Monday, December 08, 2008
This Blog has Moved...
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Back to the Grind...
The Next Big Thing makes his second appearance on As Seen By Me, another fine read.
OK, we've all shaken off the Baltimore hangover...well most of us. I like matchup this week because it really gives us a chance to get back to basics. The Lions aren't an overly strong opponent and provide us an opportunity to dictate the game (at least offensively) as we wish. I was relatively harsh on the game planning of Coach Carthon and Coach Grantham last week but all would be forgiven with a strong plan which can lead to a win this weekend.
After watching all the post game shows and reading the articles I think it's safe to say that the populist theories played out...the shotgun first play and apparent abandonment of the run was low hanging fruit for both myself and the local writers to pluck from the tree. After thinking about it a little, I'm actually going to ease up a bit and give Carthon credit for the game plan with one caveat...he simply over thought it. I give the guy credit because he is trying to stay one step ahead of the defense. What do they do well....rush the passer and play great d in the secondary, and therefore we assume that we will stay away from their strength. With that, Mo assumes that the Ravens will expect the Browns to run the ball and load up the box to stop it. Mo was hoping to outfox them by going right at their strength hoping to catch off-gaurd.
With a less overwhelming defense this week, let's hope that Mo decides that it is not about gamesmanship and instead takes our game to the Lions. We haven't seen it yet, but I still think our best offense will come when we use Reuben Droughns like a scratched cd...cd....cd....cd...cd. You get the picture...run him over and over again and be opportunistic in both the play action passes underneath to the tight ends and taking a shot or two deep to loosen up the secondary.
I think the public outcry has been loud enough in both the fan community and the media that the game plan will really showcase Droughns. So...rest assured, the Lions will stack the box. Nonetheless, pound the ball...big on big, man to man....a real trench fight. It will be boring for a while as we trade a couple running plays and punts from side to side, but sooner or later, our boys will hit their stride and we will start road grading the Lions defense. That's my hope.
Defensively expect more of the same. Bend and don't break and play to keep it close. Again, no breaking news here, but Joey H-bomb is on maybe the hottest seat in the NFL right now so we need to at least try to mix it up and confuse him with a combination of coverages and smart blitz packages. Maybe some of the safety blitzes we saw out of Chris Crocker in the Bears game. The Lions have a ton of potential no shows for the game on Sunday including Roy Williams who is hurt, Charles Rodgers suspended, Marcus Pollard will play but is in the doghouse, and potentially RB Kevin Jones and LT Jeff Backus also out with injuries we have a great opportunity to dominate the game. Still...play to win and dominate, and don't play to 'not lose' to a battered team. We can use any momentum we can get....so if we get a chance to throw a team a knockout punch, or kick someone when there down....we have to do it to build off of some successes.
A win is a win, and this is a league of pelt's. Let's go huntin' and get us a Lion.
More later this week...I'm out.
OK, we've all shaken off the Baltimore hangover...well most of us. I like matchup this week because it really gives us a chance to get back to basics. The Lions aren't an overly strong opponent and provide us an opportunity to dictate the game (at least offensively) as we wish. I was relatively harsh on the game planning of Coach Carthon and Coach Grantham last week but all would be forgiven with a strong plan which can lead to a win this weekend.
After watching all the post game shows and reading the articles I think it's safe to say that the populist theories played out...the shotgun first play and apparent abandonment of the run was low hanging fruit for both myself and the local writers to pluck from the tree. After thinking about it a little, I'm actually going to ease up a bit and give Carthon credit for the game plan with one caveat...he simply over thought it. I give the guy credit because he is trying to stay one step ahead of the defense. What do they do well....rush the passer and play great d in the secondary, and therefore we assume that we will stay away from their strength. With that, Mo assumes that the Ravens will expect the Browns to run the ball and load up the box to stop it. Mo was hoping to outfox them by going right at their strength hoping to catch off-gaurd.
