Random Thoughts from the Weekend

1. In case you were wondering. The Cavs face the Celtics in 43 days.

2. Cause I know I was. Cavs face the Celtics in 43 days.

3. Wow. That weekend was filled with shitty offensive football. The offenses for both the Buckeyes and the Browns should shoulder most of the blame for the losses.

4. There's enough blame to go around. Terrelle Pryor says he and the offense should take the heat for their loss to USC. I don't disagree. You can't have four drive start in your opponents territory and only get 2 FGs. Especially against a team like USC.

5. Still not there yet. There are times where Pryor looks great. Then there are times he makes really really bad decisions (like his pick and his one ugly ugly ugly option pitch).

6. Speaking of blame. Jim Tressel. Outcoached? Yes. Wasting Pryor's talent? Meh, I dunno. But after seeing Barkley play so well, you have to wonder.

7. Inevitable. Ya, Denny is right. Was anyone surprised about USC's final drive? This game was too similar to the Texas game for my liking.

8. As for being proud... yes and no. Obviously, the loss sucks. Was I pleased to see Ohio State hang with USC (not getting blown out, showing they can hang with big powers)? Yes. But it's not a good sign when Ohio State fans start talking about a 'good loss'. At some point you gotta beat the other guy.

9. I'm sure the defense just feels sick. They played really well against both Texas and USC. Pryor didn't give them a chance on USC's first TD (though the Trojans consistently won the battle on 4th down).

10. No one in Columbus is scared of Michigan. And I'm sure they aren't better than Ohio State. Did anyone actually, you know, watch the Michigan-Notre Dame game? It was terrible; poor tackling, bad throws, blown coverages- just ugly. Yes, it was close and that made it an exciting game. But close doesn't equal good football.

11. Besides Michigan State, I think the Big Ten held their own. OSU wasn't embarrassed and Wisconsin and Michigan escaped with wins. Hell, Michigan is even back in the Top 25.

12. Here we go again. Brady Quinn did not have a good game, he was 21-35 for 205yrds with a TD and a pick. He and Edwards did not look in sync. Like Pryor, he's shouldering the blame.

13. If you coulda beat out DA early on... One of the stories lost over the whole training camp is the fact that since Quinn and Derek Anderson split time, neither had a lot of reps with the first team. Quinn did not look comfortable with the offense (now the Vikings' D may have had something to do with that as well). They had way too many false start penalties.

14. Maybe it's just that simple. The Browns don't have a lot of talent. They aren't that good. The end.

15. The defense wasn't too bad. Hell, they held a 13-10 lead at halftime (second half, ugh). They at least got some pressure on Brett Favre (oh, BTW- Brian Billick did his best John Madden impression. It was sickening. I'm pretty sure they almost passed out when Favre threw that TD). They ran out of gas (and ran into Adrian Peterson) in the second half, but the offense's mistakes didn't do the defense any favors.


16. I kept waiting for Favre to make a mistake. But he never did.

17. Josh Cribbs was once again the best part of the game. Cribbs took a punt to the house but was barely a factor on offense. For some reason the Browns lined him up under center for both second-and-goal AND third-and-goal. Not only did it not work, but it shows how little confidence Mangini has in his starting QB.

18. Great, not good. Adrian Peterson is pretty damn good. I know they stopped him in the first half, but is anyone REALLY surprised that he ended up wit 180 yards and 3 TDs?

19. Jay Cutler did not help my fantasy team. 4 INTs? Seriously?!

20. And the 15th man is... Rob Kurz! Maybe! Or Jawad Williams.

21. She might have some inside info. Gloria James says LeBron's a "hometown boy". Good, that's what this season needed, more tea leaf readings.

22. Remember, he needs that big market. LeBron's in London, doing some more movie promotions.

23. Speaking of 2010... Brian Windhorst:

Refer to the very important decision he made in 2003, when he potentially left millions on the table from Reebok because he ultimately wanted to be a Nike man. Also refer to the decision he made in 2002 to stay at St. Vincent-St. Mary instead of transferring Oak Hill Academy as was offered.

24. I did see that, right? Anyone at ESPN wanna mention Jordan's petty induction speech? I know I wasn't the only one who noticed.

25. More Galifianakis please. What? He's in a show with Jason Schwartzman and Ted Danson? On HBO? Called Bored to Death? Sign me up.

26. Um, not good. Philly is closing their public libraries.

27. Animals with light sabers. Tell me this isn't at least kinda awesome.

28. Leadership. My side if feckless, the other side is crazy.

29. Twitter is gonna get people in trouble. Twitter: the First Draft of History. I like it. For those wondering, you can follow my tweets or whatever at BenCox83.

30. One of my favs. Sondre Lerche is playing the Beachland Ballroom this Friday. His new album, Heartbeat Radio is getting good reviews (I quite enjoy it). Tickets are $13.

Here's the title track from his new album: