Sunday Quickies

Here are a few quickies before the Browns take on the Raiders later in the afternoon.

Brownies
This one against the Raiders is as close to a must win as you can get.

Why, you ask?

First, the Raiders aren’t likely to have a winning record this season – so this is very winnable.

Secondly, a 2-1 start gives this team a good chance to be 3-3 at the break after week #6. That may not be Indianapolis territory, but for Browns’ fans, it means for the first time in several years they won’t be thinking about next year’s draft before the cold November rain hits.

It also gives Romeo a little breathing room.

And sadly, they haven’t won back-to-back games since the middle of the 2003 season. That tells you all you need to know about the state of this franchise. If not now, when?

Scout Talk
I had an extensive conversation with a scout yesterday discussing numerous issues related to the NFL and how it works. It was very interesting and informative for this observer. Note that this gentleman is not employed by the Cleveland Browns.

The consensus around the league, according to him, was that the Browns are headed in the right direction in terms of “they have some good players now.” That’s a direct quote.

He also loved the Joe Thomas pick and felt Brady Quinn would be a good QB in this league. “They’ve got a quarterback now” is how he put it.

He also took a jab at the Browns when he looked at me with a smile on his face and asked, “What, you didn’t like Charlie Frye as your starter?”

His position was that Frye is an NFL QB, just not a starting QB. That’s not a news bulletin of course. We just wish the Browns had figured that out months ago.

Ditto for DA, who gets his second start of the season today.

I’m torn. I know this franchise cannot truly move forward until Quinn starts taking snaps and learning. In order for that to happen, DA would have to implode at some point today or very soon. Although a likely scenario, that’s not a good short-term result for the team. If that were to happen today for example, it would likely mean a very winnable game was lost.

Manager of the Year
Look for Tribe manager Eric Wedge to win the Manager of the Year Award in 2007.

If he were an ice cream, Wedge would be vanilla. That’s the way he manages, handles the media’s questions and generally comes across to the fans. However, he has the Indians headed for the post-season battling for the best record in the game. If it’s all about wins and losses – which it is – you have to give him his due.

One more comment on the Tribe’s hammer this year – their two set-up men (Rafael B. & Rafael P.). I can’t remember the last time a team had two set up men with these numbers in the same season. They have been dominant all year long from start to finish. That’s amazing and the main reason this team is where it is – along with the two horses in the rotation.

It’s still all about pitching.

We had the Tribe winning 89 before the season started. They’ve blown that prediction out of the water and they should be a tough out with their pitching in the post-season. Here’s hoping they play fundamentally, sound baseball and some of their bats deliver in the clutch come October.

Say It Ain’t So Sasha
According to reports, Sasha Pavlovic is threatening to play in Europe this season if he doesn’t get a contract extension to his liking from the Cavaliers.

Is that a promise?

Here’s a mediocre player who was MIA – like most of his teammates – in the post-season last spring, and now he wants paid. Only in America!

Hey Sasha, enjoy Belgrade in the winter.

The Cavaliers should take every penny they were allocating for Pavlovic and lump it in with what they were going to use to sign Anderson V. and get that deal done. He can’t score if he was in the gym by himself, but you can depend on AV just about every night to bring energy to the floor with him. And he gets under the opposition’s skin. He must be doing something right.

We’ll have a Browns recap after the game.