If you put limits on yourself, you put a limit on what you can achieve.

That may be profound, but it applies to the Cleveland Indians organization.

A few years ago, Paul Dolan said something to the effect that the best a smaller market team like the Tribe can do is contend every few years. 

If that’s not setting yourself up for failure, nothing does.

That’s the way the Indians run their organization right now.  Many people said the trade for Ubaldo Jimenez was made because the team sees their window of opportunity to win closing after 2013.

The question here is why?

The Indians will tell you that guys like SS Asdrubal Cabrera and OF Shin-Soo Choo will be eligible for free agency at that point and will likely no longer be affordable for the franchise.

The contrasting opinion to that viewpoint (shared here) is why not keep a pitcher like Drew Pomerantz, and have a potential #1 starter in your control for six seasons.

Instead of having three poor seasons, followed by three contending seasons as a cycle, why not put yourself in position to be able to compete every year.  And that can be done by building an excellent farm system.

Supporters of the current regime spout the usual things about small markets, poor economy, etc.  However, according to projections on BaseballReference.com, Cleveland will have the sixth lowest payroll in the big leagues in 2012, ahead of only Toronto, Oakland, Pittsburgh, San Diego, and Tampa Bay.

Of those teams, Tampa made the post-season, and the Indians were the only other squad in contention for most of the 2011 season.

Cleveland and Kansas City spend around $40 million less in payroll compared to the other three teams in the AL Central Division.  That’s three to four good players difference.

The real reason the Indians have to take this cyclical stance for contention is that the Dolan family doesn’t have the revenues to spend more money. 

This is understandable, but not fair to the baseball fans of Cleveland. 

The apologists will tell you the Indians couldn’t get a certain player, because they couldn’t spend that kind of money. 

Let’s get one thing straight:  They could spend the money, there’s no salary cap in baseball.  They choose not to.  There’s a big difference.

No one expects the Indians to spend at the same level as the Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies, and Angels.  There is no question this market cannot sustain that high of a payroll.

However, it’s very difficult for teams to compete if they spend around $70 million on players, unless they have a fabulous farm system, which the Rays have.

Cleveland doesn’t.

They did have a system that was on the rise, but the deal for Jimenez and the promotion of Jason Kipnis and Lonnie Chisenhall stripped the organization of half of the team’s top prospects.

The Indians have some highly regarded players in the system, but most are in the low minors, several years away from competing at the big league level.

They do have a young core at the big league level with players like Cabrera, Carlos Santana, Kipnis, Chisenhall, and perhaps Michael Brantley.  But there isn’t any help on the way soon, so they are forced to look elsewhere to add talent.

They’ve tried and failed to bring in free agents like Josh Willingham, Michael Cuddyer, and Carlos Beltran, three established hitters who would’ve put the team into contention. 

The Indians will say those guys couldn’t fit into their budget constraints.  Just remember who created those limitations.

KM

When Mike Holmgren hired Pat Shurmur a little less than a year ago, Browns’ fans had some thoughts as to what they were getting.

An offensive coordinator for two years with the St. Louis Rams, it was hoped that the new head coach would bring the Cleveland attack into the 21st century, an upgrade over what Eric Mangini and Brian Daboll ran the past two seasons.

That clearly hasn’t been the case.

Another school of thought had Shurmur being like coaches like Mike Tomlin, the Harbaugh brothers, and Mike Smith, those guys being leaders.  Coaches who can inspire and motivate. 

That doesn’t seem to be Shurmur either.

That’s what confuses and irritates fans about the head coach of this football team.  They do not see anything which resembles hope when it comes to Pat Shurmur.

That said, it is clear to everyone that the coach of the Browns in 2012 is going to be Pat Shurmur.  He has the trust of the man in charge.

That doesn’t mean that Holmgren shouldn’t be guiding and molding Shurmur as a head coach.  Certainly, he needs to grow in the role, and the sooner, the better.

