Monday, December 17, 2007

Random Thoughts from the Weekend

1. Big House sold. Rich Rodriguez was hired to coach Michigan... This worries me. OSU has had trouble with the spread offense in the past and Rodriguez's West Virginia squad ran it pretty well.

2. I would've preferred Les Miles. I'm rather confident going into the Championship game and I think Tressel could've handled Miles.

3. How about those Bowl Games coming up? I don't care. And I have a hard time understanding how anyone else can care either (if it's not your team playing).

4. In most sports, the playoff system is win-or-go-home. College football? Win-and-go-home. Teams are playing for 5th place. Who cares?

5. Of course, my conference is the one screwing thing up. The Big Ten and Pac-10 don't want to give up the Rose Bowl. I knew that these guys were part of the problem, I just didn't realize how big. I mean, there's no good reason for Illinois to be playing in the Rose Bowl this year. None.

6. The PAC-10 is doing their part as well. They won't participate in a playoff system. Well done.

7. Dan Shanoff is starting to look reasonable. This is a problem.

8. Um, what? 13 Ohio State juniors are testing their NFL stock. Awesome...

9. If they win, then I won't care. IF OSU can beat LSU, I wouldn't mind too much if a lot of guys left. You win a National Championship, you've accomplished what you set out to do... if you want to bolt for the NFL and pick up a paycheck, by all means go ahead. If they get slaughtered... the NFL losses would sting a little bit more.

10. Who doesn't love a snow game? Terry Pluto sure did.

11. "Finally catch the Steelers"? Well, not really. They have the same record, which is nice, but I don't see the Steelers losing to either the Rams or the Ravens (of course, I couldn't see them losing to the Jets either).

12. Phil Dawson is pretty ridiculous. He's been pretty money for the Browns over the years. Sure, he doesn't have the best leg, but he is pretty accurate. Yesterday's 49 yarder was one of the best kicks I've ever seen (from him or anyone). I wasn't looking forward to the result of that boot; 49 yards is risky Dawson territory as is, let alone in the conditions yesterday.

13. Biggest surprise from yesterday's game? Andra Davis. The guy had a hell of a ball game and seemed to be everywhere.

13. I'm not the biggest DA fan, but... He looks like he's having a blast out there, doesn't he? He's played well and he's definitely enjoyed this season. Check out the last picture of this slideshow (can't link directly because of flash). Good times.

14. Worrying about DA vs Brady? I am. First of all, only in Cleveland are we worrying about next season before the Browns even play a snap in the playoffs (much like we're worrying about LeBron and CC leaving, even though their teams are winning now).

15. But we're thinking about it. Mistake by the Lake and The Disappointment Zone have had discussion on this and I'm torn. On one hand, I think Anderson is benefiting from the improved offensive line and the receivers (Edwards and Winslow make some ridiculous catches on balls thrown too high or behind them) and I'm not too sure how much of his success is due to his supporting cast. At the same time, Quinn is unproven and I don't want to see the Browns pull a Drew Brees.

16. But if they get compensation for Anderson leaving... Phil Savage has said that he'll most likely give Anderson the highest tender this offseason, meaning the Browns would net a 1st and 3rd round pick if he signs elsewhere (assuming they don't match). If a team with a top 10 pick signs Anderson, I'd think very hard about matching the offer. The Browns could use those picks to fill out the defense (d-line!!) and then hand the keys to Quinn (who would've beaten out both Frye and Anderson if he showed up to camp on time).

17. I dunno, I'd hate to see the Browns let go of the next Drew Brees. But I'd also hate for them to miss out on a 1st and 3rd package just to keep the next Kelly Holcomb. No matter what, it is an interesting debate.

