Cleveland Browns, Come on Down!

Slap Hands!

With this year's improbable run to the Championships and the probable ending that all of those so-called "experts" predicted, it's time to start looking again at the lifeblood of this town, the Brown and Orange. Before I do that though, here's a few of my thoughts (since you asked) on the first 3 games so far:





"Deve ser o herói, deve fazer exame do tiro para o glory do basketball"


- This is what was going through Anderson Varejao's mind as he inexplicably took a nice entry pass from His Highness and spun wildly into the paint and put up a flailing semi-hook, semi-layup, semi-total brick with time winding down in Game 3. Roughly translated from Portugese to English, it states, "must be hero, must take basketball shot for glory". I don't know how it works in Brazil, Anderson, but in America, if you aren't completely wide open and have no discernible go-to post up moves to speak of, you pass the basketball to the best player in the world (sort of) to take that final shot. Criminy.

-I've been trying to figure out who Sasha Pavlovic reminded me of and on Tuesday night it hit me:

-Boobie Gibson, I ain't mad at ya, but welcome to pressure. Here's to hoping you handle it better the next time around.

-The first two losses were easier to take than this last one. In the first two games, we definitely didn't deserve to win and had the deer-in-headlights look except for the 4th quarter in both games, but on Tuesday: ouch, that one stung. We were the better defensive team, the more aggressive, the more dominant in the paint, and we basically shut down 2 of their big 3, and still lost. I don't know what we can do except shoot, shoot, shoot in the offseason to improve our offensive game. There were plenty of nice drives and open looks, but no finishes.


-Whatever happens this last game, I'm still proud of this team and glad I got to at least experience what it felt like to be playing for something important again.


On to the Browns:

-I've read on a few of the sites I have links to that we are located at or near the bottom of the power rankings on a few major publications. Good. I don't want any expectations or victory predictions by anyone (Braylon, this means you) for this upcoming season. If you go into this season expecting the very worse, you won't come away disappointed if it happens (easier said than done).

- I think I like the fact that Rob Chudzinski and Romeo are taking this approach to installing the new offense: drinking from the firehose. Throw it all out there, see what sticks and then see what areas need to be improved on. No more hand-holding, coddling or gradually introducing anything. These guys are all professionals making a lot more money than the average schlub and can at least be expected to grasp a plan for playing a game. I also think it's good for the QB competition. All of them are now on a level playing field and whoever can grasp this offense and its nuances the fastest and most accurately will be the starter. For this season, I honestly do hope it's Frye because I want to see him succeed, Quinn's not ready by all appearances and supposedly this offense involves more rollouts, which is Charlie's forte.


- When K2's knee status makes national headlines (I just saw it on the NFL Network), not good. We need this guy in the worst way (not in a Pittsburgh kind of wanting, but nonetheless).

- Just saw an article on how Joe Thomas and Chase Pittman got into a fight during minicamp. I'm sure RAC was thrilled that the 3rd overall pick in the draft was getting into it with someone who probably won't even be on the roster.