For a man whose background is on the offensive side of the football, Shurmur’s teams don’t score a lot of points.  That’s curious to say the least.

In fact, in his two years in St. Louis and this year with the Browns, Shurmur’s teams have scored over 20 points just five times.  That doesn’t win you a lot of games in today’s NFL.

In terms of gaining yardage, his offenses have ranked 29th (2011), 26th (’10), and 29th (’09) in his three years of guiding NFL attacks.  Those numbers were compiled as follows:

2011 Cleveland:  22nd in passing, 30th in rushing

2010 St. Louis:  21st in passing, 25th in rushing

2009 St. Louis:  28th in passing, 20th in rushing

So, what kind of credentials are those as an offensive coordinator?  His teams don’t score points, and they really don’t move the football effectively.

As for the leadership issue, perhaps Shurmur is dynamic in the locker room, but his sideline demeanor doesn’t come across on camera as that of a guy whose troops would follow him into battle.

And although he’s appeared agitated with some questions he’s received in press conferences, he’s more of a Bill Belichick monotone than a Jim Mora rant at this point.

Is he more of the chief executive type, a guy who delegates responsibility to his assistants and then makes it all come together on game day.  If he is, he’s not succeeding there either.  Just look at the mistakes made in clock management and substitutions on a weekly basis.  Sunday, CBS showed the Browns had just 10 men on the field when Buster Skrine intercepted a pass.

That’s why people wonder what exactly makes Pat Shurmur a head coach in the National Football League.  Many people say he’s a young coach and we should give him a chance, but where exactly does that trust come from?

Is he being mentored by Holmgren, who has coached two different teams to Super Bowls?  If so, it doesn’t appear that anything has rubbed off. 

It’s not wrong for Browns fans to expect something from Shurmur that would show us he’s the guy who can turn this thing around.  Right now, he’s in the same boat as his quarterback, Colt McCoy.  The best thing we can say is we don’t know yet.

If GM Tom Heckert can draft Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III with their first pick in the draft next spring, is Pat Shurmur really the man to mentor the young passer? 

There’s something to ponder.

MW

The Cleveland Browns have officially become football’s version of the movie “Ground Hog’s Day”.  Week after week, it’s the same old thing, the same old result, and another 10 loss season.

This one took some extra time, but the Browns fell to 4-10 with a 20-17 overtime loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

Once again, the Browns started fast, with Peyton Hillis gaining huge chunks of yardage and QB Seneca Wallace hitting a big 29-yard pass to Mohammad Massaquoi to set up a touchdown run by Hillis. 

Outside of a 76-yard TD pass in the third quarter from Wallace to rookie WR Greg Little in the third quarter to give Cleveland a 17-7 lead, that was about it for the offense.

And for those Colt McCoy critics out there, today’s performance shows it’s the scheme, not the players, who make the team’s attack look putrid. 

Since Pat Shurmur came to northern Ohio as an offensive coordinator, you have to wonder what kind of game plan he is putting together on a weekly basis, as the Browns had over 100 yards rushing and Wallace threw for over 200 more, and still Cleveland only scored 17 points.

They had no trouble moving the football, but just simply cannot get it into the end zone.

About the only negative stat you can come up with offensively is the 5 for 14 third down conversion rate.  Arizona picked up first downs 8 times in 16 opportunities. 

Defensively, Dick Jauron’s crew had four sacks, two each by rookie DE Jabaal Sheard and LB Chris Gocong, and an interception by rookie CB Buster Skrine, and held the Cards to just 74 yards rushing, and still lost.

The two big plays that killed Cleveland were Wallace’s fumble, which gave Arizona the ball on the CLE 5, and a pass to All Pro WR Larry Fitzgerald in overtime which set up the game winning score. 

The final three points were set up by the Cardinals’ two playmakers, a 32-yard punt return by Patrick Peterson, and the aforementioned pass to Fitzgerald, who somehow was matched up against CB Dmitri Patterson, not Joe Haden. 

Cleveland simply doesn’t have players like that.

