Happy Friday, all! The week is nearly over and its time to overload on sports this weekend.  

MLB--THE DOPES ARE DOPING

With the recent report coming out of ESPN that their investigative television arm, OTL (Outside the Lines), has discovered that Major League Baseball intends to suspend around 20 players up to 100 games each for multiple performance enhancing drug (PEDs) violations.  This could be the biggest PED scandal in all sports (well, maybe there are some who would argue that the Tour de France cycling blood doping scandal of 2006 will end up having been bigger, but I’m not in Paris--I’m an obnoxious American--and I haven’t ridden a bike since I crashed my first car as a teenager).

The two biggest names on the list are Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees and Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers. Reports indicate that both would receive basically a double-suspension: 50 games for 1st offense of being listed as receiving PEDs from the scumbag drug-dealer Biogenesis founder, Tony Bosch; and the second offense and another 50 games for previously lying to MLB about any connection to scumbag drug-dealer Biogenesis founder, Tony Bosch.

Obviously, this is huge news for MLB and yet another black eye as the suspensions and subsequent appeals process and lawyering will likely keep this in the news for a long time.  If Bosch sounds familiar, he was the greasy, slicked-back hair and sunglasses-wearing distributor in the Red Sox and Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez’s 2009 drug test failures. After coming to the attention of MLB then, he resurfaced again as a central figure in former Yankees Bartolo Colon and Melky Cabrera’s suspensions.  

The list of players implicated have severe ramifications on pennant races beyond the two MVPs (A-Rod & Braun), as the list includes players in the midst of contending such as Melky Cabrera of the Blue Jays, Nelson Cruz of the Rangers, pitcher Gio Gonzalez of the Nationals (although reports indicate Gonzalez may not be disciplined as his mention may involve legal supplements), Jesus Montero of the Mariners, and Jhonny Peralta of the Tigers.  Add in the players on teams not in contention further weakening those squads, and at best these players having to play with pending appeals and daily haranguing and questioning from the media, and there is a significant impact on performance and races.

This is a headache that is just beginning for any players mentioned in the report, and no amount of Asprin is going to make this headache go away anytime soon.

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BOSTON RED SOX--SPAHN AND SAIN AND PRAY FOR RAIN:

George V. Hern, sports editor of the Boston Post back in 1948 wrote a famous poem for the Boston Post:

First we'll use Spahn

then we'll use Sain

Then an off day

followed by rain

Back will come Spahn

followed by Sain

And followed

we hope

by two days of rain.

which was eventually shortened by the Boston fan base to just: “Spahn and Sain and Pray for Rain.”  After hall of fame pitcher Warren Spahn and teammate Johnny Sain combined to go 8-0 over 12 days (not games, 12 days) during the Boston Braves one run to the National League pennant, the sports pages had a little fun with the dynamic duo at the top of the rotation.

Why delve into the history of Boston sports--especially referencing a title run by a team that hasn’t played in Boston for over 50 years?  Because in 2013, the modern day American League Boston Red Sox have their own version of a similar top of the rotation one-two punch. Of course, I haven’t seen many poems written in the honor of Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester.

Buchholz and Lester, and pray for...no Fenway molesters?

Lester and Buchholz and pray for...does anything rhyme with Buchholz?

(OK, so poems are not going to happen!)

As a team (through 5/29/2013), the starters have a 3.69 ERA, average 8.8 strikeouts per nine innings, and a 2.39 strikeout to walk ratio.  The key components of that surge in pitching performance and subsequent rise to the top of the AL East, have been Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester. Buchholz is 7 -0 with a 1.73 ERA in his first ten starts. He averages a strikeout per inning, and has allowed opposing batters a .194 batting average and sports a tidy 1.05 WHIP (average of combined Walks and Hits per Innings Pitched). Lester has hit a few bumps recently, but he is still sporting a 3.34 ERA in eleven starts with a 6-1 record. Lester has 60 strikeouts in 72⅔ innings. He has held opposing batters a .225 batting average and sports a WHIP of 1.11.  

