So through three games, the Browns are 0-3. We lost to Phili in a close defensive game. We lost to Cinci in a shootout. We lost to Buffalo by overall sucking. We cannot stop the run. We cannot defend the pass. We, apparently, can only play defense when the referees are handing us penalties or when Joe Haden is in the game.
That defensive game against Phili is looking like a fluke that was just disguised by all the penalties. I doubt we're THAT good on defense. The one drive when no penalties were called on Phili, they drove it right down the field without a problem for the game winning score. I'm not sold on our defense one bit. When Haden gets back, we'll see.
Here's the rest of the schedule with predictions:
@Baltimore. This should be an easy victory for Baltimore. Baltimore will likely cover whatever the spread ends up being. Probably by a lot.
@New York Giants. This one....this could be our first win. The defending Superbowl champs have a bad habit of overlooking the Browns. However, I doubt the Giants will make the same mistake again. I say Giants win this one by at least 21 points.
Cinci. Cinci will win this one again, this time in a low scoring game. Probably by just a single field goal or a TD. Haden will be back here for this game, so we'll see if our defense is improved. I'll be optimistic and say it will be, hence the low scoring game.
@Indy. This could go either way. Two rookie QBs looking almost as equally as impressive. Luck easily has the edge though. Colts win this one, because there's no way Weeden outperforms Luck.
San Diego. Not sure here, because San Diego seems a little iffy. They'll probably get it sorted out by this game, of course. San Diego by two scores.
Baltimore. Baltimore by twice as many points as they got in Week 4.
Bye Week. We lose to the bye week in a close one, 42-38.
@Dallas. Dallas will figure out a way to win this one by one score. So best case scenario, I've got the Browns at 2-8 by this game.
Pittsburgh. At least this year, the home game against Pittsburgh isn't on Christmas. This game will likely be 7-6, although I'm not sure which team is actually the winner. Pittsburgh usually plays down to us and the games always end up being defensive. OR, Pittsburgh will actually play like they always do and it will be 42-3. Gotta avoid that shut out with a late game field goal.
@Oakland. At this point, Carson Palmer is playing for the playoffs and we're playing to not have the first overall pick. We should know by this point if that first overall pick will be projected as Matt Barkley, which would be absolutely outstanding for the Browns. We would get to start over again with the same shitty receivers rather than to stick with someone and draft him weapons. Oakland takes this one.
Kansas City. This one won't even be close. Romeo Crennel runs all over us. Jaamal Charles sets all rushing records in this game. Brady Quinn even comes in in the fourth quarter.
Washington. RG3 clinches the playoffs for Washington with a victory in this game. He will have a game winning drive.
@Denver. At this point, Manning is either hurt or resting for the playoffs, so we have a chance in this one. I'll just assume that we blow it.
@Pittsburgh. Well, hopefully the world ended two days before the Denver game, that way we'll be spared another Pittsburgh playoff appearance...
SO FAR, the league is very even. Only Houston and Atlanta are undefeated. Only Cleveland and New Orleans are yet to win. Everyone else is either 1-2 or 2-1. I don't have a clue about the AFC East, by the way. It's insanely hard to predict an offseason, but here is what I think will happen, so far:
AFC:
1 - Houston
2 - Baltimore
3 - San Diego
4 - Jets/New England
5 - Steelers/Cinci
6 - New England/Jets/Buffalo
NFC:
1 - Atlanta
2 - NYG
3 - Green Bay
4 - 49ers
5 - Cardinals
6 - Chicago/Dallas
Cleveland gets the 1st or 2nd pick in the draft. We select Matt Barkley.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Ramblings from a Buzzed Browns Fan
Another year has passed, and now there's even more time for Draft recollection.. Cleveland leads the history of any sports drafts with the most blunders as humanly possible. It should also be noted that I'm writing this after several Sam Adams Light's..
2009. We traded down to stockpile in the 2nd round. And in the first round, we settled on Alex Mack. He's been a fine center, but I would've much rather had Clay Matthews, who went five or so picks later. In the 2nd round that year, we took Brian Robiskie. As an OSU fan, I was fairly excited at the time. However, Ray Maualuga went the very next pick. Robiskie...I don't even think he's in the league anymore. A few picks later, we took Massaquoi, who I have no issues with. He's a fine WR. Nothing outstanding, nothing horrible. But two picks later, we took David Veikune. The very next pick after him? LeSean McCoy. Awesome. Awesome, Browns.
2010. In the first round, we took Joe Haden. Good work, Browns. I think time will tell that we got this one right. In the second round, we took TJ Ward. So far so good with Ward, but a few picks after him was Rob Gronkowski, who is the next "Greatest Tight End in NFL History". The Colt McCoy pick was fine, he should probably still be our QB right now. A few picks after him we took Shawn Lauvao. He shows up to the game on Sundays but nothing stands out. A few picks after Lauvao was TE Jimmy Graham. New England has showed us that going TE, TE gets you to the Superbowl. Well, and speaking of TE's, aside from Graham, we could've gotten Hernandez or Pitta also. And closing out 2010, we took Carlton Mitchell. We should've taken Antonio Brown. Steelers win again.
2011. We traded down, letting Atlanta take Julio Jones. We should've probably just taken Julio Jones and given Colt McCoy a #1 WR to throw to.. We ended up with Phil Taylor. Sheard in the 2nd round will probably be fine, but a few picks later was Torrey Smith. I like to think that we drafted Greg Little because Torrey Smith was off the board.... But, knowing Cleveland - Greg Little was OUR guy..
Screw this, I'm depressed. See you next Off-Season when we start to rebuild again.
2009. We traded down to stockpile in the 2nd round. And in the first round, we settled on Alex Mack. He's been a fine center, but I would've much rather had Clay Matthews, who went five or so picks later. In the 2nd round that year, we took Brian Robiskie. As an OSU fan, I was fairly excited at the time. However, Ray Maualuga went the very next pick. Robiskie...I don't even think he's in the league anymore. A few picks later, we took Massaquoi, who I have no issues with. He's a fine WR. Nothing outstanding, nothing horrible. But two picks later, we took David Veikune. The very next pick after him? LeSean McCoy. Awesome. Awesome, Browns.
2010. In the first round, we took Joe Haden. Good work, Browns. I think time will tell that we got this one right. In the second round, we took TJ Ward. So far so good with Ward, but a few picks after him was Rob Gronkowski, who is the next "Greatest Tight End in NFL History". The Colt McCoy pick was fine, he should probably still be our QB right now. A few picks after him we took Shawn Lauvao. He shows up to the game on Sundays but nothing stands out. A few picks after Lauvao was TE Jimmy Graham. New England has showed us that going TE, TE gets you to the Superbowl. Well, and speaking of TE's, aside from Graham, we could've gotten Hernandez or Pitta also. And closing out 2010, we took Carlton Mitchell. We should've taken Antonio Brown. Steelers win again.
2011. We traded down, letting Atlanta take Julio Jones. We should've probably just taken Julio Jones and given Colt McCoy a #1 WR to throw to.. We ended up with Phil Taylor. Sheard in the 2nd round will probably be fine, but a few picks later was Torrey Smith. I like to think that we drafted Greg Little because Torrey Smith was off the board.... But, knowing Cleveland - Greg Little was OUR guy..
Screw this, I'm depressed. See you next Off-Season when we start to rebuild again.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Browns stay aggressive and take WR Josh Gordon
The NFL supplemental draft just happened for 2012. In short, here's what that means.
This really stays consistant with the new Aggressive attitude the Browns Front Office have demonstrated in the draft. First they aggressively trade up to make sure they get Trent Richardson, then they take Weeden ahead of most thought they would, and now they give up a 2nd round pick in 2013 on a guy who didn't play NCAA football last year.
They basically got another Greg Little, however, Gordon was projected to be a Top 10 pick overall next year if he plays out the year in Utah and maintains a reasonable level of performance. So he's got some growing to do..but if Little progresses as expected and Gordon has the same kind of year Little had last year...the Browns will finally be 'Okay' at WR. And then in 2013 that tandom could be something special.
