Bernie Parrish

NFL-ESPN Gangster Rap promo and T.O. Suspension Relate

2005-11-24T05:00:00Z

Controversy over subject matter Gangster Rap and the image it promotes

The following is from Wikepedia. Film maker Spike Lee helps me make a point.

"The subject matter inherent in gangsta rap has caused a great deal of controversy, with many observers criticizing the genre for the messages it espouses, including homophobia, misogyny, racism and materialism. Gangsta rappers generally defend themselves by pointing out that they are describing the reality of inner-city ghetto life, and claim that when rapping they are simply playing a character.

Given that the audience for gangsta rap has become predominately white, some commentators (for example, Spike Lee in his satirical film Bamboozled) have even criticized it as analogous to minstrel shows and blackface performance, in which performers, both black and white, were made up to look like black caricatures, acted in a stereotypically uncultured and ignorant manner for the entertainment of white audiences. Some performers, such as The Geto Boys, are even accused of being cartoonish and over-the-top (though many artists, particularly the Geto Boys, would be the first to freely admit this)."

In my opinion and I believe the opinion’s of 1000’s of former NFL players Terrell Owens and his growing gang of cartoonish followers antics are analogous to "...minstrel shows and blackface performance, in which, both black and white, were made up to look like black caricatures, acted in a steretypically uncultured and ignorant manner for the entertainment of white audiences." Owens suspension is justified. His antics are not only detremental to his team but detremental to the NFL and every player who has ever played in League. We the 1000’s of former NFL players don’t want the game, our game brought down to the level of a Jerry Springer Show by T.O.’s cartoonish gang or Gangster Rap promo’s by ESPN and the NFL office.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Open Letter to the NFL League Office

2005-11-20T05:00:00Z

ESPN gave our children an ugly dose of “Gangster Rap” before the November 13, 2005 NFL game Sunday night between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns. A “Gangster Rap” promo introduction to Sunday Night NFL Football is totally inappropriate. Why would the NFL endorse “Gangster Rap?” Gangster Rap is an invitation to our young children especially our young black children to become the glamorized Gangsters they see on television. Is that what the NFL has become? Pimping for Gangster Rap? Recruiting for gangs in America? The name of the person who approved that ESPN programming should be made public.

Today Law enforcement is having major problems with gangs all over the country. The NFL & ESPN have picked the absolute worst time in history to appear to throw in with the gangsters. The NFL is making gangs and gangsters look like the glamorous “in thing” by embracing and glorifying Gangster Rap to the NFL’s national television audience. Gangs in America have become a huge National Security and immigration issue with fears of terrorist infiltration. Law enforcement and Homeland Security do not need the NFL & ESPN recruiting for gangs in America while they are trying to break up those same dangerous gangs.

There was a dignity about the game when I played in the 50’s and 60’s and that dignity is being destroyed by Terrell Owens and Randy Moss and their ilk who look and act like gangster rappers in the end zones and almost every time they can get in front of a camera. The suspension of T.O. is a step forward but the Gangster Rap culture is reducing “our” games stature to that of a Jerry Springer Show. At the same time the NFL is choosing to make it look more glamorous for our children to be gangsters than to be law abiding citizens. The fact that ESPN (a Disney Property) and the NFL are promoting the gangster image to our children is unbelievable.

The NBA had the good sense to cut this glorification of Gangsters off by starting this season with a dress code that eliminates Gangster Rap garb. So at the same time the NBA is helping to fight Gangster Rap the NFL is starting an advertising campaign to glorify the gangsters. That ESPN Gangster Rap NFL promo makes me embarrassed for people to know I played in the NFL.

My NFL friends the ones I talked to and other fellow alumni players and I apologize for the poor taste of whoever approved the NFL Gangster Rap Promo for Sunday night football. We support our Homeland Security’s battle against gangs and gangsters world wide. We do not want Gangster Rap promos associated with the NFL that is “Built on Our Shoulders,” and we certainly had nothing to do with ESPN and the NFL’s embarrassing decision to use a Gangster Rap promo last Sunday night before the Browns v Steelers game. Had we known about this Gangster Rap promo ahead of time we would have objected before it was run but we are not consulted and don’t expect to be, but we are truly embarrassed by it.

Bernie Parrish, with Walter Beach Cleveland Browns 1964 World Champions
Parrish authored the best seller “Thay Call It A Game”( Shoulders the NFL Stands On)

Congatulations to the Ole Ball Coach Steve Spurrier

2005-11-15T05:00:00Z

One play explains Coach Urban Meyers first Gator season. That play is Chris Leak’s pass that was batted into the air and intercepted by South Carolinas defensive tackle Chris Tucker. That poor pass followed by Chris Leak’s pathetic effort to try to tackle Tucker during his outstanding run back of that interception was the whole story told once again. It explains why the Gators are eliminated from contention in the SEC title race. Leak is simply not a tough enough competitor to win tough football games against tough opponents.

The only exceptional pass that I’ve seen Leak throw in the last half of the season was the pass to the back of the end zone that won the Vanderbilt game in overtime and I’m not too sure he wasn’t throwing that one away and the receiver just made a heck of a play to catch it. Leak appears to be getting coached by an agent/publicist as well as Meyer’s staff. Leak’s Tiger Wood fist pumps, excessive celebrating too early in the games, like run to and jump on the receiver where the cameras will undoubtedly be focused after a touchdown, and call Red Zone time-outs to maximize TV coverage on Leak while he makes the highly televised trip to the sideline for a conference with the coaches. Some of Leak’s body language, hand motions appeared to be admonishing the coaching staff for problems with pass patterns that didn’t connect. That is called showing up your coaches and deserves a head slap from one of them that will have Leak looking out his helmet’s ear hole. There is always more than one receiver on a well designed pass play, Leak threw the passes not the coaches.

The Gator defense has been outstanding especially when the other team’s best quarterback is hurt, but they give up 72 points to Vandy’s Jay Cutler and the Game Cocks Blake Mitchell two good to outstanding SEC quarterbacks. The defense overall was rightly recognized as carrying the Gators sputtering offense this season. Had Georgia’s QB DJ Shockley played against Florida there is little doubt in my mind that Georgia would have won that game. Beating two teams without quarterbacks plus Wyoming and the other warm up bum of the week makes 4 rather ordinary wins and to argue that Florida is any more than one score better than Vanderbilt would be stretching it. Overrated and lucky to be over .500 is an accurate assessment. Although there is something to be said for being lucky.

