The guy in the picture is Joe Madden.  Kind of looks like Mr. Bunny Rabbit from Captain Kangaroo with those glasses.  Anyway, he is the most underappreciated manager in the bigs right now. Here are some stories from other great sites:

• In Game Now takes a look at the Top-10 all-time anthem butcherings, funny videos, some you may have seen, but always fun to see again.
• PSAMP has video of a classic Kordell Stewart commercial and suggest that if Big Ben gets hurt, to sign Kordell back up!
• Chicago Now posted an article written by my pal, The Zoner of Zoner Sports titled, “Denver Is Really Taking This Jay Cutler Trade Hard” .
• The World Of Isaac finds an aging and confused Regis Philbin trying to figure out basketball jerseys.
• Detroit4Lyfe jokes that the female track star might be a man and that Usain Bolt might not be a human.
• Bootlegger Sports thinks maybe more college football teams should really consider selling beer at the games, like the schools in Louisiana are doing.
• Sharapova’s Thigh says that 22 year old tennis phenom Maria Sharapova, is nowhere near retirement despite speculative reports.
• NESW Sports has the video of Chad Ochocinco kicking an extra point in a preseason game… why?  What if he hurts his ankle kicking? More great decisions in the weirdest division in football…
• That NBA Lottery Pick has video of Steve Nash competing on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
• Style Points reports that Louisville is running some kind of sex study and Rick Pitino is participating.

The Cleveland Browns should pursue Jamaican track prodigy, Usain Bolt.  The obvious reason would be because he would clock a great 40-yard dash time at the combine.  Can you imagine getting this guy the ball in the open field?

Now, for the beef of my presentation.  He is no worse than what is already there.  He might even be better.  Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson like to overthrow receivers a few times each game.  Why not put Bolt in the slot and bring him across in motion.  He would be the first WR in NFL history to burn his man by losing him in motion.

Once the play starts, tell Brady or Derek to just heave it, let it fly, he will run under it.  Who knows if he will catch it or not.  Who cares, we already know that Braylon Edwards would probably drop it, so what would be the harm in taking that chance? 

Run a reverse and watch that OLB who sucks in for the play action swear profanity-laced tirades before Bolt even hits the corner.  He would not get touched on the play. 

Use him to promote Cleveland.  Who better than a native Jamaican to promote Bob Marley at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.  How many people would show up at an Indians game if Usain Bolt were going to race Bernie Kosar while running backwards?  The possibilities are just endless.

I could see it now, the new ‘Killer-B’  Browns receiving core.  Braylon, Brian, and Bolt.  Donte Stallworth would be included but when the idea was first dreamt up he took the title to a new level.  But the three ‘Killer-B’s’ !!  “More drops than a three-day tropical rainstorm!”  How ultra-promotable! 

Jabari Scott and Nick Gooden play different positions for different coaches.  Scott is a Senior, while Gooden is a Junior.  Scott is a Communications Major while Gooden claims he can sell me a toothpick for twenty dollars using tricks he learned in his marketing classes.  The thing these two guys have in common is that they went to the same high school.  Taft High School is in the San Antonio area where both of these guys were standouts, and heavily recruited.  Now Penguins, and adapting to Winter as best they can, they also share the goal of making a statement on the field this season.

Jabari Scott

Jabari Scott was a standout running back while at Taft.  In his Senior season, Scott scored 33 TD’s and had 2493 total yards.  Last season as a YSU Penguin, he carried the ball 55 times and gained 403 yards, that is a 7.3 yards per carry average.  He missed the final four games last year with a leg injury.  “I had a quad injury that kept me out of the last four games last season.  It was very hard for me to move around.  I feel 100% now, I’m ready to go and get some action,” remarked Scott.

Scott was optimistic about the 2009 season saying, “Anything is possible.  I feel like we have a good, strong squad.  As Seniors, we are trying to lead, and I think we are gonna be real good this year”.

I asked Scott how involved he was in the recruiting of his high school teammate Gooden to which he stated, “I talked with the coaches and let them now that he was a pretty good player and that they should go after him”.

” I won’t lie to you, I still get homesick.  It gets too cold up here, I’m not used to all of this snow.  Back home it will go down to the thirties or forties, that’s the coldest it ever gets.  Here [Youngstown] was the first time I ever saw snow and I thought it was crazy”.

Scott said he really doesn’t have a favorite place to eat in this area, he would rather hit different spots.  He is a Communications Major and enjoys the classes that deal with his area of concentration. 

