Cleveland Fan Limo

It wasn’t pretty, but the Browns finally go on the board.  The run game looked good today and the passing game was pathertic for 3 quarters.  DA looked all right in the 4th quarter and did enough for the win.  I thin it should be a two week competiton for the starting job.  I’m ready for Brady Quinn.

We get the bye week to figure things out.  The were still very sloppy today.  I think there were two maybe three offsides that kept drives alive for the Bengals.  That can’t happen.  Edwards have another brain cramp getting flagged for a late hit too.  At least they should be able to get these things straightened out.  We hope. 

Baby steps.  We have to take baby steps. 

GO BROWNS

Why do we do this to ourselves week in and week out as Cleveland sports fans.  We just get excited to have our hearts ripped out. 

DA is not the answer.  How many times does the guy have to throw into triple coverage before he gets the hook.  When does the Brady Quinn era begin?  Third quarter against the Bengals, a start against the world champion Giants on Monday night?  Who knows?  Can RAC save his job?  Will this team show any signs of life?  Thank goodness we have a couple more weeks until we have to go see them live and in person again. 

Anyone want to start scouting for the 2009 draft? 

GO BROWNS!

Ok, so its been a few days now.  I think we all have had some time to think things over and maybe cool down a bit. 

First the good.  Things in the Pit were great again.  We had a great time before the game.  We were able to set-up shop with plenty of room to spread out, throw the football around, play cornhole and just relax.  The sun was shiny for the first half of our 8 hour extravaganza so that made things nicer.  However the winds were blowing right from the beginning.   I know the advisories didn’t start until sometime after 2, but if you were there before that you can attest to gusts well above 20  mph right from the get-go.   We were fighting the tent all from the time we put it up until we took it down.  That didn’t deter us.  We ate well, pepperoni bread, Cuban sandwiches, cheese-steaks, chips, etc.  There was plenty to drink.  The only issue was that we still couldn’t get the Directv figured out.  I think we haev an older dish with a newer box.  We have a few weeks to get that taken care of though. 

As for the game . . .  It was obvious from the onset that the weather was going to be a factor and it was.  I’m not going to re-hash the details, but rather bring up a few points.  I know RAC has taken a beating this week and for some things I think he should, however the players have to execute and they  didn’t.  The only bright spot in my mind is/was the play of Shaun Rogers.  If/when they turn this season around and are able to keep him motivated Rogers will really solidify their defense.  He was an absolute monster in there.  For a guy well over 300 pounds his is very quick.  Browns fans have had nothing like him in the last 10 years.  I hope he keeps it up.  Our special teams play was very good too.  So that was the good, now for the rest . . .

As for the offenses, well that is another story all together.  I am not sure, but I think DA might just be dumb.  One thing I have seen of him in the last 18 games as a starter is that he is not a very good field general.  DA is not improving in pressure situations.  He does not get the team back to the line in a hurry, there is no sense of urgency in any of their movements and he just doesn’t seem to have a very good mental clock, both in terms of the current play and game situation.  The worst thing about the drive at the end of the half is not the pick, sure it was bad, but even if Steptoe catches the ball he doesn’t get in the end zone and no points are scored.  High School QBs in that situation know that they look at their #1 receiver and if he is not open you put it through the uprights, how does DA not know this.  Those 3 points look pretty important now.  Then again in the final FG drive they are slow to get to the line taking up plenty of time.  DA needs to step up and take charge, so far he hasn’t done that.  Braylon needs to catch the ball.  He is leading the NFL in drops, who cares if you make the spectacular catch if you can’t catch the ball when you are wide-open and it hits you in the hands.  We need to see big things out of both of you this week.

As for some of the coaching decisions.  I’m all right with the FG with 3:30 left in the game.  You have all of your TOs with the 2 minute warning.  The Steelers didn’t really move the ball at all in the second half so if you can get a 3 and out from them you still have over 2 minutes to get in the end zone.  I have no problem with the KO approach either right there.  You are hoping it hits the ground again and who knows what may happen.  I am not happy with the substitutions, K2 was out of the game on critical 3rd down plays and on the final drive.  What is that? Also when the Steelers had the ball on their own 2 why aren’t we blitzing.  Bring the friggin house on that 2nd down play.  Ben had all day to find Holmes 25 yards down field.  That brings me to another point on that play, why is Eric Wright leaving his man to go get the QB, you are 30 yards away from him, someone will tackle him before you do.  This brings me to the final point, there is a serious lack of discipline on this team.  RAC is way too soft on his players.  They still did not look ready to play NFL football and we were in week 2 of the regular season.  These guys need a drill seagent in theere.  Someone to come in and lay down the law.  Too many pre-play penalties.  Both of your star WRS get called for false starts or illegal shifts, come on that is a problem. 

There is still a lot of time to turn things around.  Let’s start it this week..

GO BROWNS!  TAMPA BOUND IN 2009!

I need at least 24 hours to digest that from last night maybe more.  Check back later.

Report will be up later today. Thanks.

Well the weekend is upon us, and boy is it a biggie.  The new Metallica CD hit the stores today.  The Summit County Holy war takes place (Hoban hv. St. V, should be one of the better one since the return of the series).  Akron opens their final season at the Rubber Bowl tomorrow afternoon, with a conference game against Ball State.  I think there is some other game on Saturday night in So Cal.  Oh yeah, it’s the men of Troy and the Buckeyes.  Then we have the showdown Sunday night in CBS against the Steelers.  This could make for a long day on Sunday but we are prepared.  Food, fun, and good company will be a plenty all day long.

