He's the Mangini!

To the surprise of none, Eric Mangini is the new head coach of the Cleveland Browns, and I think it's a good choice. He becomes the Browns' first coach with previous NFL head coach experience since Terry Robiskie, who hardly counts because of the interim label; before that, you have to go all the way back to Nick Skorich, who coached the Eagles from 1961-63 before taking the helm in Cleveland from 1971-74. So the year I was born was the last year an experienced coach started the season as the Browns' coach. And look how big I've gotten! (I know you can't see me through the computer, but trust me, I'm a decent-sized fellow.)

For them what's curious, Skorich took over a team that had gone 7-7 in 1970 and led them to the playoffs in his first two years in Cleveland, but never won a playoff game with the Browns. That's interesting, but not particularly relevant; I just thought I'd mention it.

Mangini was born the same year I was, which makes me shake my head a little, but if the Constitution says you can be President at age 35, the Browns can certainly afford to hire a man who's about to turn 38 to be their coach. He went 23-25 in three seasons with the Jets, with one good year (2006, when they went 10-6), one bad year (2007, 4-12), and one mediocre year (2008, 9-7 after starting 8-3). It's hard to evaluate coaches, but give me a guy who's had some success as a head coach over a guy who's never done the job before any day. We Browns fans all know how successful a coach can be in his second job. And Mangini has Cleveland ties, having served as a ball boy for the Browns during the Belichick era. Yeah, that still counts.

Eric Mangini (I assume you'll read this), welcome back to Cleveland. We're excited to have you on board. (That's right, I presume to speak for all Browns fans. If you disagree, that's what the comment option is for.)

Happy New Year

Some thoughts on the various sporting action from New Year's Day and the last few days of 2008:

• Pete Carroll said after USC's 38-24 win over Penn State in the Rose Bowl that "in all due respect," he doesn't think anybody can beat the Trojans this year. Setting aside the incorrect preposition and the fact that somebody actually did beat USC this year, he's got a point. Southern Cal was one of seven teams from BCS conferences to win all but one of its games, and they earned the right to play for the national title just as much as Florida or Oklahoma did. (So did Penn State, for that matter.) We're not going to see a playoff anytime soon, I'm afraid, but this should have been a playoff game.
• Penn State could have won that game if they hadn't made so many big mistakes. This despite a Rose Bowl-record .800 passing percentage and 413 yards from Mark Sanchez, who was simply outstanding. Penn State turned the ball over too many times, and got a turnover of their own called back because of an offsides penalty -- which was one of too many penalties they committed against too good a team.
• The Lions weren't the only Big Ten team to fall on Thursday. Michigan State couldn't hang with Georgia in the Capital One Bowl, and after earlier losses by Northwestern, Minnesota and Wisconsin, the conference is now 1-5 in bowl games. Ohio State has a chance to make them 2-5 by beating Texas on Monday night in the Fiesta Bowl, but that's going to be tough. If not for Iowa's drubbing of South Carolina in the Outback Bowl yesterday, we could be looking at a Big Ten goose egg.
• Beanie Wells hasn't decided yet whether he'll play on Saturdays or Sundays next year. Selfishly, as an Ohio State fan, I'm hoping he sticks around another year, but if I were him, I'd go for the money. If he stayed in college another year, he might win a national title, but he would risk a very expensive injury.
• I didn't watch the hockey game that was played at Wrigley Field yesterday, but I love that there's one outdoor NHL game every year. Many hockey players grew up playing on ponds in the wintertime, and I kind of feel like that's the way the game was meant to be played. And in watching the highlights, it was kind of neat to see the hand-operated scoreboard being used for hockey.
• The Cavaliers lost their fifth game of the year the other day (on LeBron's 24th birthday), to a pretty good Heat team in Miami, two days after beating the same team in Cleveland. At 26-5, they've still got the league's third-best record, and I'm still optimistic about their chances to win it all. But they've got to get home court over the Celtics. And don't look now, but the 25-7 Magic is a threat too.
• For those who, like me, jones for baseball all winter, you should check out this Tim Kurkjian column about the Indians' outlook for 2009. Kurkjian concludes that the Tribe "could rebound in a big way," and I think he's right. Did you know our guys had the AL's second-best record after July 9 last year? That all came after the Sabathia trade, too. (Special thanks to my good friend John Arthur Hutchison for sending me the link.)
• Speaking of baseball, the MLB Network debuted yesterday, and thank goodness for that.