There is some optimism here. (there are also many questions...but for now at least there is some hope)
- Players who have had a change in circumstances between the Deadline to declare for the April NFL draft and the deadline for a possible supplemental draft (usually in July) may be subject for an additional draft by the NFL teams.
- This doesn't happen often and usually just includes one player. (I don't know exactly why Josh Gordon was eligible other than he sat out last year and changed his mind about the NFL because his family needs money)
- NFL Teams are pooled into groups based on last years standings. They are then given weights and entered into a lottery. The order is picked by weighted percentage and by which pool they are in.
- The more important part of that is that the Teams indicated (confidentially) which 2013 draft pick they would give up to take X player.
- The Team willing to give up the highest pick based on the order of the supplemental draft gets the player and loses the future draft pick.
This really stays consistant with the new Aggressive attitude the Browns Front Office have demonstrated in the draft. First they aggressively trade up to make sure they get Trent Richardson, then they take Weeden ahead of most thought they would, and now they give up a 2nd round pick in 2013 on a guy who didn't play NCAA football last year.
They basically got another Greg Little, however, Gordon was projected to be a Top 10 pick overall next year if he plays out the year in Utah and maintains a reasonable level of performance. So he's got some growing to do..but if Little progresses as expected and Gordon has the same kind of year Little had last year...the Browns will finally be 'Okay' at WR. And then in 2013 that tandom could be something special.
There is some optimism here. (there are also many questions...but for now at least there is some hope)
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Mike's Long Awaited Return
I apologize for the delay to all of our faithful readers (I'm not sure why I pluralized the word readers...but wishful thinking I suppose). Here a just a bunch of thoughts without any rhyme or reason from all the news I didn't comment on during my absense.
LeBron wins a ring. ::sigh:: Luckily the sun came up, and he's still a self-centered jerk. Life goes on.
The Browns had a good draft. I am getting more and more excited about Weeden and Richardson as the season draws near.
I don't buy in to all the complaints about the Browns WR core. They aren't great, but I don't agree that it was a priority to waste a lot of money or high draft picks on one.
I keep coming back to many, many championship teams that win in the NFL with a great QB and average WRs. I don't see teams winning with great WRs and an average QB. Ideally you want both...I agree...but I also want a million dollars and that's not happening either.
Cavs draft was intriguing. I feel good about it..but that could just be the media making it sound better than it is.
Indians...ugh. So hard to get overly excited about a team of average players. They are playing well enough to keep interest, but I'm getting more nervous as the days go on.
I do think that the front office will make a move, but will it be too little too late. Will the team be 6 games back by the trade deadline and the other teams have hit their stride. Luckily by then, Training Camp will open and we will have scheduled Man Day III
If the schedulers of Browns Training Camp have any kind of sense, they will schedule a practice that is open to the public after the release of The Expendibles 2 so that Man Day III can be EPIC this year.
Thank God for wi-fi access during Jury Duty!
...stay tuned...more to come as I think of it.
LeBron wins a ring. ::sigh:: Luckily the sun came up, and he's still a self-centered jerk. Life goes on.
The Browns had a good draft. I am getting more and more excited about Weeden and Richardson as the season draws near.
I don't buy in to all the complaints about the Browns WR core. They aren't great, but I don't agree that it was a priority to waste a lot of money or high draft picks on one.
I keep coming back to many, many championship teams that win in the NFL with a great QB and average WRs. I don't see teams winning with great WRs and an average QB. Ideally you want both...I agree...but I also want a million dollars and that's not happening either.
Cavs draft was intriguing. I feel good about it..but that could just be the media making it sound better than it is.
Indians...ugh. So hard to get overly excited about a team of average players. They are playing well enough to keep interest, but I'm getting more nervous as the days go on.
I do think that the front office will make a move, but will it be too little too late. Will the team be 6 games back by the trade deadline and the other teams have hit their stride. Luckily by then, Training Camp will open and we will have scheduled Man Day III
If the schedulers of Browns Training Camp have any kind of sense, they will schedule a practice that is open to the public after the release of The Expendibles 2 so that Man Day III can be EPIC this year.
Thank God for wi-fi access during Jury Duty!
...stay tuned...more to come as I think of it.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Annual Madden Comparison
So for a few years now after the draft ends I've compared that to my Madden Franchise to see how the digital versions of the same players turned out. So this is five years into all of their careers:
It's the player, their position, and their rating out of a best possible 99.
It's the player, their position, and their rating out of a best possible 99.
Luck - QB - 99
RG3 - QB - OUT OF LEAGUE
Richardson - RB - 94
Kalil - LT - 72
Blackmon - WR - 88
Claiborne - CB - 74
Barron - SS - 95
Tannehill - QB - OUT OF LEAGUE
Kuechly - LB - 93
Gilmore - CB - 96
Poe - DT - OUT OF LEAGUE
Cox - DT - 85
Floyd - WR - 86
Brockers - DT - OUT OF LEAGUE
Irvin - DE - OUT OF LEAGUE
Couples - DE - 69
Kirkpatrick - CB - 96
Ingram - DE - 77
McCellin - DE - 85
Wright - WR - OUT OF LEAGUE
Jones - DE - OUT OF LEAGUE
Weeden - QB - 93
Reiff - LT - 92
DeCastro - LG - 85
Hightower - LB - 86
Mercilus - DE - OUT OF LEAGUE
Zeitler - RG - 71
Perry - DE - 75
Smith - FS - OUT OF LEAGUE
Jenkins - WR - OUT OF LEAGUE
Martin - RB - 69
Wilson - RB - 77
Out of League means the obvious - OR, it could mean that they were just never drafted. I have no way of knowing. So good job, Washington and Miami. You drafted QBs that have a very crappy digital counterpart.
And nice job Cleveland apparently, for getting two players above 90 in the first round.
In this Madden Franchise - I have Andrew Luck as the best QB in the NFL, Cam Newton is 2nd best, and Aaron Rodgers is 3rd best.
UNDRAFTED Chris Polk is the best RB in the NFL.
AJ Green and Calvin Johnson are the two best WRs.
Here is how the rest of Cleveland's Draft Went.. Overall, except for the first two picks…absolutely horrible:
Richardson - RB - 94
Weeden - QB - 93
Schwartz - T - OUT OF LEAGUE
Hughes - DT - OUT OF LEAGUE
Benjamin - WR - OUT OF LEAGUE
Johnson - MLB - OUT OF LEAGUE
Miller - G - OUT OF LEAGUE
Acho - LB - 83
Wynn - DT - 75
Wade - CB - OUT OF LEAGUE
Smelley - TE - OUT OF LEAGUE
We'll see if Acho turns out to be a good linebacker, but based on the digi counterparts, don't look for anything special out of this one..
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Browns 2012-13 Season
Cleveland Browns 2012 Schedule and pre-draft predictions. I know it's silly to even guess at this point, because like last year who knew that San Francisco would go 13-3 or whatever they did...
Sunday, September 9 vs. Philadelphia Eagles, 1 p.m. ET
This should be a horrible, horrible loss. Possibly around 35-3.
Sunday, September 16 at Cincinnati Bengals, 1 p.m. ET
This could be a good game, but a loss. 24-21.
Sunday, September 23 vs. Buffalo Bills, 1 p.m. ET
This could be a win.
Thursday, September 27 at Baltimore Ravens, 8:20 p.m. ET
Loss. 100-0.
Sunday, October 7 at New York Giants, 1 p.m. ET
This I can almost guarantee will be a win. The Giants will be overlooking the Browns, as usual; and we will shock them here.
Sunday, October 14 vs. Cincinnati Bengals, 1 p.m. ET
Loss. Andy Dalton will be in stride with his new weapons by this point.
Sunday, October 21 at Indianapolis Colts, 1 p.m. ET
Win. Andrew Luck will still be getting used to the NFL.
Sunday, October 28 vs. San Diego Chargers, 1 p.m. ET
Loss.
Sunday, November 4 vs. Baltimore Ravens, 1 p.m. ET
Loss. 107-0
Sunday, November 11 BYE WEEK
Loss.
