Someday a Woman will Play Major League Baseball

     Someday a woman will play Major League Baseball.  I don't mean as a gimmick by some enterprising General Manager to sell tickets.  I mean legitimately, based on ability, and soon, like within the next few years.  
     The most likely path, I believe, may be for a woman to make it as a knuckleball pitcher, which requires a rather unique skill set.  The most important skill is to be able to throw the darn pitch, which requires a very awkward grip, demonstrated below by legendary Hoyt Wilhelm, one of the early practitioners of the art.  

Hoyt Wilhelm had a career that seemed to span centuries, featuring the knuckleball as his main pitch.  

A good knuckleball is thrown such that it either does not rotate at all, or else rotates very slowly. When that happens the ball moves erratically and consequently is very difficult to hit.  

Although almost everyone can throw a knuckleball to a degree (watch high school players warm up, and almost for sure someone will play around with it), it is very hard to control.  Only a few pitchers can throw it consistently for a strike, but those who can do it have an excellent shot at making a living in the Major Leagues.  

Not all knuckleballs are born equal.  Some guys, like R.A Dickey, throw it hard, around 80 mph, which is the speed of a very good high school fastball. 

Others, like Tim Wakefield, throw a very slow pitch, around 65 mph.  Yet, Wakefield also threw other pitches and could change speeds very well.  A hitter looking for a 65 mph can be overmatched by a fastball coming in 10 mph faster than he expects. 

Wakefield's arm speed is within the range of many female athletes.  Put it this way:  if a person can serve a tennis ball at the professional level, that's more than enough arm strength to be a knuckleball pitcher.  

The knuckleball is not easy to throw for strikes, or everyone would do it.  But I don't know why it would be that  men would have a dominant advantage in this arcane art.    

Hence, I suspect that the right woman, armed with a knuckleball, will probably be able to make the Major Leagues.  

At the moment, not many have tried.  One pitcher, Eri Yoshida of Japan has had some success in the independent minor leagues in the US (Maui Na Koa Ikaika, which is Hawaiian for "Strong Warriors").  










https://picasaweb.google.com/103606745144571833160/110716eri_yoshida#5620743351990288306 
Japanese knuckleballer Eri Yoshida had some success playing against the fellers in pro ball.

Yoshida, despite being only 5'1" is able to throw the knuckleball, reportedly at Wakefieldian velocity. 

Yoshida is particularly interesting because she is inspiring a legion of young admirers and imitators in baseball-mad Japan.  Without really intending to, she has become a sort of role model.  I have to think that others may follow her with even more success.  

To make it to the big leagues, a knuckleballer still has to have a glove and enough speed to cover first base on infield plays.  A slider or curve would be a big help also, even if those pitchers are not Big League calibre by themselves.    I don't see any reason why those talents would be limited to men. If I'm see we might see women pitching for Major League farm teams in the next few years.  

   Maybe someone like 16 year old Chelsea Baker, who throws the knuckleball and, believer it or not, was offered a contract for the Japanese professional league. 

Chelsea Baker was offered a professional contract in Japan when she was just 15 years old.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jqw4w4JZCLU

Browns Over the Bengals, Village Elliot Predicts

 http://www.toledoblade.com/image/2013/09/29/800x_b1_cCM_z/Bengals-Browns-Football-9-29.jpg

    Truthfully, I hate it when the Bengals and Browns play.  I grew up in Cleveland, and am old enough to remember when the Bengals were created by Paul Brown in the old AFL.  We thought, hey, great!  Our former coach (fired by Art Modell, who would go down in infamy after moving the team to Baltimore) has started up a second pro team in Ohio!  So we had two teams to root for, and I most of us were not all that enthralled by Art Modell anyway. 
    Regrettably, that situation changed with the merger of the leagues in 1970, with the Browns and Bengals in the same division.  Of course, Paul Brown wanted desperately to beat the Browns, and Modell's team didn't want that to happen, so a rivalry was born.  
   Anyway, I digress.  This weeks matchup, for the first time in a long time may actually favor the Browns.  It's not that the Browns have a great team, but they are healthy and the Bengals are not.  The Bengals have eight guys on the IR list.   
   People have discovered that Jason Campbell can play a little.  Readers of this column know that the Village Elliot has always liked Campbell, and in particular has noted that Campbell led the Oakland Raiders to a winning record.  Yes, the Raiders, who at that time still had their meddling owner, Al Davis, to ruin the rest of the team.  It's hard to fault the quarterback for the way the Raiders or the Redskins (the team Campbell played for most of his career) played.  Campell is considered to be over the hill by many fans, but at 31 he is not much older than Brandon Weeden, who turned 30 last month
Meanwhile, let's take a look at the Bengals.  They have lost 
Pro Bowler DT Geno Atkins, plus starters, S Taylor Mays, CB Leon Hall, and DE Robert Geathers.  Also lost are RB Bernard Scott, and LB Sean Porter.  For Sunday, DT Devon Still is out, G Keven Zeitler is Out,  LB Ray Malaluga is Doubtful, S Chris Crocker is Doubtful.  Let's not even worry about who is questionable.   I count nine key players as out this week.
   The Browns have lost Quentin Groves, a good backup linebacker, and long term are without QB Brian Hoyer, PR Travis Benjamin and backup running back Dion James. They are in much better shape physically than the battered Bengals. 
   The Browns O-Line has been playing much better. For the first several games they were giving up sacks at a phenomenal rate, which is part of the reason why they can not keep their quartbacks healthy.  Weeden has been knocked out of a few games, and Brian Hoyer is out for the year.  But the line has stabilized things a bit  for Campbell.  They still can not run the ball at all, with Willis McGahee struggling to average 3.0 yards per carry, one of the worst averages in the NFL.   But unknown fullback Chris Orbonnaya has 28 catches out of the backfield, and has a 4.6 yard per carry average lifetime.  Sometime they may figure out that he can play, and actually give him the ball.  For now, the Browns prefer Willis McGahee's 2.6 yards per carry as they wait for him to return to his form from back in the leather helmet days.  
    The Bengals big threat on offense is all-everything wide receiver A. J. Green.  On the other hand, the Browns have a very good cover corner in Joe Haden, and they may be able to slow down Green a little bit. 
    At the beginning of the year, I thought that the Bengals were going to be able to play some two-tight end sets with  Jermaine Gresham and Tyler Eifert.  However, when Jermaine Gresham missed a game last week, journeyman Alex Smith (a former Brown) got the start over Eifert.   
    The Bengals are favored by five points, and if they were healthy I would agree with that.  But the fact of the matter is that they are not healthy, and for that reason the Browns should be clear favorites to win this game.  I handicap this game an amazing nine points differently than the official spread:  Cleveland 24, Cincinnati 20.  


