Monday Night Football (Talk)

Sports fans, the biggest game of the year is days away. Super Bowl XLV eminates from the JerryDome in Dallas, Texas pitting the AFC Champion Pittspuke Steelers against the NFC Champion Green Bay Packers. It's a great matchup from a pure football standpoint. The Steel Curtain led by NT Casey Hampton, LB James Harrison, and S Troy Polamalu will take on Green Bay's high scoring offense led by QB Aaron Rodgers and his corp of WRs led by Greg Jennings, Donald Driver, and James Jones. I know our fellow PTS correspondent Brent Barchak has a particular interest in this game and he's all for the Packers. I agree with his views in this case. Go Pack Go!

Anyway, now that the season is about to come to an end I wanted to put together a little recap of this season:

Our Cleveland Browns finished the season 5-11, exactly the same as last season. However, the Browns ended on a 4-game losing streak that cost Eric Mangini his job....

...The Browns didn't put up much of a fight near the end. I can tell you who did: Houston WR Andre Johnson smacking Tennessee DB Cortland Finnegan around during their first matchup. That was basically like a hockey fight with the refs letting them go until they tired out. They should let that happen more often provided it's an even matchup...

...San Diego couldn't pull off their December magic this season. They were wrecked with injuries and QB Philip Rivers ran out of MVP mojo....

...How's this for a stat? The Oakland Raiders went 6-0 in the AFC West and in the process missing the playoffs. Then Al Davis fires head coach Tom Cable. That franchise is about as stable as any celebrity relationship...

...The Seattle Seahawks defied the odds and became the exception to the rule by becoming the only sub-.500 team to qualify for the playoffs. Not only did they make they playoffs, but by virtue of their winning the NFC West, they hosted a wild-card playoff game and were successful in defeating the defending champion New Orleans Saints....

...I got real sick of hearing the pundits berate the Seahawks and the NFL for them hosting a playoff game. I'm glad they stuck to them by winning their game. This was the one and only time a 7-9 team makes the playoffs and everyone wants to change it. Maybe they should figure out how to stablize the labor situation before anything else....

....How good of a mid-season fantasy football pickup was Michael Vick? He put up more than 40 points on several different occasions...

...The cool thing to do now is teams hiring coordinators who have never been a head coach. How many playoff teams did this? 10 out 12, with the exceptions being Bill Belichick and Andy Reid....

...Hopefully this proves to be the right formula for the Browns, who hired St. Louis Rams Offensive Coordinator Pat Shurmur....

...Play of the Year has to go to New England OL Dan Connolly for his riveting 73 yard kickoff return against the Green Bay Packers. He broke tackles, made cutbacks, and covered the ball like our own Josh Cribbs all the way inside the 5...

...Second Place Play of the Year goes to Cleveland Browns P Reggie Hodges whose 68-yard run off a fake punt helped the Browns take out the Saints...

....My prediction for this Super Bowl: Lots of pizza and wings consumed, chips and dip eaten, pops both of barley and caffeine drank. And lastly, a Packers victory by a score of 33-30.

Monday Cooler Talk

By: Ed Dick

Sports fans, it's time to take a minute to bring up topics on the local and national sports scene:

Ohio State's Men's Basketball team will take over the No 1 spot in the polls this week coming off of a couple of close wins this past week against Michigan and Penn State. The undefeated Buckeyes have been toeing the line in their recent wins, but have persevered through senior leaders David Lighty and Jon Diebler as well as super-freshman Jared Sullinger and the emerging Aaron Craft...

...On the flip side, the Cleveland Cavaliers have sunken to new lows with their morose showing against the Los Angeles Lakers. If your team comes close to losing by the amount of points you actually scored, that's a serious problem. Not to mention, it's a statisical anomoly of futility in pro basketball. Each loss we suffer puts another ping pong ball in our favor for the NBA Lottery...

...Pat Shurmur becomes the 13th full-time head coach of the Cleveland Browns. He comes to the Browns as an offensive coordinator from the St. Louis Rams, and previous to that the quarterback's coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. Shurmur is well-schooled in the ways of the West Coast Offense, which emphasizes precision passing and short, horizontal routes that act as hand-offs....

...Team President Mike Holmgren stresses that this should be the only coach he hires as the top dawg for the Browns. He drafted a QB in Colt McCoy to run his type of offense, which clashed with ex-coach Eric Mangini's run-run-pass style of play....

...It is the main job of GM Tom Heckert to surround McCoy with the necessary weapons to run the offense. He has a stud RB in Peyton Hillis and an excellent pass-catching TE in Ben Watson. We need to get the receivers to flourish in the system, hopefully through the draft...

...The Browns own the 6th pick in the draft. As far as I'm concerned, we need a WR and Georgia's AJ Green fits the bill. Should he be taken before our pick, there is an influx of defensive linemen to pluck from starting with Auburn's Nick Fairley, Clemson's Da'Quan Bowers and Alabama's Marcell Darius. With the anticipated move to the 4-3 defense, we'll need an injection of down linemen to help out Ahtyba Rubin and Shaun Rogers...