Sunday, November 18 at Dallas Cowboys, 1 p.m. ET
Probably a loss, but you never know what Dallas is going to do..
Sunday, November 25 vs. Pittsburgh Steelers, 1 p.m. ET
Loss, but it will be close. Pittsburgh lost a lot this off season. Getting rid of Hines Ward will honestly mean that the other receivers will be better covered.
Sunday, December 2 at Oakland Raiders, 4:15 p.m. ET
Loss. We can't ever beat Oakland.
Sunday, December 9 vs. Kansas City Chiefs, 1 p.m. ET
Loss. Someone will throw their helmet.
Sunday, December 16 vs. Washington Redskins, 1 p.m. ET
This will probably be a win. We'll be due at this point.
Sunday, December 23 at Denver Broncos, 4:05 p.m. ET
Loss. Manning will be well on his way to leading Denver to the playoffs.
Sunday, December 30 at Pittsburgh Steelers, 1 p.m. ET
Loss, but it will be close again....
Pre-draft prediction: 3-13.
Sunday, September 9 vs. Philadelphia Eagles, 1 p.m. ET
This should be a horrible, horrible loss. Possibly around 35-3.
Sunday, September 16 at Cincinnati Bengals, 1 p.m. ET
This could be a good game, but a loss. 24-21.
Sunday, September 23 vs. Buffalo Bills, 1 p.m. ET
This could be a win.
Thursday, September 27 at Baltimore Ravens, 8:20 p.m. ET
Loss. 100-0.
Sunday, October 7 at New York Giants, 1 p.m. ET
This I can almost guarantee will be a win. The Giants will be overlooking the Browns, as usual; and we will shock them here.
Sunday, October 14 vs. Cincinnati Bengals, 1 p.m. ET
Loss. Andy Dalton will be in stride with his new weapons by this point.
Sunday, October 21 at Indianapolis Colts, 1 p.m. ET
Win. Andrew Luck will still be getting used to the NFL.
Sunday, October 28 vs. San Diego Chargers, 1 p.m. ET
Loss.
Sunday, November 4 vs. Baltimore Ravens, 1 p.m. ET
Loss. 107-0
Sunday, November 11 BYE WEEK
Loss.
Sunday, November 18 at Dallas Cowboys, 1 p.m. ET
Probably a loss, but you never know what Dallas is going to do..
Sunday, November 25 vs. Pittsburgh Steelers, 1 p.m. ET
Loss, but it will be close. Pittsburgh lost a lot this off season. Getting rid of Hines Ward will honestly mean that the other receivers will be better covered.
Sunday, December 2 at Oakland Raiders, 4:15 p.m. ET
Loss. We can't ever beat Oakland.
Sunday, December 9 vs. Kansas City Chiefs, 1 p.m. ET
Loss. Someone will throw their helmet.
Sunday, December 16 vs. Washington Redskins, 1 p.m. ET
This will probably be a win. We'll be due at this point.
Sunday, December 23 at Denver Broncos, 4:05 p.m. ET
Loss. Manning will be well on his way to leading Denver to the playoffs.
Sunday, December 30 at Pittsburgh Steelers, 1 p.m. ET
Loss, but it will be close again....
Pre-draft prediction: 3-13.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Wrestlemania
I'm a little torn on this show, but overall was happy with it.. First post in a while here on the blog, why not it be about Wrestlemania?
Show started with Daniel Bryan defending the World Heavyweight Title against Sheamus. I hate Sheamus. He's a worthless wrestler. He's an awful character. There's absolutely nothing good about him and I feel like he's positioned to become another Randy Orton.. (The guy who accomplished absolutely nothing other than management saying: "You're going to be our new guy.") Sheamus won the Royal Rumble and picked Bryan as his Wrestlemania opponent. I rule I've become to hate, because you shouldn't create feuds for Wrestlemania, Wrestlemania should be the culmination of a feud.... Anyways. The crowd boos Sheamus during his intro (rightfully so) and then cheers Daniel Bryan. Half the crowd is screaming "YES!" over and over (Daniel Bryan's catchphrase of sorts) and have "YES!" signs in the crowd.
Front row: 10 people, each with a sign that says "YES!". And then, the WWE decides to have Sheamus win with one kick to the head. Match was 18 seconds long. Sheamus beats Daniel Bryan to no reaction from the crowd, just a bunch of people who couldn't believe what they just saw. The WWE now looks like ASSHOLES. They've deflated the crowd. The crowd no longer gives a shit. We're 2 minutes into WRESTLEMANIA and suddenly no one gives a shit anymore and we all hate this show. Negative Five Stars.
Second Match: Randy Orton versus Kane. This match was absolutely terrible and boring as we would all expect. Then Kane, the villain, wins clean. This will naturally set up Orton v Kane, Anything Goes next month and we'll get to watch this awful match all over again. This match was 10 minutes long and the only thing I remember was an 8 minute headlock before Kane won with a chokeslam off the top rope. Zero Stars. Match was boring as hell and made me start to drink.
Third Match: Big Show challenges Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental Title. Another stupid, pointless match. This was another feud where which happened AFTER the match was announced. Show wins the Intercontinental Title clean; I don't even remember how. Another zero star match where nothing happened.
Fourth Match: The Divas Tag. I didn't watch any of this. I did other things.
Fifth Match: Hell in a Cell, Undertaker versus HHH. This match, looking back on it, was a war. It started with Taker in control, then HHH got the upperhand, then Taker came back and won. Taker started off strong, then HHH got the advantage, leading to a similar battle like last year's match. HHH just kept hammering Taker and couldn't keep him down. Shawn was pleading with him to stop the fight, everything. Taker kept getting up. Then Taker made the comeback he never made last year. The two matches played off each other perfectly. The Hell in a Cell wasn't really a factor, but it's always a nice visual. Aside from one Superkick from Shawn (because he just wanted the match ended, for both competitors' sakes..) He was completely impartial. When Taker made the comeback he never made a year ago, it was fantastic. It was HHH absolutely being pummeled into jello. Then Taker smashed him with his own sledgehammer and tombstoned him for the win. It was a fantastic match and I'll give it Four and a half stars. Initially, I said that last year's match was better, but it wasn't. This year's was better, but only because of last year's match. Taker got his revenge and destroyed The Game.
They all walked out together and hugged, this could be an unofficial retirement match for all three involved..
Sixth Match: The 12 man tag. How can you screw up a 12 man tag? No flow, no anarchy, no anything. Match was boring as hell. Then Zack Ryder FINALLY got involved and then just lost to the Miz. Match was awful. Everyone in it was awful. Completely pointless. Zero stars.
Seventh Match: WWE Championship, CM Punk defending against Chris Jericho. Very slow start to this one, then it picked up nicely. Just a good solid match, but I felt like they could've done more. I'll give it Four Stars. CM Punk winning assures me that he's around to stay as a top guy. He's quickly getting on the WWE's imaginary ranks of Cena and Orton levels. But CM Punk actually deserves his spot. He wasn't just picked. I don't know what is next for Jericho unless they do a rematch next month. Or maybe this was it for Jericho and he's going back to his band?
Eighth Match: John Cena versus The Rock. This match was great, except for Cena's odd choice of using a bear hug multiple times. Other than that, absolutely fantastic. Energy was off the charts, Cena was boo'ed out of the building. Rock was cheered like a hero. They were in Miami, so that's no shock. Rock actually won this match. Which was insanely shocking. Had Cena won, they would've needed that Brock Lesnar run in to save things. But he didn't, Rock did. Great match, great sequences, great effort. Rock hasn't lost a step. He had that warm up match back in November, but never really needed to get going in that one. Here, he had the spotlight and didn't disappoint. Four and a half stars, easily.