 

  
 

Hell Freezes Over, Browns Beat Ravens

http://espncleveland.com/common/more.php?m=49&action=blog&r=17&post_id=21761

Davone Bess followed a miserable performance with a great one today.

    Oh boy it has been a long time since the Browns have beaten Baltimore.  Kudos to the Coaching Staff, quarterback Jason Campbell, wide receiver Davone Bess and the rest of the team for edging the Ravens in a tough game, 24-18.  Campbell doesn't seem to get much respect from fans, but the guy had a winning record with the Oakland Raiders, which is not easy to do.  

Fans were ready to execute Davone Bess after a very bad game last week, but this week he caught two touchdown passes and make a key grab on 4th and one that pretty much sealed the victory. 

Weeden haters can say that every time the Browns start someone else (Hoyer or Campbell), the Browns play better:  4-1 without Weeden, 0-4 with.  I don't think it is all Weeden, but no doubt he is the third best quarterback on the team based on what we have seen this year.  

On the other hand, the Browns running game is atrocious, with star Willis McGahee struggling to get 31 yards in 21 carries today.  


http://www.ohio.com/polopoly_fs/1.432094.1380279732!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_270/browns27cut.jpg
Willis McGahee brought his lunch pail and worked hard for 31 yards today.  

I was also disappointed to see mediocre wideout Greg Little get flagged twice for unsportsmanlike conduct.  He only averages 40 yards per game for his career, so a few good catches is no reason to start taunting the opposition or grabbing their helmets and throwing them around. 


http://media.cleveland.com/browns_impact/photo/greg-little-catches-preseasonjpg-806c89106c0f22d1.jpg
Greg Little gained a lot of yards, but gave up 30 yards with two foolish unsportsmanlike conduct  penalties.  Dude, you don't make enough good plays to be taunting people.  


The Browns were very tough on defense today, nailing Baltimore's Joe Flacco for five sacks plus an interception by Joe Haden from a bad pass from Flacco.  

They held Baltimore to a ridiculous 55 yards rushing, with only 17 from star halfback Ray Rice.  You can win with a defense like that.  

NFL Musical Chairs at 1 Billion Dollars Per Chair: London or Los Angeles?

     I'm sure you remember the game of "Musical Chairs," in which there are fewer chairs than players. When the music stops, someone is going to be left without a chair.  This same game is being played on a much larger scale with NFL franchises.  The NFL had previously announced that one or two current NFL teams would be welcome to move to the Los Angeles area.  This is a sound business move for the NFL, since the Los Angeles market is the number two TV market in the country and it is currently vacant.  Roger Goodell's instructions to teams wishing to move to Los Angeles are contained here in the following link from our friends at ESPN.com:  goodell-sends-los-angeles-relocation-memo .  The memo indicates that the new stadium in Los Angeles must be suitable for not one but two franchises to occupy.   There must also be some reasonable attempt to stay in the original host city, though this is probably just lip service.  Al Davis and the Raiders proved that it is possible to defy the league wishes as they moved from Oakland to Los Angeles and back again, and that this can stand up in court.  

This week Commissioner Goodell gave a clear signal that the NFL will move into London, England as well as Los Angeles:  los-angeles-vs-london-nfl-wants-both .  In other words two to four current NFL franchises are going to move.  The most frequently mentioned teams are habitually poor teams such as the Jacksonville Jaguars, San Diego Chargers, Buffalo Bills, St Louis Rams and the Oakland Raiders. When that happens, the cities that are abandoned will attempt to obtain franchises to fill the new vacancies, no doubt upping the ante in the process.   

Basically, in the Village Elliot's view, the NFL believes it can blackmail American cities into paying outrageous fees for NFL Franchises, and they are probably right.   Supposing that the Jaguars move to London, say, then the City of Jacksonville will be willing to pay just about any price to replace their team with some other team.  So Jacksonville will try to lure the Rams out of St Louis, perhaps. It is possible that franchises will appreciate in value by about 100% if this kind of bidding war emerges. There could easily be a half dozen franchise shifts in the next five years.  

