Ever Gonna Lerner?

Went to a press conference today for the Browns. Randy Lerner as expected fired Romeo Crennel. Romeo and Phil Savage were tied at the hip. I did not expect Romeo to make it thourgh this ticking time bomb of a season. Savage was a slight surprise. I thought he may get demoted. Either way, seeing a new regime will please some of the fans who thought that this duo was far from dynamic.

 My biggest gripe is with Lerner. This guy is so disconnected with the franchise that he thinks it’s okay to continue to have press conferences off camera. This is not your father’s era Randy. You can’t huddle a bunch of writers and tape recorders in a room and expect to receive good p-r. You just fired the two faces of your franchise and you decide that you’ll just have 30 members come up to a private office with no cameras because you don’t like being on camera. I get it. It’s his money, his team, yadda, yadda, yadda. I understand you’re not comfortable being on camera. TOUGH!!!! You are one of 32 people who are majority owners of an NFL franchise. You owe your devoted fans who buy your team’s merchandise, sell out your stadium, drink your overpriced beverages an explanation on camera about why you’re blowing up your toy yet again. YOU OWE THEM!!!!

This may not be your passion like it was your father’s, but I’m sure you enjoy the comfort that your father’s passion keeps you living in. You don’t believe 10 minutes on camera to tell the fans why you want to go another direction is justified? You don’t think they should hear (and see) you explain why they should keep believing in a franchise that has delivered 2 winning seasons in the 10 years that it’s been back on the lakefront. A franchise that has 1 playoff appearance in 10 seasons!?!?

Randy…Let me level with you. A change needed to be made with the organization. When you hire your next GM and in-turn your next head coach make it count. I know you won’t subject yourself to the public ridicle if you make the wrong decision, but the people of Cleveland deserve better than a reluctant owner AND a bad football team.

Romeo’s Last Stand…

Romeo Crennel is in Pittsburgh getting ready for likely his final  game as head coach of the Browns. Romeo has been ripped by the media and the fans for a crummy season. In fact Romeo’s been ripped for 3 bad seasons out of 4 as head coach. Let me be one of the few people to defend Romeo. He’s not free of blame by far. Romeo is the head coach and when teams lose, coaches get fired. Make no mistake. It looks like Romeo is being setup to be the fallguy for an orginization that needs some orginization. The Browns are in disarray and it doesn’t just sit solely at Romeo’s feet. If you want to criticize game management and challenge flags, Romeo’s been guilty. If you want to criticize player personnel that falls in GM Phil Savage’s lap. The Browns should have never started the season with this group of linebackers and secondary. While the defense has gotten better during the season, the defense gave away two critical games to Baltimore and Denver that started the dominoes to fall in this disappointing season. The players almost to a man seem to have Romeo’s back, it’s unfortunate that hasn’t translated to the field. Romeo will likely be fired with the next few days. He’ll be fine. He can work next year as another team’s defensive coordinator if he chooses. Or sit at home and enjoy his free money. I just want all the Browns fans to know that just because Romeo leaves doesn’t mean all of your problems are going away.

Believe the Hype…Cavs have Championship Swagger

No one on the corner got swagger like us…..The lyrics from the hottest song in hip hop right now. Those lyrics may as well be the theme song to the Cavs season. LeBron James has always been a phenom. Now he’s got the pieces around him to make a run to the title. I know what you’re thinking. It’s only December. How can you make that statement? When you look at how the Cavs are constructed they can play any kind of ball. They can go small. They can play big. They have shooters. They have guys who can create their own shot. They’ve got the best player in the world.  On top of all that they have completely bought in to the philosphy that defense wins championships. During the 11 game win streak LeBron was sitting during most 4th quarters not because the Cavs were putting up 120 points a game, it was because the Cavs were holding teams to 86 points a game. Offensively Mo Williams allows LeBron to play off the ball. What a difference that’s made in LBJ’s game. He can roam on the offensive end without the burden of having double teams attack him on the perimeter. The Cavs are going to give teams fits all season.

One last thing…Let me give some love to Zydrunas Ilgaukas for becoming the Cavs all-time leading rebounder. Props Big Z!

Browns Down…Again

The 4-9 Browns were beaten to a pulp by Tennessee. What could we really expect? Ken Dorsey is a really nice guy, but he’s a 3rd string quarterback. No team in the NFL is going to survive a season with their 3rd stringer. Look at Dallas this season when Romo went down. Yuck! The Browns were playing on the road against the argubly the best team in football with a guy who was cut by this team last season. You knew what outcome was before the team plane touched down in Nashville.

There’s 3 games left in the season and if the Browns even come close to winning a game with the way this team looks right now I’ll be surprised. (One of the remaining games is against 1 win Cincinnati at the Stadium) I don’t think these guys are going to quit on Romeo Crennel, but it doesn’t matter at this point. Crennel’sl fate was decided weeks ago. He’s playing out the season and going down with his head held high. It’s too bad this will likely be his last chance as a head coach in the NFL.

The Browns are staring at their 8th losing season in 10 years since returning back to the Lakefront. There’s no quick fix this offseason. With a weaker  schedule next season and a high first round draft pick, optimism will return as soon as the weather turns. However as you know living in Cleveland, it seems like it takes forever for the weather to turn.