Casual Friday with Denny talking Field Turf, Pink NFL, Video Games, Chief Wahoo and more – WFNY Podcast – 2013-10-11
October 11, 2013NFL News: Calvin Johnson’s status is up in the air for Lions vs. Browns
October 11, 2013Cleveland sports fans are waiting. Thus, while we’re all waiting, the WFNY editors thought you might enjoy reading. Because you never know how long we might be waiting. So here are assorted reading goodies for you to enjoy. Send more good links for tomorrow’s edition to tips@waitingfornextyear.com.
“There’s fast, and then there’s Benjamin fast. Not even Joe Haden, one of Cleveland’s quickest players, can run with “Rabbit.”
“Nah,” Haden said. “He’s got special speed. I think his legs are 75 percent of his body.” He’s listed at 175 pounds, but that might be helped by Benjamin’s dreadlocks. The Browns won’t use him to return kicks, mostly because they’re afraid he’ll get broken in two.” [Withers/AP]
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“Fall Break 2013. Well, sort of, but not really. At the midway point of the season, Ohio State is getting a bit of a rest. Not a full-scale vacation, though. The Buckeyes will begin focusing on Iowa at the tail end of the week, before coaches go on the road recruiting. Everyone will reconvene Monday, and Meyer wants zero phone calls over the weekend.
“Some people see a bye week and think they go act like a jerk over the weekend,” he said Wednesday. “That’s not what bye weeks are for. Football is a tough, violent, contact sport. So your joints and your shoulders and everything need a break. That’s what it’s for. But to come back and not at least watch some football, that’d be a disgrace.” Another no-no? Coming back to Columbus underweight or overweight.” [Rowland/Eleven Warriors]
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“CLEVELAND CAVALIERS Best-case: Taking a flier on Andrew Bynum would seem to give the Cavaliers the largest range between “best-case” and “worst-case” of anyone in the conference. Pretend that Bynum and Anderseon Varejao are actually 100 percent healthy. Couldn’t this team, which shored up its backcourt depth by adding Jarrett Jack, challenge for a top-five seed? Sure, why not? And it would be a lock to make the playoffs.
Worst-case: The hypothetical worst-case scenario isn’t as bad as the 2012-13 Sixers’ worst-case reality, if only because Kyrie Irving is a better all-around talent than Jrue Holiday and because Cleveland didn’t gut its roster assets to acquire Bynum like Philadelphia did. Even with Jack, Earl Clark and No. 1 pick Anthony Bennett in the fold, a fourth straight trip to the lottery is a possibility for the Cavaliers, if their two veteran centers can’t make a consistent impact.” [Golliver/Point Forward]
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If you didn’t hear about it, Rick Reilly used his step-father in his piece defending the name Redskins. Except he misquoted him. Awkward. “So you can imagine my dismay when I saw my name and words used to defend the racist Washington Redskins name. My son-in-law, ESPN’s Rick Reilly, completely misunderstood the conversation we had, quoting me as saying “the whole issue is so silly. The name just doesn’t bother me much. It’s an issue that shouldn’t be an issue, not with all the problems we’ve got in this country.”
But that’s not what I said.” [Burns/IndianCountry]
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Finally, George the football watching dog. [Shutdown Corner]
21 Comments
Rick Reilly is the worst
love that the Browns call Benjamin “rabbit.” I let my sons watch the 1st half with me last Thursday and they were both calling him Benjamin Rabbit the whole time (they love the Peter Rabbit show where his best friend is named Benjamin).
yes, agreed. terrible misrepresentation.
I don’t think it would be hyperbole to call him “history’s greatest monster”.
Any While we’re Waiting that starts with a Hunter Thompson reference is a great While we’re Waiting.
One other pop-culture suggestion for Benjamin. When he breaks a long return, play the music from the scene in Snatch when the Gypsies bet Turkish and Tommy when they are hare coursing.
Invitation I’d refuse: Thanksgiving dinner at the Reilly home this year.
Believe I’ve watched the replay of Benjamin’s TD 10 times at least. His first sharp cut to the left of the field, eluding tacklers both in front and behind, was one of the best return moves I’ve ever seen. Totally different than the north-south/explode through a small seam style that Cribbs made so effective in his prime.
why would you refuse that invitation? a great melodrama playing out in front of you while you dine on your turkey sounds delightful.
it has always infuriated me how many returners just allow the punter/kicker to guide them out of bounds rather than cut back across the field. when Benjamin did just that it was beautiful (different cut than the one you mention, but another important move).
I hear ya. I have 2 thoughts about that frequent occurrence:
– The kicker trains to do only one non-kicking thing: exploit the angle and save the touchdown.
– The returner is often pretty gassed at that point and is sometimes just finishing off another tackler as the kicker meets him.
Regardless, you know every returner gets crap in the film room when he’s denied the end zone by a guy who couldn’t make any college team at a different position.
Second note to self: refuse invite from the Bodes.
well, you just saved me a stamp.
Because there isn’t enough drama in our lives? LOL If you need a “melodrama playing out in front of you”…just throw on the TV at Thanksgiving dinner and have some sort of Soap Opera on repeat.
I just prefer a live dinner theater 🙂
what’s a stamp?
I’ll actually be in Austin Sunday .. . is there a Browns Backers bar there? In the unlikely event I can escape just after arrival. I know they’re not telecasting a Detroit-Cleve game anywhere close to there.
of course: http://tcabrownsbackers.com/
one downtown and another in North Austin. if you need any tips on where to eat, what to see, etc. please let me know. also, if you have the time to meet up while in town, then also let me know.
It was clear that he was upset after the P knocked him out the first time, and there was no way he was letting that happen again.
Just saw that Grantland posted the Bill Simmons/Jalen Rose preview of the Cavs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6n3CYaQoio
I actually liked all of the ones I had seen from #30 (76ers) down to #22 (Hawks). Then Simmons brings in the Cavs at #21 (seems too low even if Bynum doesn’t play). He and Jalen then talk about LeBron for a couple minutes (of course). They assume the Cavs will be standing around watching Kyrie on offense like in years past with Mike Brown/LBJ and are ignorant of Igor Kokoskov and the influence he had on those high-powered Suns offenses. They assume that the Cavs will trade for either Rudy Gay or Pau Gasol if it looks like they’re not going to land LeBron next summer (no idea how they would even guess at this by the trade deadline). And to top it all off, Jalen talks about loving The Flats (bonus points), but then talks about how it’s a blue collar atmosphere there (hardly) and that it sits on the shores of Lake Michigan (geography fail). Pretty disappointing.
what more can you really expect from a UM guy?
fabulous