Was Urban Meyer saddled with Chris Leak’s hype or does he really believe that Leak is the best the Gators can do out of the current crop of players? Meyer seems to emit a toughness that he hasn’t been able to impart to Leak. Since the 1950’s the Gators practice field has looked like they have a couple hundred players on scholarship. Then you hear their best kicker is a walk-on playing without a scholarship. Having been treated shabbily as a walk-on myself, I have a soft spot for walk-on athletes who make it. Every day as a walk-on you look around at those 150 or so with scholarships being herded around the practice field knowing most of them will never play a competitive play and certainly few will ever win a single down in an SEC game and you wonder who the hell picks these people?

Where does the loss to Steve Spurrier’s superior coached South Carolina team leave the Utah proven option offense? With 12 men on the field? 12 men on the field, can you believe that, 12 men on the field? Was one of them Chris Leak’s publicist?

Florida v Florida State is next both are off their games this season. The outcome seems a bit more important to Florida than Florida State. Although the Seminole’s quarterback is a freshman he has played all season and he looks pretty good, good enough to give the Gators hierarchy an extra problem for the off season. The Noles defense is not too good against the run which should help the Gators.

None of the above means anything in light of the needless beating death of Tom Brown, U of F Building Construction student, during the Georgia-Florida game cocktail party following the game. That doesn’t say much for the new U of F anti-drinking policies. Outrageous binge drinking surrounding sporting events has got to be curtailed. Intercollegiate sports, all of sports in America aren’t worth a single life, not young Tom Brown’s or anyone else’s.

The Browns were simply overpowered by the Steelers. It is a good thing Ben Rothlesberger didn’t play. Steeler’s Charlie Batch did a good job filling in until he got hurt. They should have had Bettis take a few snaps at QB and run some sneaks for five or six yards. Is Brylon Edwards ratcheting up his T.O. imitation or should he be getting more playing time? If he is 100% healthy he probably should be playing more. I hope he is working hard with Charlie Frye in practice; it could make the Browns future a lot more exciting. If Dilfer had delivered the ball to Edwards and not lead him a hair too far Edwards would have had another long touchdown like the one he had against Detroit. Why was that the only time the Browns tried to throw that pattern? That pattern is worth at least 3 shots at it per game. The Browns showed some courageous fight but the Steelers are just the better team now, probably the 1st or 2nd best in the league.

I feel sure the Steeler’s defensive coach Dick Lebeau takes a particular delight in beating the Browns. Dick was my first Browns training camp roommate along with Floyd Peters another successful NFL assistant coach. Dick called Floyd “Oops” as in Alley Oop the cave man cartoon of our childhood. There was a slight resemblance. Dick said “Bernie we’re going to have to take turns sleeping. One will sleep while the other keeps an eye on Oops. He looks dangerous.” Floyd was from San Francisco and worked as a guard at San Quentin. Dick and I told everybody “Oops is a lifer and if he doesn’t make the Browns he is gonna have to go back to the Rock.” Dick could hear any song once and sing the whole thing from start to finish. He is a very bright guy the Browns made a huge error when they cut him. I ask Paul Brown to keep Dick and let a veteran go. Paul said “We have to go with experience back there.” I believe Dick was the last cut after Willie Davis and Henry Jordan. Dick was picked up by the Lions, and Willie, and Henry were picked up by the Packers and they all went on to have fantastic careers.

How could anybody cut Dick Lebeau, Willie Davis, Henry Jordan, and Jim Marshall? The great Paul Brown did that’s who. Browns defensive backs of my era still rank at the top of the interception records today, while we actually played fewer games. How many more interceptions might we have had with Davis, Jordan, and Marshall rushing the passers on passing downs and Lebeau playing along side us? The guys we had Bill Glass, Paul Wiggin, Dick Modzewlesky, Bob Gain, Frank Parker and Jim Kanicki did a hell of job, especially when it counted the most and I’m proud and fortunate to have played beside them.

Strange Feeling Seasons The Cleveland Browns and the Florida Gators

2005-11-12T05:00:00Z

The Florida Gator’s QB Chris Leak after receiving the opening game kick-off and driving for a score said “I wanted to give the defense a rest.” I guess Leak thought the defense got tired during their pre-game warm-ups. Probably Leak was trying to say something like thanks to the defense for carrying the offense for every game to date except for the Alabama game. Because of other teams injuries the Gator defense hadn’t played against a real starting quarterback since Alabama’s Brodie Coyle kicked their butts for them 31 to 3.Vanderbilt’s QB Jay Cutler is one of the SEC’s better quarterbacks and he racked up 42 points against the Gator defense. It is hard to believe that if the Gators beat Spurrier’s South Carolina team and the Georgia Bulldogs lose the Gators could be 8-3 and winners of the Eastern Division of the SEC eligible for a rematch with Alabama in the SEC title game. New coach Urban Meyer will have gotten off to a better start than any new coach in Gator history. So...why do I feel like this has been a terrible season and that the Gators will be lucky if they can beat the Ole Ball Coach in South Carolina this week-end. Chris Leak has been a disappointment to me and I was hoping Meyer would give Josh Portis some opportunities to show what he can do. Portis recognized as far and away a better runner than Leak was put into the game replacing Leak on three occasions against Vandy. Of course every scouting report in existence says Portis is an outstanding runner but not as good a passer as Leak. Meyer or his brilliant play caller of course had Portis run with the ball all three times he put him in the game. You know Coach, Vanderbilt’s defense probably was expecting Portis to run with the ball and that could have been why he gained nothing on his three running plays.

I still hear the crowds "Over-rated, OVER RATED!!" jeers ringing in the Alabama stadium.

I must admit I think Steve Spurrier probably was treated badly and should have been rehired by the University of Florida. Steve is in my opinion the best college football coach ever. I am still puzzelled as to why he didn’t do well with the Redskins.

The Browns barely beat the worst team in the NFL last week scoring 21 points to the Titans 14 and Houston beat the Browns the week before for the Texans only win of the season. Braylon Edwards seems to be watching Terrell Owens and is tip toeing around his act, testing the waters.

I wish they played under the same rules today as when I played. Get out the old films Coach Crennell and show your boys what I did to Redskin’s Hall of Famer Bobby Mitchell and the Cowboy’s Bullet Bob Hayes and have them give that selfish jerk, Owens a dose of that. I can’t believe that the NFL actually changed a league tackling rule to protect T.O.’s big mouth. I applaud the Eagles for suspending him. I wish I could have had a shot at T.O. in 1960’s under the 60’s rules, I’d have done my best to rip one of those diamond earrings off his head and stuffed it down his throat. Football is a team game if the league wants to turn it into The Jerry Springer Show then keep letting the T.O.’s and the Randy Mosses pull their self aggrandizing acts.

I watched the 1964 Browns highlight films the other day and the most striking thing about the film was watching Jim Brown, Ernie Green, Paul Warfield, Gary Collins, Johnny Brewer, Clifton McNiel, Frank Ryan, Charlie Scales, Jim Houston toss the ball to the official in the end zone after they scored. Leroy Kelly spiked the ball once after returning a punt for a touchdown against our hated rivals the NY Giants. That was the first time I ever saw a player spike the ball. At the time it seemed appropriate. The game still had dignity at that point

I played 45 years too early for a lot of reasons.

AND…if the Browns take a long range approach they don’t play Charlie Frye, they lose the rest of their games and draft offensive linemen to protect Frye for next year.

Browns Progress, Gators too

2005-10-18T04:00:00Z

The Cleveland Browns loss to the Baltimore Ravens could have been a lot worse. Giving up only 16 points is still progress. Scoring 3 is disappointing but to be expected against the leagues best defenses; at least Charlie Frye didn’t get hurt. A 2 and 3 record now is still ahead of schedule. When your own offense only scores 3 points then only giving up 16 is like a shutout for your defense..

My wife said “Don’t write anything bad about the Gators. We have to live here, in (Gainesville, FL).” That is like saying don’t mention the elephant trapping around in the back yard.

The Gators whole game against LSU was summed up on the broken pass play in the last few minutes of the game when QB Chris Leak got chased out of the pocket started to run, then crossed the line of scrimmage, then went back across it and threw a pass. The play took forever to happen and it was really not smart and resulted in a penalty. It ended the Gators last minute come back drive. The new Coach Urban Meyers sideways run-in-place shovel pass offense is just too “cute” for me to appreciate. Leak can’t seem to run Coach Meyers options or even his straight drop back offense.

Leak and Meyers appear to have let the arrogance of the Cover Boy images and press clippings overcome their common sense. I thought Zook was bad, but I have never seen such a confused offense as the Gators have had since the second half of the Kentucky game till now. That is 14 quarters. Chris Leak has looked totally disoriented. Perhaps the psychology department can spare a Deer in the Headlights Coach. Mississippi State lost their QB in the first quarter and the Gator defense and special teams won that game. Alabama kicked the Gator’s tails and so did LSU.

It isn’t like the LSU game was lost on one bad crucial call by an official, leaving you knowing in your heart you should have won the game. This loss was an embarrassment worse than the Alabama game. This was an offense so bad that it overcame an outstanding effort by the Gator defense and special teams, and 5 LSU turnovers, and 12 penalties to lose the game.

Lee Corso, ESPN announcer and one time FSU QB and also FSU Head Coach said after the Alabama game “Let Josh Portis play.”

Think about his suggestion. The opponents might think Portis is going to run the ball most of the time so they won’t be rushing the passer so hard and perhaps he could throw it downfield and surprise them a few times.

Going into the season the Florida sports media sure carried a lot of quotes by Coach Meyer and the offensive players about how great the new offense was going to be, damned if I didn’t believe them too. I fell into that trap again like everyone else even though I did mention to my readers that I generally don’t like offenses that operate sideways.

Makes me feel a bit foolish, How about you?

Now what? Coach Meyer and Chris Leak are still in the same place and Georgia is anxiously waiting for the Cocktail Party in Jacksonville. South Carolina, the Ole Ball Coach Steve Spurrier’s team might want a piece of Leak too, not to mention FSU who will still be angry about losing to Miami and Virginia. And Vanderbilt won’t give up 5 turnovers nor will they get 12 penalties, and they will put a surprisingly good pass rush on Leak. The Gator’s defense and special teams can’t save the day every week. There are probably a few NFL teams reconsidering their Quarterback draft charts and player rankings as well.

I sure hope Coach Meyer gets all this….stuff straightened out pretty soon.

As I have said before if I were defensing the Gators I would have the defensive end or linebacker on the side that Leak takes the first step to run an option, put a helmet to helmet lick on him whether he keeps the ball or not. Leak is fair game once he starts to run with the ball.

I heard someone watching the game at Outback say they should have sent Leak to Iraq to get rid of the Sadam. “Heck, Leak can overthrow anybody.”

As far back as I can remember, and I grew up in Gainesville, the Gators have always had an overrated star player usually from a geographic area where a lot of Bull Gator alumni donors live, while walk on’s come in and eventually beat them out. It is an old familiar Gator tale.

QB’s Contrast: Browns Dilfer the Realist; Gators Chris Leak in Fantasy Land

2005-10-15T04:00:00Z

The Browns are ahead of schedule. Coach Crennel is either lucky or skillful, either way 2 and 2 is a good place to be about now. Scoring on turnovers while preventing the Bears from using the Browns turnovers to put the game out of reach should be a morale boost, a confidence builder. It is heartening to see Dilfer come through in the clutch with two terrific plays when they really counted. By all accounts he wasn’t overcome by his own good fortune he knew the rest of the game didn’t go so well for the offense. Trent seems to have his head on straight now. The offensive line needs to keep protecting him like they have in the first four games.

A victory over the Ravens could set the Browns up for a really good season, that could be great fun for everyone, but of course there is a long way to go yet.

Lee Corso said the Florida Gators should play Josh Portis at QB for the rest of the season. At first I thought cagey old Lee was trying to help his Seminoles whip up on the Gators. Then I watched several replays of Florida’s Homecoming game against Mississipi State with Corso’s thought in mind. I thought could "Portis" have made that play as well as Chris Leak. Portis is 100% better runner than Leak but is not supposed to be as good a passer not that Leak has been a particularly outstanding passer this season except against the early season door mats. I didn’t see a play that Portus couldn’t have made that Leak made and Portus is a running threat that Leak doesn’t approach. Few reports on the game highlight the fact that Mississippi State lost their first team quarterback in the first quarter or the 31-3 score could have been real close. The Gator special teams made four or five crucial plays recovering a muffed punt and downing the ball on the 1 yard line twice and the Gators defense played an outstanding game. The Gators option offense remans an unused option. Now I believe that Lee Corso was serious about sitting Leak down and playing Portis being to the Gators advantage. Right again Lee.

I feel like LSU will stuff the Gators this week because Leak will probably play and LSU’s rush will pressure him into mistakes. Eventually the SEC defenses will start to pound Leak every time he takes a step toward running an option whether he keeps the ball or not, especially since he is supposed to be playing hurt.