It was looking good for the Browns after the TD pass to Little, and the subsequent pick by Skrine.  After one first down, the offense couldn’t do anything else and punted the ball back to the Cards.

The defense gave up a relatively easy 11 play, 87 yard drive to get back in the game at 17-14.  Arizona only had to face one third down situation on the drive, as the secondary gave up three plays of 20 yards or more.  The drive took less than five minutes.

After Wallace coughed up the ball on the next drive, only a sack by Sheard and a good play by LBs Gocong and Titus Brown held the home team out of the end zone and kept the game tied.

Looking for good things, it was a good day to be a Cleveland rookie today.  Besides Sheard’s two sacks and Skrine’s first career interception, Little wound up with five catches for 131 yards.  S Eric Hagg had four tackles too.

As for the quarterback play, which everyone was interested in after McCoy’s injury, Wallace wound up hitting on 18 of 31 throws for 226 yards and a touchdown.  These are similar numbers to those McCoy puts up weekly except Wallace’s turnover was the fumble, instead of an interception.

One other player deserves mention, and that is LB Kuluka Maiava, who had seven tackles, and was a big part of the reason Beanie Wells was held to 51 yards on the game.  Maiava had struggled since subbing for Scott Fujita the past couple of weeks.

Just two games remain for this team before the season mercifully ends.  They will send Christmas Eve in Baltimore taking on the Ravens.  Based on the way things have gone, football fans can expect Santa Shurmur to leave a lump of coal in their stockings.

JD

The Cleveland Browns are a team with no identity.  That is to say no positive identity. 

Right now, they are looked at by the rest of the NFL as a doormat or a bumbling organization. 

This season hasn’t done anything to change people’s minds.

They’ve lost a game, the season opener in fact,  when the defense fell asleep and allowed a wide receiver to streak down the field unguarded to score a go ahead touchdown.

They lost another when their long snapper rolled a snap on a short field goal, causing Phil Dawson, one of the better kickers in the sport, to miss a 20 yard field goal.

Browns’ fans have spent most of this season talking about strep throats, pulled hamstrings, and concussions, not football. 

The team president is claiming that no one on the Browns’ sidelines during a game saw a vicious hit that put their quarterback out of the game.

You have some players saying that same cheap shot, by a player who has put three Cleveland players out of games the last two years with hits to the head, wasn’t that bad.

And that’s how it has been since 1999, the year the franchise returned to the NFL.

The disturbing thing is hiring a football man like Mike Holmgren to run the organization was supposed to change things.  So far, it hasn’t.

Cleveland football fans are hungry to support a winner, but they aren’t patient enough to monitor the process of building one.  Yes, yes there’s that word again, process.

Pigskin fans here think they know the game, but in reality, they don’t know as much as they think.

Think about how many fans have talked about how the Browns need to run the ball to win.  The reality is when Cleveland has had their best stretches as a franchise, it has been when they had great passing games, with QB’s like Otto Graham, Frank Ryan, Bill Nelsen, and Bernie Kosar.

Think about how many fans have said that Seneca Wallace was on a “hot” streak because he completed one pass last Thursday night!

Still, Browns’ supporters feel they’ve been sold a bill of goods, considering all of the things that have happened this season.  And that’s just a small list.

Everyone felt the Holmgren regime would signal progress, and it would start right away.  Not a new rebuilding process that would lead to viewing a team that struggles on a weekly basis.

Holmgren himself said last season that going 5-11 wasn’t acceptable, yet here we are once again, with the Browns having to win two of their last three games against quality opponents (and yes, right now Arizona is playing very well) to show improvement in the win column.

That would be regressing.

Yes, the Browns have gone from one of the oldest teams in the NFL to one of the youngest.  That alone would bode better for the future.

But many of the mistakes are being made by either the coaching staff or the public relations department. 

Greg Little dropping passes doesn’t make fans happy, but at least we can understand he will get better. 

