Dawgbeat 06/15/2007
MEMO TO RANDY, PHIL AND THE CLEVELAND BROWNS
By Eric Brown
Training camp is only 42 short days away, the season 86, so roughly three months until opening day. The off-season that the Browns have so carefully pieced together has gained national media recognition by the football world. The pieces seem to be in place to make the Browns a winning franchise again. Hard work, motivation, and a hunger for winning should be the motto of all involved. The off-season acquisitions of Eric Steinbach, Jamal Lewis, Brady Quinn, Joe Thomas, Eric Wright, Robaire Smith, etc have been talked about and beaten to death, it's now time to prove their worth on the playing field. So let's talk about some other facets of Cleveland Browns Football to get the fans more involved and feeling a connection again.
Here is my short list of things that may make Cleveland Browns Stadium start to feel like home again.
1) The Dawg Pound- rebuild that son of a gun. Remember that sloped hill that led up to the fans. Get the grounds crew out there and rebuild that mound of dirt and make the Dawg Pound look like it once did. Don't forget about Milk-Bones either. Protect your neighbor if he throws a few and hits the opposing team in the noggin. Just swivel your head around and look in wonder where it might have came from. Don't go running to security, get a life, this is football, not 4th grade english class. Also, put a nice brown colored chain link fence as the barrier between the field and seats, nice touch.
2) Banners- Remember all those banners that lined each section of the stadium. That gave Municipal a real home feel to it. Let the fans express their emotions more noticeably at the stadium.
3) Bands- Keep the bands playing at halftime. To hell with all the cheesy halftime advertisements and stupid games. Keep the local high school/college bands playing and entertaining the fans who are from the areas the bands represent.
4) Inner wall surrounding the field. Keep it simple like last season with dark brown. If you want to honor the hall of famers and key past performers, hang banners with their pictures and numbers strategically in the upper rafters of the stadium. Keep the inner wall for fans and their banners.
5) I actually like the atmosphere of the pre-game ceremonies outside and inside the stadium. Continue to honor the heroes of our wonderful past.
6) Scoreboard-go back and watch some old game film of what used to go on in between plays on the scoreboard, and over the loudspeaker. Play alot of eighties hard rock music, as the eighties and Bernie Kosar is the era that most common-day fans relate to. More De-Fense Chants, and Here we Go Brownies is needed. Maybe we can remake Bernie-Bernie, into Brady-Brady.
6) The most important change-WIN! Do whatever it takes to win football games at home. It is obviously, and most importantly the only thing that will bring this franchise back to feeling good again.