With a less overwhelming defense this week, let's hope that Mo decides that it is not about gamesmanship and instead takes our game to the Lions. We haven't seen it yet, but I still think our best offense will come when we use Reuben Droughns like a scratched cd...cd....cd....cd...cd. You get the picture...run him over and over again and be opportunistic in both the play action passes underneath to the tight ends and taking a shot or two deep to loosen up the secondary.
I think the public outcry has been loud enough in both the fan community and the media that the game plan will really showcase Droughns. So...rest assured, the Lions will stack the box. Nonetheless, pound the ball...big on big, man to man....a real trench fight. It will be boring for a while as we trade a couple running plays and punts from side to side, but sooner or later, our boys will hit their stride and we will start road grading the Lions defense. That's my hope.
Defensively expect more of the same. Bend and don't break and play to keep it close. Again, no breaking news here, but Joey H-bomb is on maybe the hottest seat in the NFL right now so we need to at least try to mix it up and confuse him with a combination of coverages and smart blitz packages. Maybe some of the safety blitzes we saw out of Chris Crocker in the Bears game. The Lions have a ton of potential no shows for the game on Sunday including Roy Williams who is hurt, Charles Rodgers suspended, Marcus Pollard will play but is in the doghouse, and potentially RB Kevin Jones and LT Jeff Backus also out with injuries we have a great opportunity to dominate the game. Still...play to win and dominate, and don't play to 'not lose' to a battered team. We can use any momentum we can get....so if we get a chance to throw a team a knockout punch, or kick someone when there down....we have to do it to build off of some successes.
A win is a win, and this is a league of pelt's. Let's go huntin' and get us a Lion.
More later this week...I'm out.
Monday, October 17, 2005
Thoughts from the Couch...
The Next Big Thing makes his first post of the season and comes out firing. Cover topics including the Browns, College Football and Terrible Commentators. Look for a column or two a week from him... enjoy.
The mantra for the year has been ‘improve in every game’, I think it’s pretty safe to say that nothing about yesterday’s game indicated that we got better from last week. There was too much talk about how the Ravens were in disarray despite having the 2nd ranked defense in the league. We were a bit over confident after stealing a win last Sunday and the city was starting to gain the false confidence that we always do every time one of our teams shows a glimmer of hope. Quite honestly I never had a good feeling about this game all week, which was wholly solidified by the Jeff Faine snap on our first offensive play.
Going out of the shotgun on the first play from scrimmage made no sense to me at all. It’s kind of like watching a pro-baseball game’s first pitch...you generally see the pitcher throw a fastball right down the middle for a strike. It’s kind of a ‘good omen’ play or something to ease the nerves a bit for both the pitcher and the batter. It is the chance to exhale and settle into the game. We let the leadoff hitter go deep on the first pitch, only in this case I think it was much worse in terms of momentum. The defense had just done a great job of getting off the field without letting the Ravens do any damage on their first possession…really all you are looking for out of a first frame. For my money, the Faine snap, or lack thereof, was far more damaging than the two taunting penalties in the first possession of the Indy game in terms of ‘negative momentum’. It had to be very deflating for the offense, and brought the defense right back out without giving them a chance to catch their breath. It’s been an early theme to the season that the offense seems to put the d in some spots where you can only expect them to minimize damage instead of averting it. That’s a recipe for disaster any way you slice it.
Leading up to the game I really thought that we would lose the game by either allowing there defense or special teams to score. Neither did, but they both hurt us. It was a foregone conclusion that the Ravens would run with success on us, and they did….with just under a buck fifty in yards between Jamal Lewis and Chester Taylor. Taylor was impressive, let’s hope that the Ravens chose to re-sign Lewis after the season to give Phil and crew another shot to recruit this guy in FA.