Pat Shurmur will learn from his mistakes too, but is it too much to expect the right number of people will be on the field?  Or the team will be lined up properly when the opponents are running a play?

Just look like a professional football team!

It’s hard to have faith with all of the sloppy errors made all season long by the Browns.

After all these years, we thought we would see a football team that made us proud.

Instead, it’s like watching a Will Farrell movie about football.

JD

At baseball’s winter meeting in Dallas, Indians’ GM Chris Antonetti hinted that his team was talking about a trade involving a player that no one could guess if they had 50 chances.

Apparently, that deal fell through.

So, the Indians’ off-season has been limited to getting Derek Lowe from the Braves, re-signing Grady Sizemore, and inking catcher Matt Pagnozzi and OF Felix Pie to minor league deals.

No quality right-handed bats in that group.

The two people in the free agent market who fit that profile are Michael Cuddyer, who can play 1B, 3B, LF, or RF, and Josh Willingham, who would fit at first or left field.

If the Tribe doesn’t sign one of those two players, it more than likely will be about money.  Again, we understand that the Dolan family doesn’t have the resources that teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, and you have to include the Angels in that group now.

So, they have to spend wisely.

Which brings us to our central point, if Antonetti doesn’t have sufficient cash to sign one of these right-handed sticks, and we prefer Cuddyer, it’s because they gave $5 million to a player who hasn’t produced at a quality level since 2008.

And that would be Grady Sizemore.

Now, if that is the case, and there is no saying the Indians could agree to terms on either player if they had the extra $5 million, you have to ask the question:  Would Cleveland be better off with the right-handed bat in the middle of the order and no Sizemore, or no power bat from the right side and Sizemore?

And the Grady Sizemore, if healthy, you will likely get will be better than the 2009-11 version, but not as good as the 2005-08 edition.

If they were able to sign Cuddyer, the type of professional hitter the Indians need, that would lead to a lineup that looked something like this:

Choo RF, Kipnis 2B, Cabrera SS, Cuddyer LF, Santana C, Hafner DH, Chisenhall 3B, LaPorta 1B, Brantley CF.

That’s a lineup in which the top six hitters are solid, and the possibility of a solid hitter in the #7 slot in Chisenhall. 

With Sizemore in the lineup and no Cuddyer, here is what you have:

Brantley LF, Kipnis 2B, Cabrera SS, Santana C, Choo RF, Hafner DH, Sizemore CF, LaPorta 1B, Chisenhall 3B.

That’s a very left-handed dominant batting order, and you have questions at the top of the order and in the bottom third of the order.

Getting Cuddyer (or Willingham for that matter) would give the batting order some balance, and in Cuddyer’s case, he makes pretty good contact, which would be something different for a Cleveland hitter.

The point is this:  Since the Indians have a limited payroll, for whatever reason, they have to make sure they are getting bang for the buck.

One of the problems the Tribe has had the past few years is that they are getting very little production out of their two highest paid players in Hafner and Sizemore. 

That’s what made inking Sizemore to a contract for 2012 strange.  He’s still one of the team’s higher paid players and no one can be sure what he will do next season.

Plus, it appears to be restricting Antonetti from getting what Manny Acta really needs, a reliable right-handed hitter. 

Perhaps we’re wrong and Cleveland can still get Willingham or Cuddyer on the free agent market, but after an aggressive start to the off-season, the Indians are kind of quiet.

If they want to contend in 2012, and they’ve said they do, they need to get a right-handed hitter.  Whether or not they have the resources is up for debate.

KM

Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert can’t stay out of the national spotlight. 

While the pro basketball world was awaiting the word of a blockbuster trade involving guard Chris Paul going to the Los Angeles Lakers, Gilbert was sending an email to commissioner David Stern saying the trade was ridiculous. 

Several members of the media, mostly those working for ESPN, blasted the Cavs owner for his sentiments, saying that he was showing his bitterness from losing LeBron James to the Miami Heat.  A move that the four letter network quickly jumped on, creating all kinds of new ways to cover the superstar trio on South Beach.

