And I thought they only played Hockey and drank until they puked up at the University of New Hampshire...
Then this weekend I found out that they play football there, and that they can put up some points...I held this out of my WRAP_UP yesterday, because I thought the little guys should get some love all on their own...
In a CAA matchup, the Wildcats of UNH headed to Old Dominion for an epic, no defense allowed battle...At halftime, UNH had a 40-24 lead...But there was no way that Old Dominion was going to lay down...Lead by their Quarterback, Taylor Heinicke, who passed for 730 yards of the teams 824 yards, and 5 TD's, the Monarchs fought back, and with just over 3 minutes left in the game, it was tied 61-61...Heinicke also added a TD and 61 yards on the ground...
And Wildcats fans thought their QB, Andy Vailas was having a good day 336 yards and 5TD's...He also added 80 yards and another TD on the ground...UNH had a much more balanced attack, as they also put up 389 yards rushing, lead by Nico Steriti, who had 201 and 2 TD's...
But with limited time left, the Monarchs still had enough fight in them to get off a 25 yard game winning field goal with 41 seconds left...Old Dominion 64...New Hampshire 61...Crazy College Football Fun people...It's not all just about the big schools...Here's the highlights...
This week, the Cleveland Browns sucked ass big time...Losing 24-14 to the Buffalo Bills...Last week Trent Richardson looked good...This week, he looked like crap, gaining 27 yards on 12 carries...Normally, I would never say this, but I was lucky to not have to sit through watching this whole game...Instead we had to take the kids to a birthday party at Chuck-e-Cheese...Oh, fuck that place...I'm not sure which is more torturous...Watching the Browns, or being at Chuck-e-Cheese...
Next the Browns go to Baltimore for a Thursday night game against the Ravens...The ratings are gonna suck for this one, except in Baltimore, where they'll love watching the old Browns destroy the new Browns...Sorry my fellow Clevelanders, but the season is done already folks...2 games with the Ravens and Steelers, and one more with Cincy...It doesn't even matter who else is on the schedule, that shit is tough enough...
Hey, have you guys seen the video of New York sports radio douche, Mike Francesa falling asleep on the air...It's clear as day, and he continues to deny he was dozing off...
What a douchebag!
I don't have much else right now...Just happy have the wife back home...The kids are happy too...Especially Molly who has been extra clingy with Mom this weekend...
I'm going to close with a video from a new band from England, called The Milk...These guys have some soul...And this song features one of my favorite actors, who along with his show "Luther" got screwed at the Emmys...
Well, yesterday I covered some of the college football highlights, but I have to start Monday Moaning off with the news that broke last week about Notre Dame...I wanted to write about it then, but I had my hands full with the kids, and the wife out of town...
For those who didn't hear, Notre Dame will be joining the ACC in 2014, for all sports, except Football...Now, while they aren't joining for Football, there are stipulations regarding Football...The Irish must schedule 5 ACC opponents each season, and must play each ACC team withing a 3 year period...It's as close as anyone was going to get ND Football to commit, right now...I feel this is just a stepping stone for the Irish to join fully...I'll get to that in a minute...
This is huge for the ACC...ND fans travel, so those ACC schools that aren't really Football schools will have packed houses when the Irish come to town...Also teams like Maryland for example, will face ND at a larger stadium like M&T Bank Stadium (home of the Ravens)...Which means more ticket sales...
Also in the deal, if ND doesn't qualify or get selected for a major BCS bowl, the ACC can use them for one of their automatic tie-ins with certain bowls...Which is good for the bowls, and the ACC, because the Irish travel well...
This deal also makes the ACC the elite Soccer and Lacrosse conference, already having a number of schools that are strong in those sports...Two sports the Irish have been doing very well in...Plus, with Pitt and Syracuse joining the ACC in 2013, and the Irish in 2014, it becomes an even bigger monster in College Basketball...Which will bring in more money from ESPN and their contract with the ACC...
The Big Ten went hard after Notre Dame, but made it clear, it was all or nothing...If the Irish didn't get in with football, then they weren't welcome...Great stand by the Big Ten, which can afford to make enemies since their conference makes the most money...Yes, SEC guy, you may kick them all over the field, but they manage to make more money then you...
The Big 12, also went after ND hard, and most likely would have given them a similar deal as the ACC, but Notre Dame wanted to stay East-ish...
Before I mentioned this being a stepping stone for Notre Dame eventually going all in, with the ACC...It's my opinion that within 5 years or so, we will see 4 "SUPER CONFERENCES"...We'll see Louisville, USF, Rutgers, and Cincinnati taken from the Big East...I would guess mainly by the ACC...Louisville possibly by the SEC...