Jabari was recruited by some bigger Texas schools but opted to play at YSU.  “I was recruited bu SMU, Tulsa, a few other Division 1-AA schools as well.  I chose YSU because i had some falls in high school with grades, and YSU was my best choice [academically].  It’s tough to practice and go to classes during the season, you have to get the girls out of your mind and just focus on school and playing football”.

Scott referred to his position coach (Sam Eddy) as a nice guy and a good coach who has helped him progress into a better student-athlete.  He also praised the Dallas Cowboys as his favorite NFL team, but cited Warrick Dunn as his favorite player.  

Scott has all of the seasoning to be special this season.  He is healthy and happy and really thinks that this team can perform beyond expectations and surprise the doubters.  He was very serious with most of his answers, unlike his colleague, Nick Gooden, the other Texan in Youngstown.

Nick Gooden

Nick Gooden said Jabari Scott played a big role in his recruitment from Taft High School.  “He [Scott] came back home on a Thanksgiving or Christmas break and we were in the process of distributing tapes to different teams and I was like, Jabari, take this tape back to Coach Heacock and see what he says.  So he played a big role, he was kind of the middle man”.

Gooden, a Marketing Major, said his favorite class was English with Dr. Cook.

In 2008, Gooden did not see the field much.  2009 shows more opportunity and Gooden is doing all he can to prepare himself.  “I’m working hard and staying in the playbook.  I’m really trying to get a hold of everyone’s positions because that was my struggle last year”.

Gooden compared Youngstown to San Antonio.  “Back in San Antonio, we have a big Mexican population. so we would always eat alot of Mexican food at any occasion.  Up here [Youngstown], it’s like we eat spaghetti and Italian food for every occasion”.  Gooden also remarked that authentic Mexican food and Taco Bell are very different and that he does not frequent the fast food chain.  He also said he would choose David Robinson over LeBron James if he had to pick, staying loyal to his Southwestern upbringing.

When asked about the cold Winter months and snow, Gooden chuckled and said, “I got used to it a little last year.  My first year. I was down, no sun for five months.  It was kind of weird for me”.

When I was doing my Gooden research, I stumbled across his Facebook page, which said he absolutely loved Freeze Pops.  When I asked Gooden, he laughed hard and said he thinks he has some in his freezer right now and referred to himself as a ‘fiend’ of the frozen treats.

Gooden’s position coach is Mike Kolakowski, who he referred to as simply ‘Coach K’.  “He gets on me, but I need a coach like that.  He’s crazy though”.  ‘Coach K’ is prepping Gooden for the opener against Pitt, which Gooden is anxiously awaiting.  “I’m ready to play at Heinz Field.  I never played against Pitt before, only Ohio State, so I think this will be a good game and think we stand a good chance”.

In his spare time, Gooden said he is keen on studying the game Black Jack.  “I got the strategies, so when I can play legally someday, I think those strategies will work”.  He also spends spare time watching the History Channel.  If he could go to a zoo and bring home a pet, Gooden said, “I would bring home a lion.  I have got a lion tattooed on my arm and I feel like I am a lion sometimes, see the mane?”

Jabari Scott and Nick Gooden can really step up to make a difference for the YSU Football Penguins this season.  With the September 5 opener fast-approaching, the hard work they are putting in will hopefully pay off for both guys.  It doesn’t matter whether YSU has the ball, or is on defense, there is gonna be a guy from Texas making an impact either way.

I was very sad and disappointed to learn that Topps has acquired exclusive licensing of Major League Baseball cards.  The deal starts with the printing of the 2010 baseball cards.  Upper Deck, making cards since 1989, is the big loser in the deal.

Up until 1981, Topps was the only consistent manufacturer of licensed trading cards.  There were times before that when Fleer attempted to issue cards to compete, but Topps was so recognized and popular that all minor challenges were beaten back.  That all changed in 1981 when Fleer and Donruss both issued player cards for the 1981 baseball season.

Upper Deck got into the action in 1989.  Their cards featured a much thicker card stock, better photography, and the ‘premium’ tag.  In 1991 Topps countered by issuing Stadium Club, a set which featured borderless cards and premium Kodak technology (their logo was on the wrappers).

From there, things went nuts.  Every company producing cards started issuing a premium set, a mid-level set, and a low-end product designed for kids.  It seemed as though the hobby shifted from the collector to the investor overnight.

This ruined the hobby for many.  To get all of the cards of a player a person rooted for became next to impossible because companies stressed the scarcity of a card to appeal to the hobbyist only collecting to sell.  There were cards issued with serial numbers on the back.  You could get a card that said 1 of 1, meaning it was the only card created for that player.