So - I'm torn on this show, because the top four matches... one of them wasn't a match and the other three kicked ass. So what was really hyped delivered.. and the rest was complete garbage. But with three fantastic matches... Let's see how that stacks up against the rest of the Wrestlemania's:
1: no good matches. (0)
2: one decent tag team match. (0)
3: biggest match ever, but awful; possible best match ever.. (1)
4: no good matches, long and boring (0)
5: long and boring, one great main event (1)
6: long and boring, one great main event (1)
7: great main event; then possible best match ever.. (2)
8: two great matches...(2)
9: nothing
10: two of the best matches ever, otherwise garbage (2)
11: nothing at all, then the best celeb match ever.. (1?)
12: boring or stupid from start to finish, (yes, including the Ironman match...) (0)
13: garbage and then one of the best matches ever (1)
14: overall a fun show, but nothing spectacular... Good main event (1)
15: garbage, and a good main event (1)
16: two good undercard matches, otherwise crap.. (2 barely)
17: probably the best WWE show ever: (vince v shane in a fun match; THE TLC match you remember; HHH v Taker in an all out brawl; angle v benoit in a masterpiece; and a possible best match ever with austin v rock) (5)
18: lots of average matches and then rock v hogan (1)
19: another good show (austin v rock; booker v hhh; hardy v mysterio; angle v lesnar; jericho v shawn) (5, but less important matches)
20: around three good matches, surrounded by crap. (3)
21: crap. crap. crap. and michaels v angle in one of the best matches ever (1)
22: long and forgettable. good cena v hhh main event (1)
23: long and forgettable. I think this was the donald trump show.. good main event(1)
24: edge v taker and nothing else i remember (1)
25: lots of nothing, an awful kid rock concert, and then possibly the best match ever with shawn v taker.. (1)
26: a very well planned wrestlemania.. (edge v jericho; cena v batista; shawn v taker) and a bunch of other average matches.. nothing terrible. (3)
27: this is the worst wrestlemania of all time. the main events were edge v del rio; cena v miz; and hhh v taker. HHH v taker was great, everything else was complete garbage. iron sheik f's this show and makes it humble. (1)
28: (cena v rock; jericho v punk; hhh v taker) (3)..
So..this was actually one of the better ones. Even with the horrendous start. This actually makes (wrestling-wise) 17 the best, followed by 19, then 20, 26, and 28. Dare I say this was the fifth best Wrestlemania ever, strictly by the good match count?
I'm somewhat shocked I came to this conclusion.
Good show, WWE. But F you for the Daniel Bryan match. Two years in a row.
Show started with Daniel Bryan defending the World Heavyweight Title against Sheamus. I hate Sheamus. He's a worthless wrestler. He's an awful character. There's absolutely nothing good about him and I feel like he's positioned to become another Randy Orton.. (The guy who accomplished absolutely nothing other than management saying: "You're going to be our new guy.") Sheamus won the Royal Rumble and picked Bryan as his Wrestlemania opponent. I rule I've become to hate, because you shouldn't create feuds for Wrestlemania, Wrestlemania should be the culmination of a feud.... Anyways. The crowd boos Sheamus during his intro (rightfully so) and then cheers Daniel Bryan. Half the crowd is screaming "YES!" over and over (Daniel Bryan's catchphrase of sorts) and have "YES!" signs in the crowd.
Front row: 10 people, each with a sign that says "YES!". And then, the WWE decides to have Sheamus win with one kick to the head. Match was 18 seconds long. Sheamus beats Daniel Bryan to no reaction from the crowd, just a bunch of people who couldn't believe what they just saw. The WWE now looks like ASSHOLES. They've deflated the crowd. The crowd no longer gives a shit. We're 2 minutes into WRESTLEMANIA and suddenly no one gives a shit anymore and we all hate this show. Negative Five Stars.
Second Match: Randy Orton versus Kane. This match was absolutely terrible and boring as we would all expect. Then Kane, the villain, wins clean. This will naturally set up Orton v Kane, Anything Goes next month and we'll get to watch this awful match all over again. This match was 10 minutes long and the only thing I remember was an 8 minute headlock before Kane won with a chokeslam off the top rope. Zero Stars. Match was boring as hell and made me start to drink.
Third Match: Big Show challenges Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental Title. Another stupid, pointless match. This was another feud where which happened AFTER the match was announced. Show wins the Intercontinental Title clean; I don't even remember how. Another zero star match where nothing happened.
Fourth Match: The Divas Tag. I didn't watch any of this. I did other things.
Fifth Match: Hell in a Cell, Undertaker versus HHH. This match, looking back on it, was a war. It started with Taker in control, then HHH got the upperhand, then Taker came back and won. Taker started off strong, then HHH got the advantage, leading to a similar battle like last year's match. HHH just kept hammering Taker and couldn't keep him down. Shawn was pleading with him to stop the fight, everything. Taker kept getting up. Then Taker made the comeback he never made last year. The two matches played off each other perfectly. The Hell in a Cell wasn't really a factor, but it's always a nice visual. Aside from one Superkick from Shawn (because he just wanted the match ended, for both competitors' sakes..) He was completely impartial. When Taker made the comeback he never made a year ago, it was fantastic. It was HHH absolutely being pummeled into jello. Then Taker smashed him with his own sledgehammer and tombstoned him for the win. It was a fantastic match and I'll give it Four and a half stars. Initially, I said that last year's match was better, but it wasn't. This year's was better, but only because of last year's match. Taker got his revenge and destroyed The Game.
They all walked out together and hugged, this could be an unofficial retirement match for all three involved..
Sixth Match: The 12 man tag. How can you screw up a 12 man tag? No flow, no anarchy, no anything. Match was boring as hell. Then Zack Ryder FINALLY got involved and then just lost to the Miz. Match was awful. Everyone in it was awful. Completely pointless. Zero stars.
Seventh Match: WWE Championship, CM Punk defending against Chris Jericho. Very slow start to this one, then it picked up nicely. Just a good solid match, but I felt like they could've done more. I'll give it Four Stars. CM Punk winning assures me that he's around to stay as a top guy. He's quickly getting on the WWE's imaginary ranks of Cena and Orton levels. But CM Punk actually deserves his spot. He wasn't just picked. I don't know what is next for Jericho unless they do a rematch next month. Or maybe this was it for Jericho and he's going back to his band?
Eighth Match: John Cena versus The Rock. This match was great, except for Cena's odd choice of using a bear hug multiple times. Other than that, absolutely fantastic. Energy was off the charts, Cena was boo'ed out of the building. Rock was cheered like a hero. They were in Miami, so that's no shock. Rock actually won this match. Which was insanely shocking. Had Cena won, they would've needed that Brock Lesnar run in to save things. But he didn't, Rock did. Great match, great sequences, great effort. Rock hasn't lost a step. He had that warm up match back in November, but never really needed to get going in that one. Here, he had the spotlight and didn't disappoint. Four and a half stars, easily.
So - I'm torn on this show, because the top four matches... one of them wasn't a match and the other three kicked ass. So what was really hyped delivered.. and the rest was complete garbage. But with three fantastic matches... Let's see how that stacks up against the rest of the Wrestlemania's:
1: no good matches. (0)
2: one decent tag team match. (0)
3: biggest match ever, but awful; possible best match ever.. (1)
4: no good matches, long and boring (0)
5: long and boring, one great main event (1)
6: long and boring, one great main event (1)
7: great main event; then possible best match ever.. (2)
8: two great matches...(2)
9: nothing
10: two of the best matches ever, otherwise garbage (2)
11: nothing at all, then the best celeb match ever.. (1?)
12: boring or stupid from start to finish, (yes, including the Ironman match...) (0)
13: garbage and then one of the best matches ever (1)
14: overall a fun show, but nothing spectacular... Good main event (1)
15: garbage, and a good main event (1)
16: two good undercard matches, otherwise crap.. (2 barely)
17: probably the best WWE show ever: (vince v shane in a fun match; THE TLC match you remember; HHH v Taker in an all out brawl; angle v benoit in a masterpiece; and a possible best match ever with austin v rock) (5)
18: lots of average matches and then rock v hogan (1)
19: another good show (austin v rock; booker v hhh; hardy v mysterio; angle v lesnar; jericho v shawn) (5, but less important matches)
20: around three good matches, surrounded by crap. (3)
21: crap. crap. crap. and michaels v angle in one of the best matches ever (1)
22: long and forgettable. good cena v hhh main event (1)
23: long and forgettable. I think this was the donald trump show.. good main event(1)
24: edge v taker and nothing else i remember (1)
25: lots of nothing, an awful kid rock concert, and then possibly the best match ever with shawn v taker.. (1)
26: a very well planned wrestlemania.. (edge v jericho; cena v batista; shawn v taker) and a bunch of other average matches.. nothing terrible. (3)
27: this is the worst wrestlemania of all time. the main events were edge v del rio; cena v miz; and hhh v taker. HHH v taker was great, everything else was complete garbage. iron sheik f's this show and makes it humble. (1)
28: (cena v rock; jericho v punk; hhh v taker) (3)..