Kind of makes you wonder if they were somehow involved in swaying James to play for the Heat, doesn’t it?

However, these critics didn’t listen to the message, just who was delivering it.  By the way, Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban was also against the deal, but that didn’t get half the publicity that Gilbert’s remarks did.

The Cavs’ owner may believe that sending another all-star player from a smaller market to a big market is bad for the sport, which it probably is, and he did use a great analogy in suggesting that the 25 teams not located in New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Miami be called the Washington Generals, but that’s not what his email said.

His objection to the proposed deal with would have sent Paul to the Lakers in a three team deal which would have netted the Houston Rockets Pau Gasol, and Paul’s former team, the New Orleans Hornets Luis Scola, Lamar Odom, and Kevin Martin, was that the Lakers would have received the best player in the deal, plus gained salary cap relief, presumably so they can sign other players.

As one of the owners of the Hornets, the league owns the team currently, Gilbert has a stake in the negotiations.  And as someone who wants competitive balance for the smaller markets, he certainly was not in favor of the Lakers getting the best of both worlds. 

The Lakers want to get Paul, so they can make a run at another title before Kobe Bryant’s age becomes a factor?  Great, but they should have to pay for that privilege with a luxury tax bill.  Also, being over the cap would restrict them from getting another great player, like Orlando’s Dwight Howard, the best big man in the game, and a supposed target of the purple and gold.

In reading Gilbert’s email, which by the way, was sent to Stern and deputy commissioner Adam Silver, so it was leaked to the media by someone, he doesn’t say the trade shouldn’t happen, simply that the Lakers should have to either A). give up more or B). take a bad contract back. 

San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said the same thing a few years ago when LA sent a load of garbage (although Marc Gasol turned out to be a good player, he wasn’t on the Lakers roster) to Memphis for Pau Gasol.  Popovich said something to the effect that his team would like to make one of those trades where he gives up nothing and gets a real good player.

For all the criticism taken by Gilbert nationally, his comments were well received in Cleveland.  He is regarded as an owner that has the fans’ back, and will rail against things that aren’t fair. 

Some will say he has a massive ego, and likes to hear himself talk.  Others will make the crazy comment that no free agent will want to play here because of him.

First, the Cavs had  arguably the best player in the sport, and no one came here, and second, the ownership in Milwaukee and Indiana aren’t as high-profile as Gilbert, and no one is signing there either.

It’s just another case of ESPN and the national media kicking Cleveland like the soccer ball they are forcing down everyone’s throats.  They want people to feel sorry for us, and apparently having Dan Gilbert as an owner is just another reason to do that. 

Guess what.  For the most part, Dan Gilbert has shown he is one of us.  He thinks the NBA is turning into a league in which most of the teams can’t compete for a title.  If it doesn’t watch out, in 20 years, the association will have six teams, and it will be regarded as a regional sport.

JK

At some point, the Cleveland Browns have to start winning in their division.  You can’t make the playoffs unless you can be competitive in the AFC North, which features two of the NFL’s best teams over the past decade or so, the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

With another loss to the latter tonight, Pat Shurmur’s crew is now 0-4 against the division this season, and haven’t defeated either Baltimore or Pittsburgh since 2009. 

They do still have two chance left this season.

What was particularly frustrating tonight was the Browns actually had a few things go their way, and they still scored just three points.

Cleveland came out hot, with QB Colt McCoy throwing the ball downfield, with big completions to TE Evan Moore and Josh Cribbs to give the brown and orange a first down on the Steelers’ 5 yard line. 

On second down, it appeared McCoy scored on a scramble, but was ruled inches short.  Being that close to the end zone, the next play screamed for a quarterback sneak.  Instead, a handoff to Peyton Hillis resulted in a two yard loss, and the 4-8 Browns decided to kick a field goal. 

Why not go for it in that situation?  Shurmur had everything to gain and nothing to lose by going for it.