A pathetic epitaph for the 2008 Cleveland Browns

Today's game against the Steelers went pretty much as we all expected. Yeah, I think we all would have guessed that 31-0 would sound about right. If the first-, second- and third-string quarterbacks couldn't lead a touchdown drive, it was nearly a lead-pipe cinch that the guy who wasn't on an NFL roster a couple of weeks ago wouldn't manage it either.

So the Browns finished 4-12 for the second time under Romeo Crennel. They ended up last in the AFC North, after the Bengals managed to win their last three to best them by a half-game. They had the second-worst record in the AFC, topping only the 2-14 Chiefs. They lost their last six. During that streak, their opponents scored at least three touchdowns (off the top of my head) on plays the Browns started on offense, but the Browns did not score a single offensive touchdown in that time. Pathetic. You probably heard this, but that's the first time any team has ever rattled off that long a streak (the previous record was 22 quarters by the '74 Bears). The Browns will have a chance to lengthen it going into the first game of 2009.

I suppose I could go into recap mode, but other writers will do that, and I'm kind of lazy. I will mention that Jamal Lewis got to 1,000 yards for the second year in a row, and the third time a Brown did that in the expansion era. So that's cool. I loved Josh Cribbs all year, and of course Joe Thomas and Sean Rogers made the Pro Bowl. And hey, the Browns won four more games than the Lions. So we've got that going for us.

Cavs pull even with Celtics in loss column

It's generally accepted that there are three NBA teams that tower over the rest this season -- the defending champion Celtics, the defending Western Conference champion Lakers, and our Cavaliers. For weeks, the Cavs have been looking up at the Celtics for the best overall record, but after Boston fell on back-to-back nights to the Lakers and Warriors, we're essentially even with them now. Yes, they're 27-4, and we're only 25-4, but the important number is that 4.

There seems little reason to doubt that the Cavaliers and Celtics will meet in the Eastern Conference Finals in a few months, provided everyone stays healthy. And it seems to me the determining factor in who wins that series will be who has home court. Both teams have been nearly invincible at home: The Cavs are 15-0 at the Q, and the Celtics are 17-1 in Boston. Not that this means anything, but current tabulations on coolstandings.com predict that Cleveland will go 65-17 on the year, and Boston will go 62-20. (The Lakers are also projected at 62-20, which would give us home court for the Finals, should we face them in that series.)

It's definitely less than a 50-50 bet that the Cavaliers will be NBA champions in six months. But there has never been a better basketball team in Cleveland, and at this point, they have as good a shot as anybody. As Terry Pluto points out, there are only five players on this team who were here at this time a year ago. I used to think it took players a lot longer than that for a basketball team to come together. The '07-08 Celtics proved me wrong. I have a darned good feeling about this Cavaliers team.

Some random notes

I haven't had much time to post lately, and I don't have much time right now either, but I've got a few quick hits for you while I have a moment.

• Let it be known that the absolute low point, the very nadir, of the Cleveland Browns expansion era occurred on December 21, 2008. Losing at home, 14-0, to one of the worst teams in the NFL is just sickening. In theory, they could go lower, but they could lose 70-0 to the Steelers on Sunday and it wouldn't feel as pathetic as that loss to the Bengals did. It should be interesting to see how Bruce Gradkowski does. He can't do much worse than Ken Dorsey did against the Bungs.

• On the plus side, the Cavaliers are looking as good as ever, dispatching the 19-10 Houston Rockets in the second half last night after keeping it even at the half. Mo Williams was a big key to that effort, and LeBron had another one of his how-the-hell-did-he-do-that blocks from behind — this time on 7'5" Yao Ming.

• There's not much going on with the Tribe, but the Yankees just reminded us how much harder it is for everybody else to put a competitive team on the field, after signing Mark Teixeira. They now have the three most expensive contracts in baseball. I hope they choke on them.

• Joe Paterno's going to coach until he's 200 years old.