So..this was actually one of the better ones. Even with the horrendous start. This actually makes (wrestling-wise) 17 the best, followed by 19, then 20, 26, and 28. Dare I say this was the fifth best Wrestlemania ever, strictly by the good match count?
I'm somewhat shocked I came to this conclusion.
Good show, WWE. But F you for the Daniel Bryan match. Two years in a row.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
PIPA/SOPA
The Scout Team.net does not support PIPA/SOPA.
However, since this is just a google blog, we can't figure out how to take it down for today.
The two people responsible for these two bills have no idea how the internet works, and what they have written is going to have many unintended consequences. I can only assume they're sitting back going, "No, this is fine. We don't need all that technical mumbo-jumbo in there."
Seriously, here's the most insulting piece of the SOPA bill, paraphrased: "A domestic site is a site defined as having a commonly used extension, such as .com, .net, .org, etc. And a foreign site is a site defined as not being a domestic site." Now, what's funny about this is there's one popular pirating site called thepiratebay.org. Which is an overseas, protected from the US website DEDICATED to illegally hosting media. But according to SOPA, that's a domestic site.
Huh!?
This would be like (and please believe me, this is just a stupid example) say we made it illegal for black people to say.. shop on Amazon.com. Our bill defined white people as people with light skin complexion. And Black people as "Not White People."
Therefore, an Asian person is Black. How stupid is that?? THAT is exactly how this bill is written, but in regards to websites.
And here's the goal: So that Hollywood studios can directly shut down sites like YouTube/Facebook/etc when they notice that someone has posted a funny movie clip without their permission. Or so that the music industry can have YouTube shut down if they notice someone put a Lady Gaga song in the background of their stupid birthday party video.
It's ridiculous. It's absolutely ridiculous.
The people who drafted this bill want to see an internet where you can't post comments, have forums, share videos, or input any sort of content whatsoever; because it MIGHT be copyright infringement.
With these bills, the NFL could go after Mike and I for talking about a Browns game.
Imagine if our physical world operated like the internet once this bill is in place: Say you're walking out of a movie theater and you say to your friend, "That movie really sucked." And he says, "Yeah, why on Earth did we go see the Rock'em Sock'em Robots movie??" Immediately after that a cop ran up and shot you because you just talked about the movie, and it was in a negative way.
These bills would allow a Hollywood studio to tell The Government to shut down a website because they spoke badly about an upcoming film.
Would they ever do that? I think that would be suicide to have that kind of press. Oh, but then they could just have the news sites be shut down as well, because the bill doesn't have anything in it to prevent abuse.
If you want to stop piracy, how about this novel idea: GO AFTER THE FUCKING PEOPLE WHO ARE DOING IT!!! Not the very essence of the internet!!! Put pressure on whatever country hosts the god damn piratebay to get it shut down! Keep fining the shit out of people who bring cameras into the theaters! But don't block facebook because someone put up a link to the piratebay on it!
Anyways.... OK back to sports.
If the Browns take RG3 they're stupid. That's not a knock on RG3 at all. The Browns need to stick with Colt McCoy and get him a fantastic Wide Receiver. Colt + Justin Blackmon + Cribbs is 100% better than RG3 + Cribbs + Massaquoi. End of discussion.
However, since this is just a google blog, we can't figure out how to take it down for today.
The two people responsible for these two bills have no idea how the internet works, and what they have written is going to have many unintended consequences. I can only assume they're sitting back going, "No, this is fine. We don't need all that technical mumbo-jumbo in there."
Seriously, here's the most insulting piece of the SOPA bill, paraphrased: "A domestic site is a site defined as having a commonly used extension, such as .com, .net, .org, etc. And a foreign site is a site defined as not being a domestic site." Now, what's funny about this is there's one popular pirating site called thepiratebay.org. Which is an overseas, protected from the US website DEDICATED to illegally hosting media. But according to SOPA, that's a domestic site.
Huh!?
This would be like (and please believe me, this is just a stupid example) say we made it illegal for black people to say.. shop on Amazon.com. Our bill defined white people as people with light skin complexion. And Black people as "Not White People."
Therefore, an Asian person is Black. How stupid is that?? THAT is exactly how this bill is written, but in regards to websites.
And here's the goal: So that Hollywood studios can directly shut down sites like YouTube/Facebook/etc when they notice that someone has posted a funny movie clip without their permission. Or so that the music industry can have YouTube shut down if they notice someone put a Lady Gaga song in the background of their stupid birthday party video.
It's ridiculous. It's absolutely ridiculous.
The people who drafted this bill want to see an internet where you can't post comments, have forums, share videos, or input any sort of content whatsoever; because it MIGHT be copyright infringement.
With these bills, the NFL could go after Mike and I for talking about a Browns game.
Imagine if our physical world operated like the internet once this bill is in place: Say you're walking out of a movie theater and you say to your friend, "That movie really sucked." And he says, "Yeah, why on Earth did we go see the Rock'em Sock'em Robots movie??" Immediately after that a cop ran up and shot you because you just talked about the movie, and it was in a negative way.
These bills would allow a Hollywood studio to tell The Government to shut down a website because they spoke badly about an upcoming film.
Would they ever do that? I think that would be suicide to have that kind of press. Oh, but then they could just have the news sites be shut down as well, because the bill doesn't have anything in it to prevent abuse.
If you want to stop piracy, how about this novel idea: GO AFTER THE FUCKING PEOPLE WHO ARE DOING IT!!! Not the very essence of the internet!!! Put pressure on whatever country hosts the god damn piratebay to get it shut down! Keep fining the shit out of people who bring cameras into the theaters! But don't block facebook because someone put up a link to the piratebay on it!
Anyways.... OK back to sports.
If the Browns take RG3 they're stupid. That's not a knock on RG3 at all. The Browns need to stick with Colt McCoy and get him a fantastic Wide Receiver. Colt + Justin Blackmon + Cribbs is 100% better than RG3 + Cribbs + Massaquoi. End of discussion.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Mike
Mike, what is your new email address? I've been emailing the Case address like an idiot for the past week and you have not been answering. (Which I now understand.) Here are the two most recent things I've sent you. Yesterday I sent this:
"i hate knowing that part of what we pay for for espn insider is mel kiper."
Then today I sent you this:
"So after that, there's going to be a college football playoff, right?
Like, there's no way they can still justify this system, yes?
LSU is 13-1, Alabama is 12-1, Oklahoma State is 12-1. Boise State is 12-1 but they don't count.
LSU beats Alabama in a crappy game back in November.
LSU vs Alabama picked to be the national championship game? They just played. LSU already won.
Seriously, how retarded is this:
2016 NFL Season:
Green Bay 14-2
Atlanta 14-2
Philadelphia 13-3
San Francisco 12-4
Detroit 10-6 (at large)
New Orleans 10-6 (at large)
Indianapolis 16-0
Cincinatti 15-1
New England 11-5
Cleveland 10-6 (at large)
Pittsburgh 9-7 (has tie breaker over Baltimore, voted by the coaches) (at large)
Denver 6-10 (won division... Tebow, man.)
Dallas 8-8 (automatic qualifier to any NFL post-season, Jerry Jones splits them from the NFC East)
Baltimore 9-7 (at large)
So the NFL post season would look like this:
NFL Championship, The Allstate Super Bowl: Green Bay vs Indy (but what about Cinci and Atlanta?)
