Big Ten mulling change to divisional names Legends and Leaders per ESPN
January 15, 2013Cleveland Browns lead AFC North in dropped passes for 2012
January 15, 2013The NHL lockout is over so Craig checked in with former WFNY man DP to compare the NHL lockout to the NBA and NFL lockouts. We also discussed a wide variety of other topics including LeBron’s impending opt out and free agency watch in 2014. We also discussed the Chud hire and how little past performance can “win the argument” at predicting whether he is going to do a good job or not.
- First of all we crowned TD the king of deep fried chicken sandwiches
- The NHL lockout and how it compares to the NFL / NBA lockouts
- Who won and how long will peace last?
- What does it mean for the BlueJackets?
- The LeBron free agency rumors
- The impact of LeBron’s exit on every other Cleveland sports story
- Sports business model compared to music
- Ben Folds and the rich, famous rockstar aberration
- How do you spell cannon?
- Thad Lewis and if the Browns new staff could find any way to use him.
7 Comments
Great chat, guys.
Re Chud’s failure to make promises or list specifics from the jump, Dan got it exactly right – by contrast it shows how tone deaf and incompetent Holmgren was in his public-relations abilities when he blurted promises about wins and threats about playoff tickets. A great coach does not a competent executive make.
Re Thad Lewis, agree his skills are similar to Colt’s, but don’t think he’s a “vertical passing game” back-up that Chud would want to keep. I thought I remembered that Shurmur wanted him because he thought his skill set fit the WCO.
Re the Beanpot being unknown here, not completely, Craig. If I can find an old ticket I’ll make it my avatar. Go Terriers!
Clever, guys. They made this my 500th post!
Thoughts:
1) Chick-Fil-A has the best chicken sandwiches… hands down. I laughed pretty hard when McDonald’s did their best to mimic them and failed miserably. The controversy pisses me off. I actually know 2 people who own/franchise local Chick-Fil-A stores and they support gay rights, but their stores took a hit because of what that corporate fool said. People should remember that by boycotting Chick-Fil-A they hurt people other than the ones they are trying to hurt… particularly the franchiser.
2) I don’t see LeBron coming back to Cleveland. Ever. I know he entertained the media with that thought, but everyone needs to remember that LeBron is not from Cleveland, he’s from Akron. He and his boys hated Cleveland growing up and he has no ties to the city (which is absurd… walk around Akron and tell me how much Cleveland sports gear you see). He does not view the Cavaliers as his home team. Maybe he sees the opportunity to team up with Kyrie as a way to earn championships and cement his legacy, but I think he’d be more likely to want to go to New York, LA, or Chicago (he rooted for the Bulls as a child of the 90’s, like the front-running d-bag he is along with the Yankees and Cowboys). My bet is Chicago… Derrick Rose will be hitting his prime. They have great frontcourt pieces in Deng, Noah, and Taj Gibson, and they play fantastic defense as a team. If I could put $1,000 on a bet right now regarding which team LeBron goes to next, I would definitely bet Chicago.
3) Agree that the mob will not be patient with the Browns… fans think we have talent now and they expect wins (and frankly I do too). Coaches can’t sell the fans on another rebuild, even if it’s more like a 2-year stocking of new talent (to fit a 3-4 defense, for example). The Browns have cap space to use and I’m not saying they need to go on a free agent binge, but they do need to spend a real chunk of that cap space filling any positions that need to be filled post-draft.
4) Good point about the Ravens and Steelers being able to draft players and have them be backups for a couple years until they are ready to start. There are lots of examples, but as a Virginia Tech homer I think of Jason Worilds for the Steelers… tons of talent and could have started at OLB in their 3-4 as a rookie, but he’s better for being able to learn the defense before being expected to perform.
5) I like Thad Lewis as a backup over McCoy and have liked him since he was at Duke. He was an NFL talent playing with a bunch of guys who should have been playing for an FCS football team, so he went largely unnoticed in college. He’s not a Kaepernick or Russell Wilson type as you all noted… he’s a passer from the pocket first, a passer outside the pocket second, and a runner somewhere further down the list. He probably compares better with a Jay Cutler type.
nice. some added thoughts.
1. they also have the best soft-serve and give you giant cones of them. so bad for the waistline while so good for the taste buds.
2. i agree (unless it’s a last year thing and he wants a victory lap to make things easier in Ohio to live). i disagree on the Bulls though. Lakers have to be considered the leaders in the clubhouse. he’d get to replace Kobe as the alpha-dog and we all know how much he reveres Kobe.
3. i’m really hoping that Mike McCoy lets Pagano go if we do switch to the 3-4. even if we hire someone else (I still prefer Horton). only because Philips and Jammer are 2 huge needs for us and the odds of them leaving SD go up 100x if their DC is no longer there. they are not long-term solutions, but we need starters now and can develop the longer term guys.
4. yep, which plays into getting Jammer/Philips
5. From what I have seen of Thad Lewis, I am thinking he will be out of the NFL in 2 years at the most. I think Colt will stick around as a backup somewhere in the league for several years and have a Matt Moore type of career. I think Chud drafts a QB to be our QB3 somewhere in the 4th – 7th rounds this year.
Do not discount us drafting Denard Robinson either. I think Chud would appreciate having a guy like him at WR who he can also mix in some of the zone-read stuff.
Some thoughts on your thoughts:
I could easily see LBJ going to the Lakers. As we all know, that is the place to go for any NBA player… there’s a good reason why the Lakers are always packed with star players. Almost all of them put that as their top choice. I was thinking that if he is going to make a sentimental choice to go to the team of his youth, it would be Chicago.
I think Thad does have the arm and can play the style that Chud wants to play. You could very well be right and Chud might toss him out because he’s not “his guy”, but I thought this system would be a better match for Lewis than the WCO when he came out of college. I’ve certainly been wrong in evaluations before though.
Love the idea of grabbing Robinson to run some zone-read. He’s like a younger, faster Josh Cribbs. Heck… he should replace Cribbs (blasphemy!)
i don’t think Robinson can cover kicks!
Cribbs & Robinson back as KR
Benjamin as PR
Bademosi & Cribbs the 2 main gunners.
Phil as Phil
Now that is a nice start to a fantastic ST unit.
I salivate at the thought (you can call my Pavlov’s dog)