• I haven't had time to do a proper tribute to the late Sammy Baugh, but how amazing is it that he still, to this day, holds passing, intercepting and punting records?

May you and everyone you care about have a merry Christmas. And while I'm at it, have a merry December 26th too. I hope you don't spend the whole day returning gifts.

Kerry Wood to the mound

Before I start on Kerry Wood, let me apologize to both of my regular readers for the fact that I have not posted anything in a week and a half. I've been so very busy lately. Doesn't mean I haven't had anything to say, or that I don't love you.

My good friend Jeff Brown had this to say about the Wood signing, which as you may recall is two years, $20.5 million, with a club option for a third year at $11 million that kicks in automatically if he finishes a certain number of games in either '09 or '10:

Does Mark Shapiro know what he's doing?

They just gave over $20 million to a pitcher who has spent more time in the hospital getting surgeries and doing rehab than he has pitched over the past 8 years.

He'll go on the DL in early May, after missing most of Spring Training, then be on and off the DL all year (mostly on) and finish with 6 saves, a 5.97 ERA, and a record of 0-6.

Jeff could be right, of course, but I do not share his pessimism. There's some degree of gamble involved, just as there is some degree of gamble in signing any player, especially a pitcher. But Wood's is not a young arm anymore. He'll turn 32 on June 16. A lot of pitchers have been injury-prone during their 20s and then come around to be healthy through their 30s. In fact, I think such a pitcher might be slightly better off because all those years when he could have been putting strain on his developing arm by throwing 100 pitches every five days, he was sipping piña coladas and waiting for his arm to be ready to pitch again. The throwing arm isn't fully developed until it's been around for nigh on 30 years.

And Wood managed to stay healthy last year while pitching only the ninth, sometimes as many as three days in a row. I think his arm can handle that on an ongoing basis, and apparently Mark Shapiro does too. There's no guarantee he'll stay healthy, just as there is no guarantee CC Sabathia will stay healthy for the Yankees. But I think it's a good bet.

Anyway, the Indians introduced their new closer yesterday at Jaco ... er, Progressive Field, and Shapiro talked about what else the Indians are planning this offseason. He talked about wanting a second or third baseman to fill the hole created by the Casey Blake trade, and about how the starting pitchers who are out there are out of his price range. So we may or may not see another signing before the season starts, with Asdrubal Cabrera and Jhonny Peralta possibly each shifting one position to the left. Peralta's been working at third base in winter ball, and of course, Cabrera is a natural shortstop. So that could certainly work.

If there is no signing, we will see Jamey Carroll, Josh Barfield or Luis Valbuena playing whatever infield position is left over. I'd hate to see Carroll playing every day unless he's been hiding some hitting skills from us, and of course Barfield has been a flop the last couple of years but has actually been a good major-league hitter before. Valbuena, who came over in the three-team trade in which we gave up Franklin Gutierrez, is only 23, and his major-league experience consists of 18 games after the rosters were expanded on Sept. 1. But he hit .303 between AA and AAA last year, with 11 home runs in 452 at-bats. I don't know how his glove is, but he's got some talent with his bat.

Hall of Fame adds an Indian

The great Joe Gordon was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame today, which surprised me only because I thought he was already in. He was a power-hitting, slick-fielding second basemen, which in his day was a far more unusual combination than it is now. And it's not common now either. There's Chase Utley, our old friend Brandon Phillips, ... and that's about it. AL MVP Dustin Pedroia hit 17 home runs and won a Gold Glove award this year, but Gordon routinely hit more than 20 a year in an era when that kind of power from a second baseman was almost unheard of. But Pedroia's only 25, so he's got a chance to become that kind of player.

Gordon played from 1938 to 1950, losing two prime seasons to World War II, as so many of his contemporaries did. He missed his age 29 and age 30 seasons, 1944-45. He was reportedly very strong in the field, and while they didn't have Gold Gloves in those days, the blunt defensive numbers support his reputation. He led the American League in assists four times and double plays three times.

"Flash" (a nickname anyone named Gordon is destined to be stuck with for all eternity) was the first American League second baseman to hit 20 home runs in a season -- and he did it seven times! He finished with 253 career homers in 11 seasons, which works out to exactly 23 a year, on average. If you were to suppose he'd hit 23 each of the two seasons he missed, that would have put him at 299, which is an awful lot for a second baseman in the '30s and '40s.