And it is certainly possible that the Cleveland Browns will be added to the list of candidate franchises to move if Mr. Haslam can wriggle out of his stadium lease.  Die-hard Browns fans are convinced that the lawyers can rescue Haslam despite the fact that the cash register at Pilot Flying J was found to contain tens of millions of dollars that wasn't actually supposed to be there.  However the same fans figure that those same lawyers will be unable to break the stadium lease with the City of Cleveland.  Those two bits of logic elude the Village Elliot entirely.  I think that if Mr Haslam is in fact successfully rescued by his attorneys, that seem legal team will try to break the current lease with the city.  The Browns will try to leave for greener pastures if they can.

   

This week

Browns Cheapskate Ways Coming Back to Haunt Them

   The Cleveland Browns are the cheapest team in the NFL, judging by the amount of money under the salary cap.  The Browns are $26 million dollars under the salary cap. They most famously unloaded Trent Richardson's salary by trading him to the Indianapolis Colts.  This may be a good move in 2014, but it is just another sign that the Browns have given up on 2013.  

    Other signs include the failure to retain a quality wide receiver like David Nelson, a 6'5" experienced slot receiver who recently signed with the New England Patriots after being cut by the Browns.  The Village Elliot has repeatedly pointed out that the Browns have been unloading payroll ever since the rebate scandal erupted at Pilot Flying J.  This has recently received national media attention (see Forbes.com http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2013/09/18 Did the Browns Trade Richardson Because of Haslam's Legal Problems? ), though most Cleveland Browns fans still seem to believe that the Browns are just fine except for the quarterback position.

  In any case, the Browns saved themselves upwards of a hal million dollars by cutting Nelson and signing an undrafted rookie free agent to take his place.   Nelson is not an All-Pro, but he did catch four balls for 80 yards for the Jets yesterday. Ditto for blocking tight end Kellen Davis who is playing well for the Seattle Seahawks.  Both Nelson and Davis were signed as free agents earlier this year and then cut after the Pilot Flying J scandal broke.  Then too, Josh Cribbs was shown the door after last season, but after rehabbing an injury he has resurfaced with the New York Jets and looked good returning punts.  Perhaps that is just a coincidence. And perhaps it is a coincidence that the Browns are $26 million dollars under the salary cap, right?
  
Blocking Tight End Kellen Davis was mysteriously cut after signing as a free agent with the Browns, thus saving Jimmy Haslam some money.  He is doing okay for the Seattle Seahawks.  


Photo credit: http://ww1.hdnux.com/photos/24/31/13/5346028/3/628x471.jpg
Wide receiver David Nelson caught four balls for 80 yards against the New England Patriots yesterday.  He was also signed as a free agent and then cut by the Browns after the Pilot Flying J scandal broke.  Haslam pocketed a half a mil after Nelson left. 



http://cbscleveland.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/150710197_8.jpg?w=300

Brandon Jackson is another mid tier backup who was re-signed by the Browns and then cut, saving a few bucks for Mr. Haslam. Jackson is still available, which might be of interest to a team that lost Trent Richardson.  

Photo credit: http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1488042.1381978438!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/jinsider17s-1-web.jpg
Josh Cribbs was signed by the Jets and yesterday was used as a wide receiver and took a direct snap on a wildcat play. He had three carries for 14 yards in addition to returning three punts for 44 yards and a kickoff for 17 yards

Understand, none of these guys are going to make All-Pro.  But over the course of the season, players like this can make a difference. But this is small potatoes, frankly. Signing all four probably costs about $2 million bucks.  If you figure an NFL starter is worth 3 million dollars, the Browns could have signed about 8 or 9 starters in 2013, but instead elected to trim salaries as much as possible. 

    Perhaps it is a good strategy for 2014, but for 2013 it is tantamount to giving up on the season.  To see it otherwise is just naive.  Meantime Browns management is said to be salivating over rookie quarterbacks in the 2014 draft.  Will it be Bridgewater?  Or Manziel?   It's hard to know.  But the Browns typically act as though there are no other problems except at the quarterback position.

     Well, Browns fans, there you go.  It looks like the Browns are simply trying to position themselves for the 2014 draft.  They have no running game and refuse to sign any players that might help for 2013.  Might as well shut off the TV until next year.  

Patriots-Jets Officiating Raises Questions

     This blog is usually about the Cleveland Browns, but their pathetic play against the Packers is not worth writing about this week.  Hence, I am writing about the Patriots-Jets game, which I watched this afternoon. 
Photo Credit: Boston Globe

Um, I guess someone pushed.   Tsk tsk.  

     
As a fan, I have no qualifications to criticize the officiating, and for the most part I tend to believe that the officiating is pretty good, and that the process of critiquing the officiating is beyond my pay grade.  However, in this game I was struck by the apparent absurdness of the call which decided the game in overtime.  Namely, the Jets kicker was attempting a 56 yard field goal, which is very tough to make.  His attempt was off line.  But wait! 

     An official threw a flag and called a penalty that no one had ever heard of before.  The penalty was for unsportsmanlike conduct, in which a Patriots lineman allegedly pushed a Patriots player, causing him to make contact with a Jets player.  What? 

    This was the game deciding play, and the defending team normally tries to block the field goal attempt.  Nobody was injured or caused any obvious discomfort on the play. All that us fans could see was 11 Patriots trying to block a kick. 

