6
Mar
2011
Potential work stoppage dooms some teams more than others
Keep smiling: Mike Tomlin and the Steelers are built to last through good and bad -- including a potential work stoppage. (Source: 141characters.com)
The NFL and the NFL Players Association have agreed to a seven-day extension to the current collective bargaining agreement, giving both sides another week to hammer out a deal and prevent the league’s first work stoppage since 1987.
The fact that both sides are communicating is hopeful, but the reality is that a tremendous amount of work must be done by March 11 to prevent a hammer dropping on football as we know it.
At the NFL Scouting Combine, coaches and general managers indicated to a man that it was “work as usual” until told otherwise.
Teams claim to be fully prepared for whatever lies ahead. That’s easy to trumpet, but in a normal offseason, we see winning clubs run an organized ship, while other clubs appear lost. How much more so if we move into rocky, uncharted waters?
1
Feb
2011
Cleveland’s road to redemption begins at home
Pat Shurmur has his work cut out for him. (Source: Statesmen.com)
Cleveland Browns head coach Pat Shurmur faces the same tall task that left Chris Palmer, Butch Davis, Romeo Crennel and Eric Mangini in shreds: Winning an AFC North division inhabited by the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens, two of football’s most consistently successful franchises.
Each new Browns regime shuffled out before a bewildered fanbase claims some deep understanding of the Pittsburgh and Baltimore rivalries, but nothing has changed. The Browns have been manhandled within the division since their return.
Baltimore is despised by Browns fans, but with Ozzie Newsome running the show, they’ve forged an identity built on bone-crushing defense and just enough offense to win. Pittsburgh — heading to its eighth Super Bowl and third since 2005 — is perhaps the most sound organization in the league, with just three coaches since 1969.
Cleveland’s had five since ’99 — and it shows.
14
Jan
2011
For Browns fans, a voyage through the wilderness continues
Another new beginning. (Source: Cleveland.com)
And so the Browns begin again.
Eric Mangini out. Pat Shurmur in — through a revolving door that Friday welcomed its third head coach since 2008 and fifth since the team rebooted in 1999.
In that time, the Tennessee Titans have only known Jeff Fisher as coach.
Since 1999, the New England Patriots, led by former Browns coach Bill Belichick, have enjoyed winning records in 10 consecutive seasons. Tom Brady — who the Browns ignored in the 2000 NFL Draft to select Spergon Wynn — has won 111 football games and three Super Bowls during a stretch in which Cleveland’s fans have endured nine season with six or fewer wins and a growing sense of purposelessness.
As each losing, demoralized leader of men is shipped out of town, a new coach strides in and, in his introductory press conference, trumpets his respect for the great tradition of the Cleveland Browns.
Images in grainy black-and-white depicting heroes long gone — many dead.
For fans under 30, the deep history of a team that hasn’t won a playoff game since January 1995 is irrelevant. Young football fans throughout Ohio have grown up watching their half-baked hometown roster of hobby horses dismantled and embarrassed repeatedly by the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens, two teams that look a lot more like the Browns of old than the Browns themselves.
11
Jan
2011
WHITHER GOEST THOU, ERIC MANGINI, IN THY SHINY CAR IN THE NIGHT?
Eric Mangini on the road (photo: Allen Ginsberg)
Two years in Cleveland. The family trips to the Galleria mall downtown. The office where you met Mike Holmgren for a final time. He spoke to you about Al Haig, you were barely listening, the snow was falling outside his window. You were thinking of Brian Daboll, with whom a lifetime ago you once drank 12 beers in a Flats bar, hats on your heads, anonymous in the din. Later that night you found a bodega open. You bought a tin of chew and sat on the curb like teenagers, eating Andy Capp salsa fries, drinking canned High Life and speaking about the AFC North. The police officer writing the ticket recognized you and called a cab. Good luck coach, he said, and opened the yellow door for you, Cuban music blasting in the night.
You were thinking about Brady Quinn, who you knew at first sight had no business on an NFL field. Of Derek Anderson, who just couldn’t seem to get it, and the time when he admitted he had no idea what a zone cover was, that he just throws it to the open guy. Now you think of the drunken voicemail from Bill that you didn’t save and he doesn’t remember – he said you had some pair of balls, then sadly he said to never lose your way – that you can never, no matter how hard you try, find your way back, and he hung up. The next day you laid the groundwork to trade Kellen and Braylon, with no regrets.
The evening sky in Berea, late night and full of stars heading to your car, no one else awake. The sound of Rob snoring audibly from a basement window, sleeping on a blanket of crushed chips, and lined-notebook paper covered with pen drawings of strange defenses. The time you told your team at halftime against Pittsburgh that you were going to lock the door, and if they lost they were going to have to drive home in pads. How good it felt to beat Pittsburgh – you thought if this is it, then it was worth it. The locker room jubilant afterward.
