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A PERSONAL NOTE
No, I'm not upset that the Browns lost to yellow towel twirling things today. Likewise, I'm not upset that I was handed a beer today that turned out to be raspberry flavored. IT. DOESN'T. BUG. ME. AT. ALL. Everything's fine. Everything is just friggin' nifty. Thanks for asking. EVERYTHING. IS. GREAT.
GAMEBALLS AND POLLS
The OBR has its regular Gameballs and Goats feature back tonight after some webdork screwed up and didn't post last week. He has been beaten severely, which is only just and proper. We used the stronger 2x4s this time, with a couple of nails sticking out for emphasis. He just didn't seem to get the message when we used the balsa wood planks. You need to be firm.
Anyhow, click here to praise and abuse those responsible, as appropriate.
WKYC is asking fans who to blame for Sunday's loss to the Steelers. You can vote by clicking here.
BROWNS-STEELERS POST-MORTEMS
Time to open up the game's defunct body, which is now picking up a bit of an odor, and perform the autopsy. Let's just hope we never see the second half jump up off the operating table, ask for brains, and lurch around our football fields ever again.
There will be a lot more of these in tomorrow morning's newswire.
TheOBR Associated Press Sports Network Official Site Yahoo Sports ESPN
RAC GETS BLASTED FOR CLOCK MANAGEMENT
This is where being a head coach sucks. Sure, you generally can ride in first class, the pay is good, and you get free donuts. Lots of them, in some cases. If you screw up, though, you suddenly find yourself getting beaned by every available loose object which can be easily hurled.
Such is the doom that Romeo Crennel faces this evening. Crennel was responsible for what appears to have been a truly jaw-dropping moment of poor clock management, as he blew two critical timeouts around a Heath Miller reception (which didn't seem likely to be overturned).
There are some people less than happy with him and he's already getting it this evening. Here are some of the takes:
Romeo Breaks Browns' Hearts with Idiotic Brain Cramp - CBS Sports (Discuss)
Is It Time to Bid Farewell to Crennel? - Halftime Adjustments
Do the Right Thing - Vinny and the Hornless Rhino
Romeo Will Be Fired at the End of the Season - OhioBuckeye73 (Cooler)
FROM THE BLOGOSPHERE
Browns fans are a mixture of pleased with the team's progress and incensed about losing to the... the... them. Here are the early blog returns.
Steelers Barely Beat Browns - The Big Lead
After the Steelers Game - Mark Leonard
Thoughts on the Game - T-Dog (Discuss)
Horse Balls Dropped - Kissing Suzy Kolber
The More Things Change - Bitterfans
Steelers 31, Browns 28 - Cleveland Sports Blog
A Few Observations on the Game - Gameface64 (Discuss)
Our ol' bovine pal, Moohead, has a take as well, which we'll just embed here:
FROM THE EMAIL IN-BOX
I got another email from "John", whose "Chronology of Disaster" was featured in whatever it was before I started calling this News-o-rama. His thoughts tie pretty closely to what I suspect a lot of Browns fans are thinking tonight.
I have purposely waited to e-mail you until the second Steelers' game was completed. I have been on an emotional high at 5-3!!!
But this is what this team does to us.... gives us hope and when everything is at stake, the dagger goes into your heart. Add this game to the dozens of times our team has led us to believe it might just happen: we might actually beat Pittsburgh at their house. You and I and thousands of us really knew it was only a dream and when we awakened we looked at the scoreboard and as always, we came up short.
The cast of characters changes over the decades, players who have had success in college or with other NFL teams, come to Cleveland and that success now becomes elusive.
Yes it has spread to the Indians and Cavs but the Browns are easily the mother of all victims, so snakebit that no amount of talent can overcome it.
That being said...next Sunday I will do what I have done for 50 years, don my Brown and Orange gear (I get a lot of looks in Green Bay Packer country) and root for a victory because I somehow still believe it can happen in my lifetime. I don't know any other way to get through an NFL season.
Thanks for putting my "Chronology of Disaster" on your blog.
Keep the faith.
I will definitely keep the faith, because I know our day will come, and it may not be that far away. We have three professional teams that are knocking on the door, and one day all the breaks will just go our way.
There are no curses. There is no inevitable doom for Cleveland sports franchises. Our day will come.
And, of course, none of us have other options. We're in this until they slam us in the ground.