Alabama’s fans "Over Rated, Over Rated" chant hit where it hurt, and sound still be ringing in a few ears, the truth hurts. When people start believing their press clippings...I’ll bet the Georgia Bulldogs can’t wait to get at Leak in the Gator Bowl Cocktail Party.

What does the average sportswriter get on his SAT’s?

Drool.

I hate to say it but I feel like I am watching a sham, a Leak, Meyer, Option whatever that is about to come apart at the seams.

Bears a Must Win for Browns?

2005-10-08T04:00:00Z

The Browns held the best team in the NFL the Indianapolis Colts to a 13-6 game. That in my book is a large moral victory for the Browns. If they continue to play that well they will beat the Bears and start a win streak.

The Patriots lost to a very good Chargers team. Losing Ted Johnson, Tedy Bruschi, Joe Andruzzi and Ty Law and Coaches Romeo Crennel and Charlie Wiese in the off-season, coupled with the losses of Matt Light, Kevin Faulk and Rodney Harrison this season will make it very difficult for the Patriots to repeat as World Champions. But then it is always difficult to win it all.

I think the Browns have as good a shot as the Patriots to win their Division.

Homecoming for the Florida Gators this week end won’t be such a happy occasion if the Mississippi State Bulldogs put another pass rush whipping on Florida. Mississippi State beat the Gators last year in an upset. It won’t be that big an upset if they do it again this year.

Chris Leak and the coaching staff seem to lose their poise in the third quarter of the Kentucky game and never got it back through the end of the Alabama game.

I was particularly disappointed at the short dump off passing game that looked more like an effort to build Chris Leaks passing statistics than a real attempt to try to come back and beat Alabama. Tennessee came back from being down 20 points or so and won their game after it looked hopeless.

The Gators option offense is still an unused option going into their Homecoming game today. I expect the bulldogs to keep a linebacker spy on Leak to hammer him every time he runs the option whether he keeps the ball or not. I think there is a toughness issue. You have to be able to come back off the bench in the second half or anytime and attack the other team with all you’ve got. Letting the play clock run down to the last few ticks almost every play shows indecision and a lack of aggressiveness. I thought it was Ron Zook’s fault last year but Leak and the Gators are still doing it this year. Wasting that time between plays costs the Gators 10 to 15 plays a game. It is, to put it mildly, not very smart.

The Gators are so far from the run and gun that they don’t seem to have a clue. Is it possible for the Gators to wind up playing Tennessee again?

It is always frustrating to see your alma mater lose but I don’t like how they lost the last game and a half. I may be old as dirt but I remember getting the play called and getting to the line of scrimmage as quick as possible to run another play down the defense’s throat. We didn’t check off unless they happened to be stacked where we were going or we got an unusually good match-up on a coverage. I couldn’t help but be fired up every time I got to the line of scrimmage and I couldn’t wait to get there. We believed we could make every play work and we couldn’t wait to run it.

The Gators give the impression that somebody doesn’t want to run the play until he absolutely has to.

The chant of “Over-rated, Over-Rated” in Alabama’s stadium in the forth quarter was particularly biting because they were….right.

On the other hand the Cleveland Browns seem underrated. Trent Dilfer is on a roll and the offensive line is protecting much better than I expected them to. The defense held the Colts to 13 points and that should get you a win against any other NFL team. The Colts defensive end Freeney is one terrific football player.

The NFL officials seem flag happy on special team plays this season so self discipline is at a premium on those plays. Coach Romeo seems to have a good plan going and he is emphasizing discipline in it. Give Dennis Northcutt the legal blocking, the support he deserves. He is one hell of a kick returner. If the points he has scored had stayed on the board…if, if. At least now the if’s are about almost winning not why you got beaten so badly.

The other day a good fieind told me he thought his wife was poisoning him so he went to his Rabbi for help. His Rabbi said "Oh no you must be mistaken."
" My friend said no Rabbi,"I’m sure of it, she’s poisoning me."
The Rabbi said, "I’ll talk to her and see if I can help."
A couple days later my friend got a call from the Rabbi who said, "I talked to your wife yesterday, in fact I talked to her for three hours . Do you want my advise?"
"Yes, yes of course," my friend said.

"Take the poison," the Rabbi advised.

Whew…Rita missed my Galveston projects, Browns Won again.

2005-10-01T04:00:00Z

Whew…Rita missed my Galveston projects, Browns Won again.

Thank God, Rita missed Galveston, Texas where one eight story Holiday Inn hotel I built as a General Contractor sits on the infamous 17ft by 10 mile long seawall. Next door to the San Luis Hotel that FEMA used as command headquarters. “You’re doing a heck of a job, Brownie.”

Cleveland Browns quarterback Trent Dilfer and Coach Romeo are doing a heck of a job. The Browns are looking like a real football team. The only bush league remnants are the stupid selfish taunting penalties and the dumb penalties on kick returns. The first time I heard Romeo’s comment about “Hand the ball to the official, look like you’ve been there before.” was from Paul Brown during a game against the Giants in 1959, that’s 46 years ago. I hope Braylon Edwards isn’t watching Randy Moss and Terrell Owens marketing antics but I think he may be having already hired a personal marketing firm.

Romeo’s attitude is what it needs to be for the Browns to climb out of footballs purgatory but he is going to have his hands full. Without personal player self discipline you cannot win consistently. If you are thinking of all the things you need to be thinking about to win consistently you don’t have any time to show your ass or trash talk with opponents.

I was never thrown out of a game in my life. You can’t win if you are not in the game. I only got one score called back in my career because of a selfish or any other type penalty I committed. Bill Glass intercepted a Sonny Jurgenson pass against the Eagles and as he started to run it back I tried to clothes line Tommy McDonald’s head off. I got Tommy a tremendous lick but it wasn’t worth having Bill Glass’s only NFL touchdown called back. I still feel guilty about it; not the clothes line lick on McDonald but getting Bill’s TD called back was terrible. Bill Glass said he forgave me, so we must have won the game, and after all he is an ordained minister.

I was wrong when I said in my September 22, 2005 Blog that the Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney would sack Dilfer four times he only got to Dilfer twice, but the Colts did sack him four times. I was wrong also because I said Freeney would force Dilfer to throw interception(s) but he didn’t. Dilfer and the Browns can count that 13-6 loss to the Colts as a major victory on their way back up the mountain.

Overall Dilfer is having a terrific season and hope it continues but the best is yet to come. When Charlie Frye is forced into action the new Browns Era will begin.

