While We’re Waiting…Browns Cutdown, Buckeyes Survive, and the Pirates are Still Bad

While We’re Waiting is a regular feature here at WFNY and serves as the daily conglomeration of interesting local information for your early morning reading pleasure. Have something else you think we should include? Send it to our tips email in the sidebar.

ESPN had quite the recap of all of the final roster moves and here is their last word on what the Browns did last night: “As evident by their open roster spot, the Browns should be one of the more active teams in the next 48 hours. Compared to the rest of the AFC North, Cleveland is lacking overall depth and talent at several positions. Browns head coach Eric Mangini has a penchant for acquiring his former players. So look for the Browns to experience some turnover at the bottom of their roster for veterans Mangini is familiar with.” [James Walker/ESPN.com]

With Jamal Lewis remaining on the team, one wonders how talented we should be if he and Edwards reverted back to 2007 form: “This is not to write off Lewis, or immediately write in impressive rookie James Davis as the starting running back. It is to say that this is a critical year for the 30-year-old Lewis, who needs to show he can occasionally break off a big run. If not, then the Browns need to use some sort of dual-back system with Lewis and a younger, faster back. They play six games (two each against Pittsburgh and Baltimore) against teams that ranked in the top five in run defense in 2008.” [Terry Pluto/Cleveland Plain Dealer]

Yikes, I am pretty sure that nobody wanted the season to start out like that against the Naval Academy: “And for the second straight season, the team heads into a matchup with USC with more questions than answers. I suppose I shouldn’t be so quick to sell the Middies short. Quarterback Ricky Dobbs looks like the real deal and if he can continue to throw as well as he did in the Horseshoe today, the combination of that and the triple option could be very well spell trouble for the rest of the teams on Navy’s schedule.” [Jason/Eleven Warriors]

So what if the Buckeyes barely won against a team that probably won’t finish the year ranked, at least they will still be top six for USC next weekend: “The Rolle runback averted catastrophe for the hosts, and there certainly were some positives for OSU. Pryor mostly played well, completing 14 of 21 passes for 174 yards with a TD and the one interception. He spread it around, with 10 completions going to backs and tight ends, and had 30 yards and a TD rushing. Running backs Herron and Brandon Saine were an effective tandem, combining for 26 carries and 125 yards.” [Ken Gordon/The Columbus Dispatch]

I thought I saw this article six months ago? Either way, the inflow of articles about the summer of 2010 with LeBron is starting to heat up a little bit: “When James stated publicly this past week that he remained open to signing a short-term extension with the Cavs before June 30, 2010, it only bolstered the notion that the Summer of LeBron could be anticlimactic. A two- or three-year extension beyond ’10-’11 would lock in future years under the current salary structure while preserving the flexibility that James has stated is so important to him.” [Ken Berger/CBSSports.com]

What were you doing in 1992? The New York Times details the misfortune of the Pittsburgh Pirates and the plight of their fan base as they set a record for their 17th consecutive losing season: “When the streak began, Huntington was two years out of Amherst College, editing video for the Montreal Expos in a cramped scouting office at Olympic Stadium. Only one person fit in the room, so Huntington would move when the Expos’ pitching coach, Joe Kerrigan, studied his tapes. Now Kerrigan is Huntington’s pitching coach, part of a new regime trying to revive the tradition of Honus Wagner, Clemente and Willie Stargell.” [Tyler Kepner/NYTimes.com]

(Photo via Joshua Gunter/The Plain Dealer]