Between their top two starters, the Red Sox two stars are a combined 13-1 with a 2.82 ERA and 133 strikeouts in 145⅓ innings (through 5/29/2013).  Unfortunately, Buchholz was pushed back for two starts with a right AC Joint issue that the team kept insisting is not serious. Fortunately, he looked just as good as usual in a 5 inning complete game shutout in a rain-shortened appearance. Lester has had two rough starts the past two starts, causing his ERA to jump from 2.72 to 3.34 as he allowed 9 earned runs in 13 innings.  

However, this season has been a huge leap forward for the two young starters compared to last season, when Lester suffered through his worst season as a professional and Buchholz had his worst season since his first full season.  Buchholz was 11-8 last year with a 4.56 ERA and Lester suffered through a 9-14 record with a 4.82 ERA.  These two are the key to the Red Sox rotation as they battle for first place one year after a last place finish in 2012.  As their two young guns go, so goes the Red Sox fortune.  

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AROUND THE NFL--MISCELLANEOUS RAMBLINGS:

This is the slow season of the NFL (I like using 17th century nautical terms like “doldrums” and “horse latitudes” when referring to in-between sports seasons so much that a reader once asked if I was a merchant sailor previously--nope, just an English major in college who took too many “Important Writers of the Romantic Age and Industrial Revolution” courses. So with great pains I will restrain myself here), and news is often consumed with one of two reports: injuries, or overly optimistic reports of players that fall into one of the these two categories:  “Player X and Player Y are developing a rapport and are in sync on the practice field during non-contact drills”, or “Player Z is in the best shape of his life and has been making plays all over the practice field and opening eyes in non-contact drills”.  The problem? The qualifier of “non-contact drills”.  Until there are real games, real contact, and the grind of performing while tired, hot, and the pressure mounts, any reports tend to be next to useless.

I grew up reading Will McDonough of the Boston Globe and his groundbreaking NFL Notes Sunday column.  While the Sunday NFL Notes continued, it was hardly ever the same after McDonough passed, though there was some stellar writers such as Mike Reiss (now at ESPN), and Albert Breer (now featured at NFL.com). Most recently, Greg Bedard had been doing an excellent job and has become the latest to use the high-profile position to move on, as he recently moved to Sports Illustrated.  Amazingly, as a Rutgers alumni, Bedard is NOT in training camp as a defensive back for the New England Patriots.  While the Boston Globe refused to see the wisdom of hiring me to write the Sunday NFL Notes column, Sully and Beeze made a horrific mistake they’ll regret the rest of their lives by giving an insane lunatic a forum to share his inane ramblings were nice enough to let me contribute to YouGabSports.com.

Around the NFL this week, there has been a lot of noise out of Detroit, as new running back Reggie Bush, who is well-versed in talented but underachieving offenses, started spouting about the championship level caliber of his new team, which went 4-12 last season. After all his talk about Miami challenging New England in the AFC East these past years, I doubt that the Green Bay fan base is too worried.

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Conversely, Detroit coach Jim Schwartz, starting a new contract extension, has had his owner come out whatever shuttered Ford factory he hides out in for years at a time with the unsaid but implied need to perform or else.  Not often a coach is in that spot in the first year of a three-year contract extension, but going from double-digit wins to double-digit losses with the core of their two big stars (quarterback Matthew Stafford and wide receiver Calvin Johnson) still intact on offense.  That the team seems as undisciplined as the Oakland Raiders at times is puzzling, as Schwartz comes from the Bill Belichick coaching tree which is renowned for not putting up with too much in the way of shenanigans.

