Browns preparing for Johnny Manziel to start against Titans
September 14, 2015Browns ranked 25th most valuable franchise in NFL
September 15, 2015Happy Tuesday, WFNY!
I hope everyone is finally coming out of their post-Browns misery hangover by now. I kind of am. Mostly, I’m just numb. Sunday was one of the most disheartening season openers. It’s not like I had crazy high hopes for this team. But to see the defense and offensive line, the two supposed strengths of this team, perform so poorly was just tough to take.
And the worst part of all might have been the penalties. It’s tough when dealing with professional athletics to know how much blame for things falls on the coaches vs the players. I know an abundance of penalties often reflects quite poorly on the coaching staff. But my goodness, these are professionals. I wouldn’t think coaches would have to remind them to pay attention to the snap count and not to hold. All around, it was just a poor performance and I really don’t have much/anything else to say about that game. So I suppose we can find some other stuff to talk about? Maybe?
*****
Not a great weekend for the Buckeyes, either
I know, I know. A 38-0 win shouldn’t be a bad thing. But Ohio State’s standards are a little different this season. I was listening to Chris Spielman’s radio show here in Columbus on Monday, and I loved his take on the game.
Spielman made the point that Ohio State clearly has more talent than any other team on their schedule. That isn’t up for debate. You could argue they have the most talent of any team in the country. So Spielman was making the point that Ohio State’s performance can’t be judged by how they play against their opponents. Their own standard is how they perform compared to their own excellence.
And on that scale, Saturday’s game was a failure. An offensive line that controlled the line of scrimmage in such dominating fashion against Wisconsin, Alabama, and Oregon last year struggled all afternoon against Hawaii. Darryl Baldwin was good, but he alone doesn’t account for drop off in performance. Ohio State’s offensive line simply didn’t live up to their own excellence.
The quarterbacks both played pretty poorly on Saturday. Sure, losing receivers like Devin Smith and Evan Spencer hurts, but you still have Michael Thomas, Jalin Marshall, Braxton Miller, Corey Smith, etc. The quarterbacks simply didn’t play up to their own excellence.
And that’s the challenge for Ohio State this year. These guys are college kids. Being inconsistent is often part of the program. And when you throw in the fact that human nature allows last season’s success to nag in the back of their minds, it only makes it tougher. And that’s the thing. It’s hard to stay hungry when you just dined on a feast. When you wake up at 5 am to hit the weight room, it’s harder to push yourself to improve and get better when you know if you fail, you already have that Championship to fall back on. It’s easy to think that your talent alone will carry you.
I’m not saying complacency has totally sunk in. I’m simply saying this Ohio State team hasn’t played up to their own standard so far this season. There are plenty of reasons for it, some of which are mentioned above, but others unmentioned as well. It’s early, and Ohio State has an insanely easy schedule. They have time to figure it out and I’d rather they peak later in the season than right now anyway.
I still think the quarterback situation is less than ideal. I don’t love changing QBs in the first half. I want Ohio State to just have their guy and ride or die with him. I don’t love the way they are using Ezekiel Elliott right now. I haven’t been super impressed with receivers so far. I’ve felt the linebackers have played pretty inconsistently. There’s plenty to work on still.
So again, I recognize, it feels odd to be pointing out the negatives when OSU has outscored their opponents 80-24 through two games. But I want the standards to be higher. I don’t care so much about the score, I care about the manner if which that score was achieved. It can be cleaner, and I hope they get there. I have no doubts that Urban Meyer and his staff will get a lot of this cleaned up before the end of the season.
*****
I love the LeBron James voluntary camp
One of my bigger complaints the first time LeBron was in Cleveland was that I felt he wasn’t always attached to the team in the offseason. I know LeBron works incredibly hard on his own game in the offseason. But he never seemed to recruit free agents to come to Cleveland and he didn’t always seem to be totally in touch with the team.
This time around, we are seeing a completely different LeBron, and I am loving it. The voluntary workouts he is conducting with his teammates are great for building teamwork and chemistry. Sure, I would love it if Tristan Thompson were there, but seeing LeBron, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, Mo Williams, Anderson Varejao, Joe Harris, JR Smith, Iman Shumpert, Richard Jefferson, and Sasha Kaun all getting together and working is just awesome.
And when you juxtapose the images of the Browns performance on Sunday with the photos of the players at the workouts, it has me more excited than ever for the upcoming Cavaliers season.
Media Day is usually in late September, and the Cavaliers’ first preseason game is October 7. So yeah, we’re less than a month away from Cavaliers basketball! I cannot wait for this season!
*****
New Music of the Week
Growing up, my musical hero was Chris Cornell. While Pearl Jam was always my favorite band, Cornell was my favorite singer and musician. There’s just something about his incredible voice that always resonated so deeply with me. Sure, Soundgarden was great. But with Cornell, I really fell in love with his music through Temple of the Dog. And then, when I stumbled upon the Singles soundtrack and heard his solo track “Seasons”, my life was changed.
I was fortunate to see Cornell on his solo tour in support of his first solo album, “Euphoria Morning” in 2000. It was an incredible show, but the best part was when Cornell said “Let’s see how many of you know this one…”
And then he played the opening riff to Seasons. I was frozen. Transfixed and transformed, chills pouring down my spine, every hair on my arm standing at attention. It was my single favorite concert moment of my life. While “Seasons” is more well known today thanks to Cornell’s recent acoustic Songbook tours, at the time, the song was this forgotten gem. But it was MY favorite song ever.