Hopefully our beloved Brownies can mirror the start of the 2007 season.  A less than inspiring home opener followed up by one of the most entertaining games in Browns history against a division rival.  You know all fans are going to be ready, it seems as though the question lately is will the team be.  Hopefully the answer will be yes.  We are all tired of losing to the Steelers.  A win on Sunday will go a long way in the fight to win the AFC North.  It will give the team a big shot of confidence after last week. 

Gotta go for now.  Time to watch the Buckeyes. 

Hopefully our Brownies stop the bleeding fo rus fans.  Hoban, Akron and the Buckeyes all losing has made this  a pretty sucky weekend so far.  The Browns can change all of that with a big win tonight.  The march to Tampa begins now.

So it has been a couple of days,  we all needed that break.  Maybe the rain should have clued us all in that maybe the day wasn’t going to go as planned.  Who knows.

 First the good.  We got the limo all packed up and headed for our new Sunday afternoon home.  After several years tailgating in one spot we had to move on.  That first turn at the Justice Center would be a little tough in the limo.  Our baby ran like a dream.  We got plenty of thumbs up, horn blasts, waves and other greetings on the drive up. We pulled into the Pit and while we were paying got our first compliments.  In a couple of short minutes we were at our new spot and met same great people.  As we were setting up several others came up and commented on our new ride and to take a look inside.  Things were starting to get better already.

We got the grill fired up and starting grilling some breakfast.  Sausage, eggs and English muffins, nothing like some egg sandwiches to get you ready for the day.  The next couple of hours were spent just sort of milling around entertaining ourselves and our friends from the old lot who stopped down for a visit. As the rain stopped and the sun started to break things really started to turn out great.  The lot was getting fuller the temperature was rising and the intensity level was surely on the rise.  Time to get the corn-hole out and toss the football a little.  A big group of our friends joined us for the rest of the day and our party was really starting to roll.  Next thing we knew we were getting re-acquinted with old friends we hadn’t seen in several years.  What could be better, Steaks on the grill.  So we fired her back up and got the steaks out.  By this time one of our neighbors had gotten his TV set-up with the NFL Sunday ticket and we were all set.  Football, on Tv, playing catch, a little cornhole, good food and drinks.  Oh yeah, the game was going to start in a couple of hours.  A lot of the same until it was time to start packing up to head over to the stadium.

The walk over to CBS was great.  Nothing like being in a group of passionate people all headed to see the same thing.  The energy was awesome.  The lines into the stadium weren’t too bad if you walked past the first entrance you got to (don’t know why most people think there are only two entrances to CBS and only on the south side of the stadium if you just walk a little further you can get right in).  None of us were blessed with an over eager sceener (no cheap feels or thrills, maybe next week) and we were in.  Made it in time to see the giant flag (covered the entire field), saw TBDBITL play the national anthem, and unbeknowst to us at the time the highlight of our trip into the stadium the fly-by of the 2 C-130s (those pilots are amazing to have those huge things so slow and low and as close together as they were, that will never get old to me).  Cowboys won the toss and elected to defer (on a beuatiful day liek Sunday deferring makes no sense but that is a topic for another discussion), so the Browns took the ball.

Let’s get it on, time for the kick-off.  That first drive was promising, but cut short on a botched snap then a forced punt.  Cowboys marched right down the field and scored (okay a lot of points are going up today, right).  Browns did the same, 7 - 7, first team to 40 wins.  At least that’s how it looked at this point.  Not much else really note worthy happened in the game.  Cowboys scored a few more times and thank God the Browns kicked a FG with 10 minutes left in the game and down 3 scores.  Nothing like telling the fans to go home right then and there.  No real reason to dwell on that fiasco. 

A couple of observations:  1) Why can’t the Browns be ready for game 1.  This is the 4th home opener in a row that they were really unprepared for, very disappointing.  2) I get that Braylon had 3 drops in the 1st quarter, 2 were definitely his fault the first was way under-thrown, however to just ignore one of the top 5 receivers in the league for 3quarters is inexcusable.  3)  The Cowboys are very good, but they have CB depth issues.  Edwards was getting open all day, Anderson jsut stopped throwing to him.  4)  Again I can’t say how disappointing it is to see your team open the season so flat year in and year out.  Do they do it to temper our enthusiasm for the season, lower our expectations, I just don’t get it.  Enough of all that, let get ready for the Steelers. 

At least I was able to put Sunday behind me and play in a great golf outing Monday.  Capped it off by watching an awesome new episode of Prison Break (highly recommended to anyone who has never watched it.  I have not been so into a TV show since the A-Team, yes the A-Team).  A preview of the Steelers will be forthcoming.  Pics too.  I hope to have the gallery updated by the end of the week. 

GO BROWNS!!  STILL TAMPA BOUND!

We can’t wait for Sunday morning to debut our baby.   We went from a few guys with a dream to the proud owners of this

Sunday morning will be the start to a journey that we hope takes us, our beloved Brownies, and our baby to Tampa.  We are going all out for this first week.  Steaks on the grill, a TV connected to Directv for our choice of pre-game entertainment, cornhole and who knows whatever else we think of before Sunday morning.

Check back Monday for a review of our day at the game.