After Phil Dawson made the field goal, the Steelers went through the Cleveland defense easily and took a 7-3 lead.

On the next possession, McCoy threw downfield again, this time hitting Mohammed Massaquoi for 25 yards.  However, after McCoy threw an interception on Cleveland’s third possession, the downfield throws sort of disappeared and the short passing game returned.

The Browns didn’t get near the end zone again until late in the fourth quarter, and that possession ended in another pick for McCoy.

The Steelers turned the ball over three times compared to Cleveland’s two, but the Browns couldn’t take advantage of any of the Pittsburgh miscues, following one up with McCoy’s first interception, and the other with a drive that stalled after the passer was sacked.

During the latter drive, Cleveland picked up a first down on a 3rd and 20 situation with a beautiful inside handoff to RB Chris Ogbonnaya, who ran for 28 yards.  He carried just once more all night.

That’s puzzling, because even though he was picked up during the season as a free agent, the former Texas Longhorn has had two of the three best running days of the year for the Browns.  His last start, he gained 115 yards, and has carried the ball just six times since that game. 

The Browns even forced Steelers’ QB Ben Roethlisberger out of the game with an ankle injury, and even though he returned after halftime, he couldn’t move.  He still managed to hit 16 of 21 for 281 yards on the night. 

Dick Jauron’s defense was once again hurt by the ground game, giving up 147 yards on an average of 5.2 per carry.  But the usually reliable pass defense struggled, allowing 269 yards, including 79 on the game clinching TD pass to Antonio Brown on a play that CB Joe Haden was burned.

Too often, CB Sheldon Brown was matched up against the fleet Mike Wallace, who caught 4 balls for 57 yards.  Even non-football fans would think that’s a bad match up.

The highlight for the defense was a goal line stand in the 4th quarter in which LB Chris Gocong made it his business to keep Rashard Mendenhall out of the end zone on four tries. 

Another curious decision late in the game from Shurmur was on his use of McCoy.  The signal caller left the game for a couple of plays after a helmet to helmet shot by renown head hitter LB James Harrison.  Seneca Wallace came in and hit Moore for a first down on the Pittsburgh 5. 

However, Shurmur put McCoy back in the game after that play.  The interception which decided the game came three plays later.  Should Wallace have stayed in after the completion?  There would have been no second guessing if he had.

This much is certain, you won’t win many games scoring three points. 

With the Browns struggling to score, maybe players like Ogbonnaya, Moore, and Jordan Norwood should be playing more.  And staying with the downfield throws wouldn’t be a bad thing either.

JD

 

When Mike Holmgren was named the president of the Cleveland Browns two years ago, the move was applauded by football fans in northeast Ohio. 

Finally, a football man was in charge of the organization.  Not a public relations guy like Carmen Policy, or a marketing guru like John Collins.  Holmgen had a pedigree.  He was an assistant coach under Bill Walsh with the San Francisco 49ers.  He was the head coach of a Super Bowl champion, the Brett Favre led Green Bay Packers.

He took another team with a forlorn past, the Seattle Seahawks to their one and only Super Bowl appearance.  He was a football lifer.  Finally, Cleveland had someone in charge who got it.

Holmgren may succeed here in time, but right now, Browns’ fans are angry.  They are hungry for a winner, and don’t seem any closer to having one than the day The Big Show began his tenure here.

Browns’ supporters are impatient.  They have seen just two winning seasons since returning to the NFL in 1999, and prior to that, had just one playoff appearance since the halcyon days of Bernie Kosar, Kevin Mack, Clay Matthews, Hanford Dixon, and Frank Minnifield.

In other words, in the last 21 years, the Cleveland Browns, once the NFL’s headlining franchise, has made two playoff appearances.

The fans want to have hope, they want to see progress.  That’s what the folks in Berea aren’t getting.  Right now, this franchise, or better, this administration isn’t giving the fans hope.

