Halfway Home: Treading Water, A Star Is Born
January 10, 2009I’m Happy the Browns are in the AFC
January 11, 2009I hate resolutions. It seems to me that, when you really think about it, that people wait until an arbitrary moment in time before they stop eating and start exercising or whatever else the resolution might be. If you feel like changing something in your life, you should probably just do it whenever. That’s usually my philosophy anyway. When it came to Cleveland sports, I actually felt like drawing up some resolutions for myself. I have no idea if I will actually be able to keep these up, but like a smoker giving up the cancer sticks, I will give it a go and hope to not fall off the wagon.
- Regardless of how Eric Mangini works out, I will not refer to him as “Mangenius” either seriously or as a joke. It seems kind of sad to me when a guy goes from one city to another when the second city co-opts the gimmick from the first city. I learned this first hand when the Boston sportswriters started writing about “Manny being Manny” after they signed Manny Ramirez. I used to hate hearing that phrase in a thick Boston Brogue because it was created in Cleveland and stolen. “Mangenius” might have been funny three years ago in NY / NJ, but I will not partake in stealing a gimmick, even if they don’t want it anymore.
- I will not take LeBron James for granted. While the conspiracies will continue to fester pulling him out of town, I will work to enjoy every minute of his tenure in Cleveland no matter how long or short it is. If I allow all the various sportswriters around the country to distract me from enjoying the opportunity I have today as a Cavs fan, the terrorists will have won.
- I will do my best to keep “the big picture” in mind with the Browns. Despite the fact that I have doubts and questions and fears, I will try to keep in mind that nothing is simple in the NFL. It is the pro league with the most parity. It has the most coaches who make the most difference game in and game out. It has the most players involved in team success from two sides of the ball to special teams. I will do my best to not boil problems down to one player, one coach, or the owner alone. If a theory in the NFL seems to simple, it probably isn’t a good theory.
- I will not be able to keep up with this one I don’t think, but it is a nice thought. I will not be jealous of the payrolls of richer baseball teams. While it is definitely an unfair system and I could spend all day complaining about it, I will do my best to focus on the potential return of the $70+ million worth of players that Cleveland has this season. Just because a team spends a lot more money doesn’t mean they have to win. They can’t buy every player, just the available ones. Last time I checked, they weren’t capable of buying Grady Sizemore, Victor Martinez or Cliff Lee. That, in and of itself is an advantage. Hopefully. Think of it from this perspective. All three of those guys would have spots on their uber-expensive team and we have them on the Indians.
- I will try not to talk about the inequities of the BCS next season. There comes a time when the arguments, discussions, theories and general whinging are as trite and overdone as anything in the world. It is to the point where it is a safe target for an in-coming president. If this topic is that safe politically then it is officially not compelling as a sports topic.
- I will try to follow one more sports team than I followed in 2008. I don’t know if it will be the Bluejackets, the CSU Vikings, or the Ohio State basketball team (which I already false-started on once in 2008,) but I will try to extend my range. Maybe I can get DP to tell me why I should follow the Bluejackets. Maybe I should try attending a game to see if it gets me into it.
- I will spend more time laughing at LenDale White. He may have said that Ohio State sucks on two separate occasions on Jim Rome’s various shows this year, but at least Ohio State can get better. LenDale will never be able to invest enough time in salads to make himself any better. If he needs to spend the rest of his life underachieving and hanging onto the collective coattails of Pete Carroll and Reggie Bush, then so be it. Ha. Ha. Ha. And on a more positive note, I did find it funny when he stomped on the Horrible Hanky a couple weeks ago.
- I will attempt to do more podcasting. As a unit here at WFNY we kinda dropped the ball recently on the whole podcasting thing. After Rock and Rick made our triumphant return, I have decided that I will try and do more. It is a lot of fun to have a different way to talk sports other than the one-way method that is the written word. Plus, with our new platform over at BlogTalkRadio we can make it like a real radio show with you guys calling in, chatting in the chat room and participating. We will also work hard to make sure we keep expanding on the guests we get.
- I will try and do more WFNY contests, even if it is just a Yahoo Game with all the readers. The NFL Pick ’em was really fun this year. I have gone three years in a row without playing fantasy football. But every year, there are more and more games to play at various points of the sports seasons. So, we will definitely have something in March for the NCAA basketball tourney, and hopefully we can use that as a jumping off point to keep the contest momentum going.
