28
Nov
2010
Week 12 LIVE GAME BLOG
Matty Ice on tap. (Source: New York Times)
We’ll be watching and covering the games all day. If you want to join in the conversation, just use the comments section below.
¶ With Falcons driving, the team announced that Roddy White just became the 12th wide receiver in NFL history to register 80 catches & 1,000 yds receiving in four consecutive seasons.
¶ Falcons’ first drive ends with a field goal. Aaron Rodgers and the Packers waiting in the wings.
¶ Carolina marches right down the field and scores on the Browns in Cleveland. Mike Goodson with a 26-yard scamper for the score. The Browns drive right down the field, with Jake Delhomme going 5 for 7 for 63 yards. Peyton Hillis scores on a 9-yard touchdown run.
¶ The Jags have taken an early 7-3 lead on the Giants — New York, without Hakeem Nicks to bolster a thin wideout lineup, cannot fall behind by much in this game.
MORE AFTER THE JUMP
18
Nov
2010
Cooking with Scott Fujita and Peyton Hillis
Cleveland Browns linebacker Scott Fujita is making waves in C-Town with his cooking show “Rollin’ at the Rock.” Fujita and Cleveland’s own Chef Danny prepare mainly sushi-based dishes, a favorite of Fujita’s. They’re visited each episode by a Browns player — and this time around it’s ton o’ bricks Peyton Hillis. Chef Danny makes a roll fitting for a powerback.
Question: Does anyone else think Fujita could be the more muscle-bound brother of Jim from “The Office”?
16
Nov
2010
EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN: Is Tony Romo today’s Danny White?
It’s been a tough season for Cowboys fans — but there’s plenty of salt left in the shaker to pour into those wounds.
The question creeps up again: Are the Cowboys the most inappropriately hyped team in professional sports?
Their on-field performance seems to be of no issue: if they win three games this season, playing some of the worst football in the NFC, there’s no doubt the league will still slate them for five or six nationally televised games in 2011. Quality on the field not even taken into account, we’ll be told their the “most talented team in the NFC” come summer.
Stripping away the media sheen, what do the Cowboys substantively bring to the table?
Why have we been force-fed this team during its 15-year, post-Aikman wanderings? They’re consistently outplayed by other teams — especially in big games. This has been happening for years.
And why the media’s love affair with frat-boyish Tony Romo?
While everyone’s busy anointing Romo the next Roger Staubach — is he more accurately the next Danny White, during an equally depressing era of Cowboys football?
EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN takes a look at some of today’s stars and (imperfectly) attempts to match them to their natural predecessors of old.
(Source: AP)
Danny White and Tony Romo
Most Cowboys fans will not appreciate the comparison — and deny it.
White presided over a Cowboys franchise that still felt it was all that based on its glory years a decade or so before. The 6-foot-2, 193-pound White was 62-30 (.674) as a starter and 5-5 (.500) in the playoffs. He was never able to get Dallas to the Super Bowl, despite a string of double-digit-win regular seasons and a talented supporting cast. His inability to win the big game didn’t help fans forget about Staubach.
Romo presides over a Cowboys franchise that still feels it’s all that based on its glory years a decade or so ago. The 6-foot-2, 219-pound Romo is 39-23 (.629) as a starter and 1-3 (.250) in the playoffs. He has never been able to get Dallas to the Super Bowl, despite a string of double-digit-win regular seasons and a talented supporting cast. His inability to win the big game hasn’t helped fans forget about Aikman.
Notorious ‘Boys fan, C-O-U-R-T-N-E-Y, suggested Romo be compared to Fran Tarkenton. OK, let’s do it:
Tarkenton, a Hall of Famer and nine-time Pro Bowler, played for 18 seasons, 13 of them with the Minnesota Vikings. He was drafted by the Vikings and played six years in Minnesota before spending five seasons with the New York Giants. He then, in his 12th season, returned to the Vikings and led the team to three Super Bowls.
