Randomness from today's Browns home game:

Special Guest: My brother Jeff went today. He needed to improve on this year's record after that debacle against the Steelers.

Today's Opponent: One of the worst teams in the league, the winless Miami Dolphins. A team so bad, Browns Version 2.3 is actually favored today. Cleo Lemon takes over for the oft-concussed Trent Green at quarterback. The one thing that scares me about this game? The Dolphins can run the football, and Ronnie Brown is carrying the ball at 5 yards per. And what can't we do? Anyone? Bueller? Stop the fuckin' run. Believe it or not, Miami's run defense is worse than the Browns. I do expect the Browns to win this one, as the Fins are a team we should beat. Especially at home.

The Weather: An outstanding October day to watch football. 65 and nary a cloud. Perfect.

Today's Giveaway: None.

Section 345: When the Browns are winning, it's fairly calm. Not many folks sporting Dolphins gear because they are awful. There was a skirmish a couple of sections over when the game got tight, but nothing major. The sight of the world's largest man, a couple of sections away was disconcerting, however. I'm not sure how he fit into a seat. He had Sumo Dawg tattooed on his ample gut and, of course, was shirtless.

















Best Browns Play: I liked the last touchdown from Braylon Edwards. Nice pass from Derek Anderson in the left corner of the endzone beating single coverage. A pass that must be successful in the NFL, if you want to win.

Second-Best Browns Play: Kellen Winslow's 33-yard catch-and-run right before the half. Anderson noticed single coverage with the hated Joey Porter. He hit Winslow in stride with a bullet and he carried it to the three. It put the Browns in position for a field goal before the half.

Worst Browns Play: The late fumble by Jason Wright.

Best Line from Me (noticing a little person): "Hey, look at the midget!"

Best Line from Jeff (in reply to the above): "He could be the Brownie."

Best Action from a Random (following a well-endowed woman): As the crowd applauded, he tipped his cap and acted if the cheers were for him. Of course, he simulated grabbing of the woman's breasts as he continued his journey. Of course, it's juvenile, and funny.

Oddest Browns Jersey: 67 Jurkovic, 8 Dilfer, 81 Morgan, 58 Ranier.

Food Items: One hamburger (which I waited several minutes for) and one beer. I was carded. I continue to fool everyone.

Best Hat: A day-glo Tyrolean emblazoned with "Be A Dick".

The Fuckin' Run: The Dolphins could not run much after falling behind early. The Browns still managed to give up 110 on the ground. That only took 23 carries for a 4.8 average. Not good. BTW, Ronnie Brown has the most heart I've seen in a long time in a football player. Obviously, he is on a bad team, but he does not give up and had 101 on the ground and caught 7 passes for 69 more yards.

Worst Stat: Jason Wright. 20 rushes for 59 yards. That's not going to work.

2nd Worst Stat: Andra Davis had one tackle, tying Ryan Pontbriand, the long snapper.

Most Interesting Stat: The Browns have had games at home where the opponent has scored 45 and now 31 points. They won both.

The Browns blurrily charge off the field at halftime, up by (gulp!) 17 points:

















The Browns did what they needed to do today. A bad team showed up and they won. They got very complacent after going up 24-3. Things got kinda dicey in third quarter, as the Dolphins closed to 27-24. But the Browns scored twice more to put it away. The defense was not called on to do much and had a good first half, but they still give up way too much in the ground game. They also let Cleo Lemon make some big plays.

But let's see where the Browns go after the bye week. There are beatable teams remaining on the schedule. And they may end up with a decent record, if they avoid injuries. Unthinkable from me even a few weeks ago.

The Browns head into the bye week at 3-3, following today's big win.

Meal of Links

Charles Schulz, not exactly the most easy-going guy around. Good grief!

Hey, somebody was gonna try and assassinate Putin this week in Iran. No big deal, there are plots against him all the time wherever he goes.

Brains are weird. They recognize fearful looks quicker than happy faces. Maybe it's because you don't see abject fear very often. I dunno.

Exercise Yard

Home Run, But No Win, Manny!













I hope everyone stayed up for the Tribe game, because I'm still wondering if Jonathan Papelbon blinks. The problem with that one wasn't that it ended for me around 2:20, it's that I was able to pore through all of these catalogs I had laying around during the game and had ample time to browse. And then order. Lots.

Great job by Fox on the bumpers as I heard The Hives, The White Stripes and The Flaming Lips amongst others. Good God, what has happened there?

Don't know if last night was a great game, but it was awfully tense. Jhonny Peralta with a big-time homer early. He hit that home run where Jim Thome hit a playoff jack against the Bosox several years ago. I thought after Manny and Mike Lowell homered to put Boston ahead, it might be a long game for the Tribe. But the Indians bullpen came through in a large way and eventually Boston ran out of pitchers. It was an example of "getting some work", as several Boston pitchers had not pitched in a while. And, of course, Eric Gagne is the scourge of New England. And God bless you, Tom Mastny. My bandwagon ass has been with you all the way, buddy.

Can you imagine that the Indians have gone this far without having Jobo out there in a dire situation? We have escaped this impending disaster and even he can hold a 7-run lead in the 11th.

One thought on Eric Wedge. Ever since Josh Barfield has been banished to Herb Washington (look it up) status, Wedgie has fallen in love with this move. In the late innings of a tie game, he will inevitably pinch run Barfield for a slow runner. This move irks me in three ways. First of all, there is no guarantee the run will score and most importantly, he yanks one of our better hitters. Either Garko, Martinez or Hafner. Lastly, if we don't score, that spot in the lineup will invariably come up in a pressure situation. I have watched this move for over two months and Wedge has not been burned on it yet.

(Trot Nixon, Humble Pie Purveyor)


















I have warned everyone that this move will blow up in the playoffs and it will cost us a game. Last night, what happens? Barfield pinch runs for Hafner in the 9th and does not score and we go to extra innings. So, who comes up in the 11th in Josh Barfield's nee Travis Hafner's spot? Trot Nixon, Pieman! Oh no. Wedge, you fuckin' clown. This is it, you will prove me...Base hit! Trot is the man! We Win! God is good! God is great! Eric Wedge is a Hall of Famer!

Tribe evens the series at 1-1. Indians 13, Red Sox 6.

Visitor

None, it was a Browns Sunday.