- This year, when it comes time to write my resolutions, I will actually come up with a tenth. I ran out of gas here at the end and couldn’t come up with one more, so my goal is to have a 10th resolution next year.
29 Comments
Outstanding! I agree with all of your points above.
I think LenDale will have plenty of time to work on his physique now that the Titans are done.
I hope like 89% of all of us, you give up on at least one of your resolutions by the end of February. The posts will become boring if you don’t point out whats wrong with the Browns because you’re focused on the big picture. Otherwise, I like the rest. Although it’ll be hard pressed to come up with a good nickname for Mangini (please, for the love of Jim Brown, don’t call him ‘Man-gina’ if we start losing). On a side note, is there any way we can lobby to get Lendale White on The Biggest Loser, or Celebrity Fit Club?
Sorry, but it’s “ManKoK” to me.
Well, the Browns will definitely take a beating if and when they deserve it. I have just decided to not fall into the habit of looking for the easiest scapegoats and then coming up with easy solutions to complex problems. An NFL team is a system with a lot of complex components and I need to remind myself of this sometimes when I get mad at Braylon or Romeo or Randy Lerner and extend their responsibilities beyond their scopes for the Browns’ problems.
Its like any President and the economy. The President of a given time will get ALL the blame or credit for the economy, when in all actuality there are about a billion things that work together to determine the shape of the financial world.
It works in reverse too. While we were blaming Lerner, Romeo, Braylon, D.A. etc, we also were too heavily depending on guys like BQ, Jerome Harrison, and Josh Cribbs to be the saviors when we were clamoring for them to play more. We might have been right that they should have played more, but we were really setting them up for failure by earmarking them as “the solution” to our problems.
6. i went to my first jackets game last night. the atmosphere as amazing. i got just about everything i needed…a hat trick by a rookie, a fight, and babes dancing in front of me in the stands.
it was a ton of fun. i think i have to pay attention to them now.
Craig……you win with leadership, starting at the top. Whether it’s business, politics, or sports. Lerner is the self-appointed flagship of the Browns organization given his active role. At his command is Mangini and potentially Kokinis. They and they alone will set the course for the Cleveland Browns…………beginning with Lerner.
Lerner has proven to me that he is a reluctant participant, surely not a leader. His ability to orchestrate an NFL caliber management team took him to a place where he decided he was and is smarter than a saavy NFL GM. Instead of organization, system, strategy, and approach-you have total chaos. I’m not buying it, this time.
Go CAVS……….that organization from top down is the antithesis of the above.
Randy, I agree to an extent, and then I don’t. Yes, it starts at the top. Then after you put your people in place, it is perfectly acceptable to get out of the way and let them sink or swim.
Yes, we all have questions about how Lerner is going about his business right now with Mangini and whoever ends up being a GM, but he certainly was decisive. You seem to want it both ways, though. You want him to be decisive and lead by example, but only if he does it the way you think he should do it. Savage and Romeo didn’t work out, but maybe Lerner learned something from it when he decided to bring in Mangini.
Only time will tell, but has it ever occurred to you that you could possibly be wrong? It occurs to me all the time even when I feel very sure about some things. I was quite positive Mike Brown had to be fired and then he changed and I am a supporter. Some would argue hiring Mangini is a change because Lerner hired a guy with experience instead of the coordinator du jour.
I like wendigo went to my first jackets game in nearly 2 years. As a life long Red Wings fan I thought I would never root for another hockey team, but that game was just plain fun. If anyone in columbus hasn’t been to a jackets game yet I highly recommend it. Student tickets were only $15 and there isn’t a bad seat in the arena. Beer is kinda pricey so I suggest making a trip to the bars first.
How about the Columbus Crew? Those games are great to go to, especially since the parking lot they share with the Ohio Fairgrounds is about 3x bigger than it needs to be for Crew games. This means show up 2 hours early, tailgate, kick a ball around in space and you’ll be sauced enough to go watch a 90 minute passing match.
I never went to a Jackets game in my time in Columbus. Now that I’m in DC and didn’t really have an NHL team before I moved here, I’ve picked the Caps up as my hockey team. They’ve finally turned the corner, and it’s impossible not to like Ovetchkin.
How long ahead will we hear about the podcasts? I like the interactive idea, knowing about it a day or two ahead of time will really help make it more interactive. Kind of like the Nobody Likes Onions live shows once a week on Tuesday nights. If it’s a regular thing it would help get a real community participation to it.