    While watching the game with my friends, I had remarked that several non-calls on pass interference by the Jets were unusually blatant, and that to my amateur eye it looked like the Jets defenders were being permitted unusual lattitude in defending against Patriots' receivers.  The stats look about the same for both games, but nevertheless that was the impression that I received while watching the game. But the ultimate weird call was pushing your own player, which caused the game deciding kick to be moved forward some 15 yards, with an additional first down thrown in for good measure.  

    I know that the NFL always reviews its officials and discusses each game.  I hope that they review this one in particular very closely, and that they can offer an explanation to the fans on what happened.  

Is Brian Hoyer the Answer?

It's very unfortunate that Brian Hoyer got injured.  He looks like a guy who can play at a high level in the NFL, and in the eyes of the coaching staff perhaps he is rated even more highly than Brandon Weeden.  



 http://chronicle.northcoastnow.com/2013/09/18/browns-qb-brian-hoyer-to-start-sunday-in-place-of-injured-brandon-weeden/

Does that mean that Hoyer will be the starting quarterback in 2014?  

I don't think so.  From a pure football point of view, Hoyer has many of the same deficiencies of one Colt McCoy.   Namely, he is undersized, slow and does not have a cannon for an arm.  That means he is going to get pounded, especially on a team like the Browns that thinks that pass blocking is for sissies.  As of game 5, Weeden and Hoyer have been sacked 22 times already, which puts them among the league leaders in that category.  Anyway, check out the similarities between Brian and Colt:

                  Brian Hoyer       Colt McCoy
Age                   27                     27
Height             6 2                     6 1
Weight            215                     215
40 time           5.02                    4.79
Draft          undrafted                3rd Round, Browns

     For the record, the Village Elliot has never really been of the opinion that quarterback is the worst problem on the Browns.  McCoy is probably a decent NFL quarterback, whose best asset is a good football mind rather than fantastic physical skills, and he may get a chance to show it in San Francisco if Colin Kaepernick should be unavailable and miss a few starts.  

That said, Brandon Weeden has a better arm and is a little bigger, at 6'4" and 220 lbs, meaning that he might be a little better able to survive the pounding that Browns require of their quarterbacks. Not sure if he was worth a number one pick, but he can play.
 
Despite their inability to protect a quarterback, my belief is that the Browns are interested in obtaining a strong draft position in order to draft a name quarterback in the first round, possibly with the aid of a trade.  This is desirable from the standpoint of increasing the value of the team when it is sold (hopefully sooner rather than later).   A sale of the team may be necessitated by the poor financial health of Pilot Flying J, the truck stock firm owned by the Haslam Family, which also happens to own the Cleveland Browns.  

Having decided to draft the stud qb next year, the Browns are seeking a slew of draft picks to trade up if they have to (although by losing enough games, this might not be necessary).  The Browns saw how the Redskins seemed to improve their team dramatically by trading up for Robert Griffin III, and they would like to do the same thing.  Hence they are after other draft picks for trading stock, but they might be in the top 10 anyway simply by losing enough games. 

Based on this logic, Hoyer is not going to be of interest for the top spot, but might make the team as a backup.  Similarly, Weeden and backup Jason Campbell can also be had for the right price, but neither figures to be the starter in 2014.   

According to Ryan Wilson at CBSSports.com, the Browns are also willing to trade Josh Gordon for the right price also ( cbssports.com ).  I also think that Weeden and Jason Campbell were considered expendable prior to Thursday night's game.  The Browns have continued to seek ways to trim 2013 salaries.  They are currently $26 million under the 2013 salary cap, which ranks them first in the league.


http://footballsickness.com/blog/2013/05/20/josh-gordon-tales-of-feats-to-come/
The Browns are said to be open to trading Josh Gordon.  It's hard to understand why unless you assume that the Haslam family is just short of cash right now.  
 

The Fozzy Whittaker Era Has Begun!

The Fozzy Whittaker era has begun in Cleveland. Today the Browns cut Montario Hardesty, another well-loved draftee from former GM Tom Heckert, and they signed rookie free agent Whittaker who returned some kicks for San Diego this year before being cut. Whittaker may replace Greg Little who was drafted as a wide receiver but now is mainly a kickoff returner.
http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/ykMEkEs2Rue/Cleveland+Browns+v+Oakland+Raiders/AuWkj9ibhuf/Montario+Hardesty
Montario Hardesty had a few good runs with the Browns.  But he and his veteran's salary are gone now, as the cost-conscious Browns cut him today.  


I don't want to knock Hardesty personally because he worked hard and was a team player, but the facts are that his lifetime average is 3.5 yards per carry and he really struggled to catch the ball out of the backfield and did not block well either. Still many Browns fans thought it was a great move to package three draft picks to move up and nab him in the second round. This is hard to believe, but between Hardesty and Trent Richardson, the Browns gave up a

Number 1 (4th overall), 
Number 3, 
Number 4, 
Number 5,
Number 5,
Number 5, (that's right, THREE fifth round picks)
Number 7 pick for two running backs, and neither one is with the team now.

That's the equivalent of an entire year's worth of draft picks, and what we have left is a mid-to-late 1st round pick in 2014. Wow. What shrewd trading.

 Josh Cooper was also let go. He had great rapport with Brandon Weeden due to being teammates in college. I have to think Greg Little may be out also if Whittaker can return kicks. Little is averaging only 20 receiving yards per game this year, about half his career average. I can't understand why some of my friends think he is really a gifted number one receiver.