Gordon, of course, is not around to enjoy the honor, having died 30 years ago. That's unfortunate, but at least his family and those who remember his career can enjoy it.

Joe Gordon will no doubt be wearing a Yankee hat on his plaque, as he played seven seasons for them and just four in Cleveland. He also won four World Series in the Bronx, and one on the shores of Lake Erie. So objectively, I admit he's got to have the Yankee hat on. But I don't have to like it.

Cavs keep a-rollin'

LeBron got to sit out the fourth quarter again last night as the Cavaliers made a mockery of the Charlotte Bobcats, 94-74, in a game that was not nearly as close as the final score indicates. It was the Cavs' eighth straight win, each by at least 12 points. That ties an NBA record, which they now share with four other teams. They'll get a shot to break the mark on Tuesday against the 8-10 Raptors at the Q, and I like their chances. The wine-and-golders are now 17-3, the best start in the 39-year history of the franchise. As good as the Price-Daugherty-Nance teams were, they can't hold a candle to the '08-09 version.

This game was over before it started. The Cavs raced out to leads of 13-4, 23-11 and 27-12 on their way to a 30-14 lead at the quarter pole. Cleveland led 55-35 at the half -- the Kitties took until nearly midway through the fourth quarter to score as many points as the Cavs scored in the first half alone.

The way things are going, LeBron's not likely to successfully defend his scoring title, simply because he's not playing many fourth quarters. (At 26.5, he's currently second behind Dwyane Wade's 28.9.) James had 25 in his 28 minutes, and added a block from behind that's becoming a trademark of his. I've never seen a player who's so good at following an opponent on a drive to the bucket, then swatting the ball away from behind. It's a thing of beauty.

Boobie Gibson, who's started slowly this year, had his best game of the young season, putting in 22 points in 31 minutes. So that's good to see.

That these Cavaliers have to be taken seriously as a title contender is beyond question. Unfortunately, there are three dominant teams in the NBA this year. I do think the Cavs are perfectly capable of beating the Celtics and/or Lakers in a best-of-seven, but I'll feel a whole lot better going into either of those prospective series if the seventh game is in Cleveland.

How about those Cavaliers!

LeBron James has been named the NBA's Player of the Month for November, the eighth time he's won that award in his six-year career. More importantly, the Cavaliers are absolutely rolling, at 14-3 after winning four games in five nights by an average of 20 points each. Granted, all four games were against relatively weak teams, but still, winning four games in five days is never easy.

This very well might be the best team the Cavaliers have put on the floor in the team's 37-year history. The difference from last year is Mo Williams, who is putting up 15.7 a game, with 4.6 assists against 2.2 turnovers. Delonte West and Wally Szczqzxzerbiak have had some time to get settled in after last year's midseason trade, and 33-year-old Zydrunas Ilgauskas is quietly having a fine year, in his 11th NBA season, all as a Cav. Z is averaging 15.6 a game in just 26.6 minutes, and if he keeps that up all year (I know, there's still a long way to go, but bear with me), that would be his highest scoring output in three years.

The Cavs have the Knicks at home tomorrow night. They should win by a couple of dozen.

Ken Dorsey to the rescue

I haven't had a chance until now to post anything about the Browns' embarrassing loss Sunday to the Colts. I'm sure you all saw it. The defense was phenomenal, holding Peyton Manning's high-powered offense to three points -- they made plays and forced key turnovers, and if you can't win when you hold the Colts' offense to three points, you're not going to win very much. The offense, of course, was abysmal, putting up just six points and giving up seven, on Derek Anderson's fumble that was returned for a touchdown.

And now Anderson's out for the year, joining Brady Quinn in that status. We all know how Anderson went to the Pro Bowl last year and opened the season as the starter, and played as badly all year as he played Sunday. So third-stringer Ken Dorsey, who went 0-for-3 Sunday in desperation time, is left to play out the string. Former Kent State quarterback Josh Cribbs becomes the backup, which is very interesting -- that could mean that if Dorsey should go down, our quarterback could be the guy who returns kickoffs. I'm guessing he'd be relieved of that duty in that event, which would be a shame because he's one of the best special teamers in the league, if not THE best.