In recent years, my enthusiasm for Cornell’s music has waned, and I’ve had a harder time defending his output. His album in which he collaborated with Timbaland was an unmitigated trainwreck and embarrassment. It was so bad Trent Reznor actually tweeted “You know that feeling you get when somebody embarrasses themselves so badly YOU feel uncomfortable? Heard Chris Cornell’s record? Jesus”.
But no matter what, I will forever love Cornell’s music and when he releases an album, I will pay attention to it. His Songbook tours have been a massive success and a true return to his roots. On Friday, Cornell releases his newest solo album, “Higher Truth”.
I haven’t heard the album yet, so I can’t give it my full stamp of approval. But it will get my full attention. I’m excited to hear it and I hope it lives up to the stuff he’s been playing on his solo tours. I will have high hopes for it because deep down, I know that anyone capable of writing a song like “Seasons” will always be capable of greatness.
*****
That’s all I have this week. I’m going to the Browns game this Sunday and I am equal parts excited and indifferent. Expect the worst, hope for the best, I suppose. Oh well, either way, I hope everyone enjoy the rest of their week. And Go Browns!
40 Comments
I met Chris Cornell once and totally geeked out. I had a hard time saying much besides, “I think you’re awesome.” Super embarrassing.
Great pic, but I’m done with Cupcake.
Good to see the team is in good spirits and moving forward without him.
Where’s Moz?
Jeez, if people are going to be this bummed over a 38-0 win, I would really hate to see what happens if the Bucks should *gasp* lose a game. Look, they came off a Monday night game and were playing a lackluster opponent. They were flat. They’re not machines. And they still mauled Hawai’i.
Let it go. Everything’s going to be alright.
that’s awesome … that’s the power of music & what it can do for the human soul.
And how creepy does Sasha Kaun look?
Do you think Iman Shumpert just yells out, “My team is skins” and takes his shirt off the second he walks in the door? Me too.
Man it sure would be nice if some Cleveland team was in the playoff hunt right now… oh wait…
http://blog.cleveland.com/everything/2008/05/its%20tribe%20time%20now.gif
If he wasn’t significantly taller than these 6’8″ players, I’d think that he was some random dude with a great photobomb.
The Tribe is .500.
The Browns are only one game out of the AFC North lead.
C’mon. It’s great to be a Cleveland fan right now!
Andy’s standing on his tip-toes.
So you’re wondering what I would do if I was Urban Meyer? Glad you asked.
I would keep a locker filled with all of the championship rings. A player doesn’t get his ring until he leaves the university, preferably through graduation, in which case, there will be an additional token associated with the ring. A coach doesn’t get his ring for 4 years, or until he leaves. Let’s see how many rings you get when you check out.
how happy is mo williams?
If you watched Empire, then you would know that is exactly what he does.
Ah, but they ring is theirs, all theirs, they earned it. But, if they attempt to sell that ring before they leave the university, then HOW DARE YOU! THAT IS EVIL! KEEP YOUR RINGS AND YOUR GOLD PANTS TOO!
Oops, sorry, my NCAA frustration is showing again.
Tied with both Pitt and Balt in the AFCN. And, you know Dalton will blow it later in the season like he always does. So, the division is ours for the taking.
The ring IS theirs, and perhaps they earned it, but who paid for it?
And by keeping the rings secured, I’m eliminating a serious temptation for those players to do something naughty with it. (Sure, sure, even if it’s something that every other human being has an inalienable right to do. Forget that. I’m Urban Meyer.)
Reunited and it feeeels so gooooood!
Empire! Yeah!
TT will no longer be known as Cupcake.
He is henceforth…Boo-Boo Kitty!
He’s at the Beer Garden. Fantastic food, fantastic people, fantastic…
All of the “important” guys were in attendance Timo was excused so he could go pick up his award from GQ I believe I read somewhere.
https://localtvwjw.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/wahoo.jpg
http://www.growthenergy.org/images/sized/images/uploads/coolaid-bursting-through-the-wall-1754_preview-256×256.jpg
Just imagine Mo and JR in the backcourt no three point attempt will be safe!
I believe their blood, sweat, tears, and concussion symptoms on the field are what led people to put down their hard-earned money for merchandise and tickets and thus paid for the rings.
All ya’ll better just stay away from my Cookie!
https://gastroagogo.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/cookie-monster.gif
That’s sentimentally fine, but at the end of the day, the university buys the rings. Rings are a construct, forged by winners to acknowledge their own accomplishment. They aren’t actually earned, though. They’re purchased in an “I love me” moment of victory.
I think Michigan bought rings to celebrate their win over the lesser Oregon school.
Michigan buys rings when they get a 2 star recruit.
No, they buy the recruiting service to turn that 2 star recruit into a 4 star recruit!
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Link please.
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=13637085
State University of Ohio fans shoud never criticize other teams sideline behavior. 😉
http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view2/1373972/woody-hayes-punches-a-player-o.gif
http://i.imgur.com/uGaai0k.gif
Difference being he never coached again while majority of UM fans are breathlessly waiting the next words of wisdom from the crybaby
🙂
He was right.
I miss him. Can you bring him back as a mascot or something? Good times, good times.
No!
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