BROWNS NEWS FROM THE OBR NEWSWIRE (rss)
Jason Kline again gets a "We're Gonna Kick You Out of the Mainstream Media If You Keep It Up" Award for giving the OBR credit for scoops (News-Journal)
Eric Wright, as it turns out, seems to have been a darn fine draft pick (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
The Browns played a weak schedule last year. Now with new statistical terminology! (ABJ)
Sixty years ago, Cleveland was called "City of Champions". Now we're the "City of Essentially Competitive Teams" (Chronicle-Telegram)
THE WONDERMENT OF WRITERS
Like all Browns fans, I hope to see my team in the Super Bowl, and soon. Like all Browns fans, I dread the mind-crushing over-coverage of the event and team should that happen. If there are 2,032 stories on Tom Brady's choice footwear, what's going to happen when they get a load of some of the guys on our team?
If anything good has come out of six thousand sportswriters trying to chase two stories, it's that the Patriots unbeaten season has encouraged a couple to revisit the fact that the Cleveland Browns win undefeated in 1948. Oddly enough, they did play football before the final game of the season went all Nietzsche and slapped a Super in the title.
A couple of fairly decent writers figure this out of late:
Long-Forgotten Perfection by the Lake (New York Times)
Among NFL's greatest teams, who is actually the greatest? (Dallas Morning-News)
TRACKING OLD FRIENDS
Terry Robiskie got caught up in the offensive coaching staff bloodletting in Cleveland last year, and the complete collapse of the Dolphins this year. He's got another chance to bounce back, however, as he's latched on with the Atlanta Falcons. I can't make a joke about this, because Robiskie seems universally liked. Hope that this stop works out well for him.
FURTHER ADVENTURES OF DAVID KIRCUS
OBR News-o-Rama readers will remember that the Browns tried out Kircus a while back, checking to see if they should take a chance on him should his off-field issues evaporate. He's still doing a tour of the NFL, and visited this week with the needy Miami Dolphins.
SCARIEST HEADLINE OF THE DAY: ARM EDITION
As someone with an adjustable rate mortgage (don't ask), scheduled for review next year, I couldn't find a news article more frightening today than this one. It talks about how Shaker Heights has turned into a ghost town.
I'm not from Shaker Heights, but if you are, I'd be interested in your thoughts about how accurate the story is... are things really that bad?
MORE COACHING CARNAGE
From the home office in Novelty, Ohio, here are the coaching changes in the NFL from 1/21 - 1/26. It is a non-trivial list.
ATLANTA - Jan. 23: Named: Mike Smith (Jaguars '07), head coach. Jan. 24: Named: Emmitt Thomas (Falcons '07), assistant head coach; Bill Musgrave (Falcons '07), QB coach; Brian Van Gorder (Falcons '07), defensive coordinator. Jan. 25: Named: Mike Mularkey (Dolphins '07), offensive coordinator. Jan. 26: Named: Terry Robiskie (Dolphins '07), WR coach.
BALTIMORE - Jan. 23: Named: Cam Cameron (Dolphins '07), offensive coordinator.
BUFFALO - Jan. 22: Named: Ray Brown (Lions player '05), assistant OL coach.
CINCINNATI - Jan. 23: Named: Jeff FitzGerald (Ravens '07), LB coach.
DALLAS - Jan. 23: Resigned: LB coach Paul Pasqualoni (Dolphins); DB coach Todd Bowles (Dolphins); DL Kacy Rodgers (Dolphins). Jan. 25: Named: Todd Grantham (Browns '07), DL coach.
GREEN BAY - Jan. 23: Resigned: Defensive quality control coach Eric Lewis (Louisville).
JACKSONVILLE - Jan. 23: Resigned: Defensive coordinator Mike Smith (Falcons). Jan. 24: Named: Donnie Henderson (Lions '06), defensive assistant.
KANSAS CITY - Jan. 22: Named: Eric Price (Texas-El Paso '07), WR coach. Jan. 23: Named: Joe D'Alessandris (Georgia Tech '07), assistant OL coach.
MIAMI - Jan. 23: Named: Paul Pasqualoni (Cowboys '07), defensive coordinator; Todd Bowles (Cowboys '07), assistant head coach/DB coach; Kacy Rodgers (Cowboys '07), DL coach; David Corrao (Ole Miss '07), defensive quality control coach); James Saxon (Chiefs '07), RB coach; Evan Marcus (Falcons '07), strength and conditioning coach. Jan. 24: Named: Jim Reid (VMI '07), LB coach; Karl Dorrell (UCLA '07), WR coach.
NEW ORLEANS - Jan. 23: Named: Ed Orgeron (Ole Miss '07), DL coach.
SAN DIEGO - Jan. 22: Fired: WR coach James Lofton; RB coach Matt Simon. Jan. 23: Named: Charlie Joiner (Chiefs '07), WR coach. Jan. 24: Named: Ollie Wilson (Falcons '07), RB coach.
SAN FRANCISCO - Jan. 21: Named: Mark Uyeyama (Utah State '07), assistant strength and conditioning coach.
SEATTLE - Jan. 22: Named: Assistant OL coach Keith Gilbertson, WR coach. Fired: OL coach Bill Laveroni. Jan. 25: Named: Mike Solari (Chiefs '07), OL coach.
TAMPA BAY - Jan. 25: Named: George Yarno (Washington State '07), assistant OL coach.
WASHINGTON - Jan. 22: Named: Vice president, football operations Vinny Cerrato, executive vice president, football operations.