Trying to cram in a lot this weekend. Yesterday, I found myself at two places I had not been to in a really long time. First, I had to go to a shoe repair place, as I had a blowout on one of my shoes. Obviously, kicking a lot of ass around here. Yes, these places still exist. Look, I'm not gonna pay triple digits for a replacement pair, if this one can be fixed.

The other place was Borders. Hadn't been there in so long, I did not realize they now open at 10:00 a.m. Of course, they drove me out of there because my entry and exit were bracketed by these jewels from Neil Diamond, "Yesterday" and "Alone Again Naturally". Bah!

I spent the early afternoon on Saturday taking care of my lawn for the last time this year. Trimmed and mowed. I cannot remember the last time I had to do this in mid-November, but we really didn't have any Indian Summer until this past week, so I had to deal with it. I think I gave Mother Nature the go-ahead to release the hounds!

Also, this weekend, Cleveland State started their schedule by hosting a tournament for 4 days. I attended Friday with my Dad to see Bryant and Local Chuck went with me yesterday to see Iona. Already exchanged tickets out of Monday's game, but opted out of tonight's Kent game, after the Browns OT game.

By having a 6:00 start last night, I was afforded the opportunity to visit a couple of my favorite places. Who can resist the Becky Burger at Becky's? Seriously, try to. Postgame found it kinda warm, so I went over to the local gem of an ice cream shoppe and that is the Honey Hut. The peanut butter sundae was beckoning me for my last visit of the year.

As for the games, CSU is still shaking off the rust. They struggled both nights, although the transition defense was much better against Iona. Norris Cole is now a senior and clearly he is the rock of the team. Looked very good, so far. The Vikings have been picked to finish third in the Horizon League and I think that's a proper prognostication. Crowds still suck though. For CSU-Iona which was Game 2 of the doubleheader, I think there was 600 people in attendance. Kent should change that today.

The good news is CSU starts with 2 wins.

Meal of Links

Who did not see this coming? "Rubicon" got cancelled. Clearly, the agonizingly slow first 4 episodes killed it. By the time it found its feet, the audience had moved on. Let's face it though, zombies are in. One of the few who liked it. I will say, it probably is worth viewing in an on-demand setting or a summer rerun, as I doubt there will be a DVD release.

The phone call is dead. Seriously, texting is much easier.

I am not sure who constructed this list of 55 Hollywood Babes. Maybe, a 13-year old. Jolie is listed at 29. Now here's a woman.

A David Bowie Primer. Feel free to crank "Sound and Vision".

For all the women who want to stand to pee.

Does your TV viewing lean left or right? I'm definitely right.

You think you're smart? You fix the budget.

James Blunt, of all people, stopped World War III.

Who makes the best sour cream and onion chips? Looks like Ruffles takes the plain category.

Mystery surrounds Terrence Malick. That's not new news.

WTF? I was witness to this midday stunner. Sunderland beat Chelsea, 3-0. At Chelsea.

BTW, I'm always awed at how quiet the EPL crowds are during a minute's silence for Remembrance Day. It's almost creepy, then you get this massive applause. It's something to witness.

Remembrance Day at Villa Park



Exercise Yard

It has been a long time since I've been fired up for a Browns regular season game, as I was this past week. I think we have to go to the last century. But after today's game, we've been down this path with the Browns before, haven't we?

We are going to have to see how the team responds after today's OT loss against the Jets. For all the horrible seasons the Browns have had upon their return, there are parallels with what happened today. Most people can't remember Jeff Garcia actually winning games as the Browns QB. But in 2004, the Browns had a 3-3 record, and things were looking rather decent. Then the Eagles came to town and beat the Browns in an overtime game, 34-31. The Browns had a bye the next week and then they waved bye to the whole season and won only one more game, finishing 4-12.

In 2008, the Browns were 3-4, coming off a surprise win at Jacksonville, and had home games against Baltimore on a Sunday and Denver on a Thursday. The Ravens beat the Browns late, 37-27, with a Derek Anderson interception adding to the defeat. He got benched for Brady Quinn for the Denver game and the Browns got torched by Jay Cutler, 34-30. Accusations of players quitting were launched, every QB got hurt from that game forward and the Browns ended up 4-12.

Based on what I saw today, I don't think the Browns are headed to 4-12. But as Bill Parcells once said, "You are what you are." and right now, the Browns are 3-6. And to hammer this point home once again, the defense NEVER comes through for the Browns. NEVER.

So, what did we learn today?

Colt McCoy's a keeper. The game-tying drive late looked awfully good.

The Browns depth on defense is sold as a strong point. But they seemed to miss something with Scott Fujita and Sheldon Brown out with injuries. Let alone, the offense seemingly dormant for a time without Josh Cribbs available. The defense didn't get the turnovers they had been blessed with the last two weeks, so that made a tough job even tougher today.

Looks like the Eric Wright Hate Factor goes way up after his, I don't know, nonchalance in going after Santonio Holmes on the game-winning TD. He needs to be more chalant next time.

I thought the Browns were on their way to a win, but then Chansi Stuckey fumbled. Great that Nick Folk took him off the hook with a missed field goal, but my goodness, they looked like money before that play.

The Browns gave up 456 yards today, with 172 of them on the ground. Just sayin'.

For all of the talk about the Browns wide receivers, isn't it obvious from today's game, they still need a serious upgrade at that position. Granted, they almost won a game while completely ignoring their own wideouts, but with a serious threat at that position, things will get easier offensively.

Browns last drive of the game in OT can be debated. I like the fact they went for it with a throw on first down. And I understand the Jets timeout situation factored in to running on second down. My thought was, let's throw it on second down, as well. My thinking was one first down probably eliminates the Jets from winning, but allows the Browns a chance at a win. After the second down run, I thought it was only a tie for the Browns.

And certainly after the punt, a good one by Hodges, I didn't think a TD would beat them and was setting myself up for a field goal loss. So that made the Holmes catch even more tough to take.

Browns lose in OT to the Jets, 26-20.

Visitor

None, on what appeared to be the first sunny Sunday of winter.