Random Thoughts from the Weekend

1. Not worried. I really think Terrelle Pryor will be fine. This is a kid who has never struggled on the field before, it might take some time to figure things out. But then again, I have more patience than most OSU fans.

2. Not quite the same. For all the talk of Pyror and Vince Young, while Young struggled his second season (like Pyror) and eventually turned it around (we'll see with Pryor) he was also a redshirt sophomore (a year older than Pryor). I dunno if that extra year will make that much of a difference, but just note that Young was a year older/wiser than Pyror is now.

3. Dumb. Bill Livingston's Terrelle Pryor column.

4. The offense was better... but it was against Minnesota. Of course, they lost to Purdue last week, so anything remotely positive is a step up. Things looked better in the second half and that is definitely something to build upon.

5. Not getting any easier. Ohio State faces New Mexico State at home next week and they finish with @PSU, Iowa, @Michigan. Good luck with that. If Pryor can get through the rest of the year unscathed, I would feel very good about next season.

6. I didn't hear it. I was watching some ESPN college football postgame show on Saturday and Bob Griese came on and apologized for something offensive he said during the Buckeye game.

7. The Browns suck. I mean they really really really really suck.

8. Not so fast, I think. Patrick McManamon says that the Browns should admit their mistake with Mangini and start over. I think you gotta give Mangini at least two years. You gotta let him make his 11 draft picks next April.

9. Though I'm not defending his performance by any means. His stubbornness on refusing to play Brady Quinn is borderline insane, the team is routinely getting blown out and the players have been unhappy for awhile. Things aren't good.

10. Things I know. Derek Anderson is not a starting caliber NFL quarterback. Josh Cribbs is not a starting caliber NFL wide receiver.

11. Speaking of Cribbs. If you're gonna use the Wildcat offense, fucking use the Wildcat offense. Running it once or twice a game is beyond stupid. If Cribbs isn't gonna be used on offense, but him at safety. He's too good of an athlete to only impact the game on special teams. If he can't be a playmaker on offense, let him be one on defense.

12. They gave up. The Browns simply gave up during the fourth period. The Packers marched 99 yards down the field with ease and the Browns didn't look like they gave a shit.

13. Pathetic. Say what you will about the offense keeping the defense on the field, but you can't face Aaron Roger (with his league high 25 sacks) and not get to him once during the game. Bad bad bad bad.

14. Still waiting. Terry Pluto thought that this would be the year that the Browns didn't suck at defending the run. Nope.

15. Not my money. Sure, Quinn probably isn't playing due to his $11 million/70% of the snaps contract clause (which is really the only sensible reason he's not playing). And that's fine, I guess. But it's gotta be fairly obvious that D.A. isn't the guy. I'd like to see Quinn once the 70% threshold is passed, but I'd even take Ratliff at this point. Anyone but D.A.

16. Kinda a big deal. I'm not really sure why Mangini is getting ripped on nationally like he is. The Browns have had a shitty, fat coach for years, why does Rolling Stone decide to give a shit now?

17. Long nightmare is over. The Cavs start tomorrow. TOMORROW!! I can officially stop caring about the Browns.

18. Delonte, Delonte, Delonte. Not good. West's wife filed domestic violence report. Not good.

19. Nice idea, but no. Windhorst is asked if J.J. Hickson could start... Apparently Coach Brown once thought that since Andy plays so well with Z, that J.J. could start next to Shaq. But he did away with that idea once they saw how well Varejao worked with O'Neal. I think Hickson is poised to have a monster year and I hope Brown gives him regular playing time.

20. Rough start. The Cavs start the season with a 4-in-5, face 7 back-to-backs in the first five weeks and are on the road for most of the first 2 months or so. The Cavs could end up having a worse record than last season, but be more prepared for the playoffs.

21. Thoughts on Shaq. I go back and forth on how I feel about O'Neal. On one hand, the Cavs are adding a veteran HoF big man who can score in the post and protect the rim. Ben likes. On the other hand, I can't simply dismiss criticisms from people like Bill Simmons who point out that Shaq has now left four teams on bad terms and is really old/fat. Ben doesn't disagree. However, whenever thoughts like that get me down, I have to remember that the Cavs only gave up Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic. They got Shaq for nothing.

22. That does concern me, the fact that they got him for zilch. We'll see how Shaq looks without the vaunted Phoenix medical staff, it could be ugly. He's 37 years old and a billion pounds, he's not the same guy anymore. As excited as I am for this season (and you really have no idea), there's a very good possibility that this Shaq thing blows up in our collective faces.

23. Though Shaq may not be their best pickup. I really like the signings of both Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon. Both swing men should be able to contribute on both ends of the floor. Parker should help in the halfcourt offense and Moon should help enable them to run and go small if need be.

24. If Coach Mike is up to the task. Maybe it's just me, but I gotta be a little concerned about the news that Shaq doesn't understand the playbook and that Brown hasn't decided on a rotation yet. Sweet. I'm sure this won't drive me insane for the first half of the year.

25. Say what you will about the Browns. But at least they control their own destiny. They suck purely due to faults of their own making. Meanwhile, Tribe fans get to watch C.C. Sabathia go against Cliff Lee in the Worlds Series. Mid-market MLB teams are glorified farm teams for the big markets. Both of those guys were traded due to monetary reasons.

26. Speaking of a crappy economy. Who would've thought that the economic down turn would actually help out a Cleveland franchise. With the salary cap dropping and teams losing money, it looks more and more likely that LeBron is gonna re-up with the Cavaliers. Weird.

27. Should I care? The Indians hired a guy who used to coach the Nationals. Awesome. I was hoping for Bobby Valentine, simply because he seemed interesting. I literally have no opinion on Manny Acta.

28. I'm a dork (part 1). A new Wheel of Time book comes out tomorrow (it's a big day for me). This past month, I've been diving headlong into the WoT blogs to catch up. I'm ridiculously pumped.

29. I'm a dork (part 2). We're two episodes into the new season of Venture Bros. and it is freaking epic. I highly recommend this show and you can watch full episodes online.

30. Music time. The new Muse album, The Resistance, is pretty badass. It's over the top, pompous, bombastic, Queen-esque and really freaking good. This is 'United States of Eurasia'