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The Houston Texans spent a ton of cash on safety Ed Reed signing him away from the World Champion Baltimore Ravens. Houston is paying Reed $15 million over three years after eleven years in Baltimore.  While still a veteran leader, the cost seemed excessive at the time as the team let younger, more athletic safety Glover Quin depart in free agency to Detroit, where he signed a 5 year $25 million contract.  Quin is only 27 and arguably the better player at this point of their careers. Reed, at 34, was noticeably not the same player the past few years and seemed to have regress with age and injuries.  Now, reports are that Reed--who had hip surgery this off-season after signing with Houston--is now talking about potentially not being able to play in week one.  Remember, in 2010 he underwent hip surgery while in Baltimore and missed the first seven games.  After their debacle in the playoffs against New England, the Texans need to ready to go in week one and put their finish to 2012 behind them, and this injury to Reed raises big concerns.

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No trip through the NFL is complete without checking in with the most controversial coach in the NFL, Rex Ryan of the New York Jets.  The Jets will actually have an entertaining controversy on the field between the numbers instead of solely in the media.  Quarterback Mark Sanchez, one year removed from one of the most ridiculous contract extensions ever given to a mediocre quarterback, is locked in a battle this summer with rookie 2nd round pick, quarterback Geno Smith.  With the media keeping track of statistics by the quarterbacks during OTAs. Seth Walder, who was charting completions and attempts for the New York Daily News on twitter, and reported that Sanchez. He also noted that during practice Sanchez crumbled during a two-minute drill. This looks to be a delicious battle for the back pages of the New York papers all through the summer.

Add in, of course, that neither quarterback has any competent receivers to throw the ball to, and the New York headache that was to have left when super-hype quarterback Tim Tebow was released will not go away. Reports today indicate that the Jets only competent pass-catcher, Santonio Holmes, may not be ready for training camp after two surgeries for a Lisfranc injury (foot) that caused him to miss 12 games last season.  

Of course, Holmes is not the only walking wounded at wide receiver in greater New Jersey. Jets wideouts Jeremy Kerley, a heel injury; Clyde Gates, a hamstring injury; and last year’s second round draft pick Stephen Hill, a knee injury; leaves the Jets weakened at a weak position in OTAs.

A weak offensive line (an offensive offensive line, no?), a dearth of playmakers on offense, and a defense that traded its best player (Darrelle Revis), is a recipe for more dysfunction for the most dysfunctional family on the Jersey shore.

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Finally, the news out of New England is pure panic and hand-wringing in regards to star tight end Rob Gronkowski.  With Gronkowski under the knife yet again for his forearm--which is a good sign actually, as it means the infection was cleared out and the doctors successfully replaced the old plate in his arm--and out for at least two months, the great unknown surrounds his back injury. As coach Bill Belichick is notoriously tight-lipped (loose lips sink ships--remember, he grew up in Annapolis, MD around the US Naval Academy as his father, Steve--a Navy veteran in WWII-- was a scout for the Navy football team for over 30 years), no one knew much about Gronkowski playing through chronic back pain.  Reports fly fast and furious about the injury on Twitter, news sites, blogs, and over the water cooler, but the fact is that no one really knows and until he sees his doctor in a few weeks, no one knows what the next step is for Gronkowski.  In my opinion, if he’s out two months for the forearm, have any necessary back surgery and put him on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list and get him as healthy as possible for the second half of the season and the playoffs.  Any extra time to heal the forearm and not rush back is a positive.  The Patriots are built to survive without any player (other than Tom Brady, 2008 excluded) on the roster, and caution is recommended with such an important player.

* * *

NHL--DOUBLE (OVERTIME) TROUBLE

I paid the price at work on Thursday, as staying up past midnight for the Boston Bruins to put away the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Finals made for a short shift of sleep.  Bruins center Patrice Bergeron scored after over 35 minutes of overtime to give the Bruins a 3-0 lead in the series against the heavily favored Penguins. The Bruins are one win away from the Stanley Cup Finals for the second time in three years.