What in the World are the Browns Doing??

Nine undrafted rookies on the roster...Trent Richardson gone, third stringer Brian Hoyer quarterbacking the team....is this any way to run a football team?

 http://cmsimg.freep.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C4&Date=20130830&Category=SPORTS07&ArtNo=308300080&Ref=AR&MaxW=640&Border=0&Brian-Hoyer-leads-comeback-Browns-beat-Bears

By now, I don't think there is any other way to understand it.  The Browns have thrown in the towel on the 2013 season, and are in survival mode, trying to save as much money as possible for the future. 

  They started out with a plan to aggressively rebuild the team through free agency, signing premier free agents in linebacker Paul Kruger and defensive lineman Desmond Bryant.  But last April 15, the FBI raided the headquarters of Jimmy Haslam's main company, Pilot Flying J.  
    
My opinion is that by about late May the Browns' rebuilding project was put on hold for a year.   The Browns quit signing top tier free agents and in fact they started shedding payroll.  They started getting rid of highly paid but viable backups like running back Brandon Jackson and tight end Kellen Davis, replacing them with undrafted rookies.  

By now, the team is an astounding 26 million dollars under the salary cap.  This is the equivalent of two or three Pro Bowlers, or  if you prefer, about six starting-calibre NFL players.  

I think the Browns need to save money in order to cover the cash flow situation within the Haslam empire.   Pilot Flying J is probably going through a down year because of being over-extended (having bought out rival Flying J for a billion dollars only two years ago), not to mention the Browns.  As mentioned other times in The Village Elliot's Cleveland Browns blog, it is a reasonable guess that Pilot Flying J may be losing some customers after this recent fiasco, and moreover must be prepared to pay back something on the order of a hundred million dollars for illegally withheld discounts and fines.   I doubt if the banks are particularly thrilled about lending money to a company whose CEO is under the threat of a federal indictment.  

Getting rid of Trent Richardson made a big impact not only this year but in future years.  In addition, the deal makes the Browns an odds-on favorite to be in a very favorable position for the 2014 draft. The goal of management may be to draft a premier quarterback, which would make the team more attractive to prospective buyers.  The 2012 trade of four draft picks to move up one position to get Richardson now looks completely foolish if he is worth only a number one pick in 2014 (likely to be about the 25th overall if the Colts make the playoffs, versus number 3 overall for TRich).  This follows the tradition of packaging three picks for injured backup running back Montario Hardesty, plus a number one and a number two for Brady Quinn.  The Browns always approach the offseason as if they are loaded with talent and need only one or two key players to win the Super Bowl, but they always wind up with the thinnest roster in the NFL, and are usually in last place in their division.  


http://img.bleacherreport.net/img/images/photos/002/507/831/ScreenShot2013-09-19at9.47.59AM_crop_north.jpg?w=650&h=440&q=75

Currently, the Browns lead the NFL in salary cap room and it isn't even close.  They also lead the league with nine undrafted free agent rookies on the roster.  This is a young and untalented roster, and IT IS THE CHEAPEST TEAM IN THE NFL. This is not opinion, it's a fact, as measure by their being 26 million under the salary cap.

Meanwhile, the stalwart Haslam team is trying to get another 100 million dollars from the City of Cleveland in stadium improvements, and if they don't get it they may try to void their stadium lease, which would free them to move to another city.  Los Angeles is likely the first choice, but if the Jacksonville Jaguars (say) get there first, then no doubt the city will put a group of investors together to pry another team away from some other city.  My guess is that Haslam will be willing to listen.  

After all, Jimmy Haslam is  a Knoxville-based Steelers fan, a former minority owner of the Steelers.  He was approved by the NFL as the Browns new owner after he falsely promised that he would move to Cleveland to become a full-time NFL owner.  Thus far, Cleveland fans seem willing to overlook this, believing that Haslam has unswerving loyalty to Cleveland for some unknown reason.  Good luck with that, guys.  

     I predict that the Browns will continue their un-building program, and that Brandon Weeden or Jason Campbell could be offered in exchange for a low round draft pick.  This situation will continue until either Haslam is exonerated from the Pilot Flying J scandal, or else the Browns are sold.  I just hope that they can stay in Cleveland another year or two.   


http://www.knoxnews.com/photos/2011/feb/05/110898/
A former minority owner of the Steelers, Jimmy Haslam never did follow through on his promise to move to Cleveland to take over the Browns full time.  Instead his office is empty in Cleveland, but most Browns fans choose to believe he has their best interests at heart.     

Browns Pounded into Submission by Ravens, 14-6

   It's always rough being a Browns fan.  This year, it's even more difficult.  The new Browns owner, Jimmy Bedlam III, is trying very hard to avoid going to jail, and as such it appears to this observer that the team is no longer able to finance the business of playing football. 

    Today the Browns were beat up by the Ravens.  They gave up five more sacks today, on top of six given up to the Miami Dolphins last week.  That projects to 88 sacks in a single year.  At this rate, it is only a matter of time before Brandon Weeden is injured.  Weeden actually looks pretty good to me, and being able to throw for 227 yards is pretty good, especially with this terrible offensive line.