Cream Cheese Bowl: Phily vs Cinci (the prestigious, traditional NFC East v AFC North game)
Bad Newz Kennelz Bowl: Atlanta vs New England
Alcatraz Bowl: San Francisco vs Denver
Blue Collar Bowl: Detroit vs Pittsburgh
Art Modell Bowl: Cleveland vs Baltimore (Loser leaves the NFL)
Jerry Jones Bowl: Dallas vs New Orleans"
And now I wonder why this wasn't just an elaborate blog post in the first place.
Ok, thanks. Let me know about that email address.
"i hate knowing that part of what we pay for for espn insider is mel kiper."
Then today I sent you this:
"So after that, there's going to be a college football playoff, right?
Like, there's no way they can still justify this system, yes?
LSU is 13-1, Alabama is 12-1, Oklahoma State is 12-1. Boise State is 12-1 but they don't count.
LSU beats Alabama in a crappy game back in November.
LSU vs Alabama picked to be the national championship game? They just played. LSU already won.
Seriously, how retarded is this:
2016 NFL Season:
Green Bay 14-2
Atlanta 14-2
Philadelphia 13-3
San Francisco 12-4
Detroit 10-6 (at large)
New Orleans 10-6 (at large)
Indianapolis 16-0
Cincinatti 15-1
New England 11-5
Cleveland 10-6 (at large)
Pittsburgh 9-7 (has tie breaker over Baltimore, voted by the coaches) (at large)
Denver 6-10 (won division... Tebow, man.)
Dallas 8-8 (automatic qualifier to any NFL post-season, Jerry Jones splits them from the NFC East)
Baltimore 9-7 (at large)
So the NFL post season would look like this:
NFL Championship, The Allstate Super Bowl: Green Bay vs Indy (but what about Cinci and Atlanta?)
Cream Cheese Bowl: Phily vs Cinci (the prestigious, traditional NFC East v AFC North game)
Bad Newz Kennelz Bowl: Atlanta vs New England
Alcatraz Bowl: San Francisco vs Denver
Blue Collar Bowl: Detroit vs Pittsburgh
Art Modell Bowl: Cleveland vs Baltimore (Loser leaves the NFL)
Jerry Jones Bowl: Dallas vs New Orleans"
And now I wonder why this wasn't just an elaborate blog post in the first place.
Ok, thanks. Let me know about that email address.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Cleveland Browns Off-Season
If I was in charge, here's what I would do:
Offensive Coordinator. This is tricky, because if someone is available, there's a reason they're available - they suck. So I would like to see a college Head Coach become our Offensive Coordinator. I feel like we won't be able to lure in an OC from another team...so we'd have to promote one up from being a WR Coach or a QB Coach. Can we get New Orleans' WR Coach to be our OC? What about Green Bay's QB Coach? If you can't bring in an awesome guy like that, then what's the difference between grabbing some other Coordinator who's been on 32 different NFL teams or grabbing a Head Coach from the NCAA? I don't know, I feel like my logic is falling apart and I'll admit it. That's more than the Browns do. One way or another, we need an OC.
I would make offers to the following free agent WRs:
Marques Colston, Vincent Jackson, Dwayne Bowe, Reggie Wayne, Wes Welker, Mario Manningham and Robert Meachum. All of which are long-shots to ever come to Cleveland, but if we don't make the offers we're stupid.
I would make offers to the following free agent Offensive Linemen:
Ben Grubbs, Carl Nicks. Again, both long-shots.
I would try to bring back Peyton Hillis and accept that he gets hurt a lot and that we'll need a second option. I would make offers to the following RBs:
Ryan Grant, Arian Foster, and Michael Bush. Long-shots, as usual.
Defensively, there's not much of note we can do in Free Agency. No one is really an upgrade, or they're old and a waste of time. Sheldon Brown needs to be replaced.
The draft is impossible to predict, because no one knows anything about players 100 to 250. We have pick 4, and pick 22. With pick 4, They need Justin Blackmon. There's no one else. RG3 will have all the same problems that Colt McCoy has with this team. Colt + Justin Blackmon + Josh Cribbs is probably better than RG3 + Josh Cribbs + Mohammad Massaquoi.
The pick later on...who knows who is available. If there's another Wide Receiver, maybe we even do that. Look at the Steelers: their offensive line has historically been terrible, but Roethlisberger can just toss a ball up and his receivers get open and make the catch. If there's a good RG or RT, we could do that. I don't know how highly the scouts think of LaMichael James, but if he's a first round pick, I'd say do it. Clearly the 5'5" RB WORKS in the NFL. MJD, Sproles, Woodhead.. All better RBs than Montario Hardesty and Brandon Jacobs. Probably better than Peyton Hillis. You know what the answer is? Draft LaMichael James, put him back there with Hardesty.. Move Hillis back to Fullback.. Cut Owen Marecic who is the worst player on our team. That's a win for everyone. Except Marecic. He can go be on someone's practice squad.
...I digress. I don't know what the hell they do.
At least The Steelers are out.
Offensive Coordinator. This is tricky, because if someone is available, there's a reason they're available - they suck. So I would like to see a college Head Coach become our Offensive Coordinator. I feel like we won't be able to lure in an OC from another team...so we'd have to promote one up from being a WR Coach or a QB Coach. Can we get New Orleans' WR Coach to be our OC? What about Green Bay's QB Coach? If you can't bring in an awesome guy like that, then what's the difference between grabbing some other Coordinator who's been on 32 different NFL teams or grabbing a Head Coach from the NCAA? I don't know, I feel like my logic is falling apart and I'll admit it. That's more than the Browns do. One way or another, we need an OC.
I would make offers to the following free agent WRs:
Marques Colston, Vincent Jackson, Dwayne Bowe, Reggie Wayne, Wes Welker, Mario Manningham and Robert Meachum. All of which are long-shots to ever come to Cleveland, but if we don't make the offers we're stupid.
I would make offers to the following free agent Offensive Linemen:
Ben Grubbs, Carl Nicks. Again, both long-shots.
I would try to bring back Peyton Hillis and accept that he gets hurt a lot and that we'll need a second option. I would make offers to the following RBs:
Ryan Grant, Arian Foster, and Michael Bush. Long-shots, as usual.
Defensively, there's not much of note we can do in Free Agency. No one is really an upgrade, or they're old and a waste of time. Sheldon Brown needs to be replaced.
The draft is impossible to predict, because no one knows anything about players 100 to 250. We have pick 4, and pick 22. With pick 4, They need Justin Blackmon. There's no one else. RG3 will have all the same problems that Colt McCoy has with this team. Colt + Justin Blackmon + Josh Cribbs is probably better than RG3 + Josh Cribbs + Mohammad Massaquoi.
The pick later on...who knows who is available. If there's another Wide Receiver, maybe we even do that. Look at the Steelers: their offensive line has historically been terrible, but Roethlisberger can just toss a ball up and his receivers get open and make the catch. If there's a good RG or RT, we could do that. I don't know how highly the scouts think of LaMichael James, but if he's a first round pick, I'd say do it. Clearly the 5'5" RB WORKS in the NFL. MJD, Sproles, Woodhead.. All better RBs than Montario Hardesty and Brandon Jacobs. Probably better than Peyton Hillis. You know what the answer is? Draft LaMichael James, put him back there with Hardesty.. Move Hillis back to Fullback.. Cut Owen Marecic who is the worst player on our team. That's a win for everyone. Except Marecic. He can go be on someone's practice squad.
...I digress. I don't know what the hell they do.
At least The Steelers are out.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Do the Browns really need a Franchise QB
Let's look at teams with a Franchise QB in 2011 versus those that don't. Based on records and minor amateur analysis.
NFC W-L QB (Franchise?)
*Green Bay 15-1 Aaron Rodgers (YES!)
*New Orleans 13-3 Drew Brees (YES!)