The Big-12 will get chopped up and spread among the Big Ten, SEC, and Pac-12...Oklahoma, Texas, TCU, West Virginia, Kansas State, Kansas, (because of basketball) Oklahoma State, Baylor, Texas Tech...Maybe even Iowa State (built in rivalry with Iowa in the Big Ten)...And then a few others will find their way in, like Boise State, Fresno State, and BYU...Possibly a few others...
I know Big-12 people don't like what I just said, but I think that is where we are heading...I think we were on our way when Nebraska, Texas A&M, Colorado, and Missouri all split, but the conference came out swinging, and managed to keep itself alive...But I think the men hold the power will convince the conferences that there is too much money to be made with 4 "SUPER CONFERENCES" and a sexy playoff system, that many fans have been clamoring for...
I'd love to hear what you think about this...
The other big story on my mind this week, is the NHL owners have locked out the players after the two sides couldn't agree on a new CBA...The clock ran out at 11:59PM Saturday...What I find even more ridiculous about this, is all day Friday, and Saturday teams were signing, and re-signing players to multi-million dollar contracts...The same type of contracts these owners have been bitching about...
The last lockout, the players swallowed a good deal of pride, and left a good deal of money on the table, thinking they were doing the best thing for the game...After a few years of struggling to get the media attention Hockey deserves, things started getting better for the NHL...The sport seemed to be on the rise the last couple years...
And now this happens...The mainstream media will be turning it's back on Hockey again...Fans like me will be pissed...I already canceled my Center Ice package...I was really excited to see Rick Nash playing for my New York Rangers...Now, I'm pissed...I plan on spending my money on some College Hockey and some AHL Hockey...It's going to be awhile until the NHL sees a dime from me...I don't think the players should get screwed...And I think the owners need to look in the mirror...Because they and that douchebag Bettman are the biggest problems with their business of Hockey.
Lastly, the Cleveland Browns lost Sunday to the Bengals...I'm not surprised, are you? And while the defense didn't play nearly as well as they did last week, the offense showed some real improvement...Trent Richardson rushed for 109 yards and a TD...He looked like a different guy out there this week...And speaking of looking like a different guy...Brandon Weeden passed for 322 yards, and 2 TD's...And he threw no Interceptions...He actually didn't look like a high school kid, shitting his pants...Does that mean there is hope for this team? I don't know...I stopped getting my hopes up years ago...I'll just watch and see what happens...
Yeah, that's about the best Browns related thing we're going to see this year...The Cleveland Browns opened their season at home, taking on the Philadelphia Eagles and losing in a squeaker 17-16, in just an ugly football game...I love seeing Browns fans that celebrate field goals...It's sad to see so many people that have just excepted failure...But I mean, this is a team that franchised their kicker...Just a sad state of affairs in the Cleve...
Sunday, the Browns hit another milestone as this game started...Sunday, the Browns started Brandon Weeden at Quarterback...Their 17th QB since 1999...
Look at that list of shit...Just one bust after another, or castaway after another...Well Weeden fits right in...He ended the game with a 5.1 QB rating, after only completing 12 of 35, for 118 yards and 4 interceptions...And even after he sucked that bad, and #3 overall pick Trent Richardson wasn't very impressive, the Browns almost won...The Defense scored the Browns only touchdown...The defense was pretty damn good...They were all over Michael Vick's ass, all day long...Just kept drilling him...They also picked him off 4 times, but it wasn't enough...
Nothing sucks like watching your teams defense play their balls off, while the offense looks like fucking school girls...Weeden, a 28 year old rookie, looked like a 18 year old...So many bad throws...So many over-throws...Missed wide open guys...Just horrible...Anybody else thinking the Browns would have been better off betting the farm on RG3?
All he did for the Redskins was pass for 2 TD's and 320 yards, and also rushed for 42 yards...Good call Holmgren...Your star running back who missed most of the pre-season didn't do too much for ya...
Local media dolts were all clamoring when Trent Richardson put his head down and blew an Eagles defender's helmet off...Well, that was about it for Trent's highlights...One tough run, and then the Eagles locked him down...
We should have known...Browns once again came out in their stupid all white uniforms again...Where the hell have the brown jerseys been for all these years? Why not change the name to the Cleveland Whites? I bet that would piss off Al Sharpton!
Sunday, the rest of the NFL paid their respects to Art Modell...That didn't happen here in Cleveland...Why, well because people in Cleveland haven't gotten over Art Modell moving HIS team to Baltimore...And most of them refuse to acknowledge the FACTS...
Now normally this would be the part of the show where I would normally be pumping out some Notre Dame, and College Football talk...Well from now on I'll be posting my College Football Wrap_Up on Sundays...
Not to get too political, but I have always found the gay marriage topic, to be a bullshit issue...One of those distractions to keep us from paying attention to the important shit...I'm all for gay marriage...I actually go along with that line about "All men are created equal." Now if you're opposed to gay marriage, that's your right, to have that opinion...I think it's stupid, but oh well...