Brandon Weeden was sacked five times, as the fragile Browns O-Line could not protect him against Baltimore.  Photo:  http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1456749.1379277752!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/browns-ravens-football.jpg

   It's also clear to the Village Elliot that the Browns do not have the personnel to run the ball effectively.  The Browns did not obtain a fullback in the off season, instead moving Chris Ogbonnaya from halfback to fullback, where he is undersized.  However, he saves the team money compared to All-Pro Vonta Leach, who did not interest the cost conscious Browns when he was a free agent last summer.  The Browns also cut third down back Brandon Jackson in another cost savings move. And though Jordan Cameron has been very good as a receiving tight end so far,  the Browns did not obtain a pass-blocking specialist as a second tight end, and instead saved money by cutting Kellen Davis.    If the Browns had hoped to be a run-first team, they should have put together some road graders on the offensive line as well as a blocking fullback and blocking tight end, and then they might have been able to run.  However, that would have cost money. As it is, Trent Richardson is a good halfback but without a team to support a commitment to run the ball, it looks to me that they are going to have to pass the ball most of the time.   Behind Trent, the Browns are saving money by not keeping a short yardage specialist, and there is also no pass catching third down specialist either.  So the plan is for the injury prone Trent to get all the touches at running back, and then hope that he somehow stays healthy.   

   On defense, the Browns actually played rather well.  Their strength is in the front seven, while the secondary was neglected iln the off season, as the Browns saved money by cutting veterans Sheldon Brown and Usama Young, with third round draft choice Leon McFadden being the primary replacement.  

     Looking at the positives, the Browns actually lead the NFL in several categories, including sacks allowed, most dollars under the salary cap, and most undrafted free agents on the roster.

     At least all this cost savings is going to a good cause, as Browns fans everywhere are just delighted to help owner Jimmy Bedlam III save money in order to keep his company (Pilot Flying J) out of bankruptcy, while keeping himself out of jail.  

2013 Browns: a 6-10 team?

csnbaltimore.com

   So how will the Browns do in 2013?  After all the moves they made (and didn't make), I think the Browns have not improved overall.  On the other hand the division is much weaker this year due to personnel losses by Pittsburgh and Baltimore, both of whom invested multi-megabucks in their quarterback.  The Bengals look awesome, having drafted well for several years running.  
     The Browns actually had the opportunity to improve their team, as they were way under the salary cap and had the opportunity to sign about half a dozen starters and several other role players.  Instead, however, they stopped rebuilding after signing linebacker Paul Kruger and lineman Desmond Bryant.  I think that operating cash became scarce due to the problems at owner Jimmy Haslam's Pilot Flying J.  In any case, the Browns cut several starters from last year, in hopes that they would be signed by other teams, thus weakening the rest of the league:  

PR/WR  Josh Cribbs               
K Phil Dawson                          
CB Sheldon Brown     
P Reggie Hodges             
DE Juqua Parker 

TE Benjamin Watson
S  Usama Young
DE Frostee Rucker

FB/TE Alex Smith  

plus 2011 starters

QB  Colt McCoy                    
LB Scott Fujita (IR)
LB Chris Gocong (IR)

and backups

RB Brandon Jackson  
S Bubba Ventrone 
LB Emmanuel Acho
QB Josh Johnson
LB Kaluka Maiava


They also signed but then cut 

TE  Kellen Davis
WR David Nelson   
RB Brandon Jackson (re-signed and cut again)    

In return the Browns obtained the following starters:

LB Paul Kruger    
DT Desmond Bryant     
K  Billy Cundiff

and backups 
RB Dion Lewis (IR)
DB Chris Owens
QB  Jason Campbell

LB Quentin Groves

TE Gary Barnidge

They also made a draft day trade for WR Davone Best.  Otherwise LB Barkevious Mingo may eventually start and CB Leon McFadden may be a nickel back this year.

Did the Browns improve themselves by letting nine starters go and replacing three via free agency, two via the draft (counting Best as starting slot receiver) and four by promoting 2012 backups?  I don't think so.  They have nine undrafted rookies on their roster this year, an incredible number.   

In particular the Browns did not add blocking support for the run game, either in the form of a blocking tight end or a true fullback.  As a consequence, talented running back Trent Richardson (who cost the Browns four draft picks in 2012) may not be as effective in the running game as he could be.

Nor did they bother to replace starters in the defensive backfield.

This year I look for quarterback Brandon Weeden to improve due to having more experience plus a better array of receiving talent overall.  But the Browns are not equipped to be a running team despite having a highly regarded halfback.  

I also think the Browns have a very talented front seven on defense, but they may be woeful in the secondary.  Probably opposing teams will use three or even four wide receivers against the Browns, who will not be able to cover them.  The Browns will get some sacks, but will give up a lot of touchdowns.

Had the Browns continued their rebuilding program and signed some true talent in the defensive backfield and added some muscle on offense, they might have contended for a wild card this year.  I was very disappointed that the Browns were not interested in signing a true fullback when opportunities presented themselves.  Instead by conserving cash they once again are very thin.  There is a big drop off if they have to start the backup players due to injuries (and there always are). 

On the other hand, the Steelers and Ravens also had to let several talented starters go.  In those cases the issue is the multimegabuck contracts given to their quarterbacks.  I look for these teams to also have losing records, making life simple for the Bengals, who are stacked with talent at every position.  Because of the overall weakness in the division, I think the Browns could get an extra win or two compared to last year.  It's not out of the question that they could make a run if they stay anomalously healthy.   

toledoblade.com

But the team is not going to really improve as long as they are 30 million dollars under the salary cap and continuing to shed salary by cutting veterans.  Let's get real.  