Eventually, the competition got to be too much for Fleer and Donruss.  Upper Deck stayed around and is now being penalized for promoting the league.  Upper Deck is allowed to issue cards with the likeness of a player, but not allowed, under the new agreement, to use team logos and trademarks.  Basically, if Upper Deck continues to produce, the consumer will have a choice to buy pieces of what will look like someone’s Facebook page.

I hate the new deal.  Granted, the average collector could walk into any shop and have to decide between 25 different packs of cards to choose from, that was ridiculous.  But to hand Topps the keys to the kingdom while everyone else gets pushed into the moat makes no sense to me. 

The perception of collecting is also a problem right now.  A kid does not open a pack of baseball cards in hopes of finding his or her favorite player, but rather hoping to get lucky and pull a high dollar insert card.  It Topps wants to do the right thing with their new exclusive licensing, they will eliminate insert cards altogether and focus on the players instead of the gimmicks.

Topps has been quoted as saying that the move will help bring kids back into the collecting realm of the hobby.  News Flash to Topps *** The people who put cards in the spokes of their bikes in the 50’s owned a bike.  I seldom see a kid riding a bike, no less with his or her glove on the handlebar.

The 2009 Lowellville Rockets Football Team is getting ready to do battle this Fall.  Always small in quantity, Lowellville can boast about the quality of a team member, both on and off of the field.  Mike Palumbo has been the Head Coach at Lowellville for the past two seasons.  Going into his third year, Palumbo is still enjoying what he is doing and says he won’t go anywhere unless Joe Paterno steps down at Penn State and he is offered that job.  Chuckling, and knowing that probably won’t happen soon, he stated that he does not want to use Lowellville as a springboard to move to another school.

Palumbo, now 25, was hired at the age of 22.  “I think I was the youngest head coach in the country,” said Palumbo, “My first year here we had an issue with seven players getting caught doing something they shouldn’t have been doing.  It allowed the players to see that I would not tolerate those sorts of things and that I would enforce discipline when I had to.  The situation was hard to deal with, but it proved to people that I could handle that kind of thing.”

With seven or eight of this year’s players starting on both sides of the ball and playing special teams, Palumbo knows that an injury can be devastating.  There are people in place to step in if needed, but when you lose one of those eight guys, essentially you are losing four positions.  “If we stay healthy, we are going to surprise some people.  Our strength is our D line, even though we are young there.  We have two Sophomores who will rotate in”.

Palumbo says that the recent division of the Inter-County League into a Tier I and smaller school Tier II has its advantages as well as disadvantages.  ” I don’t like it because I would rather played teams like South Range and Springfield every year.  As a coach I would rather play better competition.  For example, Sebring has been down the last couple of seasons.  You blow them out and you don’t take away much from it as a team.  I would rather play close games against better teams.  There are teams in Tier II who are very good.  Wellsville, Western Reserve, and McDonald should all be good.  McDonald has something like 68 kids out for football.”

This years Rocket team will be led by skill position players.  Ryan Whinery (RB/OLB) is a playmaker that Palumbo thinks can do some damage with the ball in the open field.  Patrick Collins (QB/MLB) will be the quarterback and he will have three senior wide receivers to look for in Jimmy Perry, Pat Minnie, and Dennis Davis.  Evan Phillip, just a Sophomore, is one of the fastest players on the team and will be used on offense.  Tony Schialdone will be an impact-maker at safety and will also see time in the offensive backfield.  Bill Burrows (6’7″, 340), is the only big offensive lineman on the team.  “We have veteran skill-position guys who can make plays,” remarked Palumbo.

Palumbo likes his coaching staff and says that they know what to expect from each other.  Tom Collins will serve as defensive coordinator.  Collins has been a coach for Lowellville for 15+ seasons.  “Coach Collins is our motivator.  He is always positive and knows how to get the most out of the kids,” said Palumbo.  Bill Schiraldi, Andrew Mamula, Bill Wharry, and Brian Wharry, have been attached to Lowellville football as players and also as multiple-year coaches as well.  “We don’t get mad at each other if we argue about things.  We know that it isn’t personal and are friends at the end of the day.”

Lowellville starts out with Malvern, a team that went 13-1 last season, narrowly missing a State Championship bid.  They then host Tuscarawas C. C., a team with 18 Seniors.  Their final non-conference game is at Springfield, as the old rivalry is renewed.  None of the three non-conference games are against cupcakes, but Palumbo welcomes the challenge and says that these games will help this team gauge its capabilities before heading into league play.