Craig-no, I don’t want it both ways. And, I don’t want Lerner to be decisive and lead by example. I want him to get his XXX out of the way and let competent NFL caliber leaders build his organization. What he’s done now is absolutely destined to fail.
Craig-you’re probably not going to believe me, and perhaps think my next response is pompous, but here it goes. I was livid when both Crennel and Savage were hired, respectively-and spent the next four years living that out like everyone else. Crennel was so absurd as our former defensive coordinator and his demeanor as a passive incompetent was clear to me from the start. I actually was at a dinner where Savage spoke literally one week after he was hired-I was livid upon hearing him speak and saw right through his rhetoric; essentially all talk and zero experience.
I was 100% behind Mike Brown the moment I first heard him speak……and frankly, was a 100% Dan Gilbert supporter immediately while much of our lame media tried to position him as a meddling owner. Mike Brown showed tremendous leadership, communication skills, and command immediately-and, it was clear to me that he had the respect of his players. I suppored and defended Mike Brown at every turn………I was actually at a CAVS season ticket holder event a few years ago and took up such support of Brown that the CAVS assistant GM hugged me (Grant). I saw qualities in the man well beyond X’s and O’s…….I’m proud that he, Danny Ferry, and Dan Gilbert represent us and the CAVS both locally and nationally.
My personal pedigree is in the business world…….I worked ten years for one of the largest organizations in the world so I’ve seen the politics of corporate engines firsthand, lived it. Don’t mean to be stubborn, obstanant, or arrogant in my views here-but, I am and remain 100% behind my views that the Browns newest regime will fail miserably. Why-because Randy Lerner has no business making football decisions (he’s not Dan Gilbert….nor has he a track record), and Eric Mangini has none of the personal traits that I look for in a winner/leader (and, he’s not Belichick…). Furthermore, Lerner has orchestrated this to the point where it is now impossible that we will get a credible GM-this is Mangini’s gig and his keys.
That said…….you guys do a wonderful job on this blog……I’m just trying to express myself as one of the fans who now put Randy Lerner in the irrelevant category and that ain’t gonna change.
Craig, one more thing! (actually, a question).
If this blows up and Mangini (Kokinis….et al) fail miserably, would you then support and/or give Randy Lerner the chance to do this again?
I guess what I’m saying is that I’ve reached the above point of no return already…….respectively with Lerner and effectively Mangini (uggh…….the guy disturbs me when he talks…..both how he speaks and what he says).
I’m flat out predicting that Lerner will be FORCED to sell with 3/4 years-he put himself into this situation.
Also, my personal sports resolution for the year is to run two marathons. I’ve signed up for Cleveland in May and am looking forward to that. I’m planning to either run NYC or Philadelphia in the fall. Anybody else running Cleveland this year?
Finally (sorry!)-
The fact that Lerner won’t even speak two words to this loyal fan base AFTER making his own determination in regards to the coach is unnacceptable and insulting. Going through “imtermediaries” (Pluto, et al) is pathetic. Sorry-but this season ticket holder won’t be going to see his product given his delivery method to his customer base. This guy has some serious issues……….of that I’m sure.
zoss, i think you may have sat in front of me. there was a guy wearing a wings jersey (And my friend heckled him), and we were in the student section too. (228)
@Craig – the president and the economy is not a good analogy because the economy is shaped by innumerable global, regional, and domestic forces that preclude a simplistic attribution of blame (although presidents can exacerbate a bad situation w/ bad policy for sure and vice versa). A better example would be presidential appointments. Think about Bush appointing “Brownie” as the head of FEMA and how an incompetent leader’s choice of an equally incompetent leader led to a cascade of tragedy and mismanagement in New Orleans during Katrina.
Clearly, the Browns problems exist on a far less consequential scale, but Lerner has thus far failed as the leader of his organization and deserves to be singled out and critiqued for his shortcomings. I agree with about 90% of what you write on the blog, but don’t think you’re right on this issue!
Craig…….hey…we can agree to disagree with respect!
I will…….however, put a Morton’s steak on this outcome!
The NFL is shaped by innumerable forces too. Draft picks, players, agents, fans, companies, referees, and mother nature.
Lerner has been criticized for his maneuvers and that in part helped influence the removal of Savage and Crennel. Now he has made another move. I am skeptical too, but Mangini and, yes, even Lerner deserve a chance. This is only Lerner’s second time through the process. He didn’t want the job, but now he has to do it.
