Weekend roundup 8/20

Rather than being productive on the Internet, I decided to be productive in real life the past few days instead, stepping up my music practice, going for a couple of nice runs, and getting hammered at a pool party in Marysville, which is about a 45-minute drive from Columbus. I spent too much time outdoors to be lonely and blogging, and to be honest, sometimes it's much better that way.

But I still made an effort to get some sports in, as tough as it is to scrounge for in the summertime. For one thing, I just don't watch preseason football. You can learn just as much about a preseason game from reading a column about it as you could watching the whole three boring hours of second- and third-string players fighting to make the Aug. 30th cut (or whenever it is).

But at the very least, it was good to read about Quinn being treated warmly by Cleveland fans as he put up some very good numbers--13 for 20 for 155 yards and 2 touchdowns. It even inspired Crennel to give this quote:

It's like Tony Kornheiser recently said in one of his many debates with Wilbon: this guy didn't forget how to play quarterback in those two weeks he held out of his contract. Suddenly, those two weeks of missed camp already feel like they were months ago (meanwhile the Jamarcus Russell saga continues, with hardly as much media criticism, IMO). I think it's good to keep Quinn out of the hot seat for at least first portion of the season, but this Saturday's outing has to be a good sign for Browns fans.

My big sports highlight of the weekend was supposed to be at the new BW3's on Lane and High next to campus. There I would drink beer (note: it's nice, but there are no daily drink specials--shameful!) and eat boneless ribs with honey BBQ sauce while watching the Cubs pummel the Cardinals.

Unfortunately, this happened:

And I got stuck watching the Little League World Series between Saudi Arabia and Curaco. I guess this is for the better; this way people don't go off praising the Cubs for pulling off a few wins and going a game upwaitI'mnotgoingtojinxitdamnitDON'TSAYANYTHINGFUCKHEADSsorryididn'tmeantocallyouafuckheadjusteveryoneelse.

Okay, we'll stop there..

NFL Season Previews: The Browns and Bengals

Well shit, we're about three weeks away from the NFL season starting (and almost a week away from my FFL draft!) and I haven't previewed any NFL teams in places I've lived in. Let's start with two that probably won't make the playoffs this season:

The Cincinnati Bengals

You know how certain teams like the Jets, Cowboys and 49ers have their designated "superfan," who dresses up in some wacky outfit and always makes a fuss at home games? I think the Cincinnati Bengals superfan shouldn't be this guy; rather, it needs to be a guy dressed in horizontal oranged and black pinstrips, with an orange bandanna over his eyes (with eyeholes, of course...thinking of that reminds me of the Lions/Bengals game from 2005 where some Lions fan had a LIONSVISION bandanna without the eye holes, it was incredibly funny).

The Bengals will continue to have a strong offense, although the running game took a nasty hit with Kenny Irons tearing his ACL in a pregame and having to sit out this entire season. Maybe Chris Perry shapes up as a result? Time will tell. Unfortunately, I can't say we're going to see Cincy in the playoffs this year because of two factors:

• The AFC North is almost like the Wild West this season, with no team holding an overwhelming advantage over anyone else (the expection being the Ravens' D)
  
• Heading into Lewis' fourth year of coaching we still don't know what to expect from the Bengals defense, particularly their pass D. Two years ago people said this is what killed the Bengals against the Steelers (and in other regular season games), and yet, has it really gotten better? The only stellar addition I can think of is Jonathan Joseph and he's a pothead. I just don't know with these guys.

However the Bengals do have a Powerball in play:

Palmer might just say "fuck it" and throw for 4,000+ yards, 35 TDs and almost single-handedly win 4-5 games this year. Who the hell knows. Rudi needs to stay healthy, though.

Cleveland Browns

I approach this preview shuffling my shoes, keeping my head buried towards my chest, as I know only two things about the Browns:

• Brady Quinn, and


• They haven't been relevant since the originals left for Baltimore (although that's more Art Shell's fault...it really is incredible he...wait, I won't write it...)

The great news in Cleveland is that people give a damn. The bad news is that they don't seem to have the personnel to upend, once and for all, the Steelers or Ravens. Charlie Frye can't hold a tuning fork to the Raven's defense, who's to say Brady would in his first season?

Is Braylon Edwards finally going to shape up and play like a first round pick, or will he be the next Peter Warrick? How much does that O-line improve with the heralded Joe Thomas as its anchor? If you're a non-Browns fan (like myself) can you name a single defensive Browns player? 2007 has all the makings of a very gritty, gut-check year, akin to what the Arizona Cardinals had last season. Over/under for Browns wins: 6, easily. And I bet you they'll get to that point as well. Expect the AFC North to be a very tense (and at times ugly) division this season.

Brady, put up; Browns, PAY UP

Okay, so you know negotiations between Quinn and Cleveland aren’t going all that great when the Browns’ front office is making comments that seem like they belong more in a divorce court than on a football field. GM Phil Savage has recently said how if you're not going to "rank" players in the draft, you might as well make it one big free agency swing.

Well, hey Phil, Quinn was ranked as a top ten prospect, but it's not his fault he was taken 22nd overall—it’s because the Miami Dolphins are stupid, and while they prepare to go into battle with Trent Green and a recovering Ted Ginn Jr., Quinn and co. wonder how the hell they got shafted so badly.

That said…the longer Quinn holds out, the less leverage he’s and agent Tom Condon are going to have in contract talks. Romeo Crennel is already giving Quinn the Parcells treatment (not referring to him by name in press talks, you'll find that in the previously linked article), and with Quinn missing both orientation and nearly a week and a half of training camp, it’s a good bet he might not even play in the upcoming regular season, although as recent history shows with Philip Rivers and Carson Palmer, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

If I’m a mind reader, I’m guessing the Quinn camp wants what I call “Matt Leinart money”—about $15 million in guaranteed money, probably $20-30 million over the next 5-6 years. For the 22nd overall pick, this is a ton, and that’s where this huge conflict is happening. It seems less and less likely that the Browns will end up signing him for this much, but they’ll certainly have to pay him more than what your typical 22nd overall pick might get, or this thing could turn into a meltdown of T.O./Ryan Leaf-esque proportions. I’m not kidding about that.

Well, at least Brady Quinn got to hang out with Brett Michaels, which means I'm only two or three degrees from herpes.

So close, yet...

This is when following baseball is the most difficult; when your team is merely inches away from a division lead or the wild card spot and you have to scan the day-by-day box scores to see if they can make up that one or two inches of ground by late September. In this case, the Cubs had a chance to take the NL Central lead heading into last night's matchup against the Phillies. They lost 4-1, but are now only a full game behind the Brewers and 1 1/2 behind the Wild Card spot. It looks more and more like the way to get into October will be going through a NL Central pennant. Regardless, the Cubs must take advantage of these next three games against the Phillies, as they host the Mets over the weekend, and suddenly, that one game back turns into four or five and we make a panic trade for shitty relief pitching (instead of making a smart trade for, you know, good relief pitching). And we don't want that to happen!

In other news, Brady Quinn is doing exactly what Matt Leinart did a year ago, and he's getting just as much bad press for it, too. Maybe he deserves it, but still...this is what the NFL gets for not knowing how to manage the first round of the NFL draft. I predict Quinn's agent Tom Condon cuts a deal similar to what Leinart had, 5-6 years at $40-50 million with about $15 million guaranteed. That's the going rate these days for franchise QBs.

(And Browns fans, Charlie Frye is NOT your franchise QB. Talk yourselves out of that immediatley.)