Tarkenton won 124 games as a starter and was 6-4 in the playoffs.
During a golden era in the Vikings’ history, Tarkenton was their leader, willing them to NFC crowns.
He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986.
(Source: AP, Plain Dealer)
Kevin Mack and Peyton Hillis
Kevin Mack, a 6-foot, 224-pound bruiser who surprised people with his agility, downhill running style and ability to catch the ball out of the backfield, gave Cleveland a much-needed lift after the Browns masterfully plucked him from the USFL’s Los Angeles Express for a song. In 1985, his first campaign with a young, developing Browns team under the direction of poised rookie quarterback Bernie Kosar — who became the team’s starter in Week 6 — Mack barnstormed his way for 1,104 rushing yards, 297 receiving yards and 10 total touchdowns. He helped an 8-8 Browns team squeak into the playoffs. He rushed for 5,123 yards (4.0 yards per attempt) and 46 touchdowns in his career. He also caught 197 passes for 1,602 yards and eight scores.
Peyton Hillis, a 6-foot-1, 240-pound bruiser who has surprised people with his agility, downhill running style and ability to catch the ball out of the backfield, has given Cleveland a much-needed lift after the Browns masterfully plucked him from the Denver Broncos for a song. In 2010, his first campaign with a young, developing Browns team under the direction of poised rookie quarterback Colt McCoy — who became the team’s starter in Week 6 — Hillis has barnstormed his way for 726 rushing yards, 256 receiving yards and nine total touchdowns in nine games. He has helped a young Browns team to wins over a series of playoff-caliber teams. In three seasons, he has rushed for 1,123 yards (4.8 yards per attempt) and 14 touchdowns. He has also caught 52 passes for 454 yards and two scores.
7
Nov
2010
The New America’s Team
Running back Peyton Hillis #40 celebrates after a touchdown against the New England Patriots at Cleveland Browns Stadium (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)
For years, I have humored TheDarkhorse about the Browns. Told him the team is on the rise. If they could just fix this, then they will be a playoff-caliber team. If they could just find that, then they would be a playoff-caliber team. Butch Davis is a young Jimmy Johnson. Romeo Crennel is a mastermind. Eric Mangini: an inspired hire. Brady Quinn: what a pick. Derek Anderson: a find. Courtney Brown: rock-solid, you can build around him.
It was all a lie. I wanted to believe it. For him. He is a great guy. Truly. I wanted the Browns to turn the corner. Desperately. For him. For them. For the city of Cleveland. I hate visiting Cleveland (who doesn’t?), but I have always loved their heart. Their commitment. In an “I-feel-bad-for-you” kind of way. In a “you-are- pathetic” kind of way.
I am sitting here watching Dallas get throttled by the Packers. Dallas is a team that is as talented as any other in the league. Dallas is also a team with no f-cking heart. Zero. None. Jerry Jones says he researched the issue and determined it doesn’t make sense to change coaches in the middle of the season. Because interim coaches don’t win that often. So Dallas will continue to lose with Wade Phillips. Because, according to GM Jerry, it’s better that way. (Dallas just got penalized for having 12 men on the field. Wade Phillips is a teacher. Green Bay has out-gained Dallas 405 yards to 87. Jason Garrett is a Princeton grad.)
The Cleveland Browns are winning with grit. They are winning with physicality. This afternoon I watched them b-tch-slap a pretty good New England Patriots team. In some ways, it was like watching the Pats get beat by a version of itself. Colt McCoy is no Tom Brady, for sure, but the Browns are developing the Cleveland Way. Mangini has this team playing with spunk. Fire. Tenacity. Ingenuity. Intelligence. All of the ingredients Dallas is lacking.