Again, I am skeptical, but I also didn’t interview Mangini. Yes, I would have thought hiring a GM first would be the way to go, but to be so decisive that it is a failure already seems a bit quick. So, say you are skeptical and you hope you are wrong. Nobody ever knows for sure and the minute you think you do is when you open yourself up to being wrong.
ooooOOOOooooo a Morton’s steak? I would bet, but I am not sure either. I just don’t think it HAS to fail. I think Mangini might be ok.
And yes we can agree to disagree with respect. I certainly do respect your opinion.
Craig…..again, we’ll see. I surely would love to be wrong for Cleveland’s sake. If I am……I’ll own up to it. (I will, however, not sit in my seats during Lerner’s tenure-that should tell you how I feel about what he’s done. And……I formerly supported him and wanted to give him this opportunity to right the ship).
What’s making this tougher to swallow for me in addition to what I’ve already said:
1.) Practially EVERY national media publication/host/expert has panned the
Mangini hire, and in a very embarrassing fashion. While at the same
time, most of the local media is ok with it. Very unsettling.
2.) I don’t care who says otherwise, Mangini wasn’t even on anyone
else’s radar screen, let alone asked to interview.
I’ll let you or others have last word……..I have spoken!
I resolve to never think The Randolph is a good owner. Ever.
Wendigo, I was indeed sitting in front of you guys. I would have heckled myself for wearing a wings jersey to a jackets game if I wasn’t born and bread on red wings hockey. However the game was a blast and if the bluejackets start to become competitive I might need to find myself a new jersey. If you happen to be attending the wings bluejackets game tue jan 27 I will look forward to jawing with you and other jackets fans then.
zoss, im sure ill probably end up going. that will be a big game to the jackets if we keep it up. my friends usually try to get the huntington seats…but i could pay an extra 5 for a virtual 1 dollar discount on Canes…i like their system there. very affordable for us students.
Craig, if you go to a Bluejackets game you will not regret it. It’s a rousing good time. Going to hockey games is 10x more fun than watching it on TV. I’ve been to two Bluejackets games and the Winter Classic, and I had a blast each time.
If I ever met Lendale White, I would tell him that what really sucks isn’t OSU, but being too FAT (as Rome would say it…) to get ONE YARD on a fourth down play in the national championship when your team needs it the most. Its amazing someone who fat can play in the NFL, but I guess in the prime of his career the best he can ever become is what Jerome Bettis became in the twilight of his career; a running back that is only used in short yardage situation
I started going to hockey games this year after a few years of a friend telling me I should watch hockey. Don’t regret it at all. I cannot stress how entertaining a good hockey game is.
With the way the young talent the jackets have are perfoming, there should be quite a few good years coming to the jackets. Start watching now, play a lil fantasy hockey to learn the names, and alot of NHL 09 to learn the games and who’s who. You’ll be a puckhead by next year. I promise.
Here’s why you should pay attention to the Blue Jackets:
They are the early-season-2005 Cleveland Indians right now. They have a shload of young talent that is starting to come into its own, and in two years I honestly think they will be in the top half of the Western Conference few a few years in a row at least. With Steve Mason (Victor Martinez), Nikita Filatov (Grady Sizemore), Rick Nash (CC Sabathia), Jakub Voracek (Jhonny Peralta), and Derick Brassard (Pronk), they are built to be solid for the next five years, and they are cutting their teeth learning how to win right now.
And, whomever talked about the Minnesota game talking about the atmosphere is right on. If you are interested, Craig, we will set something up. We’ll get some good seats for a weekend game, and you can see that the atmosphere at a hockey game is pretty sweet.
How about the CLEVELAND State Vikings? Gary Waters has a good thing going on over at the Wolstein Center.
Craig & RandyOSU, Thanks for the good read. This is why I love this site. On other sport sites (Yahoo for one) names would have been called an insults thrown. (“You suck.” “Screw you idiot.” etc.) I’m on board with the Mangini hiring, and whoever Lerner (I mean Mangini) picks as GM, but Randy made some pretty good points, as did Craig. Here’s to the Browns proving EVRYONE wrong….for more than a season.
I’m down with some CSU Vikings coverage. I’d prefer a MAC wrap-up over a BlueJackets column. Take all the MAC Sports and and drop it into a bullet-point column once a week. Between BGSU, Akron, Kent and all the local athletes playing at MAC schools this could work.
How about for #6, you choose the Cleveland City Stars? A Cleveland team that actually won a championship.