What we think will happen vs. the Chargers today (Week 8)

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San Diego Chargers at Cleveland Browns

October 28, 2012

Brian	Browns 24 Chargers 20	I'm sick of people in other cities telling me how good Brandon Weeden is. Just get a damn "W."
Tom	Browns 17 Chargers 16	Weather drags the Chargers to a halt. Browns pull off the upset.
Doug	Chargers 21 Browns 13	As bad as the Browns are, they've been in most every game this year. That trend will continue today, with the young roster learning another harsh lesson at the hands of the 'Bolts.
SamVox	Browns 20 Chargers 18	I'm the only CST 'capper to correctly pick every game this season, but I'm befuddled today. My imaginary friends at SanDiegoSportsTorture.com are backing the Brownies, so I'll play my hunch and eat Norv's lunch.
Kevin	Chargers 31 Browns 17	It's Sunday, so that means The Walking Dead returns for another heart-pounding episode. Oh, and that show about zombies is on again tonight. Coach Shurmur, not be confused with one of those emotionless flesh eaters, is Dead Man Walking. I see almost no scenario where he's coaching this team next year.
Ryan	Chargers 27 Browns 24	Browns keep it close, but the rookies struggle to close out the game again.
Sean	Chargers 17 Browns 14

Indians' Shapiro opens up

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Over at Fox Sports Ohio, a good interview with the Cleveland Indians Mark Shapiro was posted yesterday by Pat McManamon.

It's the first long interview I can remember Shapiro giving in a long time that touches on a lot of the topics fans want to know about.

One of the more interesting unsettling quotes...

On the belief from us fans that if more people show up to games, more money will be spent:

 "I think more people will come. But the challenge is 2.2 million instead of 1.6 million doesn't change the way we operate. Even that extra 500,000, 600,000 people, even if that's $10-to-15 more million in revenue a year . . . one win in free agency is $9 million. So you're not going to change the context. Again, I don't think people want to intellectualize baseball, and I don't believe you should have to intellectualize baseball . . . and we've made a conscious decision in most of our interviews not to get into these topics and just stay positive and talk about what our aspirations are.

But that revenue swing between 1.5 million in attendance and 2.2 million in attendance . . . meaningful dollars but not dollars that will have us plan dramatically different." 

You can read the full interview here.

Browns' Jimmy Haslam is not Udonis Haslem's brother, it turns out

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Not related, if you can believe that!

Well not that this blog (and this author) have not been guilty of the very same, but seems that "Haslam" is a hard name to spell correctly. In fact, until noon today I would have spelled it with an "e" near the end instead of an "a", even with a gun at my head. 

But I've seen the light. Sorry folks, Cleveland Sports Torture has fixed our errors, but as you can see below, misspelling the new Browns' owner's name is a pretty regular occurrence  Most of the misspellings, to be fair, are found on Twitter, where temperature, crowds, or alcohol can certainly impair typing and/or judgement. And to be fair, most articles got it right, especially in headlines and body copy. But some sneaked through, like the Beacon Journal's photo caption, or Andy Baskin's short piece for Channel 5's website. The Plain Dealer has it right, although some misspellings occur in cached versions; guess some editor finally spell checked everything. And Tony Grossi has been spot-on. 

Mea culpa, Mr. Haslam. 

Cavs top NBA power rankings...sort of

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The English call it "taking the piss." In the U.S., we refer to it as "goofing." Wherever you hail from, Grantland writer Wesley Morris had some fun with the Cavaliers' new alternate uniforms, an eye-searing yellow-and-red concoction that reminds Morris of hot dog garnish. While Kyrie Irving and Co. may be a longshot for the post-season this year, Morris put Cleveland No. 1 in his 2012-13 NBA uniform power rankings with the following bit of snark: 

"If you're playing basketball in Cleveland, you should be the happiest player in the NBA. You should. For a decade, it was maroon, maroon, maroon — and what happened? You got marooned. It's been two years since you-know-who left. It's time for a new you, and here it is: French's mustard with Heinz script. It's young, it's exciting, and when I see it I immediately want to put the whole thing on my hot dog. It's only an alternate uniform, it's true. But it's one that says things are looking up: We've still got Kyrie Irving, and we just know he'll be thrilled to spend many nights for many years wearing this and not totally ripping our hearts out. Right, Kyrie?"

Had to mention That Guy in Miami (TGiM), didn't you, national writer guy? Maybe Cavs players can start wearing non-prescription nerd glasses to go along with the hip new threads. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, after all. 

Paul Ryan fuzzy on details on Cleveland Browns, tax cuts

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New Browns owner Jimmy Haslam brought some high powered political friends to Browns training yesterday. I guess now we know what end of the political spectrum Mr. Haslam falls on! (His brother is, after all, the Republican governor of Tennessee.)

The more legitimate guest was lifelong Browns fan (and former National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.) Rice is long on record supporting the Browns since her childhood in Alabama. Many a Browns fan was raised by parents who loved watching (or listening to) Jim Brown run during the Browns' Glory Days.

More recently, Rice was featured in a print campaign for the NFL's line of women's gear, rocking a Josh Cribbs jersey. No matter what your politics are, it's pretty cool to have someone that powerful as your team's supporter. Not that it did a hell of a lot of good through the disastrous Bush administration. (For the record, I mean a disastrous eight years for the Cleveland football world.)

On the other hand, Vice Presidential nominee and Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan showed up and made a fool out of himself. First, he referred to how much he liked watching Colt McCoy play at Oklahoma State. Naturally, this mixup of McCoy with Browns QB (and former OSU Cowboy) Brandon Weeden caused a lot of laughter with the players, and was summarized nicely in a tweet by Scott Fujita.

Later, Ryan asked Haslam if the Browns were an expansion team. Now one may excuse some mixup over 2 quarterbacks on team with limited, if any, national exposure. But to not know that the Browns have been around, since when, 1946? This attention to detail by the man conservatives think of as the brain trust of the right wing is quite revealing. 

Ryan did make friends with Joe Thomas, a player that Congressman Ryan can at least legitimately claim to have watched during Thomas' college days in Wisconsin. No word on whether the potential Vice Presidential nominee would share with the Browns offensive line any of the details of the tax cuts and offsetting details the Romney-Ryan team plan to implement, like he won't with the national media or the electorate. I guess this "unspecified tactics" thing goes pretty well with the Pat Shurmur school of coaching.

Chances are that Paul Ryan will pretend to root for the Redskins, Broncos, Jaguars, and Dolphins before this election cycle is done. Just hoping Condi doesn't likewise sell out the Browns. I'm guessing she won't. 

Details? Who needs 'em?
(Picture courtesy Chuck Crow, Plain Dealer)