Checking in

Hey, FCF readers, I've been on the road and haven't been contributing a lot to the old blog here. On the other hand, the sports teams we cover here haven't been contributing a lot to my general well-being, so I guess we're even. A few thoughts:


Ohio St.
The Ohio State Buckeyes would like to welcome the Troy Trojans to Ohio Stadium this Saturday!

When was the last time you can remember a football team playing two consecutive teams with the same mascot? How about that? Michigan is 1-2! Michigan sucks! Can you tell I'm trying to avoid talking about something? Let's move along!


Browns
Next up: the Ravens!


Indians
No, no, I can't shirk all of my football duties just because we had a pretty rough weekend here in the Buckeye State. Go back.


Browns
Eager to cap off the worst football weekend since the last time Michigan beat OSU (the Browns also lost to Pittsburgh that weekend with this writer in attendance), the Browns came out and promptly lost their 58th straight game to the Steelers. Ugh. The only good part about this game was the karaoke performance of "Alive" I executed in Bigalke's bar in Milwaukee, WI while still seated and watching the game. I was stuck in Brew City overnight thanks to the windy conditions in Cleveland (you may have seen this on TV).

There's little to say about that game that's any different from what I said last weekend. In fact, I should start a column devoted to a bad FG decision coach Crennel makes each game. This one wasn't quite as egregious as the one from the first game, as one can at least construct a plausible win scenario from the 10-6 deficit with 4 minutes remaining, but it's still weak game management. The main problem I had was how the Browns weren't really treating it as a four-down situation with their offensive approach, and even seemed a little surprised when faced with a 4th-and-7 situation. Again, I'm puzzled at how the coaching staff's focus doesn't seem to be on endgame-winning strategy, week in and week out.

And Braylon Edwards can't catch the ball.


Indians
A split with Baltimore and losing 3-of-4 to Kansas City doesn't lend itself to a whole lot of analysis, and behind as I am in other areas of life and writing, forget about it.

The only real question is: will I go to an alumni event at the local bowling alley/bar, or will I head down to see Cliff Lee try for his improbable 23rd win? Bear in mind that I attended Carnegie Mellon University and that this event will thus consist entirely of men.


Cavaliers
3 years, $13 million for Delonte West seems pretty reasonable to me. We have TWO point guards now! TWO!


New Philadelphia Quakers
Hey, why not finish on a high note? A 54-0 win over Claymont, improving the club to 4-0 on the campaign, sounds like a fun night at the old stadium to me. I think we won 4 games in my last two years of high school combined. Dover, meanwhile, is a pedestrian 3-1 on the year, and is still made up of a bunch of people who have to live in Dover.