...Switching gears to the NFL Playoffs, is there anything more sickening than seeing the Pittsburgh Steelers playing in another AFC Title Game? Even worse, it's against the mouthy NY Jets who were a Chansi Stuckey fumble away from losing to the Browns and not even making the playoffs. Nonetheless, it's been a big slap to the face for Cleveland fans who have had to watch Baltimore advance in the playoffs again and to see ex-Brown Braylon Edwards cartwheeling his way to the AFC Title game with the Jets....

...Green Bay is playing out of their minds right now and they picked the best time to do it. QB Aaron Rodgers is quickly making people forget about the exploits for Brett Favre. LBs Clay Matthews and AJ Hawk have been flying around making plays in behind DL Ryan Pickett. They've gone on the road twice and won, and will go into a hostile environment at Soldier Field to take on Da Bears...

...Non-sports related, but I wanted to shout out to Cleveland's Howl at the Moon, which Saturday night celebrated its last deuling piano party in style. From 1991 to 2011, Howl at the Moon in the west bank of the Flats entertained all walks of life with witty birthday tunes, bachelor and bachelorette parties, and my favorite, Tony The Guy Who Drinks The Beer who crushes a beverage in no more than two seconds. Fun atmosphere that will be sorely missed, much like the Browns partaking in a playoff game...

...That's all I got. Make sure to check out Josh Jeffi, Brent Barchak, and Rob Trautman on the blog and look for us all on PrimeTime Sports next month debating all things sports.

Bulldogs Show Why They Are the Top Dog

Article By: Brent Bartchak

BRUNSWICK, OH- - The Garfield Heights Bulldogs (9-0, 3-0) came into Friday’s matchup against the Blue Devils as the leaders of the NOC Valley Division and that didn’t change after the game as they tore apart Brunswick for an 84-68 victory.

The Blue Devils never had a lead in this game as the Bulldogs got off to an early 8-0 start and they never looked back from there. There was very little energy coming from Brunswick until Pat Forsythe through down some dunks which fired up the players and the home crowd. Pat was the main workhorse for the Blue Devils and he finished the night with 38 points, 9 rebounds and 6 blocks. For the Bulldogs, Penn State recruit Trey Lewis ended up with 19 points. The Blue Devils had trouble defending the Bulldogs high powered offense and that’s why the game resulted as it did. The Blue Devils will have another shot against Garfield Heights later in the season and if the rest of the team can get hot in that game, and if Forsythe has another monstrous game, there is no doubt Brunswick can take them down.

This loss puts the Blue Devils at 1-2 in the conference and 6-4 on the season. Their next game will be at Elyria in another conference showdown.

Upcoming Games:
At Elyria (7-3, 1-3) on 1/21/11 *
Home against Brush (8-3) on 1/28/11
Home against Strongsville (5-4, 2-1) on 1/29/11*
Conference game = *

Box score
Garfield Heights 15 27 22 20 – 84
Brunswick 11 14 12 31 – 68

Badowski 2-5-11, Dunning 2-0-6, Forsythe 15-8-38, Gresch 2-0-6, Hartill 0-1-1, Jarvis 1-0-3, Wheeler 1-0-3


JV Score:
The Brunswick JV team forced OT but came up short in 68-59 loss to the Bulldogs.

In Holmgren We Trust...Atleast I Do.

Here we are again Browns fans. In the midst of another coach search for our beloved football team. I may be the only one who feels this way, but I feel really comfortable that Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert are conducting the interviews and will eventually name the next Head Coach. Various media outlets have Rams Offensive Coordinator, Pat Shurmur, as the "front-runner". The Browns have also interviewed Mike Mularckey and Perry Fewell, both coordinators. From what I hear on the radio and read on the internet, alot Browns fans are craving for Jon Gruden to make his triumphant return to the NFL on the shores of Lake Erie. The Browns, thus far have not contacted Gruden for an interview and he has not told anybody of his plans.

The way that I am looking at it is that it doesn't matter who the coach is. I trust that Holmgren and Heckert are going to pick the right guy. They have to and they know it. Like I said last week, Mangini did not fit with this front office. Holmgren is going to pick a guy that will run the West Coast Offense, what Holmgren knows best. Holmgren is also going to pick a guy that he can groom himself and that is why I ultimately believe Gruden or John Fox will not be the coach. The Browns will then hire a veteran staff of assistants to help the young coach. A name that has recently surfaced, according to ESPN's Adam Shefter is Dave Wannstedt. The Browns want to talk to him about various coaching roles.

The next week or so will be interesting as things start to become more clear. As Browns fans, we need to support whomever the new coach is and not complain about who is not. This will again be a new beginning for the Browns. This time however, the men leading the charge have a definite plan to win and to win consistently. I have not felt this confident in the Browns and their Front Office in a long time. On second thought, I have never felt this confident in the Front Office. I just hope I am not too confident.