Romeo Crennel has declared Quinn the starter for 2009, which is an interesting decree by someone who's going to be a defensive coordinator in some city other than Cleveland next year. Crennel is reportedly out unless the team has a miracle finish, and probably rightly so. He's a good guy, and he knows his football, but this is a very talented team that's 4-8.

In an interesting side note, Romeo's old buddy Charlie Weis is also on the hot seat at Notre Dame. They were both highly hyped as Bill Belichick's top assistants in New England, and they have both largely failed in their first head coaching jobs. Belichick did too, of course, but Belichick wasn't in his 50s when he got his first top job.

One more thing: The Browns are STILL the only team to have beaten the Giants this year. If the Fighting Plaxicos win out and then take the Super Bowl title again, our Brownies will have been the only thing standing between them and joining the '72 Dolphins. And they're 4-8, and likely to finish about 5-11. Freaky.

Where's LeBron going? Probably nowhere

Loyal reader Jeff Brown sent me the following link to a Bill Simmons column on ESPN's Page 2. If I may quote from Jeff's email:

Team LeBron is making everyone think they have a chance at LeBron in 2010 so multiple teams clear cap space and weaken themselves competitively in the short-term (like Detroit did) ... which inadvertently gives Bron a better chance to win a title over these next two years! It's devious and hilarious. I love it. I would do the same thing. Can't you see Worldwide Wes whispering to Dumars, "Yeah, LeBron loves Detroit, he could totally see himself there, you should kill your 2009 chances so we can maybe sign with you."

From http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/storypage=simmons/081126&sportCat=nba&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab5pos2

...

The Cavs' chances are increasing for a title this season and next, as we watch teams falling all over each other to arrange their salary caps to make a run at "The King" even though the Cavs can offer him a considerably higher salary than any other team.

Which reminds me, I'm surprised that our loyal hometown hero, C.C. Sabathia, has not yet inked his foregone conclusion contract with the Tribe. I guess he and the Tribe are just making the other teams expend unnecessary energy, in order to wear THEM out and increase the Tribe's chances
in 2009 and beyond.

Jeff (I think) is just joking about CC, but it is truly interesting what's happening with all this talk about LeBron in New York. I don't think anyone's saying there's NO chance LeBron won't sign with a team in a bigger market, but the national media generally seems to have no idea about the salary cap rules that would allow the Cavs to sign or trade for another big name, THEN sign LeBron to a bigger contract than anyone else can offer.

LeBron is far from the main thrust of the column. Simmons also holds forth on who the main contenders are this season, and our Cavaliers are in his top three. (They also seem to be in the "general consensus" top three, from what I have seen.) They've certainly been impressive thus far, and have to be considered legitimate.

Will LeBron be a Cavalier after his current contract expires? I don't know, but I think so. In any case, there's not much point worrying about it right now.

Pathetic

I don't know what to say about the Browns. They were terrible. Brady Quinn was awful, but Braylon Edwards sure didn't help him much.

Would that I had more to say. I just can't bring myself to think about it more.

Whew!

Boy, the Browns danced with the same demon that bit them the last two weeks. (I know I'm mixing metaphors, but it's late.) The difference came down to the kickers: Phil Dawson hit a 56-yarder (his fifth field goal of the game), and Rian Lindell missed a 47-yarder. At 33, Dawson is having perhaps his best season as a pro, as he has hit on 22 of 24 field goals, and set his own career long twice this year. The second of those was the one that won the game tonight.

Brady Quinn wasn't as good tonight as he was last week, going 14-for-36 for 185 yards, but he made a few big throws, and he was good enough to win.It's important to note that he didn't throw any picks. Jerome Harrison's 72-yard run was a thing of beauty, but that Leodis McKelvin immediately answered it with a TD kickoff return.

And the Browns were definitely lucky. Besides the missed field goal, they were extremely lucky that the nose of the ball touched the ground before Ko Simpson could corral it on one lazy duck Quinn threw. (I know, the expression is "wounded duck," but this one didn't wobble. It wasn't wounded. It was just lazy.)