Call me a homer,  but I am thrilled watching this guy coach.  He is only scratching the surface of what can be a long and healthy career of coaching.  Mike Palumbo is as bright and articulate as people double his age who still are trying to figure out secrets to success in this pressure-filled sport.  Surrounded by a good staff, and the support of family and friends, the sky is the limit.  Ohio is a high school football mecca and nothing comes easy.  I wish this year’s Rocket team and the entire coaching staff the very best of luck staying healthy and winning football games. 

You never know,  Penn State hired Paterno when he was young. 

2009 Lowellville Schedule

Aug. 28    Malvern

Sept. 4    Tuscarawas C.C.

Sept. 11   @Springfield

Sept. 18    McDonald

Sept. 25   @ Jackson-Milton

Oct. 2     @ Sebring

Oct. 9     Southern Local

Oct. 16   @ Leetonia

Oct. 23   Wellsville

Oct. 30   @ Western Reserve

*** All games are on Fridays and start at 7 PM.

The Kelly Pavlik vs Paul Williams fight originally scheduled for October 3 has been put on hold due to a staph infection on Pavlik’s left index finger.  The fight will be reschduled for November 21 and still be televised by HBO.  This hand injury dates back to February and has already prevented Pavlik from fighting against Sergio Mora in June.

Jack Loew told me that Kelly is not depressed, but rather relieved at the postponement, “We don’t want to go in there unprepared while nursing this injury.  Kelly is relieved that he will not be pressed into this fight without being prepared.”

Loew told me that when Pavlik ran through Mill Creek Park on Monday that his hand was wrapped.  When Pavlik finished his run, Loew had him remove the bandages so he could check the status of the infection.  “It was disgusting, not even a cut, but more like a hole in his finger,” Loew commented.

Loew stated in an interview with me in May that if Pavlik was less than 100% that he would not compete in a championship fight.  This belief is what the end feelings were in the Pavlik vs Bernard Hopkins fight, where Loew commented that “the writing was on the wall twice, and we chose to ignore it,” referring to Pavlik needing to get his arm drained and a bout with pneumonia in weeks close to the fight.

Pavlik is currently undergoing serious IV treatments.  “He is doing IV treatments twice a day every twelve hours to fix this.  The doctor said he should be ready to resume training in a few weeks and that it can be healed,” added Loew.

Paul Williams and his group knew nothing of the postponement and have yet to agree to the November 21 reschedule date.  Joe Scalzo, of the Youngstown Vindicator, quoted Dan Goosen (Williams’ promoter), “Obviously we are very surprised.  When I hear that date [November 21], I’d be very interested in one thing: Who’s he [Pavlik] going to fight?  We know nothing about it.”

It’s no wonder Brett Favre is always banged up…who does he think he is?  Hercules?  Anyway, it looks like Minnesota is probably going to have Favre in a purple outfit by the time the regular season starts.  Like sands through the hourglass.  Here are some great stories from other sites:

• MoonDog Sports tells all about the NCAA Football opening weekend which will be called ‘Respect Weekend’.  The teams are supposed to meet at midfield for pregame handshakes to promote sportsmanship.  They could really test this theory out during Rivalry Week to see if it works.
• Not Qualified To Comment previews Big-10 school Northwestern for the upcoming 2009 NCAA football season.
• Pippen Ain’t Easy takes a look at a time when the Chicago Bulls were a dominant NBA team.
• PSAMP says that the NFL will make money on gambling one way or another.
• Josh Q. Public does a nice profile on Aubrey Huff.
• NESW Sports has an EA Sports video of how Madden 2010 rates rookies Stafford and Sanchez.
• Hugging Harold Reynolds shows the page of the NFL website where you can buy licensed Eagle memorabilia for dogs.
• The Friendly Blogfines reports that Kevin Gregg is out as the Cubs closer after blowing his third save in two weeks against San Diego on Monday.
• Major League Jerk takes a look at the Carolina Panthers vs New York Giants preseason game with some in-depth observations, as well as that trademark MLJ humor.
• Outside The Boxscore tells us that Michael Irvin will be on Dancing With The Stars this season.
• Inside The Iggles says that Andy Reid will not run a ‘Wildcat’ offense, but rather a ‘Wild Stallyns’.  Personally I thought ‘Wilddog’ would have been the right fit for an offense run by Michael Vick.
• The World Of Isaac sarcastically applauds the Detroit Lions for winning a preseason game in front of 50 fans.