Speaking of free agents...what about Reuben Droughns? Are we missing something? Is there something in his contract that says we cannot give you more than 2 consecutive carries or two consecutive offensive series in a row without a break? I don’t think he wants to come out, but for some reason when he seems like he is going to take a drive over he gets subbed out, what gives Mo? It has to be the most common question surrounding the team at this point to ask “why is he not more involved?” 15 carries this week? I think he was averaging easily 4 plus yards per carry, but we kept going away from him. Let’s see what the outcome of the game is if we give Reuben 25 to 30 carries…my guess is it would be pretty good….I suggest we test the theory against the Lions this coming week.
Overall there wasn’t much to like about the offensive game plan. We played directly into the strengths of the Ravens defense which translated into the results of the game. Terrell Suggs embarrassed both Ryan Tucker and LJ Shelton with some regularity. I don’t know if the statistician was keeping track of lookout blocks today but I can guarantee Trent won’t be taking the line out to dinner this week rewarding a job well done. The protection today was overwhelmed by the Ravens pass rush, I think everyone realized that, but since we don’t have a pass rush I thought it was worth mentioning so we can know what to ask Santa for this year.
The Ravens were routinely sending 5 or 6 guys on both run and pass plays where were the screens and draws? We ran one draw that went for a nice gain but never went back to it…again I was confused.
Our lack of dedication or willingness to run the ball more regularly created all of the other symptoms of our sub par output on O. The receivers and tight ends did their jobs for the most part considering the pressure Trent was under.
How much more can be said about an offense that only managed three points today. One more bat to the dead horse….not running the ball was the single largest contributor to today’s loss.
The defense was also deficient today in all areas. Like the offense, the failures of the defense in the game today can be put on the game plan as much as we can put it on the lack of talent on the team. I understand that it is easier to defend the run playing zone defense, but when we started getting picked apart by a Anthony Wright we should have made adjustments. We played such a soft zone that we made a two weapon passing attack look like they were playing 7 on 7. It would have made more sense to me to man up to try to take away Mason and Heap leaving the rest of the crew to try to create some havoc. Instead we were content with the bend don’t break methods that didn’t allow enough points to knock us out, but allowed the Ravens to control tempo, eat up clock, and wear the defense down mentally and physically while the Ravens d were allowed to recharge the batteries on the sidelines.
I don’t know how Romeo put his stamp of approval on the coordinators game plans this week, both of which were seemingly the exact opposite of what should have been done.
Individual Performances:
Reuben Droughns – would have been nice to see what he could have done today with a game plan tailored for him. He looked very strong, but we didn’t give him enough carries to make a significant impact in the outcome.
William Green – not really noteworthy, but he had a couple solid runs…really just more fuel on the fire to continue to ask where the running plans went?
Trent Dilfer – today the pass protection made Trent look a lot worse than he really played. For the most part I thought he made the right decisions on the throws and I give the guy credit for making it through the game.
LJ Shelton, Ryan Tucker, and Jeff Faine – all deserve game balls from the Ravens because they all looked horrible. Faine’s errant snap was a tone setter, and T-Sizzle abused both Tucker and Shelton all day.
Gary Baxter – didn’t look very good today, and for a guy who is supposed to be our shutdown corner needs to make more plays. He gave up a lot of catches and yards, and when we needed a play he got beat one on one by Todd Heap. He was in good position, but bottom line on that play he got flagged for interference and Heap made the catch anyway in a critical play late. It didn’t help him today that I happened to flip to the Cowboys/Giants a handful of times and saw Anthony Henry force a Plaxico fumble and another nice pass breakup on a play to Shockey.
Ben Taylor – So far he has been the defensive player I have been most disappointed with. I can’t think of anything in particular he did today…which leads me to deduce he was a non-factor. He will be one of the players that will be replaced after the season in my opinion.
The Defensive Line - didn’t have a real push today, but I am putting that on Grantham since I saw mostly 3 guys rushing…what can you expect them to do?