The Florida Gators will get so much pressure on QB Chris Leak that Alabama will give Coach Urban Meyer his first real welcome to the SEC. Leak doesn’t handle pass rush pressure well and the sideways option offense will get blitzed out of sync. If Alabama is smart they will assign a linebacker to spy for Leak on the option and pound him whether he has the ball or not every time Leak runs it. Leak threw very well the first half against Kentucky. But when called back into action in the second half after the Gators second team showed the Gators have no depth and were getting romped on by Kentucky 21-0 Leak couldn’t get it together again. Seems a lack of toughness, I think Alabama will stop the option and win this one.

Time to point fingers yet?

2005-09-08T04:00:00Z

TIME TO POINT FINGERS YET?

As Coach Paul Brown told the New York bus driver who couldn’t find Yankee Stadium to deliver us, the Browns to play the game against the Giants, “I don’t blame you I blame the guy that hired you.” Don’t blame Mike Brown, Fema Director, or Michael Chertoff, Homeland Security Director for the fiasco of a hurricane Katrina rescue effort, blame whoever hired them.

As a general contractor I built the Tremont House Hotel on the Strand in downtown Galveston and designed and built the Holiday Inn on the beach in Galveston, Texas. Both projects along with the rest of Galveston took a direct hit from Hurricane Alicia in 1983. The Holiday Inn was 85% complete while the Tremont was 40%. I had just taken the huge French Provincial style roof off the building to install a forth floor planning to then replace the roof. The 120 year old building was hit with no roof on it and the old 2 1/2ft thick soft masonry brick bearing walls were exposed to the water. Those walls came within hours of crumbling but an all out effort by dedicated crews under the supervision of my Vice-President Bob Ubaudi, that began at midnight the night following the storm hit, saved the building. We shored up the walls with half a mile of oil drilling pipe supplied by the owner George Mitchell, who was also CEO of Mitchell Energy.

My construction company (I was the CEO) repaired those two hotels and several other buildings after the storm about $5,000,000 worth of hurricane repair work. The Tremont Hotel is an historical renovation and the work was closely monitored by the National Historical Society. It is a beautiful luxury hotel in downtown Galveston today.

Immediately after Alicia the owners of the Holiday Inn, Sam Albaral and Vic Fertitta and I made a trip to the eastern coastal cities of Mexico to see the innovative ways and materials that they were using to make repairs after their frequent hurricanes. While there we contracted with one innovative stucco/plaster contractor who had come up with a trowel-on textured finish material that incorporates quartz and a chemical used in ladies facial make-up that kills mildew and mold. In different ways we used as a major repair component on both hotels. In 2003, I visited the two projects and that quartzoplast finish is still holding up like new.

One of the first things a contractor notices working in Galveston is that all the older buildings have been jacked up and put on stilts. Yes the entire town all the buildings that remained after the disastrous hurricane of 1900 when between 8,000 and 12,000 people were trapped on Galveston Island and killed by the flooding. The government also built a 20ft seawall about ten miles long to protect the island as well. Perhaps New Orleans should take a good look at Galveston and what was done there after that tragic storm before they start listening to government incompetents like Fema’s Mike Brown and Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff.

Brown and Chertoff answers to simple questions are bureaucratic babble. Instead of answering “When is help going to arrive?” Brown and Chertoff tell us in sickening minutiae how their bureaucratic processes work, if it were to work, and never answer the question. Even more disgusting the reporters or persons asking the questions let them get away with it.

The emotional fellow who described how one of many storm victims died while awaiting for a promised rescue that never arrived was most poignant. He cried, “Quit having news conferences and get the help here now!” It makes you want to grab Brown, and Chertoff, and the La Governor, the Mississippi Lt Governor, the mayor and the police commissioner by the throat to choke a straight answer out of them. Where were each of you when Katrina hit, what exactly were you doing, where were you sitting for the following 8 to 24 hours?

Do the evacuees and those who are refusing to leave trust the Mayor and New Orleans deserter riddled police to protect their remaining property? “Hell NO,” is certainly the resounding answer. The US Military must protect the evacuees property or it won’t be protected.

Katrina was a category 4 & 5 storm two days before it made landfall and yet Brown and Chertoff claim neither they nor their experts (could have) anticipated the catastrophic impact of this category 4 or 5 storm. The fact is they both knew the levees could not stand up to a category 3 storm let alone the 4 or 5 storm staring them in the face. Pres. Bush declared a state of emergency at least 24 hours before the storm hit. What process, that didn’t work, did that start. The press says that Fema’s leader Brown went home and turned off his TV set, how long was it before he turned it back on?

It is a very suspicious coincidence that those who the Federal Government ignored and left in fatal chaos for 3 to 6 days were basically black Democrats waiting for a white Republican administration to respond to its plight. Other publications have said that Bush fiddled while New Orleans drowned and the price of his gouging oil buddies gasoline profits skyrocket. Bill O’Rielly keeps saying that it costs the Saudi’s $4 to produce a barrel of oil, $4!

Our fate, if we are attacked by terrorist or Grenada is in the hands of incompetent idiots showing some thing about our own intelligence. Not CIA Intelligence but IQ intelligence. No wonder the Mexican boarder issue is a disaster; it too is being managed by Mr. Chertoff. With Chertoff in charge we could hardly be safe from terrorists or any other threat to our lives.

“You are fired, and so is the guy who hired you.” is the phrase.

President Bush told us, the TV audience, with the wealthy black Dallas preaching Bishop T.D. Jakes nodding approval at his side that, “…as long as people’s lives are in danger the governments work is not finished.” T.D. Jakes used to be one of my favorite people. When did the federal government’s work (responsibility) begin how many hours before or after the hurricane hit? Was it when Bush declared the state of emergency? To President Bush’s credit he declared a state of emergency well before the hurricane hit. Who was supposed to move and do when the President gave the order? Chertoff? Brown? General Honore? Congress? Nobody? Why do it if it isn’t an order to initiate action at the site of the impending emergency?

The unpatriotic card is already on the table. Criticizing the hours and days of callous disregard for the lives of poor blacks in New Orleans is being twisted by the conservative media to be called and unfair criticism of the courageous helicopter and other personnel engaged in the tardy rescue efforts. From what I hear, I believe that the heroic General Honore’s “B.S.” response to criticism that there were helicopters that could have been working in the rescue effort but were held up by bureaucratic red tape will prove to be “B.S.” too. The General himself was extremely late to the rescue party, why is the question? He didn’t choose to be late to the fray himself, the question is who withheld his orders to move and do? I am not a Bush hater but I think he has had finer hours. In 20/20 hindsite he should have told the Governor she didn’t have 24 hours people are dying. It is a tough job but he ask for it, some grouse that he stole it.