*San Francisco 13-3 Alex Smith (Eh? leaning toward no)
*NY Giants 10-6 Eli Manning (Yes)
*Atlanta 10-6 Matt Ryan (Yes)
*Detroit 10-6 Matt Stafford (Yes)
Arizona 8-8 Kevin Kolb (No/not yet)
Chicago 8-8 Jay Cutler (Yes)
Philadelphia 8-8 Michael Vick (Eh? I guess)
Dallas 8-8 Tony Romo (Yes, but fading)
Seattle 7-9 Tavaris Jackson (NO)
Carolina 6-10 Cam Newton (Maybe...i'm sorry but its too early to say yes, I don't care how well he played this year)
Washington 5-11 Grossman/Beck (NO)
Tampa Bay 4-12 Josh Freeman (probably not, but maybe)
Minnesota 3-13 Christian Ponder (maybe, too early to tell but not as good as Newton)
St. Louis 2-14 Sam Bradford (Yes)
AFC
*New England 13-3 Tom Brady (YES!)
*Baltimore 12-4 Joe Flacco (Eh...sorry, I'm not buying it)
*Pittsburgh 12-4 Big Ben (Yes...reluctantly)
*Houston 10-6 Matt Schaub (Yes)
*Cincinnati 9-7 Andy Dalton (Too early to tell, but looks promising)
Tennessee 9-7 Hasselbeck/Locker (good so far, but we don't know about Locker yet)
*Denver 8-8 Tim Tebow (No)
NY Jets 8-8 Mark Sanchez (i'm not buying it)
San Diego 8-8 Phillip Rivers (Yes)
Oakland 8-8 Carson Palmer (yes, for the next 4 years or so)
Kansas City 7-9 Matt Cassel (eh?)
Miami 6-10 Chad Henne (no)
Buffalo 6-10 Ryan Fitzpatrick (impressive start, but no)
Jacksonville 5-11 Blaine Gabbert (too early to tell, but not a great start)
Cleveland 4-12 Colt McCoy (unfortunately its not looking good)
Indianapolis 2-14 Peyton Manning (if healthy, yes of course)
* denotes playoff team.
So on a quick look, less than half the teams in the league have their 'franchise' Quarterback. So I guess my first impression of those results is that it's not as easy to get your 'franchise' QB as it might seem. But, 12 of the 14 were first round picks, so you probably do have to draft your guy in the first round. Sure, there are good QBs who were not first rounders, but the evidence is that your best chance for success to do it that way.
The Browns are 1-1 on drafting a QB in the first round. I say that Couch was a success because he was good and I believe would have been good on a better team if he wasn't getting his brain beaten in every sunday. Brady Quinn was clearly a failed pick. But we've only done it twice since 1999, so maybe it is time for another 1st round quarterback. The problem is, I'm nervous about RG3. His style could be the next Cam Newton, but it could also be the next Vince Young.
Again, I would rather go another year with Colt and draft talent around him. This way you have a good team established when you can pluck a 1st round pick and drop them in a good situations. On the contrary, there are a lot of QBs in this year's draft that have 1st round talent, and maybe its worth a look at one of them since I can't think of one QB who is going to come out next year. (oh yea, Matt Barkley, but he'll be the first pick overall and we better not be in that position next year)
Enough for now.
NFC W-L QB (Franchise?)
*Green Bay 15-1 Aaron Rodgers (YES!)
*New Orleans 13-3 Drew Brees (YES!)
*San Francisco 13-3 Alex Smith (Eh? leaning toward no)
*NY Giants 10-6 Eli Manning (Yes)
*Atlanta 10-6 Matt Ryan (Yes)
*Detroit 10-6 Matt Stafford (Yes)
Arizona 8-8 Kevin Kolb (No/not yet)
Chicago 8-8 Jay Cutler (Yes)
Philadelphia 8-8 Michael Vick (Eh? I guess)
Dallas 8-8 Tony Romo (Yes, but fading)
Seattle 7-9 Tavaris Jackson (NO)
Carolina 6-10 Cam Newton (Maybe...i'm sorry but its too early to say yes, I don't care how well he played this year)
Washington 5-11 Grossman/Beck (NO)
Tampa Bay 4-12 Josh Freeman (probably not, but maybe)
Minnesota 3-13 Christian Ponder (maybe, too early to tell but not as good as Newton)
St. Louis 2-14 Sam Bradford (Yes)
AFC
*New England 13-3 Tom Brady (YES!)
*Baltimore 12-4 Joe Flacco (Eh...sorry, I'm not buying it)
*Pittsburgh 12-4 Big Ben (Yes...reluctantly)
*Houston 10-6 Matt Schaub (Yes)
*Cincinnati 9-7 Andy Dalton (Too early to tell, but looks promising)
Tennessee 9-7 Hasselbeck/Locker (good so far, but we don't know about Locker yet)
*Denver 8-8 Tim Tebow (No)
NY Jets 8-8 Mark Sanchez (i'm not buying it)
San Diego 8-8 Phillip Rivers (Yes)
Oakland 8-8 Carson Palmer (yes, for the next 4 years or so)
Kansas City 7-9 Matt Cassel (eh?)
Miami 6-10 Chad Henne (no)
Buffalo 6-10 Ryan Fitzpatrick (impressive start, but no)
Jacksonville 5-11 Blaine Gabbert (too early to tell, but not a great start)
Cleveland 4-12 Colt McCoy (unfortunately its not looking good)
Indianapolis 2-14 Peyton Manning (if healthy, yes of course)
* denotes playoff team.
So on a quick look, less than half the teams in the league have their 'franchise' Quarterback. So I guess my first impression of those results is that it's not as easy to get your 'franchise' QB as it might seem. But, 12 of the 14 were first round picks, so you probably do have to draft your guy in the first round. Sure, there are good QBs who were not first rounders, but the evidence is that your best chance for success to do it that way.
The Browns are 1-1 on drafting a QB in the first round. I say that Couch was a success because he was good and I believe would have been good on a better team if he wasn't getting his brain beaten in every sunday. Brady Quinn was clearly a failed pick. But we've only done it twice since 1999, so maybe it is time for another 1st round quarterback. The problem is, I'm nervous about RG3. His style could be the next Cam Newton, but it could also be the next Vince Young.
Again, I would rather go another year with Colt and draft talent around him. This way you have a good team established when you can pluck a 1st round pick and drop them in a good situations. On the contrary, there are a lot of QBs in this year's draft that have 1st round talent, and maybe its worth a look at one of them since I can't think of one QB who is going to come out next year. (oh yea, Matt Barkley, but he'll be the first pick overall and we better not be in that position next year)
Enough for now.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
San Francisco Browns
OK, let's try to figure out what the 49ers did, and how the Cleveland Browns can do EXACTLY THAT to improve. Last year, the 49ers were 6-10. The Browns were 5-11. Very comparable. The 49ers have had over 6 years of QB instability. Very comparable. The 49ers have had a bunch of coaches who at times have showed flashes of possible greatness, but overall sucked. Very comparable.
Let's see what they did:
They got rid of Brian Westbrook, who was just backing up Gore. Troy Smith left. David Carr was cut. Nate Clements was cut. They brought in Donte Whitner and Braylon Edwards. Edwards battled injury and shittiness throughout the season and was cut half way through. They brought back Alex Smith, which was a real head scratcher. This would be like the Browns sticking with Charlie Frye or something. They fired Mike Singletary and hired a new coach.
They had a ton of draft picks, they used them to add ten players. Their first round pick was Rookie of the Month in October and he set a 49ers record for Most Sacks in a Season by a Rookie. Their second pick was a QB, possibly Alex Smith's backup or third string. They got a CB who didn't do much but played in all games. They got Kendal Hunter, backing up Frank Gore. They got a Guard from Appalachian State, he only played in one game. They got Ronald Johnson from USC, but he was released in September. They got a Saftey who did nothing of note. They got a Fullback who started half the games this season. They got a tackle who didn't play. They got a CB who went on IR before the season started.
So, it looks like they clearly didn't do it with the draft. They picked up a good DE with their first pick and then there's not much of note after that. They clearly didn't do it with Free Agency.. They KEPT their shitty QB who now looks great.
What the hell did they do?