Well, as I said, it's late, and if I didn't have to get up so early tomorrow, I'd write about how the offense failed to capitalize on all the interceptions, and about how awful the kickoff coverage was, and about how Braylon Edwards is so great at everything except catching the ball (though it should be said he didn't drop any easy ones tonight), and about how the only guys who made plays on the Browns defense were guys the average fan has never even heard of before, and about how Marshawn Lynch ran wild on our defense ... but why wallow in it. We won!

Six straight

Due to a shortage of time, I haven't posted anything about the Cavaliers since their last loss. They've reeled off six straight wins since then, after last night's 110-99 win over the Nuggets, and are looking like one of the true heavyweights of the Eastern Conference.

The acquisition of Mo Williams is definitely bearing dividends. Williams led the Cavs with 24 points last night, to go along with six assists. LeBron, despite "only" 22 points, was his usual self, adding 11 assists and eight rebounds. The Cavs ran away with it in the second half, after being down 61-58 at the break.

This is a good-looking Cavaliers team. I look forward to a deep playoff run, presuming everyone stays healthy.

Cliff Lee, Cy Young

To the surprise of no one, our man Cliff Lee took home some serious hardware today. Lee went 22-3 this year with a 2.45 ERA, and there is no question he was the best pitcher in the American League.

There really isn't much I can say in a small space about Lee's 2008. We all know how he struggled in '07, getting sent to Buffalo, then returning in a bullpen role. And we all know how he dominated this year, from start to finish.

A couple of months ago, I wrote in this space that I looked forward to posting a game-by-game account of Lee's season after he won the Cy Young. I do look forward to that, but it's not going to happen tonight. That's well within my rights as a blogger.

Herbert Jude Score, RIP

The great Herb Score left us on Tuesday.

Those of my and adjacent generations remember Herb as the voice of the Indians, which title he held from 1964 to 1997; four years on TV, and three decades on the radio. A native of Rosedale, Queens, Herb retained his New Yawk accent, and I'll always remember how he said, for example, "Jose Can-SECK-o," instead of the more common "Cuhn-SAY-co." But he has been a Clevelander for a very, very long time, and no doubt would have identified himself as such.

I heard an interview with Tom Hamilton yesterday on the Wills & Snyder show on WTAM, and he said the only time he ever saw Herb stand up in reaction to something that happened on the field was when Tony Fernandez hit what proved to be the game-winning home run that sent the Indians to the World Series in '97. It was Game 6 against Baltimore, and Fernandez's run was the only one scored in a pitcher's duel between Charles Nagy and Mike Mussina (neither of whom figured in the decision). I'll never forget the call Herb made on that home run, which occurred in the top of the ninth: "And the Indians are going to the World Series! ... Maybe. They still have to get through the bottom of the ninth."

Herb retired after that season, so the thrilling, extra-inning seventh game of the World Series against the Marlins was the very last game he ever called. His pending retirement was no secret, and I remember thinking how fantastic it would be if the Indians should finally win a World Series in Herb's last game behind the mike. Alas, it was not to be.

And I haven't even mentioned Herb's playing career. I'm not old enough to remember him as a player, but he was one of the American League's best pitchers for a couple of years. In his rookie year, 1955, he went 16-10 with a fine 2.85 ERA and 245 strikeouts -- which would stand as a rookie record until 1984, when Dwight Gooden would break it. (Gooden, ironically, would have a similar career to Score's, but for vastly different reasons.) He followed it up with an even better season in '56, going 20-9, 2.53, 263. He turned 23 on June 7 of that year, and it must have looked like a Hall of Fame career in the making. But a Gil McDougald line drive bounced off Score's eye on May 7, 1957, and he was never the same again. He pitched until 1962, but ended his career with just 55 wins.

Through it all, Herb was, by all accounts, a genuinely nice man, never thinking of himself as a celebrity. I'm sure I would have loved to sit and talk baseball with him over a beer, or a cup of coffee, or whatever beverage he favored. For those of us who have listened to a lot of Indians games on the radio, Herb was an old friend, and there will never be another like him.

Rest in peace, Herb. We miss you.

Cowher in Cleveland?