As with 9-11 communications were a disaster. How could it happen again? In a world so full of cell phones sticking out of the ears of SUV driving women that you have to fend for your life every minute you drive. How could emergency communications fall apart? Why aren’t emergency services using satellite communications systems? Were satellite communications knocked out? How could they be knocked out?

Having built housing at numerous military bases and bid on many others around the country including Texas and Oklahoma, I know there is a surplus of boarded up housing at many closed bases. A day or two after Katrina hit I suggested to Congressman Steve Largent that they use that abandon housing for the evacuees.

The networks and CNN are now providing platforms for the Police Commissioner and the Mayor allowing them to portray them selves as heroic rather than incompetent further polluting the mess.

The Republicans are covering ass with damage control their top priority. Democrates are taking advantage of the opening. The Red Cross didn’t even make it into New Orleans and the early claim on the TV crawl that 356,000 evacuees are in 46 Red Cross shelters “give cash” was later contradicted by the Head of the Red Cross who admitted they didn’t make it into the Super Dome and other New Orleans disaster shelters and that they had only 126,000 in some what distant shelters around the region “give more cash.” Watching the TV coverage on CNN and Fox I kept looking for the Red Cross emblem on people or vehicles in New Orleans. I saw some in Houston but none in New Orleans. I also saw some black crosses on shirts and wondered what that was about. It prompted me to think “What a huge cash raising scam this could turn out to be for the Red Cross. Over $450 million so far.” I gave, so I hope this isn’t another oil for food fiasco. Celebrity grandstanding has reached a new low. There seems to be room under the bus for everyone, even me.

I haven’t done nearly as much as I should have myself. Yes, I remain in a clean dry place in Florida. Perhaps I should start up another construction company and help rebuild some neighborhoods in the disaster area Katrina has created. Maybe I will, I do want to help.

I have always believed that government exists for the purpose of protecting the lives and health of a nation’s people. That government must be pledged to protect and care for the least able of those people.

On his FOX radio program this evening Sept 8, 2005, Bill O’Rielly said we must all be conservative capitalists and take care of ourselves. He says that the poor black New Orleans population must blame themselves for not having cars and enough capital to flee the storm on their own. He says they should not have expected government to take care of them because they did not take advantage of their opportunity to get educated and get a good job. He says their plight is of their own making. He also says he is going to buy a gun himself now because it is up to each one of us to take care of ourselves and not depend on government to do anything for us. He also said “I’m not arrogant.” Why would he even feel the need to mention himself and arrogance? O’Rielly is a rich white guy, a card carrying member of the conservative media and his property didn’t get flooded by the hurricane.

O’Rielly is riding a huge wave of popularity maybe he is right and I am wrong about government?

“12 of 14 “…his numbers looked pretty good in the first half…”??

2005-09-03T04:00:00Z

Friday, September 02, 2005
1. What planet are you coaching on Romeo “12 of 14 “…his numbers looked pretty good in the first half…” what? Did he screw up in the second half ?
2. If the surprise start was to get Frye to screw up so the fans and others would quit calling for CHARLIE, CHARLIE, it backfired. “Nice job.” Yeah, I’d say Frye did a nice job, but 12 of 14 is fantastic even in Patriotville.
3. The idea that Frye is still trying to win a back-up job is absurd.
4. From an AP article about the Browns v Bears game “…Frye, starting for Dilfer, completed 12 of 14 passes for 186 yards in leading the Cleveland Browns to a 16-6 victory over the Chicago Bears in the preseason finale. Then, he did all he could to defuse a possible quarterback controversy.
5. ``Trent’s the starter, and he has been doing a great job,’’ said Frye, who completed all seven passes and led Cleveland to a touchdown in the second quarter. ``When it’s my turn to go in the game, I just try to go out there and do the best I can and keep learning from him.’’
6. His turn came earlier than expected. Coach Romeo Crennel told Frye during the week he might start, but did not confirm it until just before kickoff.
7. ``We wanted to see how Charlie would handle the surprise start, and it looked like he handled it pretty good,’’ Crennel said. ``I think his numbers looked pretty good in the first half. He did a nice job.’’
8. Crushing your competition is the objective, not a crime in the NFL. There is no “quarterback controversy” Frye is clearly the best quarterback to emerge since the rebirth of the Browns. If Frye feels better calling Trent Dilfer the starter then call Dilfer the starter but play Charlie Frye to win the greatest number of games. Get on with it.
9. When your quarterback is actually a weapon that puts some fear in the defenses your running game improves in direct proportion. Can anyone see a pattern developing here?
10. Defense gave up 6 points “pretty nice” too. Let’s see 14, 13, 23, 6 an average of 14 points per game resulting in a 3-1 record. That is consistent you should win 3 of every four when you only give up 14 points per game. With Charlie Frye, good coverage and better tackling by the secondary the Browns can keep winning 3 out of 4 and wind up in contention again. Yes contention to win it all, the only thing that matters in football.
11. Wyoming is going to surprise the Florida Gators. Chris Leak doesn’t give me the same vibes as Charlie Frye. Leak can’t run very well or throw on the run like Alex Smith did at Utah and that’s the kind of offense Coach Urban Meyer will fall back on when things get tough. The Gators offensive line is suspect and thin. Leak may be running for his life from the second quarter to the end of the season. In the SEC things will get tough quick. I have the feeling that Wyoming will give the Gators all they can handle and maybe a little more.

Charlie, Charlie, Charlie…

2005-08-31T04:00:00Z

Paul Brown, who I thought at the time, was the best coach in the history of football, said “You are my left cornerback until some one beats you out.” That was before the first pre-season game my rookie year during training camp in the hallway of a dorm at Hiram, Ohio. Paul moved All Pro Cornerback Warren Lahr to safety and a career later no one ever beat me out. I only gave up one touchdown that season and was one of the strengths of a damn good NFL defense. Some guys are warriors who come ready for battle, like Jim Brown, Don Fleming, Otto Graham and others the Browns have been blessed with over the years. Charlie Frye has that look and the fans sense it, and so do I.

Charlie Frye can’t learn anything significant from sitting behind Trent Dilfer or Doug Johnson. If, No, when given the chance Frye will show them how to win. Having been among and a major part of the Patriots winners Coach Crennel has the knowledge and intuition to recognize a real “player.” The way Crennel protected his injury riddled defensive backfield in the Super Bowl was a minor miracle.

