Author: JEC (Page 13 of 46)

Random thoughts from the Panthers game

August 27, 2005 / JEC

Way too many mistakes from a Romeo Crennel-coached team in last night’s 23-20 loss. Granted, a number of those came late in the game when a bunch of third-string hopefuls and longshots were on the field, but the Browns made some crucial mistakes early in the game to extend a couple Carolina drives. Special teams breakdowns were especially damaging, particularly Carolina’s 44-yard kickoff return right before halftime that led to a go-ahead touchdown.

Braylon Edwards was less than impressive, wasn’t he? A dropped pass, a couple pre-snap mistakes, he stepped out of bounds on a play near the goal line, which led to a penalty. Plus, he had a couple chances to make some plays one-on-one but finished with four catches for just 10 yards. He’ll be good (though he has been known to drop his fair share of gimmes), but he’s got a lot of work ahead of him.

Tell me William Green doesn’t look like Ricky Williams. It’s the beard, obviously, but I’m thinking when you’ve got your own history of drug problems with the NFL, Ricky Williams is the last guy you want to be reminding people of. That said, if Lee Suggs can’t go in week one (and right now, it looks like that’s the case), I think Green’s earned the start with his stellar preseason stats and, more important, his newfound dedication. Coaches have been raving about Green all summer and while Reuben Droughns will play a significant role with this team this season, Green deserves to start in week one, and I’d love to see him turn his career — and his life — around.

I love Charlie Frye, and I’m not alone, as all the people chanting “Char-LIE!” last night proved. He’s going to be a good one. He’s got poise, he’s smart, he’s athletic — bottom line, he knows how to play football. Romeo would prefer to have Frye sit the bench all year so maybe Doug Johnson gets the backup job by default, but Frye certainly looked like the better quarterback last night, and in a year or two, he’s going to be a lot of fun to watch. After sitting through Ty Detmer, Tim Couch, Spurgon Wynn, Kelly Holcomb, Jeff Garcia and Luke McCown, I’m definitely looking forward to the Charlie Frye era, though as the PD’s Bud Shaw points out, it’d be unwise to rush Frye.

Could Brian Brennan wedge his nose any farther up Jim Brown’s ass during the telecast last night? It was sickening. At one point, Bob Golic asked Brown if he had any dogs at home because if he didn’t, he could always take Brennan home with him. Of course, Golic’s terrible too, which is funny considering how well brother Mike Golic does on ESPN Radio. In fact, they were so bad last night that I actually began to appreciate the hacks that CBS sends out each week during the regular season to do the Cleveland games, which is really saying something.

Cleveland Browns

Broncos ready to cut losses with Clarett?

August 27, 2005 / JEC

When it came time for Maurice Clarett to sign his rookie contract, he chose to forgo $410,000 in guaranteed money in favor of an incentive-laden deal that could?ve been worth as much as $7 million. At the time, the general consensus was that, while passing on the guaranteed cash showed just how confident Clarett was in his ability, it was a move that could come back to bite him in the ass. Now there’s talk that the Broncos are on the verge of cutting the underachieving Clarett, a move they probably wouldn’t consider had they owed the back a signing bonus.

Read more about this story at The Scores Report, the National Sports Blog.

OSU Football

Cavs announce moves, Ferry pleased

August 3, 2005 / JEC

Now that the NBA’s moratorium on signings and trades has (finally) been lifted, teams have begun to announce to the public deals the public has known about for weeks.

Tuesday, Cavaliers GM Danny Ferry talked about his summer spending spree that resulted in new deals with Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Larry Hughes and Donyell Marshall. “It’s been a successful free agency period. Each guy brings us something different and should help us be competitive. We’re trying to build a team-first attitude. I think these guys will all play that way.” Ferry also made it clear that Hughes was the team’s first choice, not Michael Redd or Ray Allen, to step in as the starting shooting guard. “His ability to play and defend different positions, I think, is going to be of great value. He’s 26 years old and his best years are ahead of him.”

While I’m not sure I believe the talk about Hughes being the top choice (they seemed to go after Redd pretty hard), I do believe Hughes is a better fit for this team, especially in light of the Donyell Marshall signing. I have to admit that I wasn’t very optimistic about the Ferry hire initially, but he’s done an excellent job so far, getting the guys he wanted to get and filling some gaping holes in the process. Plus, he’s still got a little change jingling around in his pocket, perhaps enough to sign an offensive point guard to share the load with Eric Snow. Meanwhile, the more I think about it, the more keeping Drew Gooden makes some sense. Don’t get me wrong — there’s also a compelling argument to be made for trading him — but at this point I think they’ll be fine whether Gooden’s in Cleveland next year or not.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Tribe holds off Yanks to take series opener

August 3, 2005 / JEC

Bob Wickman made it interesting but in the end, the Indians beat the visiting Yankees 6-5 Tuesday night. Victor Martinez continued to sizzle, going 2-3 with a home run and an RBI single, while Ronnie Belliard drove in three runs and Grady Sizemore tallied two hits and stole a base. Scott Elarton delivered a decent performance considering the opponent, yielding three runs on four hits in six innings, but after Arthur Rhodes and Bobby Howry surrendered single runs in the seventh and eighth, Wickman allowed the tying run to reach second base before getting Derek Jeter to ground to second for the final out of the game.

It was a significant win for the Indians, moving them to within 1.5 games of the Yankees in the wild card race, five behind front-runner Oakland. The question is, will they follow through tomorrow and Thursday? It seems that, whenever this team has been faced with the opportunity to improve their playoff chances, they fail. Let’s hope that trend ends this week.

Cleveland Indians

Jasikevicius chooses Indiana

July 25, 2005 / JEC

The Cavaliers reportedly wanted Lithuanian point guard Sarunas Jasikevicius, but so did Larry Bird. Well, Larry got his guy. ESPN is reporting that Jasikevicius has agreed to sign a three-year, $12 million deal with the Pacers Sunday. Doug Neusted, Jasikevicius’ agent, told ESPN, “It really came down to who he could win a championship with next year. He saw a chance to contribute and win and couldn’t pass it up.” I guess you can’t blame the guy for picking a quality organization like the Pacers, but I’m surprised he chose to leave (reportedly) more money and more minutes on the table in Cleveland, not to mention the opportunity to play with his best friend, Z. That said, I wasn’t as sold on him as some other people were, not for the Cavs, anyway. After the Larry Hughes signing I thought Jasikevicius made sense because the team was still in need of a three-point threat, but with Donyell Marshall on board that became less of a concern. And considering Jasikevicius’ noted defensive shortcomings, he just didn’t seem like a great fit.

Unfortunately, there aren’t many appealing options out there for the Cavs now at the point. The ABJ is still talking about Marko Jaric, but it doesn’t sound like they’ve got enough cap room to sign him and, besides, Jaric is a restricted free agent. That may be good news for Cavs fans, though, as Jaric has been injury prone throughout his brief NBA career and may very well end up making more money than he’s worth. The guy who probably would’ve made the most sense right now, Antonio Daniels, has already come to terms with the Washington Wizards. Of course, a Drew Gooden trade can never be ruled out but with how thin the Cavs’ frontline looks at the moment, I doubt they’ll move him for a guard. Want a dark horse candidate? How about free agent Gary Payton? He’s way past his prime and he’s got a big mouth, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Danny Ferry was at least kicking GP’s tires. Considering the other options out there, it makes sense.