The Cleveland Browns are actually turning the corner. Now, it’s early (they are only 3-5), but it feels real this time. They didn’t just win against the Patriots. They beat them. Handily. In all phases of the game. If Peyton Hillis doesn’t fire you up, you are dead. If Chansi Stuckey (Chansi Stuckey!) scoring a touchdown doesn’t make you believe in the power of the underdog, you are vapid. If Cleveland is not a team you can root for– even if you are a tried and true Steelers fan — you are classless. (Touchdown Clay Matthews. 45-7.)
In the post-LeBron era, the Cleveland Browns are giving people something to be proud of. Dallas is hosting the Super Bowl this year. $1.2 billion stadium. The media anointed Dallas a contender for the 4th year in a row. Will Dallas be the first team to play the Super Bowl at home? Did I mention that Dallas is playing on national TV tonight. Again. Cleveland is running a special on its web-site: 4 tickets, 4 hot dogs, 4 Pepsi’s for $119 dollars.
Earlier tonight, the TV flashed to Tony Romo on the sidelines. He was chuckling.
3
Oct
2010
Runaway train — WAR HILLIS
A couple of thoughts:
* Few things of late are more satisfying than the sight of Peyton Hillis running through the Baltimore Ravens defense. It has been 20 years since the Browns had anything like it on the ground. Not sure it will last — this is Cleveland, he’ll probably tear his ACL tomorrow — and the Browns still LOST to the Ravens, but I don’t care. Watching this guy smash through that traitorous mess of a team was fantastic.
This guy is AFC North material. (Source: Zimbio.com)
* When I ask myself which team better step up huge and win at home this week PRONTO — or face a house cleaning — it’s the New York Giants. This team is on the brink of disaster, but a win over the 3-0 Bears (who don’t scare anyone yet) will go a long way to fixing the beginning of the season. New York seems like a team in search of something — anything — to grasp onto.
* Love how everyone spends all offseason talking about the Cowboys and Giants — and, to some degree, the Redskins due to McNabb and Shanny — and then Philly goes out, once again, and outplays everyone.
* Wicked tired of the Steelers.
* Have the Pats become the late-80s Chicago Bears? We respect them due to their somewhat-recent history, some of the star players are still hanging around, and we know they’ll win 11 games and reach the playoffs — but something is just out of place. They aren’t a Super Bowl team, and we all know it — and they know it. They’ve become the team that gets bumped in the Divisional round for the next three years.
* Detroit fans would take that life in a second.
* I just fell asleep for a few seconds while typing…
* Last night I had a strange dream where Belichick traded Brady to the Bucs for a second- and fifth-round pick. My wife didn’t feel the dream was significant enough to wake her up to recount at 4:03 a.m. — she made that clear. Sounds absurd, but BB’s the same guy who jettisoned Kosar and Bledsoe early enough to shock everyone.
* I hate doing laundry. It always somehow drops into my Sat/Sun schedule. Then I refuse to do it, and I’m fishing button-down shirts out of the hamper to start the workweek. Driving to the office in a wrinkled blue mess that smells slightly like jogging shorts that were peed in — the Browns 0-4 and nobody made coffee.
* T.O. and Ochocinco = snoozefest. Slightly more intriguing than Albert Haynesworth. Slightly less intriguing than Phil Simms and his folksy non-attempts at humor.
* Problem: Fourteen teams are impossible to believe as playoff contenders.
* NFC East might feature one playoff team.
* AFC East might feature three (but Miami needs to start winning prime-time games at home).
* Brady has soft, womanly hair. I think he’s had some sort of work done — fueled by Giselle’s input. Some sort of hair transplant, softening, thinning, conditioning type thing. He was dealing with male-pattern baldness a few years back — now he looks 22. Something ain’t right. I think some people are aliens.
* If Peyton Manning grew his hair out like that he’d look like some sort of half-baked, poor-man’s Matthew McConaughy (I’m tired and don’t care if I spelled that wrong). Peyton needs to do something unusual. He’s a dull robot.
* I get annoyed by: People who rave about the commercial acting of the Manning Bros. They are relentlessly tedious.
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.