Final AFC North Standings:

Cincinnati 12-4

Cleveland  6-10 

Baltimore  6-10

Pittsburgh  6-10 


newsnet5.com

The Cleveland Browns Cut Players and Salaries

   For some time, the Village Elliot has been trying to explain that Uncle Jimmy Haslam and the Browns may be short of operating capital. Because of the rebate scandal that hit Pilot Flying J just at the same time that they bought out rival Flying J for a billion dollars, AND they bought the Browns for a billion dollars, AND they expanded the number of new stations AND revenues are tighter than ever as truckers become more sophisticated at selecting low price sources of diesel.  Pilot Flying J has plenty of assets, but possibly not operating capital, and my guess is that the banks may not want to give them a short term loan while they are under the threat of a federal indictment.  So far, the Cleveland media (never mind the national media) has not caught on, but the fact of the matter is that the Browns halted their free agent spending before getting the defensive backfield help that they desperately need.

   Now they cut backup running back Brandon Jackson (saving $700 K) and tight end Kellen Davis (saving another $700 K), replacing both of them with undrafted rookies at the league minimum.  No attempt to sign Jonathan Dwyer, a competent free agent running back, even though the Browns are millions of dollars under the cap.  Hence the Browns are pathetically thin behind Trent Richardson, and they have not gone out to get blockers for him at fullback and tight end.   

Trent, please stay healthy!  There is no backup plan if TRich goes down.   

   Understand, it's not that Haslam and Pilot Flying J have no assets.  They have plenty of gas stations, trucks and other great assets that are worth lots of money.  But it's operating capital that is short, and to convert assets to operating capital you need a bank to help.  I don't think the banks are going to play however, realizing that company could be under a federal indictment soon. So maybe there is no operating capital available to Jimmy Haslam right now.  

   I conclude that indeed the Browns need to save cash, and thus they are shedding payroll instead of adding it as they should.  They should be signing defensive backs, a fullback, a second running back, a second tight end, a kicker and anybody else that can play football.  But the Browns are not going to spend the few million dollars that it would take to give them depth at these positions.  Likely, this means that they will not recover if some of their key players get injured. 

   If so, we may be looking at another 4 or 5 win season, despite having some real talent in the defensive front seven and in the passing offense.   But don't worry, Uncle Jimmy is going to be all right, as they have hopefully shed enough payroll to make ends meet for a while.  


Joe Banner and Jimmy Haslam laugh at suggestions that the team is short on operating capital.  

Browns Beat Up Lions, 24-6, But Get Beaten Up Too

  Yeah, I'm an old guy, but I love it when the Browns and Lions play even if it is an exhibition game.  In the 1950s and 1960s the Browns and Lions were great rivals, so it was good to play some old friends.

   The good news is that the Browns completely dominated the Lions when the first strings were both there.   Much criticism has been thrown at Browns qb Brandon Weeden, but the fact of the matter is that he played well last year and looks a little better this year.  His receivers are significantly better.   I think they are going to get some yards through the air this year. On this day, he had an unbelievable throw to Josh Gordon, and was on the money to tight end Jordan Cameron twice for touchdowns.   Frankly the Browns looked great through the air and although they don't have All-Pros in the passing game, they don't have a real weakness there either.  For that matter, backup Jason Campbell has done nothing wrong this year either.

    On the ground, Trent Richardson was just fine, but the Browns looked a little lost in short yardage.  They got one decent block from Chris Ogbonnaya at fullback, but otherwise fullback was silent today (one thing I hate about tv coverage of football is they don't give you the opportunity to see what formation the offense is in.  I don't know how many plays used a fullback.  But I do know they didn't do well in short yardage.

Trent Richardson looked unstoppable, but Coach Chud wisely took him out early.  

Halfback Dion Lewis did well catching balls out of the backfield, and made a few yards on the ground, but was injured in the second half, breaking his leg.  He'll be out indefinitely, which is too bad because it looked like he was headed to number two on the depth chart behind Richardson.

Dion Lewis was also explosive, but injured his ankle.  

On defense, the front seven generally bullied the Lions.  Matthew Stafford & Co. were under pressure and had balls batted down and a few were nearly intercepted by the Browns big line and linebackers. The secondary was good but great, and note that the Lions were not playing their big threat in Calvin Johnson.    

The Browns gang tackled and dominated the line of scrimmage.  

The main issue is that a lot of guys got banged up today.  In addition to Lewis' injury, they had injuries to TE Gary Barnidge, LB Barkevious Mingo (bruised lung), and G Shawn Lauvao.  Hopefully they will be back soon as all of these player were doing well.  

The Village Elliot's New Los Angeles Conspiracy Theory

    Los Angeles NFL conspiracy theory?  Actually it's not even that much of a conspiracy, as it is blatantly obvious. The  owners of  crappy NFL teams (and even a few good ones) are threatening to move their teams to Los Angeles unless they get millions of dollars in stadium improvements, or in some cases entirely new stadiums.  This has had the effect of scaring local politicians, who are now scurrying to satisfy the whims of greedy NFL owners.  

     Commissioner Roger Goodell has laid out a procedure for NFL teams to relocate to Los Angeles.  It is going to  happen, it's just a question of when.  

