Charlie Frye’s first night in Cleveland Stadium was one to forget. He threw an interception, fumbled a snap and didn’t show the leadership necessary to be a starting quarterback in the NFL. This was my concern at the end of last year and continues to be this year. We have an offense, even without LeCharles Bentley, that has enough talent to move the ball on the ground and through the air.

The success of this offense will be based more on Frye’s decisions than his talent. A young quarterback’s ability to let the game come to him is a huge factor in their success. Charlie tends to force the action and that usually gets him in trouble. The more Frye talks to Bernie Kosar, a master of understanding the game, the better off the Browns will be.

Coach Romeo Crennel and the Browns organization will need a great deal of patience while giving Frye the experience he needs to be successful.

The Ohio State Buckeyes are ranked number one in the first USA Today poll. Texas is second. This is good and bad news for Ohio State. The short history of games matching number one against two, Ohio State is 2-0. The most recent match up was against The Miami Hurricanes in the Championship game.
The attention of being number one could weigh heavy against a team that has two early nationally televised night games.
The Buckeyes have never been a successful team playing when the sun goes down, but the national attention will force them to play more evening and night contests. Coach Tressel and his team will be tested early in the year; the first five weeks may determine the season.

The season has gone belly up on the Tribe and many mistakes have been made. But getting rid of Eric Wedge is not the solution, according to ABJ writer Terry Pluto. Amidst the team’s disappointment and struggles, Shapiro says Wedge will definitely be back next season.

“It would be absurd'’ to fire Wedge, he said. “He was second in the voting for manager of the year last season. In his first three years, he took a team from 68 to 80 to 93 wins. This has been a horrific, painful year. All of us need to take responsibility and take a close look at what went wrong.'’

“It’s too easy to make a manager a scapegoat — and at the first real sign of adversity, to fire him. We are all accountable, but I also think this season will make us all better.'’

Pluto acknowledges that both Shapiro and Wedge have made their fair share of bad decisions this season. Shapiro’s errors include the signing of Jason Johnson, not signing Bob Howry, and the whole Boone situation. Wedge’s failures come from pushing Vazquez over Phillips and being too patient with his players. Shapiro and Wedge are in a “partnership” together and it doesn’t seem like anything will change that. As Pluto argues though, the team’s failures have more to do with talent than anything else.

Everything is pointing toward 2007, and the collapse of the team this season should do more than cause Shapiro and Wedge to revise some of their thinking. It screams for ownership to supply more money for the player payroll.

What this season shows is that the talent level wasn’t nearly as gifted or as deep as the Indians once believed.