A couple of things struck me recently regarding how bad things are in 2009 for the Cleveland Browns and their fans.
Anyone who has watched a game this season knows just how bad the team is, but a few things have happened this week that go beyond the offensive offensive numbers (repetition intended) and the record to truly illustrate what a putrid season this has become.
First off, there may be no bigger indictment of the sorry state of the Browns than this: the Detroit Lions, a team that went 0-16 a year ago and has won only one game this year, is a 3.5 point favorite over the Browns this weekend.
But wait…there’s more.
Entering Week 11, which begins the stretch playoff run for any team worth half a crap, the biggest story involving the Cleveland Browns doesn’t even involve anyone on their own team. It revolves around whether a basketball player would make a good football player.
Even more amazing, it’s not just fans talking about it, but Browns players and coaches are addressing the issue as well. (Our friends at Waiting For Next Year also noted just how terrible of a sign this is for the Browns.)
When you’ve scored five touchdowns in 15 games, I guess you can’t really blame these guys for practicing a little bit of escapism. Plus, does anyone really doubt that LeBron James could throw on some pads and cleats tomorrow and become the biggest threat on the Browns’ offense?
Don’t get me wrong: as great as LeBron’s athletic ability is, that is much more of an indictment of the Browns than any faith I have in his football ability.
Cleveland fans should be careful though. They may be jinxing their King by mentioning him in the same sentence as the Browns. Is it a coincidence that on the same day all of this Lebron-on-the-Browns talk escalated that the Cavs lost to the Wizards and LeBron hurt his wrist?
Maybe…maybe not.
But perhaps nothing though sums up the 2009 Cleveland Browns season more than what happened at the end of the Browns-Ravens Monday Night game earlier this week.
The Browns called a timeout before their final play of the game, presumably to try something, anything, in a desperation move to avoid a shutout. On the ensuing play, the Browns’ only productive offensive player – Josh Cribbs – was injured while running around and lateraling the football. He had to be placed on a stretcher and taken to the hospital.
The problem is that it was the Browns fourth timeout of the second half. As we all know, teams only get three timeouts per half. And, of course, the Browns did not score on the play en route to a 16-0 home shutout loss.
The moral of the story? Even when fortune seemingly smiles down upon the Browns and throws them a bone (so to speak), it turns into a complete and utter disaster.
And that, ladies and gentleman, should be the name for the official Browns 2009 Season in Review DVD.
Complete and Utter Disaster.
It is the most apt description possible for a season that continues to just get worse and worse…and worse.
Oh, and if you think I’m just plaintively wallowing in woe-is-me nonsense all by my lonesome, do a quick Google Image search for “browns fans” and then examine the first page. There is nothing but Browns fans looking miserable (except for the strange picture of the lady dressed up as the Browns’ elf).
I guess seasons like this are what you sign up for when you become a Browns fan. But even by the Browns’ lofty standards, what has transpired this year has been pathetic.
Thanks for reading. I’m going to back to doing what Randy Lerner is probably doing right now: daydreaming.
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* – Browns fan photo credit: Tracy Boulian via the The Plain Dealer
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