Commissioner Goodell has laid out the procedure for an NFL team to move to Los Angeles. photo:  www.fanduel.com

     Recently, Jerry Jones, the flamboyant owner of the Dallas Cowboys, indicated that not one but TWO teams may move to Los Angeles, setting off a flurry of speculation on which teams are interested.  I do not think that Jones' remarks were casually or hastily spoken.  Rather, it's more likely that this was a calculated move to allow current team owners to extract more money from local governments to upgrade football stadiums.  



Jerry Jones says that TWO NFL teams may move to Los Angeles.  He won't say which teams are interested.  Photo:  http://dallascowboysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/jones1.jpg



     The St Louis Rams used to play in Los Angeles, and they have a deal which allows them to get out of their lease if they don't have a top dollar stadium.  Well, guess what?  They are demanding hundreds of millions of dollars from the good people of St. Louis, and if they don't get it they are threatening to return to Los Angeles.  Frankly the Rams have been so bad in recent years that the fans might just let them go.  

     Other teams that have Los Angeles connections are the Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers, both of whom have also played in Los Angeles.   And yes, both of them have let it be known that they are interested in moving unless they get a sweetheart deal on upgraded stadiums in their current location.  

    Ditto the awful Jacksonville Jaguars, who are owned by an out-of-town owner with no significant connection to Jacksonville.  

     Even the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are dissatisfied with their current stadiums and are seeking millions of dollars to upgrade their current digs.   

     All in all, Roger Goodell and Jerry Jones are likely going to bring upwards of a billion dollars worth of new stadiums and improvements to old ones. The threat of moving to Los Angeles is driving these upgrades.  And then some team will move to Los Angeles anyway.  

     As a football fan, I am wary about owners in general. I believe Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, like all the other NFL owners, might have been approached by groups from Los Angeles offering hundreds of millions of dollars additional profit in order to get the team.  The main difficulty would be to find a way to legally break the lease with the City of Cleveland which would have to happen in order to move+ the team.  

Browns Win First Preseason Game vs Rams, 27-19

Cleveland played better than the Rams overall, with Brandon Weeden leading a diversified passing attack.  Photo: www.Clevelandbrowns.com .  

Well, let's not go crazy over an exhibition game, in which the Browns beat an inconsistent Saint Louis Rams team, 27-19.  But a win is better than a loss! And the Browns regulars outplayed the Rams regulars overall, which is also a good sign.

Here are a few takeaways from the game.

1.  The Browns quarterback situation is very solid if not spectacular.  Brandon Weeden played well on a bad team last year, and he will probably play better for a better team this year.  All three Browns qbs played well, and I think both Jason Campbell and Brian Hoyer can win games as an NFL starter if Weeden should go down.

Jason Campbell was 6 for 7, with one dropped ball by Chris Ogbonnaya.  Not too shabby.  Photo: www.Clevelandbrowns.com .

2.  The Browns receiving corps is much deeper than last year.  Travis Benjamin, Greg Little and Jordan Norwood made some good plays, and they got some good mileage from tight ends Jordan Cameron and Gary Barnidge as well.  Benjamin also took a punt return to the house, blowing away the Rams coverage team.  

3.  The Browns have some depth at running back, which is a good thing since Trent Richardson and Montario Hardesty were both banged up.  Brandon Jackson and Dion Lewis were both great catching passes out of the backfield, and ran hard against a good Rams defense.  It makes me wonder why former Coach Shurmur would never play Jackson, who gained 700 yards for the Packers in 2010.  I'll bet Coach Chud and Norv Turner figure out ways to get him in the lineup. However, the Browns did not play a fullback much.  Chris Ogbonnaya lined up there sometimes, while incumbent Owen Marecic did not see much action and might be on his way out.  But without a big fullback, the Browns are not going to run the ball all that well.  Shurmur and former GM Tom Heckert thought Trent Richardson would be the next Adrian Peterson, but not without a blocking fullback, dudes.  I think the Browns are going to pass a lot more than they run in 2013, with Richardson, Jackson and Lewis catching a lot of passes out of the backfield.  Montario Hardesty, another back much loved by Heckert, ran well at times the past two years but struggled with blocking and pass catching.  With multiple knee surgeries, he may not even make the team, and it would not shock me if the Browns come up with a free agent fullback by the end of training camp.  



Dion Lewis ran well and caught the ball out of the backfield.  Photo:   www.ClevelandBrowns.com

4.  Barkevious Mingo and Billy Winn stood out among defensive linemen, though in general the Browns had trouble putting consistent pressure on Rams quarterback Sam Bradford, who had time to unload some major bombs against the Browns.  As Browns announcer Bernie Kosar noted, the Rams receivers had trouble catching the ball, otherwise they could have really shredded the Browns weak secondary.  Let's see, in order to have all of these fancy blitzes and stuff, don't you need some defensive backs who are good enough to play man-to-man with NFL receivers?  As it was, in his brief time in the game, Bradford completed 5 of 8 passes for 102 yards and a TD for a passer rating of 145.8 (are you kidding me?) and it could have been much worse.    

Barkevious Mingo was outstanding in his first pre-season game.   Photo:   www.ClevelandBrowns.com

Conventional thinking is that the Browns are going to play great defense, and will run the ball a lot with a struggling passing game.  However, the Village Elliot  is not so sure.   Based on early returns, the Browns defense is very thin, and they are going to get burned if they rush five and six guys a lot.  On offense, they may find it easier to pass the ball a lot while the running game may struggle without a quality fullback.