The Browns: Staying the Course and Other Dumb Ideas

I generally try to ignore the Browns these days. For the good of everyone's retina's they should forfeit the rest of their games to avoid tv exposure. Fortunately Peter King came along with usual sophomoric nonsense which amounted to many of the horrible teams - specifically the Browns - should stay the course. Any reason why? Any evidence? Of course not. That would mean old Petey would need facts. The facts in the Browns case is that they are a horrific team...32nd in defense and 31st in offense. Out of 35 QBs Derek Anderson ranks 35 in QB rating. That's 7 points below Jamarcus Russel or the difference between Kurt Warner and Seneca Wallace. It's not just relatively bad to other teams this year. This Browns team currently is worse in nearly every statistical category to the 1999 expansion team. After turning over 50% of the players grown up version of August Gloop has turned the Browns not only worse than the 4-12 team last year but worse than the 1999 expansion team (which I believe had several dead people starting on the offensive line). I don't particularly know why Mangina has failed to reach the lofty heights of mediocrity he had in Jetsville...maybe its the control of personnel, maybe its nobody will work with him so he needs Oakland Raider cast off coaches, maybe its all a secret ploy to move the Browns down to Florida (that's a Major League reference for those taking it literally) ....don't know. But if I'm concern trolling for the owner I see blacked out games on the horizon and a Mangina led organization that has performed horribly. To quote Pat McMannamon, if I realize 1/3 of the way through painting my house its the wrong color I don't keep painting. I stop and get the right color. Lerner made a huge mistake in hiring Mangini, he shouldn't compound the mistake by letting Mangini continue to erode whatever popular support remains in the city.

Clowns and the NBApocalypse

Clowns Intent on Committing Sepuku
And so the Kellen Winslow II era in Cleveland has come to an end. In short order the new Mangina era shipped out the Browns best offensive player. K2 has been at the heart of a number of a number of controversy's from his injuries, to battles of staph infections, to new contract demands. However on the field there has been no more consistent and productive offensive player (since his return). The Browns received in exchange "undisclosed draft picks" which is probably short hand for a 2nd and late rounder although who knows about that. Coupled with the rumor orgy surrounding the Browns best (only?) defensive player Shaun Rogers, rebuilding at Berea is in high gear which I assume is kowtowing to Mangina or getting shipped. I fully expect Brayleon Edwards and a number of other players to be shipped or cut. Full house cleaning after all for Mumbles Jr.

The problem in all of the circumstances (or one of them) is communication, given Fortress Browns, is missing. Fans are left in the dark, the local media is the in the dark, players are in the dark, etc. The only source of information is gossip websites and very large gossip websites (ESPN). Who know whats happens, why its happening, etc. Making major moves and not explaining yourself is not the way to treat a fan base - certainly not if the goal is to have fans.


NBA and the Economy
While the Clowns suckitude is a personal issue a bigger issue (in terms of the number of fans) and economically (more cities) is the NBA's current problems. While I'm loathe to do it, I recommend a read through on Bill Simmons column today on the state of the Finances of the NBA. I assume the article has come out of NBA's recent $200 million increase in credit line. Simmons notes that not only will the bottom line be the only issue pushing NBA franchises but also it will increase the likelihood of a NBA strike in 2011 and an increase in mobile franchises. As someone outside the sports finance world, it appears the NBA is poorly positioned relative to the other major sports. With quickly vanishing level of spending (but corporate and individual) that will last for a long time, its hard to gauge how severe the ramifications will be. The modern sports era has simply never faced an economic situation of this magnitude and its uncertain what it means. If Simmons is correct in that " Someone In The Know told me that 20 of the 30 NBA teams will lose money this season …" than is fairly ominous rumblings already for the NBA as at minimum the next season (and probably the next few seasons AFTER that) will be AT BEST no better