Yes, there has been a talent infusion from the Eric Mangini days, when the roster was filled with aging veterans and good special team players.  GM Tom Heckert was brought in guys like CB Joe Haden, DT Phil Taylor, and DE Jabaal Sheard with his last two drafts, and there are other players who make contributions from time to time as well, but the closest thing to an impact player is Haden.

Colt McCoy was drafted in the third round in 2010, but right now, the best thing anyone can say about him is that he hasn’t shown he can’t be “the guy”.  Too much around him has failed to make any further judgment. 

At this point though, the people of Cleveland thought they would see progress, and that is measured in professional sports by wins and losses.  Most think it will be difficult for the Browns to win more than the one game it would take this season to better the last two season’s 5-11 mark. 

Browns die hards aren’t particularly demanding, heck, a 6-10 or 7-9 record would have been cause for tremendous optimism going into the 2012. 

That doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.

Instead, people have been treated to dismal performances like this past Sunday, when the Baltimore Ravens, yes, the team that Art Modell stole from the fans, came in the punched the Browns in the face.  Repeatedly.

Two days from now, Cleveland travels to Pittsburgh to play the hated Steelers, whose fans have infiltrated our city, and will likely endure the same fate. 

It’s getting too much to take. 

Browns fans just want to be proud of their football team, and right now, that’ s a very difficult thing to do.  Touchdowns come seemingly with the frequency of Halley’s Comet.  Excitement for the game usually ends in the middle of the first quarter when the first pass is dropped, or the initial dumb penalty is called against the team.

Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert are probably doing the correct things to build a football organization that will be more than a one year flash in the pan, like the 10-6 Browns of 2007. 

Still, it would go a long way for the city and the fans to see some sort of progress before this season is over.

MW

Sitting down to write down thoughts on today’s 24-10 Browns’ loss at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens, I wanted to talk about the positives.

Rookie DE Jabaal Sheard had six tackles, including a sack which caused a fumble by Ravens’ QB Joe Flacco that was recovered by Cleveland. 

And there were no bad snaps from new long snapper Christian Yount. 

That’s about it.

The Browns were completely dominated by the Baltimore ground game, which outgained the Cleveland offense by itself, 290 to 233.  The biggest question for Ravens’ coach John Harbaugh was why his team even tried to pass.  Putting the ball in the air was doing the Browns a favor.

Back in the 1960’s Plain Dealer sports editor Hal Lebovitz used to talk about “zero defects” when Cleveland went into a playoff game.  Eliminate errors and you have a chance to win.

These Browns shoot themselves in the foot more times than Yosemite Sam.  It’s constant and after 12 games, it doesn’t appear to be getting any better.

On the team’s first offensive play, QB Colt McCoy threw a pass for WR Greg Little, who promptly dropped it.

Later in the first quarter, one of the few receivers who have been catching the ball, Jordan Norwood, caught a pass for a first down, and then flipped the ball (probably unintentionally) at Ravens’ DB Bernard Pollard, drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, costing the team 15 yards.

The defense was giving up yardage in large chunks to RB Ray Rice, who gained 204 yards in 29 carries, including a 30-yard jolt on the first play from scrimmage for the Ravens.

Dick Jauron’s unit has generally played well this season, keeping the Browns in games, but you have to wonder why halftime is needed to make an adjustment to stop the run.  Opponents are running the ball at ease right out the gate. 

It was if the Ravens said to themselves, Cleveland can’t stop the run and can’t handle good tight ends, so that’s what we will do.  And they did that over and over again.

Offensively, Pat Shurmur came out mixing the run and the pass, and on their first drive, Peyton Hillis ran the ball effectively.  In the first half, Hillis had 10 carries.  He had two more the rest of the game.

That would be understandable if the Ravens were winning at the half 24-0, but it was only 10-0.  At halftime, it was noted that the Browns had to continue to run the football.  They had just four planned runs the balance of the game.

That’s horrific play calling by Shurmur, who can’t seem to stop himself from throwing the football.  The one-dimensional attack doesn’t work for the Browns, and it doesn’t work for McCoy, who averaged less than five yards per attempt once again.