The Penguins corrected a number of mistakes from the first two games and got excellent goaltending from Thomas Vokoun after his sieve-like performance the first two games of the series. The Bruins scored first in the first minutes of the initial period with the NHL Playoffs leading scorer David Krejci’s shot deflecting off the Pittsburgh defenseman’s skates and past Vokoun.  Credit Pittsburgh with not folding their tents and going home, as Pittsburgh tightened up on defense and eventually tied the game in the second period with a nifty goal by Chris Kunitz.

The Penguins and Bruins both had ample opportunities to score in the third period and first overtime.  Both teams benefited from excellent goaltending with Boston goalie Tuukka Rask making 53 saves and Vokoun stopping 38 shots on net.

For Pittsburgh, it is demoralizing to go on the road after laying an egg in back to back games at home and then playing their best game of the series (of the month? of their entire playoff run so far?) and still losing the game in heart-breaking fashion.  For Pittsburgh, they have a game four in Boston to try to extend the series.  As Bruins fans are well aware, a 3-0 lead is never safe in any series and they need to wrap this series up and then wait for the next challenger in the West.

* * *

OK, that’s it for today...thanks so much for indulging and reading.

For those of you who made it this far and are thinking, “who the heck is this idiot writing this bologna?”, I’m Hal Bent.  To answer your next thought “So what. Who cares?”, well I’m from the Boston area (heading south towards the Cape) and have been a sports enthusiast my entire life.  My earliest sports memory involves the Red Sox losing the one game playoff after their incredible collapse during the season against the Yankees in 1978 and that set the stage for a lifetime of sports pathos aplenty.

Some of the regulars here know me from other sites and I've been a lurker and commenting on posts occasionally. If you don't know me...well, you were lucky up until today. The boring stuff about me is that I’ve written for http://www.BostonSportPage.com since 2005, write about the New England Patriots for http://www.MusketFire.com, am a (heck, currently the only) contributor to the comic strip humor site http://www.DailyComicsReview.com in my non-sports writing, will contribute to a start-up football site (launching July 1) http://www.cover32.com also I contribute, linger, and learn about other sports I don’t follow passionately (yet) at http://www.t-s-b-n.com, and am excited to contribute here at YouGabSports. I am on Twitter far more often than I should be and you can find me at http://www.twitter.com/halbent01. I am on the F-Book (as some wryly call it) at http://www.facebook.com/HalBent3.

The even less interesting stuff about me is that I am a fan of all sports: baseball, football, basketball, hockey, soccer, tennis, golf, and Texas Hold ’em Poker.  I love baseball analytics, which is odd because I was horrible at math.  I am a fan of all Boston sports teams, the Washington Redskins (long, boring story), the St. Louis Cardinals (even longer, more boring story), and a huge English Premier League footy fan strongly aligned with the People’s Club, the true pride of Liverpool, the Everton FC Toffees (I refuse to let Red Sox owner John Henry shove the Liverpool FC team down my craw like he has been attempting to do since purchasing the collection of whining maggots not worthy of wearing blue--I’m talking to you, Suarez club.

Yet even more unremarkable information about me is that I am a craft-beer enthusiast, watch and read tons of sci-fi and action thrillers, an unabashed fan of horrible, cheesy, unwatchable, and unintentionally funny movies.  I watch too many cartoons and anything that makes me laugh. I obsess over Star Trek, Star Wars, Firefly, comic strips, comic books, comic book movies, graphic novels, websites about comic books, cartoons about comic books, and books about comic books.  I am involved in more fantasy sports leagues than I should be in more different sports than I should be, spend too much time thinking and strategizing in regards to them, play sports video games, love the Sports Mogul games online, and still have my Strat-O-Matic games back 20 odd years--even if only to have my 1988 Ricky Henderson Strat-O-Matic card--the greatest Strat-O-Matic card other than Ken Phelps.  Somehow I function in regular society and at a government 9 to 5 job and meet up regularly to continue an ongoing 20+ year argument originally about about the Modern American Poets and has evolved into other literature, sports, and life, the universe and everything with my best friend at the local watering hole each week.