Josh Cribbs – I hope he’s saving his game checks, because his career will be a short one. Another fumble on a kickoff? That is 2 fumbles in probably less than a dozen opportunities in the regular season. We aren’t good enough to overcome special teams turnovers and he needs to protect the ball better.
Maurice Carthon and Todd Grantham – I think I was pretty clear that I thought both failed in creating their plans this week. Since Romeo rubber stamped them, I guess he deserves a ding too…but I can’t bring myself to be angry at Romeo at this point.
Final Thoughts -
I didn’t particularly care to see Trent and GB seemingly laughing and enjoying post game congrats with former teammates. Look, I’m cool with those being your boys…but we had just gotten our butts kicked. Give them a call from your couch tonight to shoot the breeze. Given the performance I would have preferred to see a more somber or frustrated group leaving the field.
So far I have been telling friends that we need to take the best defensive player on the board when we draft. After watching USC/Notre Dame I’m not sure I could pass on Reggie Bush if he was available (I assume he’s coming out although he is only a junior). Tom Jackson keeps calling him the next Gayle Sayers. I think I see L.T. in him. I don’t know if we could pass on the next Tomlinson even with the lack of an impact linebacker or pass rusher on the team. Hopefully we are not picking high enough that it’s an issue, but if he’s there I don’t know if I could pass on him if I were in Phil Savage’s shoes.
Anyone see the Broncos/Pats game? All of the ex-Browns looked solid today in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated. Courtney Brown and Gerard Warren both looked pretty good…CB was getting a lot of compliments from Phil Simms.
Speaking of Simms, I wish he would have been doing the Browns game today…we got a terrible crew with Spero Dedes (voice of the LA Lakers from what I read on the net)…he made a lot of mistakes and wasn’t very insightful in my opinion, maybe he should stick to hoops. Rich Gannon wasn’t any good either….I guess the execs at CBS knew the game wasn’t going to be a great one, and therefore we got a crappy crew.
Not much to smile about going into the work week…let’s hope next week turns out better. I wrote that before just hearing the Sunday night crew say the Texans had a legit shot to win against us in two weeks…ah…there it is, the blood is back to a simmer.
The mantra for the year has been ‘improve in every game’, I think it’s pretty safe to say that nothing about yesterday’s game indicated that we got better from last week. There was too much talk about how the Ravens were in disarray despite having the 2nd ranked defense in the league. We were a bit over confident after stealing a win last Sunday and the city was starting to gain the false confidence that we always do every time one of our teams shows a glimmer of hope. Quite honestly I never had a good feeling about this game all week, which was wholly solidified by the Jeff Faine snap on our first offensive play.
Going out of the shotgun on the first play from scrimmage made no sense to me at all. It’s kind of like watching a pro-baseball game’s first pitch...you generally see the pitcher throw a fastball right down the middle for a strike. It’s kind of a ‘good omen’ play or something to ease the nerves a bit for both the pitcher and the batter. It is the chance to exhale and settle into the game. We let the leadoff hitter go deep on the first pitch, only in this case I think it was much worse in terms of momentum. The defense had just done a great job of getting off the field without letting the Ravens do any damage on their first possession…really all you are looking for out of a first frame. For my money, the Faine snap, or lack thereof, was far more damaging than the two taunting penalties in the first possession of the Indy game in terms of ‘negative momentum’. It had to be very deflating for the offense, and brought the defense right back out without giving them a chance to catch their breath. It’s been an early theme to the season that the offense seems to put the d in some spots where you can only expect them to minimize damage instead of averting it. That’s a recipe for disaster any way you slice it.
Leading up to the game I really thought that we would lose the game by either allowing there defense or special teams to score. Neither did, but they both hurt us. It was a foregone conclusion that the Ravens would run with success on us, and they did….with just under a buck fifty in yards between Jamal Lewis and Chester Taylor. Taylor was impressive, let’s hope that the Ravens chose to re-sign Lewis after the season to give Phil and crew another shot to recruit this guy in FA.
