Displaced Cleveland Fan

These are stories from around the league that I thought were worth noting. You can read my recap of the Browns week 2 game here.

The Tennessee Titans, hosting the Houston Texans, were looking to rebound at home against a supposedly inferior team after a loss last week to the Steelers. But the Texans played tough and stayed right with them all game.

This game was physical. Then it got intense. Then it got ugly. Jason Jones of the Titans was ejected for his part in a brawl on the sidelines in the 4th quarter. Watching this game, you knew something like that was going to happen. These teams kept getting closer and closer to a fight. It’s a good thing Albert Haynesworth doesn’t play for the Titans anymore, or else someone might have gotten some cleats across their face.

Finally, with less than 3 minutes to go, Houston pulled ahead on a field goal. On the next possession, Kerry Collins fumbled the ball back to the Texans who ran out the clock.

I don’t know if it’s the fact that I’m living in southern Kentucky just north of Nashville where most of the people claim the Titans as their team. But I really enjoy watching them lose. That may be awful of me, but it’s the truth.

Oh, and Houston QB Matt Schaub through for 357 yards and 4 touchdowns. What in the world?!
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I was out for a few hours this afternoon and this evening. I left right after this game started. When I got home and saw the score, I thought to myself, “it’s probably good that I wasn’t home following this game.”

Last week the Browns lost to the Vikings by 14 points. The Vikings are a good team on both sides of the ball. On the other side, you have the Broncos beating the Cincinnati Bengals last week on a fluke play in the final seconds. This game should have been close. It wasn’t.
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After last week’s tough loss to USC, the Buckeyes traveled north this week to take on the Toledo Rockets at Cleveland Browns Stadium. If there was any wonder whether this team would be able to move on after last week, that was settled early on in this game. After scoring two first quarter touchdowns and building a 24-point halftime lead, the Buckeyes never looked back.

This was not necessarily going to be an easy win for Ohio State. Sure, they were playing an over-matched in-state school. But this team beat Michigan last year. And Toledo quarterback Aaron Opelt came into this game leading the nation in total offense (437 yards/game). But the Buckeyes defense completely shut down the Rockets offense. The closest Toledo came to scoring was in the fourth quarter when wide receiver Eric Page had the ball stripped at the goal line. Ohio State recovered the ball in the endzone for a touchback. The Buckeyes then marched down the field for a touchdown to go up 38-0.
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Delonte West of the Cleveland Cavaliers was arrested last night in Maryland on a weapons charge. The initial reports state that he was pulled over for speeding and making an unsafe lane change while driving his motorcycle. During the traffic stop, police found West in possession of three firearms (two handguns and a shotgun).

Details are still coming out about this case. For that reason, I don’t want to comment on the specifics of Delonte’s arrest. But I did want to address some comments I’ve seen from others as they make their initial reactions to this news.

Many comments I’ve seen are something to this effect: The NBA is full of thugs and this is just another example.
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Ohio State slipped in the polls to #11 this week, following Saturday night’s loss to USC. I optimistically predicted a #9 ranking. But hey, 11’s not bad. It’s only week 2. There’s still plenty of time for the Buckeyes to move up in the rankings (much to the chagrin of many college football fans).

So the #11 ranking… no big deal. It’s understandable. But what’s not understandable is one set of rankings for the Big Ten conference that has come out this week.

The Big Ten Power Rankings from Rivals.com has the Buckeyes at #4 in the conference. #4? Seriously?! So who do they have ahead of Ohio State?
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These are stories from around the league that I thought were worth noting. You can read my recap of the Browns week 1 game here.

Brett Favre has come out of retirement and is the new starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings. He made his debut in the season opener against Cleveland. Browns fans were privleged to see one of the all time great quarterbacks of all time lead his new team to victory.

Most NFL fans outside of Minnesota and Cleveland don’t know Favre is back. The media hasn’t said anything about it. It’s almost as if they don’t like Favre. Even after this game, no one is talking about his return. It is a pity that more people have not heard so that they can appreciate the latest unretirement and return of #4.

(One of the announcers of todays Browns/Vikings game actually did say that Favre was “one of the all time greatest quarterbacks of all time.”) (more…)

So begins the Brady Quinn era.

Honestly, I didn’t expect much today. Still, after last night’s loss by Ohio State, I was hoping the Browns could pull this one off. It just wasn’t to be.

Cleveland was leading at halftime, thanks to a punt return TD by Josh Cribbs. They were up 13-10 at the half. While a lead at the half was nice, there was one disconcerting thing about it - no offensive touchdowns. This is what the Browns could not produce the last 6 games of the previous season. Now they were in danger of extending that streak.

In the second half, the defense gave up 24 unanswered points, putting the game well out of reach. After the Vikings’ last score, I turned the TV off. I’d seen enough.
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