I’m married to an incredible, beautiful woman who all my friends believe (this is their most popular theory they’ve come up with) that I have kept drugged with some kind of mind-altering concoction for 15+ years to make her believe she is really married to someone more handsome, richer, and not a dingbat like I am. I also have two unique, intelligent, and wonderful children who look and take after their mother (thank God!), but have next to zero interest in sports (WWE Wresting and Monster Trucks, yes. Disney tween shows and video games, yes. Sports--other than live events where the interest ranges to merchandise and food only, not the product on the field so much--no.).   

So that’s me (I decided to keep the introduction at the end so no one felt guilty skipping it) and want to again make sure I point out who you have to blame thank Sully and Beezer for reaching out and letting me contribute here, and thank you for reading.

Have a great weekend, all!

It is the Monday after the NFL Draft, and I don't know about you, but I need a bath...Why you ask? Well, I live in Cleveland...And after this draft, it really fucking stinks in here!

There is this thing in Cleveland when everyone gets their hopes up when the Draft rolls around...Sadly, since 1999 the Browns have had a lot more misses then hits...In April Browns fans are blindly optimistic, lead by the Cleveland media that is more often than not blindly swinging on the nuts of the team, and believing everything they say to be gospel...There are very few who are willing to criticize the team on draft weekend, and those who do, like me, get shouted down....

Example: When the Browns took Notre Dame Safety Jamoris Slaughter in the 6th round, I voiced my displeasure with this move...You know I love ND, and I like Slaughter, but kid played 3 games, and tore his Achilles last year....The year before he missed most the season after a shoulder injury...He was only in the draft because the NCAA disallowed a second medical redshirt...Yes, he's a big hitter...But he's a small guy, just under 6 ft. and 195 pounds...So of course it was tweeted at me that in 39 games he made 98 tackles...Big fucking deal...Former ND safety, now Vikings safety made 93 tackles in one season...Another ND Safety, Zeke Motta, taken in the 7th round by the Falcons made 77 tackles this year...Why the fuck wouldn't you take the heavy hitter that he is, instead of the guy who has been hurt the last two seasons?

Another asshole tweeted at me, "You know it's the 6th round?" Yeah dick face...I also know there are better players and players who aren't hurt out there! Everyone at 92.3 the Fan are fucking idiots, who just got the rights top air the Browns games this season, so they're all afraid to be fucking honest...

Then they start tweeting that Mike Mayock was raving about the Browns getting Slaughter...Well no shit...He gets one of his paychecks doing color for Notre Dame games...He's not gonna blast a ND guy...Fucking tools!

The Browns first round pick, Barkevious Mingo, DE from LSU...Fine pick there...They had no 2nd round pick...They gave that up when they took Josh Gordon in the supplemental draft last year...Fine...Kid has skills...3rd round they took CB, Leon McFadden from San Diego St....WTF! Kid is 5-9...I like my corners a little taller...Kid ran a 4.5 40...I like my corners faster, especially if they are short...Kid was projected as a 6th rounder....Of fucking course he was! Then they show a quick video of him...The clip showed him getting beat by a WR 4-5 inches taller and if the QB could hadn't overthrown it, it's a TD...

No worries, the Browns have more picks...Wait, they traded a 4th and 5th to the Dolphins for Devone Bess...Okay, so adding him, plus the recent acquisition of David Nelson, the Browns are okay at WR...Then they traded another 4th round pick to Pittsburgh for their 4th round pick next year...Then they traded another 5th round pick to the Colts for their 5th round pick next year...Okay, so they are already throwing in the towel on this year's draft...Got it...

In the 7th round they drafted two guys, one DE and one OL, both from division 2 schools...Listen, no offense to D-2 guys, but if you wanted them, you probably could have signed them as rookie free agents...The DE has a great history of getting busted for selling dope to undercover police...TWICE! Great pick...Then the Browns went and signed Notre Dame C/G Braxston Cave...(Finally a smart move)...They also locked up Bess for 3 years...