Speaking of free agents...what about Reuben Droughns? Are we missing something? Is there something in his contract that says we cannot give you more than 2 consecutive carries or two consecutive offensive series in a row without a break? I don’t think he wants to come out, but for some reason when he seems like he is going to take a drive over he gets subbed out, what gives Mo? It has to be the most common question surrounding the team at this point to ask “why is he not more involved?” 15 carries this week? I think he was averaging easily 4 plus yards per carry, but we kept going away from him. Let’s see what the outcome of the game is if we give Reuben 25 to 30 carries…my guess is it would be pretty good….I suggest we test the theory against the Lions this coming week.
Overall there wasn’t much to like about the offensive game plan. We played directly into the strengths of the Ravens defense which translated into the results of the game. Terrell Suggs embarrassed both Ryan Tucker and LJ Shelton with some regularity. I don’t know if the statistician was keeping track of lookout blocks today but I can guarantee Trent won’t be taking the line out to dinner this week rewarding a job well done. The protection today was overwhelmed by the Ravens pass rush, I think everyone realized that, but since we don’t have a pass rush I thought it was worth mentioning so we can know what to ask Santa for this year.
The Ravens were routinely sending 5 or 6 guys on both run and pass plays where were the screens and draws? We ran one draw that went for a nice gain but never went back to it…again I was confused.
Our lack of dedication or willingness to run the ball more regularly created all of the other symptoms of our sub par output on O. The receivers and tight ends did their jobs for the most part considering the pressure Trent was under.
How much more can be said about an offense that only managed three points today. One more bat to the dead horse….not running the ball was the single largest contributor to today’s loss.
The defense was also deficient today in all areas. Like the offense, the failures of the defense in the game today can be put on the game plan as much as we can put it on the lack of talent on the team. I understand that it is easier to defend the run playing zone defense, but when we started getting picked apart by a Anthony Wright we should have made adjustments. We played such a soft zone that we made a two weapon passing attack look like they were playing 7 on 7. It would have made more sense to me to man up to try to take away Mason and Heap leaving the rest of the crew to try to create some havoc. Instead we were content with the bend don’t break methods that didn’t allow enough points to knock us out, but allowed the Ravens to control tempo, eat up clock, and wear the defense down mentally and physically while the Ravens d were allowed to recharge the batteries on the sidelines.
I don’t know how Romeo put his stamp of approval on the coordinators game plans this week, both of which were seemingly the exact opposite of what should have been done.
Individual Performances:
Reuben Droughns – would have been nice to see what he could have done today with a game plan tailored for him. He looked very strong, but we didn’t give him enough carries to make a significant impact in the outcome.
William Green – not really noteworthy, but he had a couple solid runs…really just more fuel on the fire to continue to ask where the running plans went?
Trent Dilfer – today the pass protection made Trent look a lot worse than he really played. For the most part I thought he made the right decisions on the throws and I give the guy credit for making it through the game.
LJ Shelton, Ryan Tucker, and Jeff Faine – all deserve game balls from the Ravens because they all looked horrible. Faine’s errant snap was a tone setter, and T-Sizzle abused both Tucker and Shelton all day.
Gary Baxter – didn’t look very good today, and for a guy who is supposed to be our shutdown corner needs to make more plays. He gave up a lot of catches and yards, and when we needed a play he got beat one on one by Todd Heap. He was in good position, but bottom line on that play he got flagged for interference and Heap made the catch anyway in a critical play late. It didn’t help him today that I happened to flip to the Cowboys/Giants a handful of times and saw Anthony Henry force a Plaxico fumble and another nice pass breakup on a play to Shockey.
Ben Taylor – So far he has been the defensive player I have been most disappointed with. I can’t think of anything in particular he did today…which leads me to deduce he was a non-factor. He will be one of the players that will be replaced after the season in my opinion.
The Defensive Line - didn’t have a real push today, but I am putting that on Grantham since I saw mostly 3 guys rushing…what can you expect them to do?
