really Ugly Women.  Ok, so the last one I just threw in there.  But, contrast that with the Browns Center situation and it’s very indicative of their franchise as a whole–in disarray, no continuity, moving around a bit, having no direction.  It’s funny how one position can really represent an entire franchise, but in the case of these two it’s dead on.  Just for the record, here is the history of the Steeler’s starting Center’s of the past 32 years, and the Brown’s Centers of the past 32 days.

Steelers:

1974-1988:  Mike Webster.  That’s it.  Guy wins 4 Super Bowls and is in the Hall of Fame. 

1988-2000:  Dermontti Dawson.  12 years, 1 guy.  I guess it is 2 less than Webster, though.  He went to 7 straight Pro Bowls, and will probably end up in Canton as well.

2001-Present:  Jeff Hartings.  Pro Bowler, has started for 5 straight years.  Pretty Solid.

Now the Browns of the past 32 Days:

1. LeCharles Bentley.  Hometown heroe goes down for the season on the second day of practice.

2. Bob Hallen.  Retires two days after seeing what happened to Bentley.  I mean, he just up and retired.

3. Rob Smith.  Was originally the third stringer, but was hurt for most of training camp.  Is now on the Practice Squad.

4.  Alonzo Ephraim.  Was signed because the first 3 guys went down.  Then the Browns found out he still had to serve a four-game suspension from when he was with the Dolphins.

5.  Todd Washington.  Little known guy.  He signed with the Browns and pulled a Bob Hallen a few days later.

6.  Ross Tucker.  Signed in early August and looked to be the starter for a while.  He’s since been released.

7.  Mike Mabry.  He was signed and released somewhere in all of this. 

8.  Lennie Friedman.  Signed later to compete with Tucker, now looks to be the back-up.

9.  Hank Fraley.  Signed over the weekend after losing a position battle in Philly.  He’s actually a solid Center, so all isn’t lost here, but it only took the Browns 9 attempts to get a starting Center.

     Now, for the record, I will say that the Browns have officially only had 4 startingCenters in the past 32 days but I don’t think that matters very much at this point.  What does matter is that football season is only 2 days away, and Ben Roethlisberger will be sitting out the NFL opener because his appendix burst!

And also for the record, that will be the last positive post I will ever write that involves the Steelers.

Browns Center Spooked By Cleveland Jinx, Retires.

Well, it’s not official, but Browns backup Center Bob Hallen has seen what happens to Cleveland Free Agents and draft picks, and is considering retirement.  Somehow I’m not surprised at all by this, and can  you really blame the guy?  I mean, if I just witness what happened to the guy I replaced, I would be looking for a way out as well.  This just adds another twist in what can only be described as a bizarre training camp.  So the Browns have brought in a myriad of centers to try and find a replacement, and at least one has not been in football for two seasons. 

Somewhere in Louisiana Jeff Faine is quitely laughing his ass off as he prepars to meet the Browns on Sept. 10th.

The Phantom Menace of Cleveland Sports

Just take a look at that photo on the left. Look at the expression on his face. That’s not an expression of pain, it’s clearly one of fear and disbelief. LeCharles Bentknee clearly thought that he was better than the Cleveland Curse. He obviously thought that he had already established himself as a force in the league, and that some silly jinx couldn’t stop a guy like him. Looking at that photo, it’s like 40+ years of the cleveland jimx is whispering in his ear “you had no idea what you got your self into, did you?” Frankly, he looks like he already wants out.

     LeCharles got here and said he wanted to be “that guy” in Cleveland. He can now check off that box. He has officially accomplished everything that “that guy” typically accomplishes in Cleveland. Would it be any surprise if he never donned the grey facemask again? Would we at all be surprised if Kamerion Wimbley went down on a freakish play this year? After all, you’re clearly not allowed to see the playing field in Cleveland if you’re a big money free agent, or a first round draft pick.

     So is there a curse? A jinx? A, might I suggest, Burning River? I’m not a curse/jinx believing guy, but I have to argue that nothing like this has ever happened to another sports city in the history of sport. It’s almost like it’s being done by design–everytime we are shown a glimmer of optimism and get our hopes up a little, they are crushed like so many Patellar Tendons. I won’t outline them here, we all know what I’m talking about. Sure, Boston had the Red Sox for 90 years, but they also had the Celtics win it all like 16 times, plus the Patriots and Bruins. Chicago has the Cubs, but they’ve also recently had the greatest basketball player of all time, the Bears, and the White Sox win a championship. That’s enough to tide one city over for a lifetime.

    Also, it is worth mentioning that our little jinx has a particular fondness for Pro Bowl selections. The last guy to bring a Pro-Bowl appearance to his resume (Jamir Miller), why he never played a down of football after appearing in Hawaii. You may think it stops there, but go back to the 90’s, and to arguably our best defensive player in Eric Turner. He made the Pro Bowl the last year the old Browns were here…and then he died 5 years later at the age of 31.

   So what’s behind all of this? Is Cleveland really built on an ancient Indian buyial ground? Is it the curse of Rocky Colavito? Is it God? Art Modell? The actual Burning River? Want my best guess? I think it’s Jim Brown. Yeah that’s right, why not? Ever since he announced his retirement we haven’t won anything. I mean, it’s as good of a guess as any. Maybe the source of the curse that is speaking to Bentknee in that picture is the same spirit that talked Jim Brown into retiring at the age of 29 to make bad movies, and the same force that cause Art Modell to make bad business move after move, before eventually moving to Baltimore where he went broke in 5 years.

    Pretty sad state of affairs when I’m blaming Jim Brown. It’s clearly gotten a little ridiculous around here. Guess that what happens to you when your teams constantly get beaten down in the most incredible ways. The sad part is, i’ve already said to myself “well, he’ll be back next year, and by then we should have a real shot at contention.”