NFL offenses aren’t brain surgery. I don’t care how they line up or go in motion every NFL team runs the same dozen plays. Don’t think that Frye takes the field to learn how to execute brilliant plays dreamed up by brilliant coaches. Frye plays to use whatever he is given for an arsenal to move the ball, to score and win every quarter of every football game he is in. When Frye lines up behind center he is looking at the defense finding a way to beat it and he keeps looking as he sets up in the pocket, if there is one, and he keeps looking as he runs to keep the play alive. Charlie Frye should be the Browns quarterback from the first play of the regular season until he gets beat out. Paul Brown was immersed in winners as Romeo Crennel has been immersed in winners and Paul recognized the real warriors and had guts enough to put them in the battle without hesitation. The few times he was wrong he pulled them and cut them or traded them and moved on. It appears that Coach Crennel has the experience and intelligence he needs to make the decisions it will take to bring the Browns back. Charlie Frye is his best weapon and biggest decision to date.

Trent Dilfer has been a back-up QB for most of his career and can do that specialized job as well as anyone in the NFL, if Frye gets hurt the Browns can still be in “it.” Dilfer should play only until Frye gets well enough and is put back in the “game.” Will the offensive line protect Frye? Better than anyone else I believe, they sense something special as well.

After the first preseason game I wrote in my Blog that Charlie Frye should be the Browns starting quarterback, I haven’t changed my mind. I also said Orlando Ruff is a real football player.

Frye’s confidence is not going to be shaken because one of his line men misses a block, he knows his line is mediocre, he is no fool. He won’t give up if he throws a couple of interceptions or loses a game. Unless I am getting senile Charlie has the look of some one who is after the Holy Grail and no one will stop him. Being “prudent managers” by holding Frye back, to “protect” him will only frustrate him and delay the return of the Browns as perennial contenders. This war is supposed to be fun, exhilarating, get on with it, take your best shot now.

CHARLIE, CHARLIE, CHARLIE

Surprise Browns 2-0 but the big news is Charlie Frye and the Defense

2005-08-22T04:00:00Z

Browns 2-0-0 is very encouraging considering all the factors. 13 of 19 completions with the game winning TD is right on schedule, Charlie Frye is the Browns best bet to win games when the regular season arrives. A Trent Dilfer TD pass is encouraging too. Holding the Lions to 13 points is the next best news out of this game. The defense must be tackling some people. Usually defensive backs head injuries result from violent collisions with runners. Misfit ting mouth pieces can cause concussions whereas custom fitted (by a good dentist) mouth pieces will prevent them.

You should win 80% of the time when your defense holds the other team to 14 points or less.

Are the Giants and Lions that bad? I hope not. The Browns were big underdogs to Detroit.

I have really seen very little of Charlie Frye but I like how he stands in the pocket. His eye focus is downfield with good peripheral vision. From his demeanor from where I sit, when he comes to the line of scrimmage he is looking for something to take advantage of, some one commented they liked the look in his eyes behind the center, so do I. Some of us are football players and others are trying to be. Frye looks like a player to me. Keep him healthy, but you have to keep playing him and protect him, have him run lots of draw plays, screens, and play fake plays to slow the rush down. Throwing 13 passes averaging 5 yards means he can find his outlet man at the last second. Protect him through the preseason and put him in the fire on opening day. Frye looks like a winner and a leader to me, some thing the Browns have lacked in recent years.

When your GM thinks you only have 12 gamers (NFL starters) on your roster then you have a lot to overcome. In my day the talent was more concentrated because there were fewer teams with smaller rosters; winners (Packers, Colts, Browns, Giants…) had 17 or 18 gamers in their starting line ups. If he isn’t counting Frye or Orlando Ruff in his 12 then he can add them into the equation. He thinks Baltimore has 20 gamers on their roster, I doubt that they have that many. The Ravens quarterback Boller may not be one of them.

Oh yes, I saw Doug Johnson help the Florida Gators beat Florida State in rerun of their 1997 game in the Swamp. 28-25. I say helped because Ball Coach Steve Spurrier had him alternate with another quarterback throughout the game. Doug hit a key 40 yard completion to Jaquez Green in the last 2:00 minutes of a wild game to get the Gators to the Seminole 18 yard line. Florida’s Fred Taylor ran it in for the touchdown on two plays from there. It was a memorable victory for the Gators over Florida State when the Seminoles were ranked number one.

The NFL team that looks like it is going to be tough to beat is the Oakland Raiders if Randy Moss isn’t “Blue Mooning” it and causing morale problems too often.

Way to go Charlie Frye

2005-08-16T04:00:00Z

I’ve barely seen Charlie Frye play QB for the Browns but 6 for 9 and a TD with no interceptions and no sacks in his first NFL action is damn good. I think he should be groomed to be the Browns starting quarterback when the season opens. That is if the offensive line is able to protect the passer adequately. If not they should go with the Dilfer, Johnson, Frye depth chart as they have now. Dilfer and Johnson are used to running for their lives, and it won’t matter a whole lot if they get caught either one will do for now. Young Frye’s talent and body need to be protected.

Unless the Giants were picking on linebacker Orlando Ruff, he appears to want to tackle (5 tackles and a sack) and unless he missed a bunch of tackles that were not reported he earned a starting position.

I understand not wanting to get your players banged up in tackling drills but tackling drills should be re-installed at practice, even if they are very controlled form tackling drills at half speed. This time of season both Paul Brown and Blanton Collier had us warm up before practice with a tip drill and then some half speed form tackling practice so injury risk was minimized while balance, eye focus, and concentration the basic movements and fundamentals of tackling were honed. The great golf teacher Harvey Peneck had Tom Kite and Ben Crenshaw practicing their swings in slow motion, a similar drill technique.

Coach Crennel said missed tackles were not the reason the Giants ran so easily on the Browns defense. He said not executing the new 3-4 defense was the reason. The 3-4 needs one extra large outstanding nose tackle, which the Browns don’t have, and two very aggressive defensive ends and four tough tackling, savvey linebackers like the Patriots have. You don’t find these types everywhere and it would be a miracle if there are four such players on the Browns new roster. When you don’t have them you adjust to what talent you have not complain they can’t play your system. Of course that is what training camp and exhibition season is all about.

I am not saying Coach Romeo is using the free pass time given new coaches to install their new systems to justify his players pedestrian performance. He is just getting started. The Browns did beat the Giants 17 to 14 and holding an NFL opponent to 14 points should be good enough to win 80% of the time. And the Browns defense held the Giants at the end of the game when they were trying to get into field goal range to tie it up.

Coach Crennel should get a little extra time because he did come from the World Champion Patriots and if any team has a winning system it is the Patriots. But today the in buzz words are “selling your system” and players “buying into the coaches new system.” If Crennel is installing the Patriots system then get those players who aren’t “buying into” his system out of the way quick.

