Dawghouse Blog

"I think that's quite absurd to say that this team's jinxed," Bentley said. "We're not jinxed now and we're not going to be lucky when we win the Super Bowl."

F Yeah.

Camp:

• Reading the various camp logs, it sounds like rookie LB Leon Williams is a real player. That's great, but it has me wondering, "Where's the catch?"
• Can we just declare Frisman Jackson as a mainstay at backup WR? There's just no way Rideau has what it takes. And last year Jackson showed that he can step up when given the chance. He makes the cut and makes some catches.
• Winslow is still getting an easy time of it in camp. That's understandable, but I'm wondering how long this is going to go on. I think everyone would like to see Winslow be able to play hard with the first team for preseason games #2 & #3.
• I feel the opposite with Braylon Edwards. I'm in no hurry on him.  
• Camp in Berea is sooo much better than practice at the Stadium.
• This must be Josh Cribbs week for positive PR. I'm all for it. I think he gets the last WR spot (Edwards, Jurevicius, Northcutt, Jackson, Wilson, Cribbs), and I see no reason why the Browns can't use both he and Jackson for the occasional end-around passing play. But that will only happen once one of them is able to see the field on a regular basis.
• Now that it's a few years down the road, I think all the Browns lower-round draft picks who were "bullied" into five year rookie contracts would seem to have benefited from it.
• Everytime I hear positive things about RBs Harrison and even Vickers I think, "in a few weeks either Suggs or Green is gone." And hopefully traded away for some offensive line depth. I don't think Savage would be shy about making a deal for the right guy, and I wouldn't even be shocked if Savage sweetened the deal in order to get it done.

• I'm reading on PFT that the salary cap will rise at least %50 in the next five seasons, from $102 mil to $150++. Man. That is crazy. But it also confirms my opinion that in the NFL it is, at the moment, okay to build your team by "overpaying" in free agency.
• Looks like the rumors about the new CBA making it tough to sign rookies is not coming true. Almost everyone is signed, and I haven't even had to work hard to ignore news stories on holdouts and such. That said, I bet Kurt Warner is happy that Lienart is not yet signed.
• Michael Bennett goes to the Chiefs from the Saints in a trade. That's a good indication Priest Holmes will not be playing this year. And how about the Saints -- singing Bennett a few months ago and netting a rumored 4th round draft pick (!!!) for him, bascially for nothing. That would seem to be a little bonus for Reggie Bush coming to them in the draft.
• I find it mildly interesting that WR Rashaun Woods just got cut from his second NFL team. I don't think I've ever seen the dude play even one time.
• I'm still having a hard time believing Ben Roethlisberger is 100% okay after that motocycle accident. Seeing as this is the year that, I think, the Steelers were going to have to rely more on the QB, I'm going to think this will be a problem until Ben proves otherwise.
• The ESPN.com NFL "analysts" who write articles are, in a word, pathetic. I don't think I've read one decent analysis item on ESPN.com all offseason. The only guy worth listening to at this point is Mortenson, but he's primarily a TV guy now.

• My favorite Cleveland embarassment, Dennis Kucinich, is holding a "Cleveland Conference" seeking an immediate end to the Israeli/Hizbollah fighting. Even if I agreed with Mr. Kucinich (and I don't) I'd seriously question why he is holding a conference in Cleveland with a bunch of people who have no control over events in the Middle East, and whether he really expects to get anything done. This is just the usual Kucinich PR tripe.
• The Indians lost two last at-bat games at Fenway this week against a good Red Sox team. And they wont he other two games. They could/should have taken all for games. Such is this season. Along the way we saw that Carmona definitely isn't ready to close, and Jason davis might be able to make a career in the bullpen.
• We should have... re-signed Bobby Howry to that 3 or 4 year deal. If he were on this team the Indians would still have playoff hopes. I think when it comes to the bullpen, this is where the "Dolan is cheap" criticism is entirely valid. Instead of taking risks that good relievers will perform throughout a multi-year deal, the Indians take risks that their one-year rental and scrap heap players will be at good at all. I know what I'd prefer...
• NBA schedule announced!!! Who the heck cares? It's freaking _August_ man. I don't even care about the NBA schedule until the second half of the NBA season.
• After seeing that picture of Bernie Kosar greeting President Bush, you gotta wonder about the guy. It's one thing to be the only guy not wearing a suit greeting the President. But Kosar looked like he'd just rolled in from a weekend at the islands. I mean, at least tuck in your shirt or something, right? Oh well, we love him anyway.