Holmgren still talking, now about George Washington. You drop in a chew and try to grasp the tangent he is on, you wonder if the plowman has come to your house yet – maybe you will shovel yourself today. You think of the time in New York Brett had started a snowball fight in the parking lot; the season soon derailed by the same arm that nailed Penny from HR in the shoulder with a snowball. You think about the Patriots game, two weeks planning, no sleep, Bill stunned afterward, eyes staring though you and into the void. Then the Jets game – if only, that was the season you think. You shake Holmgren’s hand, it was good you say, I am glad to have set the table, and I will always be a Cleveland Brown. You pass a few players in the hallway – it’s business, but you can tell that this season meant something to them, they thank you – they all look you in the eye like men. You call your wife and let her know you’ll be home soon. Just enough time, you think, to hang out with the boys before supper.
The Cleveland Browns. You were a ball boy here once and then you came back as the head coach. You built something here. You built a team that a town could be proud of, the team you always imagined, a team that was almost there. As you pull out of the gates a man walking his dog yells to you, thanks coach. You smile and say thank you, you turn the radio up loud, then louder, roll the windows down letting in the cold. The Cleveland Browns, you think. You were the head coach of the Cleveland Browns. Foot down hard on the gas, you let out a joyful yell, and proudly thunder into the starry night.
Eric Mangini, coach of the Cleveland Browns 2009-10 (photo: John Kuntz/The Plain Dealer)
5
Jan
2011
The five deadly sins of Mike Holmgren and the Cleveland Browns
The spotlight now falls to Holmgren to get it right. (Source: Cleveland.com)
On Monday, Cleveland Browns president Mike Holmgren went from wise father figure atop a rebuilding Browns organization, to a man under significant pressure to deliver.
It’s one thing to tell a fanbase that Eric Mangini hasn’t met expectations — it’s another to meet them yourself. While Holmgren excels at win-you-over press conferences, it’s his football decisions this offseason that will define his tenure with this star-crossed franchise.
The Browns are about to hire their sixth head coach since their return in 1999. Whoever finally turns the ship around will never buy a drink in Ohio again — but it’s no small task, and one that’s left wheelbarrows of dead along the road out of town.
Here are five mistakes Holmgren must avoid, if he wants to turn this ship around:
MISTAKE #1: Miss on the coach
While some were thrilled to see Mangini swept aside, they might look back and wonder why the move was made if Cleveland goes in the direction some predict.
Holmgren talked about spreading a wide net, but lead candidates for the coaching vacancy appear to be limited to those also represented by Holmgren’s agent, Bob LaMonte. He fronts John Fox, Jon Gruden, Jim Mora, Brad Childress, Pat Shurmur and — ugh — Marty Mornhinweg.
“I don’t want to have to do this again, so I have to get it right,” said Holmgren.
It’s hard to get excited about that “right” choice being Mornhinweg, who went 5-27 as coach of the Detroit Lions.
2
Jan
2011
Eric Mangini deserves a third season in C-Town
Feel like starting over again? Me neither. (Source: gridironfans.com)
In a season where four NFL head coaches have been fired heading into Week 17, it doesn’t look good for Cleveland Browns coach Eric Mangini.
There was a sense midseason that the tenuous connection between president Mike Holmgren and Mangini could work — and should be forced to work — after the Browns consecutively dismantled the New Orleans Saints and New England Patriots, only to lose to the hyped-up New York Jets by a hair.
All the talk about Holmgren’s coaching roots not jiving with the Belichick/Parcells tree seemed half-baked, as the team was suddenly worth three hours of your Sunday. For a shimmering moment, the Browns were the team nobody wanted to face.
Problem is, down the stretch, the same Browns team that had played far beyond expectation during a brutal stretch in the schedule — led by galvanizing rookie quarterback Colt McCoy — dissembled against soft opponents when McCoy became the third starting passer this season to suffer a high ankle sprain. Jake Delhomme took over, the offensive line took some hits, and the attack never recovered.
Had the Browns stayed relatively healthy after the Patriots win, and polished off the few teams they were favored against, Holmgren would have nothing to point to in firing Mangini. This is a coaching staff that’s enthused large segments of the Browns’ faithful — downtrodden fans who’ve watched this team closely since its return in 1999, and finally see signs of progress.
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18
Dec
2010
ERIC MANGINI AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS
"The consequences of our actions are so complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is a very difficult business indeed" - Dumbledore (Photo mashup: AKC)
Three games are left in the season and Eric Mangini once again finds himself in a swirl of rumors about his coaching future after a loss to Buffalo. John Clayton, from the Ministry of Magic, is sharpening his wand and throwing out coaching names any chance he gets, predicting the demise of the former boy genius. Meanwhile, the Browns are clearly a team that has improved in every way from the previous year, and who knows what is really going on at Hogwarts; perhaps Dumbledore is happy with his coach, perhaps not, he isn’t saying. One thing is clear, if the Browns can win out, there is a good chance Mangini will be back next year to once again lead the Browns against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
The 1st Deadly Hallow: Bengals
Colt McCoy brings youth and hope in his first game back from a high ankle sprain. The Bengals have two wins, but it’s hard not to believe that they could score 40 points at a moment’s notice. The Browns need to treat the Bengals like the Steelers, take nothing for granted, and pull out all the stops. Lose this game and public sentiment really starts to go south, and Mangini becomes Undesirable Number 1 in Cleveland.
"Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open." - Dumbledore (Photo: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
The 2nd Deadly Hallow: Ravens
This game could go a long way to returning Mangini to Hogwarts. The sad history between these teams might have cursed Cleveland forever. Moving the team of legendary wizards Otto Graham and Jim Brown to the C-List coastal town of Baltimore angered the ancients and they have decided to punish the Browns, even when it is the evil Wizard Modell who is to blame. You cannot predict the behavior of the ancients, but in the alleys and bar stools of the Flats beers will be raised to the Browns and Mangini for a win against the Ravens.
15
Mar
2010
Jets land Tomlinson; Browns ship Quinn to Denver
It was a busy Sunday in the NFL, with the New York Jets signing RB LaDanian Tomlinson, and the Cleveland Browns sending QB Brady Quinn to the Broncos for FB Peyton Hillis, 2 picks and a $5 footlong.
Tomlinson – the eighth leading rusher in NFL history – chose New York and Rex Ryan over joining Brett Favre in Minnesota, and believes that the Jets will give him a chance to contribute and win a championship. LDT (sorry, there’s only one LT in New York sports lore) will replace the recently-released Thomas Jones, and will back-up Shonne Green on the Jets depth chart.
Meanwhile, Mike Holmgren continues to clean house in Cleveland, trading former 1st round pick Quinn to Denver for a fullback and two late round picks. Ouch. In addition, the Browns traded another former 1st round pick – LB Kamerion Wembley – to the Raiders. Apparently Holmgren wants to start fresh, and thinks the duo of Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace are an improvement over the tag team of Quinn & Derek Anderson … we shall see. In the mean time, it’s back to the drawing board once again for Browns fans.
5
Jan
2010
Browns: What is Worth Having Must be Earned
Coach Eric Mangini
Browns fans have been through the fire during the expansion era and during this season. It seems they are finally on the other side– except they aren’t. The men and women of the Flats, wait upon Mike Holmgren’s decision to retain or let go of Eric Mangini. What at once looked like a season of ruin for Mangini now looks like one of the better rebuilding jobs done in recent memory. Not some magical overnight blessing from the football gods that sends the team into the playoffs only to be brought down to earth the next year. No, it was a methodical, brick-by-brick construction job that can only be appreciated by stepping back after the season was finished to see the straight lines, quality workmanship, and effort.
Mangini, like no other coach I can remember, put his head down and stuck to his plan, even while the reporters (Clayton, the Plain Dealer hacks) sharpened their knives, gleefully stabbing Mangini at every turn, their contempt barely contained in their writing. Browns fans understandably impatient, watching at times a football team looking like one of the worst ever and reacting to incorrect reporting and poor analysis, called for his head. Veteran players used to the soft, mincy ways of Romeo Crennell dug their heels in the sand, complained loudly to their agents, who complained loudly to the media, creating a firestorm of bad energy. Randy Lerner, the entirely incompetent owner, without courage, without patience, wanting to prove how much he cares for the Browns fans (although strangely absent from the last two home games) goes out to hire a “credible football leader” in Mike Holmgren, who has the tedious nickname of “Big Show” to be the “CZAR” of football operations. The national and local media celebrate this move.
The Czar (AP Photo)
The hiring of Holmgren may have been a smart move (although there is something wildly mediocre about Holmgren that I can’t put my finger on) in the beginning of the season, or even at the end when the dust had settled and the lockers cleared. It was not a good move, however, done in the midst of a seemingly disastrous season– it was a panic move. It has now created a stomach-turning decision for Holmgren and for the Cleveland faithful, a decision that deep in the fog of a 1-11 season seemed easy. Keep Mangini or let him go. Times have changed.
10
Nov
2009
A Browns Fan Dreaming: Holmgren Aloft
Marching Towards Cleveland: for Frodo!
Mike Holmgren floats above the sky. He sees taco carts, cans of Tecate, young men in Browns jerseys. He sees the ghost of Otto Graham and they shake hands in the borderlands. They make a promise to get gin and tonics, sidecars and gin fizzy’s, and they stare into the distance. They imagine a different future for the Browns. They are in an old bar in North Beach and the bartender is talking about a suicide pool. The radio clicks on to a college station and a girl with a thin voice is talking about the time she read “Big Sur” in high school and that’s when she decided to go to Berkeley. She now plays “California Zephyr.” A pretty waitress listens and doodles pictures of cats wearing capes on her notepad. Holmgren hears the song and smiles. He remembers the summer he spent working at a YMCA camp in Ely, Minnesota and suddenly he knows that the only place he will be taking the Browns is to the Super Bowl. He finishes his drink, heads out into the fog and diagrams new plays in his mind as he hails a cab to SFO.
Jay Farrar & Ben Gibbard \”California Zephyr\”