18. Peter Kings likes Jamal Lewis. A lot.

19. Dammit. Dan Haren didn't make it to Cleveland. It would've been quite a price...

20. LeBron is concerned about the Cavaliers. After the Sixers game:
I’m very concerned, we’re not playing good basketball. Right now we are not a very good team. It looked good (Tuesday) but a loss to New Jersey and a loss at home puts things in perspective. We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’re just not a good team, simple as that.
21. Blame Ferry! Not surprisingly, message board posters are all worried that LeBron is unhappy and the Ferry needs to do some or LeBron is going to leave (OMG!!). Me? Meh. I'd feel for LeBron a bit more if he didn't spend the last two games hoisting fade-away 20 footers.

22. I'm not sure what fans want Ferry to do. Well, I know what they want him to do (trade for Jason Kidd or Mike Bibby), but I'm not sure how they expect him to do it. The Cavs have practically nothing to offer the Nets (Shannon Brown, Ira Newble and Drew Gooden work for you?) and I really, really, really don't want Mike Bibby.

23. I think the bigger share of the blame goes to Mike Brown. So Daniel Gibson is out and the Cavs start Eric Snow over Damon Jones. Hmm... which player would be more likely to disrupt the offense, another 3 point shooter or a guy who teams don't guard... The Cavs didn't lose to the Nets or Sixers because of lack of talent, they lost because of lack of effort and execution. In fact, I'd put the losses on Coach Brown and LeBron. Brown has to call the plays and get the guys motivated, but LeBron needs to play the entire game with the same intensity that he showed at the start of the season (and he has to go back to the post).

24. For all of Ferry's faults, I think he's rebounded well after a rough start. The Cavs had to overspend to get FA's early on, but they've become pretty resourceful. Daniel Gibson has noticed.

25. Senator Dodd goes to Washington. At least someone in the Senate gives a shit.

26. This will never get old. Liberal Fascism, really?

27. I love year end lists. I love finding all the albums I've missed out on. At some point I'll have a music list for 2007. In the meantime, take a look at these.

27. Speaking of year end lists... Top 10 Music Videos of 2007.

28. This writer's strike is killing me. No new Daily Show, no new Colbert Report (though I did just pick up Colbert's book) and my favs (30 Rock, Journeyman, Heroes) are running out of episodes (if they aren't done already).

29. Led Zeppelin and Metallica at Bonnaroo? I'm not sure how I feel about this (though the rumors were struck down). I mean, no matter who is there, I'll be going but... having both Zep and Metallica there would really change the crowd type (though that's not always a bad thing), but I'd prefer either one or the other (with Zeppelin being my preference). I'd also love to see David Bowie or the Chili Peppers headline one year (Springsteen would work as well).

30. I'm really digging the new Streetlight Manifesto album, Somewhere in the Between. I know this isn't exactly a video, but it is the full song.

Streetlight Manifesto - Down, Down, Down to Mephisto's Cafe

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm a bit concerned about Rich Rodriguez at Michigan, but I am comforted by the fact he can't win big games. How he never got WV into the title game in the patsy Big East is beyond me. Also, his team's defenses have been atrocious (though not bad this year). We'll see

Whoever is QB for the Browns is going to look a lot better playing with BE and Winslow in Chud's offense. I also think Cleveland fans went overboard in their love for Quinn after he was drafted. He was passed over by more than 2/3 of NFL teams for a reason, and it wasn't all due to team needs. Also, DA is pretty much in his first year as a starter. However, it's probably my OSU bias that leads me to be skeptical of a hyped Notre Dame QB. Just gotta make sure you keep the best guy, no matter what.

I don't want Bibby either. He's old news.

Anonymous said...

I'm a bit concerned about your revelation of the bowie/chili pepper bonnaroo headline. THAT WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE PUBLIC INFORMATION. Let's stick to the rumors: zeppelin, and metallica. The public isn't ready for spunion truth yet. Changing the subject...
How's your disc golfing?

Anonymous said...

oh, and did you hear about return to forever?

Ben said...

My disc golf game was going well, but when the weather turned bad, I stopped playing (it seemed like I had something else to do during all the nice fall days... and now we have a foot of snow).

I have not heard about Return to Forever, though I did just check out their wikipedia entry... sounds VERY interesting. I may have to go searching for old albums now...