As the Giants showed runners will run until you tackle them. Part of tackling is the skill of maneuvering, fighting off blockers to get into position to tackle. Players can also “get blocked” just enough to avoid having to tackle certain tough runners or avoid a collision late in a game that is already lost. Groin injuries and pulled hamstring muscles are good devices this time of year to miss a few practices for those who feel they have it made. Such thoughts bring Terrell Owens and a few others to mind.

I’d like to see the Browns try the Patriots all linebacker defense with a lot of blitz and zone blitz packages.

The Browns need a bonus system like $10,000 per tackle or sack and $3,000 per assist with a $10,000 fine for piling on or obvious late hits.

It is encouraging to hear a Browns head coach critique his players with an obvious understanding of defense.
I can hear the fans now after he teaches his defense to tackle, "Go Romeo" win another one for the ghost of Ottoand Lou!

Gators lost 100 plays last season using the Zook Look delay before snapping the

2005-08-15T04:00:00Z

New Florida Gator Coach Urban Meyer’s published red zone record of scoring 89.9% of the time is phenomenally high, unbelievably high. Utah won a lot of games under Meyer and his quarterback Alex Smith was a hell of a talent, better in my opinion than Chris Leak the Gators current QB. Coach Meyer is now playing in the SEC and he won’t be scoring 89.9% of the time he gets inside the other teams 20 yard line. After I saw Coach Meyer’s diagrams and pictures of his sideways offense published in the Gainesville Sun prior to Florida’s Orange and Blue spring game I was really discouraged about the Gators prospects. The quaint story was he and his assistant coach traveled all the way to Louisville to find that sideways offense, took it home and installed it at Utah.

To win in the SEC you have to move the ball North and South rushing and passing. SEC rushes and blitzes will disrupt any sideways featured offense. Fortunately for Gator fans a few weeks ago Coach Meyer changed his published sideways strategy and said he was tailoring his 2005 Gator offense to fit QB Chris Leak and now he will be in a drop back type passing offense. That was encouraging. If Coach Meyer can keep Leak studying opponent’s game films and then help him to recognize on the field, in the game, under fire what he has been looking at in the films, he will gain a 50% efficiency over last year. From years of experience I learned that a few people study film and get a lot out of it. But only a few can take it to the field and use it. Others just don’t have that ability. Leak throws the ball exceptionally well within his range. Leak has shown little ability to study film and use the information he should have gleaned to defeat his opponents. Although the Gators women’s basketball coach could win 7 games with any crop of University of Florida talent, Coach Meyer has his work cut out for him to win the other 3 or 4 games to make 2005 a successful season. Tennessee, Alabama, LSU, Georgia, FSU, and Gator Pope Steve Spurrier’s South Carolina should give the Gators all they can handle.

Last season Chris Leak spent what seemed like hours staring at the sideline after he had broken the huddle and was at the line of scrimmage under center before he ran the next play. It seemed like his eyes may have glazed over while doing the Zook Look. I never saw any other team waste so much time off the play clock. I assumed Leak was getting visual signals from the coaching staff as to what plays to check off to. This eye game between plays must have cost the Gators 100 offensive plays over the course of the season. Obviously the more plays you can run in a season the more points you will score. The coach’s vantage point in the press box allows them to see the field and the personnel in the opponent’s defensive line up, but so should Leak be able to see them and recognize them from his vantage point. The defense moves around before and during plays to confuse the offensive strategist. The QB needs to be looking at the defense recognizing its personnel and characteristics from before he breaks the huddle, on the way to the line of scrimmage, and to the last second adjusting right up to the snap of the ball and for about four seconds afterwards. The offense should be giving the defense the recognition problems not the other way around.

From a distance Coach Meyer seems to have a certain toughness about him. So far I like his prospects of solving whatever problems he faces. His no nonsense approach to campus alcohol abuse is also encouraging. He seems to want a physical aggressive team. They need to improve their pass coverage and tackling to win those extra 3 to 4 games the extra 100 or so plays they should run under Coach Meyer will also be a big factor in the won lost column.

Learning to tackle and block should be top priority in Browns training camp.

2005-08-10T04:00:00Z

With Trent Dilfer at QB the Ravens scored no touchdowns in four straight games down the stretch when the Ravens won the Super Bowl and a Cleveland sportswriter wrote PERHAPS it was Baltimore’s outstanding defense that won the Championship. PERHAPS?? PERHAPS?? Trent Dilfer’s statistics are rather sparse, except that out of 28 passes completed in 2002 and 2003 he threw 4 interceptions. Is interpolating 40 interceptions for each 280 completions unfair? Maybe so. People contend that Jeff Garcia had happy feet. Jeff Garcia also had the worst pass protection in the NFL and some of the worst pass plays to run. It is a modern marvel that he made it through the season without a major injury. I guess he didn’t. The knock was put on Garcia for trying to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. Not giving up but trying too hard to make things happen under oppressive pressure?

Garcia is gone and Dilfer is the QB. I live in Florida and saw a lot of Trent on TV while he played for the Tampa Bay Buc’s. I haven’t heard any logical explanation as to why the Browns felt they could dump a pro-bowl caliber quarterback for one of the worst 2:00 minute drill quarterback’s ever according to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and their followers. Garcia for Dilfer is not a trade I would have made. No matter now and I am not in charge of Browns trades or anything else.

The Florida Sun Network chose to show a re-run of the 1998 Florida vs. Florida State game twice this past week. Doug Johnson was the Gators quarterback. He overthrew a wide open Travis McGriff in the end zone and again when he was headed for the end zone wide open and the Seminoles cleaned Johnson’s clock 20 something to 13. I won’t go into the other gory details of the Johnson’s performance. Being an old Gator I dislike Florida State intensely. Doug is from Gainesville, Florida, where I grew up. I want to write great things about Doug, another home town boy. As opposed to Doug’s performance I kicked FSU’s butts every opportunity I got. I took over the games and kicked Seminole ass. I’d like to say that about Doug, but…unless Doug Johnson’s got some fire in his belly I haven’t seen, the Brown’s quarterback position is in deep [I am a pottymouth] and that doesn’t leave the rest of the team in very optimistic shape.

Now, I have had my tantrum about the Browns Quarterback situation I am hoping for the best for Dilfer and Johnson because they quarterback my Browns. Maybe a few articles like this will move them enough to step up and kick some butt themselves.

It is most discouraging not to hear a single comment from the Browns players, coaches, or management that there is an urgency to improve the Browns tackling. Without drastic improvement in their tackling they can’t win 5 games. No they can’t win three games.