While We’re Waiting… Browns Likely Fined, Kyle Blair Ready, Ugly Field Paint Banned

While We’re Waiting serves as the early morning gathering of WFNY-esque information for your viewing pleasure. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email at tips@waitingfornextyear.com.

Not official, but it wouldn’t surprise us if the Browns have been fined- “Five teams were contacted, whether they were inquiries or fines or some of each, I haven’t read the letters so I don’t know,” Pash said. “The commissioner sort of rather strongly suggested that one team in South Florida might have crossed the line. Beyond that, I don’t know.” The Dallas Cowboys, Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers are also considered likely violators of the rule, according to published reports regarding the contact that took place between new head coaches/coordinators and their players.” [National Football Post]

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Ohio State will have to lean on untested players to carry them through next season. Sound familiar?- “The loss of Hoying, Eddie George, Sualua, Terry Glenn and Ricky Dudley should have been impossible to recover from; each of those players left campus having turned in one of the best seasons ever witnessed at their respective positions in Ohio State history. However, despite the exodus of elite players the 1996 Buckeyes still somehow managed to duplicate the previous season’s output and run the table up until the Michigan game, which in the 1990s is unkindly referred to as “the usual.”” [Eleven Warriors]

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Report on Tribe draft pick Kyle Blair- “Blair came out for spring training about a week prior to the start of early camp on March 1st and is just excited to be back out on the field throwing and participating. He is also happy that “real” games quickly approaching in about two weeks. “I actually came about a week early to get settled in,” said Blair. “I haven’t thrown a pitch since the end of the college season. To be honest, I [am] ready to go.” Blair, 22, spent most of the offseason in Tampa, Florida where he along with Indians’ players Chris Perez and Wes Hodges worked out at Saddlebrook Resort for six weeks. Lots of players from around the game both in the minors and majors went there to get ready for the upcoming season by working out twice a day, doing yoga two times a week, and working on their nutrition.” [Tony/Indians Prospect Insider]

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One writer unapologetic in defense of ownership- “My point is this: If the current NFL players don’t want to play the game, there will be others who will. If you look at the strike of 1987, replacement players stepped in. Although they weren’t good, they came from all walks of life — truck drivers, teachers and insurance salesmen. They jumped at the chance to play professional football. Most replacement players played on teams we watched on Saturdays. Yet they still weren’t as good as the ‘real’ NFL players. However, it is my contention that if the same players were on television week after week, year after year, they would be household names and the cream would rise to the top. In the strike of 1987, the ‘real’ players realized that and came back by the third game. The ‘replacement’ players never were able to become household names.” [Greetham/The OBR] (subscription required)

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Some good news from the NFL- “If you can imagine it, don’t expect it to turn to reality. At the NFL owners meetings on Tuesday it was announced that a new rule had been enacted that eliminates the possibility of blue turf. NFL teams must have their field color approved by the league and it has to be a shade of green.” [SB Nation]

(Photo: Chuck Crow/Plain Dealer)