Then Maryland state delegate Emmett C. Burns Jr. got all up in arms because Ravens LB Brendon Ayanbadejo openly supports gay marriage...Thankfully Vikings punter Chris Kluwe TOLD Mr. Burns what an ass he is...I don't know where Kluwe stands on the economy, or defense, or medicare, but I know I'd vote for him if ran for public office, just because of the way he let Burns have it...The DC douchebags could use some real people in there, telling it like it is...
That's it for now...The wife leaves for her training this morning, and 2 of my 3 kids have colds, which should make this first of two weeks as a single dad, awesome!
Wednesday night news broke that Art Modell was gravely ill...I had posted on Facebook when the news broke, "Art Modell is "gravely ill" is the lead local news story...How many Clevelanders first response was a slight grin?"
By morning he was dead...Through the night, and all day Thursday, there were plenty of people admitting to being happy Modell had died...Even those who don't wish death on people, were still glad he had died...Clevelanders take what happened to their Browns very personally...And that's fine...I know I was pissed when Modell moved the Browns to Baltimore...But as time has gone on, and I looked at the whole picture, I don't have that same hate for Art Modell, that most Clevelanders do...Yep, you're about to witness a guy from Cleveland, defend Art Modell's legacy...
Back in the day, The Cleveland Indians sucked...But their owner knew how Cleveland loves it's sports teams...They also knew that city leaders were tired of the "Mistake by the Lake" jokes...So for a couple years, Dick Jacobs kept threatening to move the Indians...The City decided to give Jacobs what he wanted...His own stadium...Completely funded by the public...All Jacobs paid for was the sign that put his name on the place...
The City officials also thought this would be even better if they could get the Cavs to move back to downtown Cleveland, instead of playing in the sticks of Richfield...So they build Gordon Gund's Cavaliers a new arena right next to Jacobs field...Again, Gund, that blind bastard, only paid to put his name on the place...The city was all a buzz about what was dubbed, "The Gateway District"...This shit was going to bring us back!
Modell, who's Browns always sold out the 70,000 plus Municipal Stadium, waited patiently...He had just lost his tenant, the Indians...The Stadium was old, and surely the City would take care of their number one draw...But they didn't...Eventually Modell had to go to the mayor...He never went to the media like Jacobs, and made repeated threats to move...The city officials made it clear that there was no way they could afford to give him a sweet deal, and new home, like they did for the Indians and Cavaliers...Modell, was losing money...No one in Cleveland fought for him or the Browns...He was in debt,and got an offer from football starved Baltimore...We always hear about sports being a business...Well, Modell made the smart business move, and took HIS team to Baltimore...
In 1995 Modell told The Wall Street Journal, "The reason I'm taking so much heat now is every politician is covering his backside for failing to do anything at all. They took me for granted."
Yes they did...It wasn't until news broke that Modell was moving the team to Baltimore, that people finally took action...All the sudden the fans spoke up...Suddenly elected officials were trying to do something...Too little, too late...All this time fans have been pissed at Modell...They've had nothing but hate for him, when really they should have taken that out the mayor, councilmen, and the media, who cried to save the Indians, but didn't say anything about taking care of the Browns until they were already packing up...
And while Art is hated in Cleveland, he deserves the praise he is getting from around the country...He is one of the few key people, who made the NFL what it is today...He Pushed for the NFL/AFL merger, and he and Pete Rozelle were the visionaries that saw that TV was where Football had to go...Modell almost single-handedly strong armed his fellow owners into the first TV contract...Letting them know, that if they really wanted to make the money that they dreamed of, that TV was going to get them there...And then later, it was Modell, who strong armed the Networks into ponying up the BIG money, to put the NFL on their airwaves...You can also thank Art for Monday Night Football....
There are mountains of NFL history that couldn't have been written had it not been for Art Modell...The man belongs in the Hall of Fame...And Cleveland, he also deserves some respect for the countless acts of charity he contributed to during his life in here...
After much talk about the NFL having Modell Honored with a moment of silence before this Sunday's games, The Modell family has asked The Cleveland Browns to not pay him any Honor...The Browns were planning to keep it short, knowing the fan reaction would be bad...This takes any worry off the Browns...But it bothers me that pretty much everyone in the world knows that, a moment of silence to pay respect to one of the men that built the NFL into the monster it is, would be greeted in Browns Stadium with a chorus of boooo's...
This may be odd for a sports blogger to write...But it's just a football team people...There is really so much more to life, then to carry that kind of hate around for all these years.
