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Lakers move on from Mike Brown

November 12, 2012 /

Is anyone surprised that the Los Angeles Lakers fired Mike Brown? Bill Simmons had a pretty funny take on the situation.

This Week 10 picks column is dedicated to the immortal Mike Brown, the only person who ever figured out a way to stop LeBron James and someone on whom I was counting to screw up the 2012-13 Lakers season. If you noticed, I rarely if ever made Mike Brown jokes in columns or podcasts or even on TV — I was hoping he’d hang around for years and years and years, almost like the coaching version of an STD. Mike Brown was the kind of guy who shrugged off halftime adjustments and thought it would be smart to have Steve Nash run the Princeton offense — which is something you run when you have future lawyers and doctors running your team, not someone who’s one of the smartest offensive point guards of all time. The Mike Brown era was like planting my own personal mole into every Lakers season. As an avowed Laker hater, this is a tough day. I’m not gonna lie.

R.I.P., the Mike Brown Lakers era. May we reach those same beautiful heights again someday soon. And on that note, let’s bounce back with some Week 10 NFL winners.

I’m sure many Cavs fans can appreciate this.

Cleveland Browns

Jimmy Haslam introduces Joe Banner as Browns CEO

October 17, 2012 /


Image source: Browns Official Facebook Page

In another impressive news conference, Jimmy Haslam introduced Joe Banner to the Cleveland media today. We heard many of things that we often hear when a new regime takes over, but for the first time the chief executive was joined by an owner who is committed to being involved in the management of the franchise. After Randy Lerner’s absentee ownership, Haslam and Banner came across as a breath of fresh air.

Many in the media are quite giddy, and for good reason. Just having a leader like Jimmy Haslam coupled with a smart and capable NFL executive should bode well for the Browns in the future. That said, nothing Joe Banner said was materially different from what Mike Holmgren said when he took over as team president. The goal was to get a team of smart people who would all be on the same page working towards a common goal. Both emphasized building through the draft. Banner seems open to strategically using free agency, but he emphasized that free agents can be counterproductive if you sign them before a team is ready to compete.

Frankly, Holmgren has started a youth movement with the Browns that should provide a nice foundation for Haslam and Banner, regardless of whether they keep Tom Heckert and Pat Shurmur. On that front they seem genuine in their statements that both men will be evaluated at the end of the year. But assuming they don’t do something stupid, like bring in a GM and head coach who want to run the 3-4 over the 4-3, they should be fine as long as they can identify good coaches and GM candidates. I do hope they keep Heckert, and Shurmur should get consideration if he turns the season around, but Haslam and Banner need to get comfortable with these guys.

On offense, the system matters less, as all of these players can fit into another system. But on defense, switching to the 3-4 and in effect throwing away three productive drafts that have built the foundation of a good defensive front would be idiotic. I don’t expect that.

Many are enjoying kicking Mike Holmgren while he’s down, but his legacy is hardly set in stone. He and Heckert have gone with a dramatic youth movement. If the Browns are in the playoffs in the next couple of years with guys like Trent Richardson, Josh Gordon, Brandon Weeden, Phil Taylor and Joe Haden leading the way, many of us will happily credit Holmgren and Heckert for building the foundation of that success.

Cleveland Browns

Jimmy Haslam approved as new Browns owner

October 16, 2012 /

It’s official. Jimmy Haslam has been approved by the NFL owners as the new owner of the Cleveland Browns, ending the disappointing Lerner era.

Now we can move from the silly speculation we hear every day on talk radio to hearing from Haslam himself along with Joe Banner.

Everyone seems to have an opinion on what he’ll do. I’m just going to wait and listen. Based on what Haslam has said so far, he’ll probably make more changes to the business side of the Browns operation before he makes changes to the football operations. Also, he’s expressed his philosophy of building through the draft, so we can expect him to build upon the current youth movement.

It’s been reported that he’ll wait until the end of the season to make changes to the football operations. Let’s see if he confirms that today or tomorrow. It would be the smart thing to do. Regardless of your opinions of Pat Shurmur, Tom Heckert and Mike Holmgren, we should wait until the end of this season before passing judgement on the rebuilding process. Just several weeks ago, some talking heads were ready to write of Josh Gordon for example, but after the past two games he looks like a real threat at the wide receiver position. And of course we had some fans calling for Brandon Weeden’s head after his awful debut, but we’ve since seen him develop nicely.

I’m excited about the new ownership. Randy Lerner was loyal to Cleveland and he spent money, but the man was clueless. Let’s hope Haslam’s business experience leads to a better era for Browns football. It can’t be much worse.

Cleveland Browns

The Braxton Miller Show

September 22, 2012 /


Image source: Ohio State Football Facebook page

That pretty much describes the Ohio State Buckeyes so far in 2012.

The special teams have been terrible. Last week they gave up a punt return for a touchdown. This week it was a pathetic blocked punt.

The defense has been disappointing. They’ve had their moments, and the unit has real potential, but we don’t see a dominating unit, at least not yet.

Meanwhile, on offense, the Buckeyes can’t seem to get much going until Miller start cutting a spinning his way to some incredible runs. His passing has improved, so now he’s a legitimate dual threat quarterback, but he excels when he’s running with the ball.

He doesn’t have quite the speed of a Denard Robinson, and he isn’t quite as strong as Terrelle Pryor, but as a runner Miller is just as good as both of them. He has the natural moves and cutting ability of an elite running back as he seems to effortlessly cut through defenses.

We’ll see if this Ohio State team can get better as they work their way through a mediocre Big Ten schedule, but so far they’re being carried by Braxton Miller.

OSU Football

Trent Richardson powers new Browns offense

September 19, 2012 /


Image source: Browns Facebook page

The hysterical talk after the week one debacle was just too much. I couldn’t listen to local sports talk, as I knew some fans would be consumed by emotion as they labeled Trent Richardson and Brandon Weeden busts after just one game. It wasn’t just Browns fans, as the experts on ESPN and other outlets were having a field day with Weeden’s anemic quarterback rating. It also affected the betting lines of course, as everyone follows the crowd even when they’re into sports betting over the Internet, when instead they should be looking for ways to go counter to the emotional masses. Yes, the Browns either pushed or barely covered against the Bengals last week, but so many people thought that the Browns were finished and that they had to think about starting Colt McCoy.

Of course, things were much different on Sunday in Cincinnati, but before we get to Weeden we have to address Trent Richardson, as he’s the engine that will drive this offense. TRich was obviously rusty in week one against a very tough Philly defense, but he exploded against the Bengals and showed us everything he showed in college. A stud like Richardson gives every offense hope, and now the Browns can build an attack around Richardson, while taking some pressure off of their rookie quarterback. Look at what Ray Rice did for Joe Flacco. The same thing can happen here, and now Browns fans gave much more reason for optimism.

But we also saw that Weeden can also be a real quarterback when Richardson is running well. He rebounded from his brutal debut to post excellent stats. But this goes far beyond stats. Weeden was making throws that only the elite quarterbacks can make, and it’s no surprise that the Colt McCoy cheerleaders were quiet after this game.

None of us know whether Weeden will develop into an elite quarterback. But we saw that the Browns are correct in handing him the offense, as he has the talent that can be developed.

Now let’s see how fast this duo can make progress. The Browns are 0-2, but they face a Bill team at home that’s very beatable. Hopefully they can take that next step.

Cleveland Browns

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