The Browns best chance to win was to pound the ball and control the clock, and their coach chose to stop running for no good reason.

Once again, whether or not McCoy in the Browns’ QB of the future is up for debate, but there is no question the dropped passes are killing the attack.  Usually reliable Benjamin Watson dropped a couple, and Evan Moore, who later caught a TD pass, dropped one that could have put the Browns within three at 10-7 following the fumble caused by Sheard.

In fact, the Browns bad hands aren’t limited to receivers.  In the first half, CB Sheldon Brown dropped an interception, a possible pick six after a Flacco pass was deflected may a lineman.

And of course, no Cleveland game would be complete without a special teams gaffe.  This week, it was a 68-yard punt return by Lardarius Webb, making it 24-3 Baltimore.

Problems with this unit continue to pop up every week, and it makes fans just shake their collective heads.

There simply isn’t any part of this team that it doing well right now.  And after three-quarters of the season, people have every right to expect improvement from this football team.

No one was expecting a playoff appearance, and the most realistic fans didn’t think a .500 season was possible. 

However, seeing the same things, the same mistakes that is, out of the Browns week after week is getting old. 

Mike Holmgren can’t fault anyone for being sick of it.

JD

The NBA lockout ended last weekend and fans of the sport should be rejoicing, and many are, anxious to get their pro hoops itch scratched.

However, there are others who aren’t so thrilled, present company included.

Why?  You may ask.

Because the ink on the deal isn’t even dried yet, and already we have been greeted with rumors of deals sending more top flite players to big market teams.

Dwight Howard to New Jersey?  Chris Paul to Boston or New York?

Meet the new NBA, same as the old NBA.

In time, the new CBA may take care of these situations, since some of luxury tax rules don’t take effect for two years, but why should fans in smaller markets be excited that the season will resume on Christmas Day?

The people who are thrilled are mostly the star chasers, the people who can’t be without their fix of Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Howard, etc.

That’s one of the reasons that people said the league was healthy, the TV ratings are good.  That’s because the games broadcast on the national networks feature teams that have the superstar players. 

The casual fans turn in to watch the spectacular plays.

So, things may even out some time, but until that happens we may find two more “superteams” forming which isn’t good for competitive balance.

That being said, Cleveland basketball fans will soon get their first look at rookies Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson very soon.

These two players will be the cornerstone of the rebuilding process the franchise is undertaking since the teams that had the best regular record in the league two straight years was destroyed.

These Cavs will be young, for the most part, although they will likely still have Baron Davis around to provide veteran leadership, at least at the start of the season. 

If Davis plays well, he could be a nice trade chip come deadline time.

What is surprising is the word that the wine and gold have interest in bringing back veteran swingman Anthony Parker. 

Yes, Parker has been around for a while, but his game did drop off, particularly defensively, from his first year with the team, and he is 36 years old. 

It seems the Cavs would be better off letting him go elsewhere, and giving his time to younger players for evaluation purposes.

Another question will be whether the front office will use the “amnesty” clause to rid themselves of a bad contract on the salary cap.

Antawn Jamison could be a candidate to be let go, since the Cavs would like to get a good look at Omri Casspi and Thompson at the forward spots, but early indications are GM Chris Grant would be more inclined to look for a trade later in the year involving the veteran.

Having Davis and Jamison, two vets who still can play, are yet another reason why there is light at the end of the tunnel for the Cavs.  Besides, Irving and Thompson, there is the opportunity to get more draft picks, which will add to the rebuilding process.

If the Cavs do sign any free agents, they likely will be complementary pieces at this time.

The concern is whether or not this new CBA will make a difference for teams like the Cavaliers.  Once fans begin to realize there is no chance to win a title, will there be any interest in the team. 

Right now, NBA fans have more interest in players.  That’s not a good sign going forward for the league.  It’s a mess David Stern created for the NBA.

JK