Warner Fusselle is not flashy or boastful about what he has had a chance to do in his life.  Fusselle hosted ‘This Week In Baseball’ after Mel Allen and had a weekly show on ESPN.  His current role as radio announcer for the Brooklyn Cyclones is tiring, but he enjoys it.  I recently had a chance to have a sit-down with this guy who has more good stories than Aesop.  Here were the highlights of our conversation.

Paneech:  Tell me how you got your break to start with ‘This Week In Baseball’.

WF: I was in Virginia broadcasting the Virginia Squires games and the ABA folded, so I needed to get in my car and get a job.  I started riding around with no idea where I was going.  I was going to apply for a job with the Washington Bullets, but the PR guy wasn’t there that day, so I got back in my car and drove toward Trenton, New Jersey.  I was at a place where there was a right lane that went one way and a left lane that went another.  I went right not knowing what awaited.  I was there about two weeks [New York] and I got a job for Major League Baseball Productions that was kind of starting this show called ‘This Week In Baseball’.  I was hired to work for $200 a week, and my first day was the blackout of July 13, 1977.  Everything in the world happened like it always does, bit it all worked out and that is how I got my start.

Paneech:  Do you still follow the majors or are you too wrapped up in the Brooklyn Cyclones job?

WF: I follow it but it’s hard.  We got here [Youngstown] two days ago and I couldn’t name one player on the team [Scrappers], tomorrow we have got an eight hour bus ride to Oneonta and right now I couldn’t name one player who plays for Oneonta.  You get there and you are playing these teams you have never seen before and you don’t have a roster so you really have to take time to concentrate on what is going on in this league [New York-Penn League].  I have a slight working knowledge of what is going on in the majors and when this is over I will pick up more on that.

Paneech:  Who was a better announcer, Harry Caray or Jack Buck?

WF: The St. Louis Cardinals were my team and I listened to those guys every night.  I loved Harry Caray, Jack Buck may have well been better, but Harry Caray had so much enthusiasm.  Caray was my guy and I loved listening to him and the St. Louis Cardinals on KMOX.

Paneech: Talk about your collection of records.

WF:  When I was growing up you would hear an ad on the radio for a St. Louis Cardinals record that you could get by sending a dollar to KMOX.  I Have a Cleveland Indians record from 1949 or 1950, which is one of the earliest highlight records.  So it didn’t start out a record collection, I was just a baseball fan.  When I got to New York. I met a guy who had all sorts of baseball songs and I got interested in that and things got out of hand somewhere and I had actually been put in charge of putting together a couple of collections of baseball songs on Rhino Records that are still available, they were very successful.  Today, my collection is mostly rock and roll, but I’ve got a little bit of everything.  If you were to come to my house, I’m sure I would have something that you like.

Paneech:  If the Phillies called and said “we need an announcer”, would you go?

WF: It depends on who called and what kind of tryout they wanted.  If somebody wanted me to do something, and I wasn’t one of ten different announcers and I didn’t do just cable or I didn’t do just TV, you know, radio is so much more important to me, I would go anywhere.  Right now I’m here because I am in New York, and this is where the Brooklyn Cyclones are.  The rich heritage of the Brooklyn Dodgers, and of Brooklyn and baseball, it’s an honor to know right now that I am the voice of baseball in Brooklyn.  I knew Red Barber, I interviewed him on ESPN for ‘Major League Baseball Magazine’.  I didn’t know anybody in Brooklyn, I was just lucky that I got the job.

Paneech:  I heard a story about you meeting Dizzy Dean, tell me about that meeting.

WF:  I was working for the Phillies team, the Spartanburg Phillies.  We were in South Carolina for a game.  I read in the newspaper there that Dizzy Dean would be nearby and that he was going to be speaking at a banquet.  So I said, ‘this is great, I was a St. Louis Cardinals fan, and Dizzy Dean was going to be there’, I was not a big fan of his as an announcer because I wanted everything to be done properly.  I went down there and they said that Dizzy Dean was going to come in and work an inning with me, and I said, “Oh really?”, so I met him and asked him to come over, he was with all of the Falstaff people who were promoting Falstaff at the banquet.  He was kind of reluctant, but he came over, he was there for an inning and didn’t want to leave.  The Falstaff people had to drag him off, but he told some of the greatest stories.  Somebody from the wire services came in and took a color picture of both of us, which I still have today.  Then I was going to get him to autograph it a few weeks later by sending it to his hometown in Mississippi, and he died a few days before I could do that.  That was one of the greatest experiences I had.  It was a thrill and came out of nowhere.