Brunswick Overpowered Lakewood

Article by: Brent Bartchak

LAKEWOOD, OH- - The Brunswick Blue Devils were back in action Friday night at Lakewood High School to take on the Rangers (1-5, 0-3) in a Northeast Ohio Conference Valley Division matchup and ran away with a 70-41 victory. This was the Blue Devils first game since their 53-41 loss against Avon Lake in the Holiday Hoops Classic.

Brunswick didn’t get off to as quick of a start as they would have liked to, but center Pat Forsythe put the team on his back and scored all of the team’s 14 points in the first quarter. The Blue Devils were up 14-12 after the first quarter and that was as close as this game would get. This is what Forsythe said about getting off to his quick start, “It’s what I should have to do if their [the team] not hitting shots, then I have to be there to help them out.” In the second quarter the rest of the team caught up to the tempo that Forsythe set and this is when the Brunswick took control of the game. Zach Gresch brought a lot of intensity off of the bench in the first half and he finished the game with 11 points. It was great to see Gresch get fired up again because he has been in a small slump recently. “It was amazing, everything has been lifted off of my shoulders, it’s so great,” said Gresch. When Gresch gets hot, there is no one that can really stop him.

This victory was all about team effort. Everyone who stepped onto the court contributed to the win. Senior Ray J Brown played his best game of the season as he came off the bench and scored 6 points. This is the perfect time of the season to start seeing some of these players heating up as conference play is here. “We are versieng all the good teams now,” said Gresch. “It’s going to be more competitive. The coaches are going to be more competitive, the players are going to be more competitive, it’s going to be awesome.”

With this victory the Blue Devils improve to 6-3 on the season and 1-1 in the conference. Their next game is a very important conference matchup against Garfield Heights (8-0, 2-0) at home. This will be a great test for Brunswick to see where they stand in the NOC Valley Division.

Upcoming Games:
1/14/11 at home against Garfield Heights (8-0, 2-0)
1/21/11 at Elyria (7-2, 1-2)

Stats:
Badowski 2-0-6, Brown 2-2-6, Dunning 4-0-11, Forsythe 8-4-20, Gresch 4-0-11, Hartill 1-0-2, Jarvis 2-0-5, Ocacio 1-0-2, Suren 1-0-2, Wheeler 2-0-5

JV Score:
The Brunswick JV team won 48-41

Another One Bites The Dust

Browns Fans, coming off of another drubbing at the hands of the hated Pittspuke Steelers, we are now searching for our 5th permanent head coach since our rebirth in 1999.

Really, there is nothing more to say about the game more than the Steelers took the Browns behind the woodshed and beat the complete tar out of us. We were outclassed in every facet of the game, starting with Colt McCoy's deflected interception on the game's second play from scrimmage and ending with the Browns trying to put up one last TD calling their timeouts inside of two minute at the end of the game. I need not list the actual plays Pittsburgh executed because for one, there are too many of them, and two, I don't want to give their fans any more satisfaction than I'm already bestowing.

Mangini's team prided themselves on always playing hard, competitive football. The Browns played 12 games in which the final outcome was 10 points or less. Granted, the Browns went 3-9 in said games, but they had not been blown out into an oblivion until the Black and Gold came into town. Alas, another 5-11 season resulted and this time it wasn't enough.

5-11 coming off of four straight losses is a complete 180 from the same record as a result of four straight wins to end a season. Three consecutive losses to AFC North opponents, lowering Mangini's record in the division to 2-10 in two seasons. That's atrocious. I realize that our talent level isn't up there to compete with the Ravens and Steelers yet. But we play them every year twice. Shouldn't we know them just as well as it seems they know us? That's coaching.

Our coaches' familiarity with the New England Patriots spawned that upset. The Browns had an ace-in-the-hole with LB Scott Fujita in preparing for the New Orleans Saints in the upset that preceded the New England game. Both of these teams have qualified for the playoffs, with New England ending the season without losing another game. So why couldn't the Browns defeat bottom-feeders like the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals? The common denominator is the coaching.

It seems as if the Browns have impact players on offense with LT Joe Thomas, QB Colt McCoy, RB Peyton Hillis and TE Ben Watson. Defensively, we have CB Joe Haden, S T.J. Ward and NT Ahtyba Rubin to build around. We have more talent on both sides of the ball now than in past years. It's up to the front office to cultivate more talent, and it's up to the new coaching staff to maximize their potential.

So what will team president Mike Holmgren do? Will he go after one of the many that branched off of his coaching tree? Jon Gruden is the hot name. Marty Mornhinweg, currently the Offensive Coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles is in the discussion, as well as departed Carolina Panthers ex-coach John Fox. Or will The Big Show come down from the office and roam the sidelines for one more run?

We here at PrimeTime Sports want to hear your thoughts!