The media kept saying this draft was weak...Light in star players...So maybe be smart and load up on depth...Like the Patriots who traded out of the 1st round (29 overall) for a 2,3,4,and 7th round picks...Oh, and they made a trade Jeff Demps and a 7 for LaGarrette Blount...The depth they added...2 WR, OLB, ILB, CB, S, and DE...3 players, all on Defense from Rutgers...I guess Bill liked something he saw from the Scarlet Knights D...

All I know for sure, is a couple months back I talked about me and my sports fandom being free agents when it comes to the NFL and MLB, because the Browns and Indians make me sick...I gave my baseball fandom to The Nationals with an eye on the Orioles and Pirates...In the NFL I talked about the Seahawks and Patriots...Yeah, sticking with that...The Browns proved me right this weekend...All I had to see was what the Bengals and Steelers, and Ravens were doing in the draft...Ravens looking to fill holes and maintain...Steelers and Bengals looking to get better...And they both did...The Browns look like they are maintaining...Only problem is, no one should want to maintain when you are a perennial loser!

-Other Draft news...Matt Barkley proved something I've known for awhile...USC QB's are overrated...4th round to Philly...Ouch...Which of their 4 QB's will stay and which will go?

Geno Smith doesn't go in the 1st round, which is hilarious since both ESPN and NFL network filled their promo shit with him...Lucky guy then goes to the Jets...Clearly the Jets wanted to lead the league in drama again...6 QB's now...Including the hack, Mark Sanchez, and the media darling Tim Tebow, now adding Smith who has already shown what a twat he is by tweeting his smarmy feelings to scouts and draft "experts"...Kid is going to flop...Especially going to that environment...

What I watched of the draft I watched on the NFL Network...ESPN is awful...I can't stand Berman, Gruden, and Kiper...How is it old Mel keeps his job...All this guy does is analyze players for the draft, and he is religiously wrong...Mayock is a douche, but he's right a lot more than the dopes on ESPN....

But then the NFL Network guys got on my nerves when they wouldn't shut up about Manti Te'o...People, you want to know why he slipped? Watch the National Championship game again...Missed tackle after missed tackle...Found himself out of position to make plays for the first time all year...On the biggest stage...With a cloud of lies hanging over his head about a fake, dead girlfriend...It's not the girlfriend shit...It's not even the slow 40 time...It's that game, and how he got owned...I knew he'd get drafted...There is too much potential there not too...But 1st round...No way...hey, lucky for him, he's going to San Diego...Wasn't his girl in the Hospital there!?!

-The NHL playoffs will get started this week...My NY Rangers are playing well and seem to have it all together at the right time...They'll start off with The Washington Capitals...Hopefully they roll right through them...Rick Nash finally gets to take his game to the Playoffs...Looking to see him shine...I'm feeling so confident that I have excepted a bet friendly blogging bet on this series with SunTzu4m!

Chicago is the favorite out West, but they open up with the Minnesota Wild who have been a pain in their ass this year...The Wild have invested a lot this year...They want to win now...Should be an interesting goaltending battle between The Wild's Backstrom and The Blackhawks' Crawford...Both teams have firepower, so it will come down to which goalie can steal a game or two.

-This coming Saturday we have the Kentucky Derby...I love Derby day...We get the kids together and all pick horses...The kids have done well the last few years...Always a good time...Maybe I'll give them a couple Mint Juleps...Make it easier to take their money!

Have a week...

The Beeze

No pun intended.

No punishment.

If I offended you, you needed it!

- Stone Sour, Absolute Zero

There are very things in sports that are more sacred to athletes than the money they make. They covet it. They scrounge for it. They fight for every last cent that they feel they are entitled to. If you mess with what a man holds sacred, you might as well be painting a bulleye right in the center of your back.