Since Monday'spost lacked it's normal vibe, and didn't get into things I planned on getting into, I figure, why not end the week with what I normally start it with...But if you missed Monday Moaning, check it out...The mainstream media ignoring decades of sexual child abuse in the U.S. Swimming program, has to stop...And I will continue to beat on this story until all these evil bastards are in jail, or killed for their crimes...
That said, let's talk about the sale of the Cleveland Browns...Jimmy Haslam, a minority owner of the Steelers dropped a billion dollars to buy the Browns from Randy Lerner...To which I say, Thank God!
I was talking about this with my one brother at a family event...He's the genius brother, who does nothing with his brains and 3 degrees...He's also mentally unstable, especially when talking sports...(And you people thought I was nuts)...So I say how I'm thrilled the Browns have a new owner, and that Lerner is finally gone...He flies off the handle, saying how he's so sick of Cleveland fans blaming owners...I brought up Lerner taking $80 million of Browns revenue, and dumping it into his stupid English Soccer team...He went off saying, "It's his money, he can do whatever the fuck he wants with it!"...And I replied, that doesn't mean Browns fans have to be happy about it...Just last year, Lerner was asking for tax-payers to pay for repairs on the stadium...Umm, fuck you, we built it...If you want upgrades and repairs, you do it!
Lerner made it clear he wanted nothing to do with Football...That's why he gave fatty Holmgren a $10 million a year contract, to run the entire thing...Lerner didn't even go to the Owner's meetings...Fatty did...My brother brought up Lerner having to still be paying four different head coaches and thing like that probably lead him to releasing control...Hey, fuck him...He hired them, and fired them...That's not our fault...Lerner was horrible, for the NFL, The Browns, and Cleveland...Christ he spent 95% of his time in New York or England...My Brother also bitched about how he was "probably sick of getting bashed in the media"...Hey, that's what happens when you own a sports team...And that's what happens when you religiously shit on the media...
Lerner out of the picture is great...And Haslam saying he's going to do things right, and how he learned them from the Steelers, is awesome...Browns fans may not like that, but the Steelers have a pretty damn good track record...
Then this week coach Pat Shurmur named Brandon Wheeden the starting QB...Well, I would hope so...They spent a 1st round pick on him, and he's 28, his career is half over already...Get him out there...It's been reported that the news made Colt McCoy very sad...I'm sure his father will get in front of a camera and bitch about this...But shit, look at Colt...I think he's still dizzy from the hit he took from James Harrison last season...And McCoy family, while you're down about this, just remember that little Colt didn't make a pass longer then 15 yards last year...Kid has a fucking rag arm!
But that's not all...The Browns #1 pick this year, Trent Richardson spent Thursday having an arthroscopic knee surgery...It's being called "Routine" and they are hoping he'll be ready for the opener...It already feels like it's going to be a long year...
Oh, and then there is the report that star corner back, Joe Haden failed a routine drug test during the off-season, testing positive for Adderall, which is often used by people suffering from attention deficit disorder, and narcolepsy...Adderall is on the NFL's banned substance list...But there are reports that it was prescribed by a doctor, and they may help get Haden out of a possible suspension...
Now, to the other sports team, who's owner my brother supports...the Cleveland Indians...After the All-star break, the Tribe started to slide...And as the trade deadline approached, and passed, the Indians did nothing...Actually they traded a minor league knuckle-baller to the Red Sox for a minor league OF...A left-handed OF...Even though this team has desperately needed a right-handed bat for 3 years...So instead of doing something that could maybe give the team a boost, the front office threw in the towel, and it has shown on the field...The Tribe has looked like a steaming pile of shit...
And yes, most fans blame ownership for not putting money into the team...I blame Mark Shapiro first, because this ass-hat has just made some horrible fucking trades, and desperately thinks he can do some kind of Billy Beane magic trick...Guess what Mark, you can't! But I also blame Mr. Dolan...This guy always says he's going to kick in the money, when the team is ready...Well this team had shown some guts through the first half, and he didn't do shit!
My knucklehead brother, again feels the fans have no right to bash this dick...Fuck my brother, and fuck Dolan...My brother actually said, "If I had to put up with this shit, I'd move the team."....So I said, "Okay, find a city that is going to build a stadium for you, because Dolan sure as hell won't spend a dime, and he won't want an old stadium...Oh, and a city that is actually big enough, with a strong enough economy, to support another major sports franchise...Doesn't sound that easy, does it?" All he came back with was, "Well, I'd really have to look into it." Genius my fucking ass!
My brother is one of those twats that bitches about fans not filling the seats, so why should Dolan spend money, yet the last time he actually put his ass in one of those empty seats was when I got tickets for myself, and my brothers to take our dad to a game on his birthday, 3 years ago...Yeah, my brother reminds me of a certain gash!
I need a laugh after this ranting...And hell, why not use a laugh, that can also be used as a warning for some of the language I use...
