Is there any such thing as an awful win?

If such a thing does exist,then the Cleveland Browns own one as the Browns won their first game of the season in one of the more boring and poorly played games that I have seen in a while defeating the Cincinnati Bengals 20-12 by the Ohio River.
The Browns scored three points on their first drive and would not score again until a 17 point fourth quarter that was highlighted by a good catch and worse showboat maneuver by Braylon Edwards for the touchdown that took the lead for Cleveland.....
As always,we have a few thoughts on the win....

Shawn's Thoughts

1) Braylon Edwards salvaged yet another bad outing with his one handed TD grab for about three seconds before pissing all over it with a guitar playing celebration that was not only bad and tasteless (Pete Townsend,he isnt),but was somehow not found to have exceeded celebration rules.
Sorry,Braylon,but three catches for 22 yards is far for top notch material and your first TD should have been celebrated by handing the ball to the ref,which is something noted hot dog Chad Johnson did on his score.
Imagine losing a battle of class with Chad Johnson...........
My mind is reeling....

2) Another player that we criticize often,Kamerion Wimbley, did make two plays in the contest,as he had his first sack of the season and forced a fumble by the Bengals Chris Perry that was recovered by Cleveland and led to a Jamal Lewis TD run.
Long way to go,but a decent game....

3) The secondary played pretty well,but please remember it was Ryan Fitzpatrick at the controls not Carson Palmer.
Mike Adams intercepted a pass and recovered the fumble forced by Wimbley,Eric Wright picked one off,but handed it right back to the Bengals by fumbling and Terry Cousin grabbed the pass that ended any comeback hopes for the Southern Ohioans.

4) The Browns did get Jerome Harrison on the field more often in the game.
His numbers weren't overwhelming (4 carries 20 yards and 1 catch for 5 yds),but still he adds a dimension that neither Jamal Lewis or Jason Wright have to the lineup.

5) My dislike for Brady Quinn is well known,but Derek Anderson seemed to have no chance of being taken from the game by Romeo Crennel.
If he wasn't pulled after a bad interception in the third quarter,then he had nothing to worry about.

6) Since Crennel had no intention of using Quinn,why the grand pronouncement of being "on notice"?
And did he do Anderson any favors with the statement?

7) Anderson did make one very good throw on a bullet to Syndric Steptoe and put the ball on a line where only Steptoe could catch it.

8) That was countered by a low throw to Steve Heiden on a 4th and one that could have been a huge gain for the wide open tight end

9) I really liked the Browns commitment to the run early as the Browns never threw a pass on the first drive and slammed the ball right at the Bengals.
The problem was that thereafter,the Browns got away from the run for more of a mix and as a result would not score until the 4th period.
The run was the key to this game and the Browns were on their way with a smart game plan until the second possession.

10) Rookie Alex Hall continues to show glimpses of being the possible pass rush threat at linebacker that Wimbley was heralded to be.
It was his hit on Fitzpatrick that forced a fumble that the Browns recovered to end the final Bengal chance of the game.
It was the only play that Hall made and he certainly is a project in the making,but enough is there to keep you wanting more.

Bonus: It is going to take a lot more than this to beat the Giants two weeks from tonight.
Wins all count the same,but this looks like a contest between two pretty bad football teams...


The Pirates finished a bad season that looks to be better than anything that is coming in 2009 with a 6-1 win over the Padres.
The Pirates finish with a 67-95 record on the year.
Tyler Yates was the winner to improve to 6-3,while Adam LaRoche (25) and Steve "Bam Bam" Pearce (4) homered for the Pirates.

The Pirates fired pitching coach Jeff Andrews and first base coach Lou Frazier,after it looked like all the coaches on John Russell's staff were safe for 2009.
Andrews was reputed to be a tremendous coach,but other than an improvement from Paul Maholm,I didn't really see it.
The death knell for Andrews was the horrible years by Ian Snell and Tom Gorzelanny,much like the downturn in Zach Duke's career meant a bus ticket out of town for Jim Colborn.
When you are relying on young pitching like the Pirates have in the last few years and it fails-someone has to be the fall guy and usually it is the pitching coach.

No thoughts on the game.I am working on a roundtable of questions for Wilbur Miller and I and if all falls right,it could go up as an hiatus offering.....

Bullpen Notes

The happiest people around (other than Milwaukee and their fans) about the Brewers making the playoffs are the Cleveland Indians.
Why so?
The player to be named later as the final player in the C.C. Sabathia will be one off a four player list.
If the Brewers made the playoffs,Cleveland would be allowed to select the player,if the Brewers had not,they would be the selectors....

Since baseball season is now over,you may notice that the "Schmap" to your right is now for the New Jersey Devils.
The Pirates 2008 schmap is still here,just at the bottom of the page.

Photo Credits
Lewis and Hall:Joshua Gunter-Cleveland Plain Dealer
Pearce:Don Boomer-AP Photo