Josh Cribbs – I hope he’s saving his game checks, because his career will be a short one. Another fumble on a kickoff? That is 2 fumbles in probably less than a dozen opportunities in the regular season. We aren’t good enough to overcome special teams turnovers and he needs to protect the ball better.
Maurice Carthon and Todd Grantham – I think I was pretty clear that I thought both failed in creating their plans this week. Since Romeo rubber stamped them, I guess he deserves a ding too…but I can’t bring myself to be angry at Romeo at this point.
Final Thoughts -
I didn’t particularly care to see Trent and GB seemingly laughing and enjoying post game congrats with former teammates. Look, I’m cool with those being your boys…but we had just gotten our butts kicked. Give them a call from your couch tonight to shoot the breeze. Given the performance I would have preferred to see a more somber or frustrated group leaving the field.
So far I have been telling friends that we need to take the best defensive player on the board when we draft. After watching USC/Notre Dame I’m not sure I could pass on Reggie Bush if he was available (I assume he’s coming out although he is only a junior). Tom Jackson keeps calling him the next Gayle Sayers. I think I see L.T. in him. I don’t know if we could pass on the next Tomlinson even with the lack of an impact linebacker or pass rusher on the team. Hopefully we are not picking high enough that it’s an issue, but if he’s there I don’t know if I could pass on him if I were in Phil Savage’s shoes.
Anyone see the Broncos/Pats game? All of the ex-Browns looked solid today in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated. Courtney Brown and Gerard Warren both looked pretty good…CB was getting a lot of compliments from Phil Simms.
Speaking of Simms, I wish he would have been doing the Browns game today…we got a terrible crew with Spero Dedes (voice of the LA Lakers from what I read on the net)…he made a lot of mistakes and wasn’t very insightful in my opinion, maybe he should stick to hoops. Rich Gannon wasn’t any good either….I guess the execs at CBS knew the game wasn’t going to be a great one, and therefore we got a crappy crew.
Not much to smile about going into the work week…let’s hope next week turns out better. I wrote that before just hearing the Sunday night crew say the Texans had a legit shot to win against us in two weeks…ah…there it is, the blood is back to a simmer.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Browns @ Ravens, The Minor Leagues, Van Update
Word of the game: Mistakes
Thoughts:
- Didn't it look like there were 20 Ravens on defense and only 5 Browns on offense?
- Todd Heap is just as good as Tony Gonzalez on just about any other team.
- The Ravens would be nearly impossible to beat if they had ANY resemblance of an offense.
- The Browns would have 2 more wins if they had an resemblance of an offense.
- Did Mo Carthon use the 1999 Browns playbook this game?
- "LOST, Browns Pass Rush, if Found, Call Me."
The Minor Leagues:
- Damn it, damn it. I wanted to see the gold domes pull off that win against USC on Saturday. What a freakin' game that was, definately an instant classic. That was and is the BEST fumble Matt Leinert will ever have.
- It is Sunday, October 16, 2005 at 11:12PM and Michigan still sucks. I was really really pulling for Joe Pa.
- The Buckeyes did not deserve to win that game. When these LBs graduate and there is still no offense, look out 6 win season.
Van Update:I will be getting the van back on Tuesday, which I don't think leaves me enough time to get it painted. It will make a showing for the Lions game, but not in all the orange glory I was hoping for.
Thoughts:
- Didn't it look like there were 20 Ravens on defense and only 5 Browns on offense?
- Todd Heap is just as good as Tony Gonzalez on just about any other team.
- The Ravens would be nearly impossible to beat if they had ANY resemblance of an offense.
- The Browns would have 2 more wins if they had an resemblance of an offense.
- Did Mo Carthon use the 1999 Browns playbook this game?
- "LOST, Browns Pass Rush, if Found, Call Me."