My friend Hutch sent me this link to a Plain Dealer story about a guy who's running an online petition to get the Browns to hire Bill Cowher to be their new head coach. Obviously, they've been disappointing this year under Romeo Crennel, but it's worth noting that Crennel was at the helm during the team's winningest season in the expansion era. Does a guy forget how to coach in the space of a season? I don't know, but barring a phenomenal turnaround the rest of the season, it's quite likely that there are going to be some serious changes after the season, and Crennel's job is certainly not safe.

So what about Cowher? We know he's got Cleveland roots, spending time as an assistant here under Marty Schottenheimer before the Steelers picked him off. He went 149-90-1 in 15 seasons in Pittspuke, and won a Super Bowl. But that was in an organization that has made good personnel decisions; it bears mention that his replacement, Mike Tomlin, is 16-9 over a season and a half. The Browns, as we all know, have NOT made good personnel decisions over the years, but it's clear that there's enough talent on the current team to be right up there with Tomlin's team. If we'd just won the last two games -- both of which we were leading late -- we'd be 5-4, a game back of the Steelers.

Is Cowher the guy? I don't know, but I don't think Crennel is. We'll see what happens.

Come all without, come all within

You'll soon see what we've got in Brady Quinn.

It seems an odd time to make a quarterback change, given that Derek Anderson actually played a decent game on Sunday. Also, we've got a Thursday night game this week, which gives Quinn a short schedule to prepare as the starter; seems like it would make more sense to start him the next week, with 10 days to prepare.

Former Browns QB Trent Dilfer, speaking on "SportsCenter," expressed the opinion that the decision to bench Anderson was quasi-buffoonish, saying that it was made because the fans wanted it. Whether that's the real reason or not, I cannot say for sure, but I hope we can all agree that if that's the reason, it's a bad reason to make a quarterback change.

"There are so many layers of dysfunction that this decision represents," Dilfer said. "It shows a total lack of discretion and wisdom at the very highest level of the Cleveland Brown organization."

All that said, the question remains: Is Quinn the guy? I have no idea, but we're going to start finding out on Thursday. What we do know is that Anderson has been spotty at best this year. Maybe Quinn can do better. I sure hope so.

Coming from ahead to lose

I don't have a whole lot of interest to say about today's Browns game, but I do want to discuss what I consider to have been the play of the game. I don't mean to blame Braylon Edwards for today's loss -- there's plenty of blame to go around -- but if he'd come down with that deep pass when the score was tied in the fourth quarter, he probably would have scored, and it would have changed the whole complexion of the game. It's impossible to know for sure, of course, but I think there's about an 80% chance the Browns would have won.

You may notice I have not named the Browns' opponent today. I'm not sure if this will be a hard and fast rule going forward, but at least for now, I'm not using their name. In fact, I'm not saying about that team, except that I freaking HAAAAAAATE losing to them.

On a side note, the Giants trounced the Cowboys 35-14 today, to improve to 7-1. The Browns are still the only blemish on their record. I'd like to see the Browns that took the field that day again, but I've come to terms with the fact that I probably won't see them again this year. Maybe if we could play undefeated teams every week, we could win some games. I hope the Titans are still undefeated when we play them in week 14.

Cavs fail another test

The Cavaliers have played two games against the NBA's elite, and have lost them both. Last night's 104-92 loss to New Orleans was disappointing, given that the Hornets were playing without starters Tyson Chandler and Peja Stojakovic, not to mention the fact that the Cavs were actually winning as late as the six-minute mark in the fourth quarter. You'd think that if one of the teams were to fall apart down the stretch, it'd be the one playing without two starters.

The difference in the game -- statistically, at least -- was turnovers. The Cavaliers made 18 of them, to the Hornets' 14. That's not a big difference in and of itself, but the Bees made better use of the turnovers they got, converting them into 26 points, compared to the 12 points Cleveland got off New Orleans' TOs.

LeBron didn't have a great game, scoring just 15 points on 6-of-15 shooting. He did dish out 13 assists and got seven rebounds and three steals, but as the Plain Dealer's Brian Windhorst reports, he went 2 1/2 quarters without hitting a single bucket from the half-court offense. When your all-world perennial MVP candidate and defending scoring champion goes dry for that long, it's pretty tough to win.