Such has been the case with Tom Brady, the quarterback and unchallenged leader of the New England Patriots. Earlier in the week, Tom Brady restructured his contract with the Patriots. The new deal takes the $27 million previously due to Brady in his old contract and converts it to a signing bonus and replaces it with a 5-year, $57 million deal. More importantly, the new deal pays the quarterback a salary that will represent a much smaller hit for the Patriots in regards to the NFL Salary Cap.

Fans should applaud such a deal right?

Not exactly.

Fans and players alike are taking Brady to the woodshed over the deal. Fans are saying he and the Patriots are subverting the salary cap system. Players are complaining that by taking a below market deal, Brady is in turn driving the market down for other free agents (see Flacco, Joe). Never have I seen an uproar over a player trying to do something to help his team win!

Let's be honest here, Brady isn't being a martyr. He's guaranteeing himself more money in the long run. Brady is also making sure that he is controlling his own fate through the end of his career. As ESPN points out, by taking less money over a longer period of time, Brady takes the money out of the equation. He takes the Peyton Manning-type decision out of the process. As the article states, Brady didn't want things to come down to the Patriots having to decide if his skills merited the size of his contract or if that money would be better spent elsewhere. By restructuring now, Brady puts a clock on his window with the Patriots and his career, without the threat of money interrupting that legacy.

At the same time, Brady realizes that if he wants to win during that window, the Patriots are going to need all the flexibility they can create. What that means for other quarterbacks who are seeking big money, like Joe Flacco or Drew Brees, that doesn't matter. Brady and the Patriots saw an opportunity to give this team a chance to stay competitive and allow them to add the pieces they would need to do so.

As fans, we should appreciate that kind of foresight, both on the part of the Patriots and Brady or Ben Roethisberger and the Steelers. We scream day and night about players selfishly putting themselves against the long-term prospects of their teams. So why are we villainizing this deal?

So what if it marks a change in how things are done. So what if Joe Flacco gets $1 million less if the Ravens slap him with the franchise tag. Are we that hung up on burning all figureheads at the stake that we want to look a gift horse in the mouth? I don't know if I can pull myself together long enough to live in a world where athletes are willing to take less money in order to keep their teams competitive.

Oh the horror.

Life has this funny way of putting you in places you least expect.  If you had told me last week while I was sitting face to face with Sully that a week later I’d be sitting at The Hooley House in Cleveland watching the Browns/Raiders game, I'd have asked what drugs you were on.  A freaking time warp that I can neither explain, nor do I want to.   Imagine this for a moment: I’m watching the Browns and Beeze is ice skating.  That should have told me everything I needed to know about the game.    

More surreal than that was being enroute to the Metropolis of the Western Reserve, was the news of Jovan Belcher received while enroute.  I just have no words – just unspeakable – even almost a week later I’m having a hard time just processing what those who witnessed his actions at Arrowhead must’ve experienced, nevermind beginning to process what he had to be experiencing.  Its discussion that needs to be had, I’m just not sure I’m comfortable exploring that place just yet…and it’s rare for me not to have something to say.

But I know you swing by here to see what up, so I figure some good Cleveland Browns talk is just the right thing.

I will say this for the hometown crowd – they love the Browns.  That place was packed to the gills in Brown and Orange, probably held more people in there than were actually in attendance at the Oakland Coliseum for the game.  They just want to win…just any ray of sunshine.  I like that.  As an aside, I also like the fact that they sell beer in a cup holding approximately the equivalent of a quarter-keg for something like $4.50.  I remember going to games at the old Foxboro (nee: Sullivan, nee: Schaefer) Stadium when the Patriots were dreadful and I didn’t see the kind of passion for the team that you see in Cleveland.  Maybe it’s just because we New Englanders just like to be miserable or something. 