The Minor Leagues:
- Damn it, damn it. I wanted to see the gold domes pull off that win against USC on Saturday. What a freakin' game that was, definately an instant classic. That was and is the BEST fumble Matt Leinert will ever have.
- It is Sunday, October 16, 2005 at 11:12PM and Michigan still sucks. I was really really pulling for Joe Pa.
- The Buckeyes did not deserve to win that game. When these LBs graduate and there is still no offense, look out 6 win season.
Van Update:I will be getting the van back on Tuesday, which I don't think leaves me enough time to get it painted. It will make a showing for the Lions game, but not in all the orange glory I was hoping for.
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
News - Braylon Edwards, Ol' Tailgatin' Van and The Next Big Thing
Braylon Edwards - according to ESPN Edwards is likely miss 4 to 6 weeks with the infection in his arm. I don't think this spells disaster for the Browns as the next 4 games are all winnable, even without Edwards. However, with him healthy and in the lineup our chance of winning those games does increase... significantly. Furthermore, his absence stunts his growth as an NFL receiver.
Ol' Tailgatin' Van - got a call from the Van doctor today. I am looking at far less in repairs than I expected. Overall it got a clean bill of health. As clean a bill a '96 Caravan with 178k miles can get. I need new rotors and left front tie rod end. There is another problem with the left front strut tower, but it should be fine for another year or so. After the early struggles with the van, things are starting to look promising. Thanks to guys over at Northridge Marathon for their great work.
The Next Big Thing - He's coming...
Ol' Tailgatin' Van - got a call from the Van doctor today. I am looking at far less in repairs than I expected. Overall it got a clean bill of health. As clean a bill a '96 Caravan with 178k miles can get. I need new rotors and left front tie rod end. There is another problem with the left front strut tower, but it should be fine for another year or so. After the early struggles with the van, things are starting to look promising. Thanks to guys over at Northridge Marathon for their great work.
The Next Big Thing - He's coming...
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
V's Debut - CFB: Numerous Undefeateds
In his first article on 'As Seen by Me', Vinay ("V") takes on potential problems with BCS and makes the case for a playoff system. As well as some predictions for this weeks games. Look for more articles as the year goes on.
USC…Texas…Virginia Tech…Florida State…Georgia…Alabama. That’s the Top 6 in this week’s AP College Poll. Just a thought, but imagine if all these teams took care of business and stayed undefeated until the Conference Championships?
That would mean that USC would be undefeated since there is no Conference Championship in the Pac-10 (completely different topic which I might touch upon later this season). If Texas does what everyone expects them to do, they will come out of the Big-12 Conference Championship undefeated as well. Undefeated Virginia Tech and undefeated Florida State will play against each other in the ACC Conference Championship. One will come out undefeated. Finally, SEC West Champ Georgia and SEC East Champ Alabama will square off in the SEC Championship. Again, the winner will be undefeated. That will mean that after Championship Week, there will be FOUR undefeated teams!! And this situation is without taking Penn State (who could come out of the Big Ten undefeated) into the equation.
I bet the BCS is probably not thinking of this situation, but imagine what kind of PR mess they would be in if it did. Four undefeated teams going into Bowl Week means two undefeated teams after the Bowls...and one more reason for a playoff system to determine the National Champion.
Predictions - Penn State > Michigan; Notre Dame > USC; Florida > LSU
- V
USC…Texas…Virginia Tech…Florida State…Georgia…Alabama. That’s the Top 6 in this week’s AP College Poll. Just a thought, but imagine if all these teams took care of business and stayed undefeated until the Conference Championships?
That would mean that USC would be undefeated since there is no Conference Championship in the Pac-10 (completely different topic which I might touch upon later this season). If Texas does what everyone expects them to do, they will come out of the Big-12 Conference Championship undefeated as well. Undefeated Virginia Tech and undefeated Florida State will play against each other in the ACC Conference Championship. One will come out undefeated. Finally, SEC West Champ Georgia and SEC East Champ Alabama will square off in the SEC Championship. Again, the winner will be undefeated. That will mean that after Championship Week, there will be FOUR undefeated teams!! And this situation is without taking Penn State (who could come out of the Big Ten undefeated) into the equation.