They brought in an former NFL QB and offensive minded college coach. That's all they did. There's absolutely nothing else of note.
**************
The Cleveland Browns, on the other hand.. Do not know who Jim Harbaugh is. We went with the Offensive Coordinator from a 7-9 team to be our Head Coach. We brought him in mainly because of his experience with a young QB.
Jim Harbaugh didn't have enough experience coaching young QBs.
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If you didn't think that last joke was funny, Jim Harbaugh was an NFL QB for a long time, and he coached Andrew Luck, the QB projected to be the most NFL-ready QB in history.
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Lerner should sell the team to Los Angeles. Someone else can try again here in four years. As usual, I give up. There is probably no hope for this team and I just don't get why. But I want them to stick with this idiot for a while, because consistency is probably important to a coaching staff (unless you're the 2011-12 49ers, or the 2011-12 Eagles). I just don't get it, how one organization can be so consistently bad and it just never changes. We still fumble snaps, handoffs, make stupid decisions during the 2 minute offense. Draft QBs who can't see the field, WRs who can't get open..
Honestly, the moment this franchise went wrong? When that f'ing idiot Butch Davis let all those players go in the 2003 off season. Had we brought all those idiot-savant players back from our one playoff year, with Kelly Holcomb as the starter, how different would things be? We should've traded Couch right there on the spot, went with Holcomb, and brought back all five of those WRs, William Green, Terrell Smith, Chris Gardocki, and everyone else we let go that Off-Season. You know how many times Jim Donovan would be yelling "Run William Run!" We never would've had the Jeff Garcia fiasco, we wouldn't have wasted a draft pick on Charlie Frye.. Maybe Brady Quinn is brought in to be his backup haha, and we don't have to trade a first round pick to get him. You could easily re-write an entire history based on that particular off-season.
Hindsight and all, obviously. But imagine if after the 2005 season ended, we offered Drew Brees a monster contract to come up here? You KNOW that someone said to Phil Savage: "Hey, why don't we make Drew Brees an offer?" and Phil Savage said: "We're set with Charlie Frye, Ken Dorsey and Derek Anderson. We'll be alright." Phil Savage is a fucking idiot. A Fucking Idiot.
I digress. Anyways, yeah I don't know what the hell they do. Maybe with a true off-season they'll go 8-8 next year. And then 10-6 next next year under Shurmur, who knows. But man, it does NOT look promising....
Let's see what they did:
They got rid of Brian Westbrook, who was just backing up Gore. Troy Smith left. David Carr was cut. Nate Clements was cut. They brought in Donte Whitner and Braylon Edwards. Edwards battled injury and shittiness throughout the season and was cut half way through. They brought back Alex Smith, which was a real head scratcher. This would be like the Browns sticking with Charlie Frye or something. They fired Mike Singletary and hired a new coach.
They had a ton of draft picks, they used them to add ten players. Their first round pick was Rookie of the Month in October and he set a 49ers record for Most Sacks in a Season by a Rookie. Their second pick was a QB, possibly Alex Smith's backup or third string. They got a CB who didn't do much but played in all games. They got Kendal Hunter, backing up Frank Gore. They got a Guard from Appalachian State, he only played in one game. They got Ronald Johnson from USC, but he was released in September. They got a Saftey who did nothing of note. They got a Fullback who started half the games this season. They got a tackle who didn't play. They got a CB who went on IR before the season started.
So, it looks like they clearly didn't do it with the draft. They picked up a good DE with their first pick and then there's not much of note after that. They clearly didn't do it with Free Agency.. They KEPT their shitty QB who now looks great.
What the hell did they do?
They brought in an former NFL QB and offensive minded college coach. That's all they did. There's absolutely nothing else of note.
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The Cleveland Browns, on the other hand.. Do not know who Jim Harbaugh is. We went with the Offensive Coordinator from a 7-9 team to be our Head Coach. We brought him in mainly because of his experience with a young QB.
Jim Harbaugh didn't have enough experience coaching young QBs.
-
If you didn't think that last joke was funny, Jim Harbaugh was an NFL QB for a long time, and he coached Andrew Luck, the QB projected to be the most NFL-ready QB in history.
-
Lerner should sell the team to Los Angeles. Someone else can try again here in four years. As usual, I give up. There is probably no hope for this team and I just don't get why. But I want them to stick with this idiot for a while, because consistency is probably important to a coaching staff (unless you're the 2011-12 49ers, or the 2011-12 Eagles). I just don't get it, how one organization can be so consistently bad and it just never changes. We still fumble snaps, handoffs, make stupid decisions during the 2 minute offense. Draft QBs who can't see the field, WRs who can't get open..
Honestly, the moment this franchise went wrong? When that f'ing idiot Butch Davis let all those players go in the 2003 off season. Had we brought all those idiot-savant players back from our one playoff year, with Kelly Holcomb as the starter, how different would things be? We should've traded Couch right there on the spot, went with Holcomb, and brought back all five of those WRs, William Green, Terrell Smith, Chris Gardocki, and everyone else we let go that Off-Season. You know how many times Jim Donovan would be yelling "Run William Run!" We never would've had the Jeff Garcia fiasco, we wouldn't have wasted a draft pick on Charlie Frye.. Maybe Brady Quinn is brought in to be his backup haha, and we don't have to trade a first round pick to get him. You could easily re-write an entire history based on that particular off-season.
Hindsight and all, obviously. But imagine if after the 2005 season ended, we offered Drew Brees a monster contract to come up here? You KNOW that someone said to Phil Savage: "Hey, why don't we make Drew Brees an offer?" and Phil Savage said: "We're set with Charlie Frye, Ken Dorsey and Derek Anderson. We'll be alright." Phil Savage is a fucking idiot. A Fucking Idiot.
I digress. Anyways, yeah I don't know what the hell they do. Maybe with a true off-season they'll go 8-8 next year. And then 10-6 next next year under Shurmur, who knows. But man, it does NOT look promising....
End of Season thoughts vol. 1
The pain is over. The Browns have officially put us out of our misery and ended a dreadful 2012 season. A 4-12 season that the best thing you can say about it is that we were 'competitive' in some games. I honestly don't know where to go from here.
The only good thing people will talk about is the Defense. Yes, the defense was okay and there are some pieces to work with, but there is still plenty of room for improvement on the 30th rushing defense in the league. The only reason the pass defense looked good is because teams simply ran the ball against us (and we played some really crappy QBs along the way).
This team needs a real shot in the arm on Offense. They have 6 picks in the first 4 rounds in this year's draft. (2 in the first round and 2 in the fourth) The Browns need to get 2 dynamic playmakers in the first 3 picks and one Offensive Lineman. I would love to see this...Blackmon, WR OkSt. then a stud Oline and then with the high 2nd round pick see if you wait long enough to grab LeMichel James from Oregon.
The management team needs to get all their ducks in a row. This is the make or break season for them. The 3rd year is very important (just ask Steve Spagnola from STL that just got canned). 6-10 is not an acceptable improvement in the 3rd year. Time to step up to the plate Shurmer, you're rookie season is over and fans will be thirsty for blood if you have a slow start next year.
The only good thing people will talk about is the Defense. Yes, the defense was okay and there are some pieces to work with, but there is still plenty of room for improvement on the 30th rushing defense in the league. The only reason the pass defense looked good is because teams simply ran the ball against us (and we played some really crappy QBs along the way).
This team needs a real shot in the arm on Offense. They have 6 picks in the first 4 rounds in this year's draft. (2 in the first round and 2 in the fourth) The Browns need to get 2 dynamic playmakers in the first 3 picks and one Offensive Lineman. I would love to see this...Blackmon, WR OkSt. then a stud Oline and then with the high 2nd round pick see if you wait long enough to grab LeMichel James from Oregon.
The management team needs to get all their ducks in a row. This is the make or break season for them. The 3rd year is very important (just ask Steve Spagnola from STL that just got canned). 6-10 is not an acceptable improvement in the 3rd year. Time to step up to the plate Shurmer, you're rookie season is over and fans will be thirsty for blood if you have a slow start next year.
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