Here’s a not wholly satisfactory comparison, but a reasonable one.  The 1992 edition of the Patriots was AWFUL. In 1990, they’d gone 1-15.  The next year they improved to 6-10, but by 1992 they were 0-10.   I mean this had not been a good team for a while. For game 11, Scott Zolak was named the starting quarterback after finishing a losing game (and making his first ever professional appearance) the previous week for an injured Tommy Hodson in the 4^th quarter.  Not only did the Patriots beat the Colts (big), but Zolak was player of the week.  I loved that game.  Then he went out the next week and did it again.  A 2-game winning streak.  No one was talking about coach Dick MacPherson – a loveable, but ultimately inept professional coach – getting another season; Zolak was a bit of a folk hero but nothing more.  The next week he spit the bit, and was relegated to the bench for the rest of the year and for the next 6 years or so, he was Drew Bledsoe’s backup. 

So the Pats were terrible, being led by a 4^th round/third-string quarterback that was in the game because the other two guys were hurt and who won exactly 2 games.  Cleveland has a first round quarterback who has won 4 games (he’s also 29 years old, but let’s not dwell too too much on that).  They’re BAD, but not terrible (ask this site and they’re “semi-good”).  Zolak became a folk hero with a huge arm but little accuracy, McPherson was dismissed with his 8-24 record; Sports Radio: Weeden is “starting to come around” (which is good because he needs to).  Coach Shurmur’s record as of this week? 8-20, with 4-more games to play.  A lot of the conversation I heard was a debate whether or not Shurmur should get another season, and maybe he’s got his team going in the right direction.  That’s a lot of wishful thinking from a lot of folks who know a lot about football.   Steelers fans might not appreciate the Cleveland crowd, but I do.  Wishful thinkers they…and beer drinkers.  Maybe the two are correlated. 

LAST WORD: Remember IHateMillen is raising cash to support juvenile cancer patients - this cat is going to shave his head to raise awareness and money for a cure.    http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/mypage/577265/2013 Donate here.  

Well, now that were finished with that...I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving holiday...Last night I did post a THANKSGIVING_MESSAGE...I hope some people took my suggestion to stay away from the Black Friday madness...It seems the whole point of Thanksgiving gets lost these days with our insane need to compete to get more stuff...
 

What? What? Too soon?

So Turkey Day always brings us some bonus football...While many people like the Tradition of the Lions and Cowboys each having a game on this holiday, I don't...The Cowboys are always on National TV, and I'm sick of it...Whoever said they're "America's Team" is a dolt...If they're "America's Team" then why the hell do we have 31 other NFL teams...Let alone all the NCAA teams...I was so happy when the NFL added the third game...And this year, it was the Patriots at the Jets...

Boy to the jets love trying to get more media coverage...Too bad they get the coverage for all the wrong reasons...




Wow...Who knew the Jets could make people forget just how bad the Browns are...The Patriots crushed them 49-19 and it wasn't even that close...

As for the early games...The Lions and Texans had a good game that went late into OT, before the Texans won 34-31...And Texans fans should thank the refs and one of the dumbest rules I have ever heard of...'If you challenge a TD call before the booth reviews it, it can't be reviewed'....What the fuck kind of asshole loop-hole is this?




As for the Cowboys vs Redskins...While I really like RG3, I didn't watch it...Not just because I'm sick of the Cowboys...The kids, my brother, and I were out side playing a little ball ourselves...Not to sound corny, but I'll take that over the NFL any day...The weather was great, and they're talking snow Friday night, so we made the most of the day...

Now I've dumped on the Browns all year, and I've avoided watching many of their games...But this week I have to tune in, as they take on the Steelers...Not because of how I hate the Steelers...Not because I suddenly have high hopes that the Browns can win...It's because of THIS...The Browns want to combat the famous Pittsburgh Terrible Towel, by handing out white flags...WHITE FLAGS!?!?!?! Are fucking shitting me...Is there an award for dumbest front office and PR department? If there is/was, these fuck-tards win hands down!

That's it for now...Thanksgiving done, but that just starts the big Holiday season of giving...
 

Later, The Beeze.

 

PS: Fuck the haters...GO IRISH!!!