Paneech:  Talk about steroids and today’s game, does it bother you?

WF:  It does, but you hear so much about it everyday, that you kind of get numb to it.  I don’t like it, but I am so busy with what I am doing that I don’t get caught up with it.  I hope it ends, but the next day something else trickles out. 

One Word Answers with Warner Fusselle

Favorite Meal?  Whichever one I can find the time to eat, usually my only meal.

Favorite Musician or Group?  Bruce Springsteen, Elvis, and Pink Floyd.

Favorite Current MLB Player?  Albert Pujols, I like guys who wear their socks right.

Tears For Fears or Kiss?   Tears For Fears, definitely.

Favorite TV Show?  For a guy that doesn’t have a TV, I would have to think about it.

Favorite Food?  Barbecue, Fried Chicken, Bagels, Pizza.

Favorite College Football Team?  Wake Forest Demon Deacons.

Favorite Non-Sports Activity?  I don’t know of any, sleep I guess.

One Word To Describe Pro Boxing?  ‘Not interested’ is two words.

I Have To Move Up or I’m Happy Here?  I don’t have to do anything.  I would be happier if it wouldn’t rain every game in Brooklyn.  I have to build a fortess to survive because it rains every game in Brooklyn.  That’s why I love the road, it is beautiful here and it will not rain!

Fusselle also joked when I asked him if he was Italian.  He said yeah, and then he said on Latino Heritage night he is Fusselleis, and on Irish Day is Fusselligan, so if I wanted him to be Italian I can call him Fusselli.

Kurt Angle, the TNA World Heavyweight Champion, was arrested on charges of possessing a human growth hormone and for violating an order to stay away from his girlfriend.  The arrest took place on Saturday at 7:50 AM in a Robinson Township parking lot.  The reports say Angle was circling the parking lot and staring into a coffee shop where his girlfriend happened to be.

Angle and his girlfriend were fighting Friday night, forcing the woman to seek an order of protection.

Hygetropin was the substance police found in Angle’s car.  Angle told the officer that he had obtained the human growth hormone through legal perscription.  As far as circling the coffee shop like a buzzard, Angle said he was out looking for a hotel room because he was banned from entering his house.

Angle, 40, posted bail and will be in court Tuesday and Wednesday to answer the drug charges and the harrassment charges the next day.  He was officially charged with violating a protection order, harassment, possession of drugs and paraphenalia, and driving with a suspended license.

Angle is the current TNA champion.  He is also a two-time NCAA Division-I wrestling champion who represented Clarion.  Angle garnered most of his success as an amateur by winning an Olympic gold medal in 1996 in Atlanta.  He has been a pro wrestler since 1998.

Saturday night’s NFL Preseason opener looked like a 2008 Cleveland Browns highlight reel.  The game against Green Bay featured all of the elements that Browns fans have been getting used to lately.  The two quarterbacks competing for the starting job (Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson, pictured above) were outplayed by Brett Ratliff.  Ratliff will probably be the scrub squad quarterback on the practice team. 

Brady Quinn looked better than Anderson.  Anderson only attempted two throws (neither completions) in his two series.  Quinn drove the Browns down the field before half with four straight completions, only to be *FLASHBACK* intercepted by Anthony Smith.  Before the interception, Braylon Edwards dropped a would-be touchdown *FLASHBACK* and finished the game (one half) with zero receptions. 

Eric Mangini was not pleased at all by much of anything he saw.  Neither were the Browns fans who had to listen to Bernie Kosar do color commentary.  Nothing clicked.  Aaron Rodgers looked decent, but didn’t do anything remarkable for Green Bay.  Rodgers ended up with 102 yards and a TD on 5-10 passing.

The Browns defense gave up 100 yards rushing and 100 yards receiving in a half *FLASHBACK*, they too are in midseason form showing off an array of stupid penalties, missed tackles, and blown coverages. 

If first impressions really do mean anything, we have learned that the Browns haven’t learned much regardless of who is coaching.  We have also learned that Quinn and Anderson either do not have much to work with, or are both not as good as people think.

It’s like watching the Muppet Show.  Everyone knows Kermit The Frog is the star of the show.  Unfortunately, Cleveland is trying to assume that Ernie and Bert (Quinn and Anderson) are every bit as good as Kermit, and unfortunately, they are not.  Cleveland does not have a Kermit The Frog to lead the show, not on this years roster.   Gonna be a long year in Cleveland.  Start the Tim Tebow draft campaign now and get a jump.