I bet the BCS is probably not thinking of this situation, but imagine what kind of PR mess they would be in if it did. Four undefeated teams going into Bowl Week means two undefeated teams after the Bowls...and one more reason for a playoff system to determine the National Champion.
Predictions - Penn State > Michigan; Notre Dame > USC; Florida > LSU
- V
News - Suggs Out, Braylon Out
Suggs Out - Lee Suggs continues his boxer style stick and move with the injury list. Stick him in the game, move him to the injury list. See ya in 4 weeks Lee when the fractured thumb heals.
Braylon Out - Braylon Edwards is still at the Cleveland Clinic battling the infection in his left arm. It should be noted that Winslow suffered a Staph infection after his knee surgery... he lost 30 lbs while hospitalized. I don't want to speculate, but if Edwards has a Staph infection and it was caught late, it could spell the end of season for Edwards. Have the Browns been screwed again?
Braylon Out - Braylon Edwards is still at the Cleveland Clinic battling the infection in his left arm. It should be noted that Winslow suffered a Staph infection after his knee surgery... he lost 30 lbs while hospitalized. I don't want to speculate, but if Edwards has a Staph infection and it was caught late, it could spell the end of season for Edwards. Have the Browns been screwed again?
So... How do I comment?
There has been some questions as to how to leave comments. Click the link that has a number and the Comments. Example "0 Comments"... this means there are currently no comments, but if you click the link you can read the exisiting comments and leave your own... which is encouraged.
Monday, October 10, 2005
The Genesis...
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, I present to you a 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan! Only175,000 miles on this baby. Amenities include dual front captains chairs and dual rear benches (oh yea, they fold down). Cost - $100.
Last Thursday I finally got the van... yikes. This was the most disgusting interior of a car I have ever seen... it was more disgusting than the floor of San Francisco bath house (or so I have heard). The guy I bought it from owned it for 2 years, and for two years I don't think the inside was ever cleaned or was cleaning ever attempted. It looked like 2 years of grime and goop. Thank God for Formula 409. Spray, wipe, repeat. Spray, wipe, repeat. I spent about 3 hours last Saturday and got the front dash area cleaned. Also all the carpet was removed. For two reasons, I am putting turf in the inside and it was so disgusting it had to be removed.
Last night I took the van to the shop. It needs brakes very badly along with the "will it kill me” test. Hopefully everything checks out and for a couple hundred bucks I am good to go.
I may have found a guy with a 3 car garage and professional paint sprayer... stay tuned.
Last Thursday I finally got the van... yikes. This was the most disgusting interior of a car I have ever seen... it was more disgusting than the floor of San Francisco bath house (or so I have heard). The guy I bought it from owned it for 2 years, and for two years I don't think the inside was ever cleaned or was cleaning ever attempted. It looked like 2 years of grime and goop. Thank God for Formula 409. Spray, wipe, repeat. Spray, wipe, repeat. I spent about 3 hours last Saturday and got the front dash area cleaned. Also all the carpet was removed. For two reasons, I am putting turf in the inside and it was so disgusting it had to be removed.
Last night I took the van to the shop. It needs brakes very badly along with the "will it kill me” test. Hopefully everything checks out and for a couple hundred bucks I am good to go.
I may have found a guy with a 3 car garage and professional paint sprayer... stay tuned.
Let's Get it Started...
I am putting this blog together to house all the Browns related pics and things I collect. You will see pictures from tailgates (maybe some videos), progress of "the van" and maybe some commentary on the games each week. Lots of these blogs are started and never really catch on or stay up-to-date. I hoping that I am able to keep up with it and is visited by atleast friends and family occasionally. Go Browns!
