Posts tagged cleveland

Progressive Field in Cleveland?

By on January 11, 2008

I know we live in modern times, but why on earth do we need a corporate name on our beloved Jake?  It appears that the Indians have sold the naming rights to their 40,000 + seat stadium to the ginormous insurance company based out of Mayfield-Village Ohio.  I understand why this makes sense, especially in the Cleveland market where revenue streams that can be had should be had whenever possible, but it doesn’t mean I have to love it.

Come to think of it, the renaming of the Cavaliers’ basketball arena from Gund Arena to Quicken Loans Arena has worked out pretty well.  The whole Gund Arena thing seemed like a decent idea until you had people slurring the words together.  Gund Arena.  GunnArena.  Gonorrhea.  Ew.  And trust me when I tell you that I heard that joke before, so there is no need to say it again now that the Cavs’ arena has the tidy little nickname, “The Q.”

So what in the world are we going to call the field formerly know as Jacobs’ for short?  Is it going to be the Prog?  Are we going to have the phaser sounds and the opening drum beats of Rush’s “Tom Sawyer” greeting every entrant to the new Prog field?  (Get it?  Prog music at Prog Field?)

Are we going to change the word Field to Park so that we have the alliteration of Progressive Park instead of the slightly awkward Progressive Field?

I don’t know how many people outside of the Cleveland area know about Peter B. Lewis, Chairman of the Board and former CEO of Progressive Insurance, but he is something of a corporate maverick.  He donated $3,000,000 to the Marijuana Policy Project in 2007.  Can we somehow create a special section in the Prog where fans can light up doobs to their hearts’ content?

Anyway, I hope the Indians got a lot of money for the naming rights so they can go out and sign a couple free agents or make a trade for someone with a larger salary.  I am not panicking because the Indians have a lot of talented players coming back, but it is a little bit offputting that they haven’t made a single move of note this off-season.  If revenue was an issue, hopefully the Progressive money will throw the Indians over the top.

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Cleveland Sports Curse Podcast 2008-01-05

By on January 5, 2008

This is the first podcast of 2008.  There were three participants today.  Wood from WKNR2, Antonio Castro and yours truly did about a half hour today on the Browns, Cavaliers and looking ahead to the BCS National Championship on Monday night between Ohio State and LSU down in Louisiana.

This is our last show before we go live next Saturday.  That show will be available for streaming on the web and you can call in and contribute if the feeling strikes you.  I will be sure to post more info on that later this week.

For now, check out this show.

Cleveland Sports Curse Podcast 2008-01-05 [ 0:01 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
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Chudzinski on Ravens’ Radar

By on January 4, 2008

Word has it that the Baltimore Ravens are going to interview breakout offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski for their recently vacated head coaching position.  Let me get this straight.  The Browns might have to pay the price of success in having a coordinator poached, while technically as an outsider looking in with a 10-6 record they didn’t get to feel any of that supposed success?  Sounds like just another day in the life of Cleveland Browns fans.

While everyone else has been crowning Romeo Crennel for his newfound genius in coaching, there are a lot of us who see that the only real differences between this season and last are the offensive linemen and new offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski.  One of Romeo’s biggest mistakes as a head coach was sticking by the woeful Maurice Carthon who reportedly had his offensive line schemes pass-blocking on EVERY SINGLE DOWN INCLUDING RUNNING PLAYS.  I have beaten all this stuff into the ground before.

The point is that it is my suspicion that Chudzinski had more to do with the Browns much improved record this year than probably anything else that happened in the organization.  This includes any kind of supposed coaching epiphany that Romeo Crennel could have had that took him from being the world’s biggest goat in 2006 to everyone thinking he is the coach of the year the following season.  I think it had to be Chud.  He did a great job of highlighting the talented players on the squad.  Evidence of this can be seen with three players – Kellen Winslow, Braylon Edwards, and Jamal Lewis – who all went over 1000 yards in production this season.

To think that the Browns could lose Chud after a single season to a division rival AFTER missing the playoffs by mere inches is disgusting.  At least when the Pats lost their coordinators they had some success in the bank first.  In the Browns’ case, they might lose their new superstar coordinator without even a trip to the playoffs to show for it.

Needless to say, I and many other Browns fans are hoping that Chud comes back to Cleveland for at least one more year.  I would like to see him earn his first head coaching job with a little bit of success in Cleveland first, and I think he is a guy who is capable of helping the Browns be successful.  If he left now, it would be way too soon.

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Trust Phil Savage When It Comes to Derek Anderson

By on January 2, 2008

As we move into the off-season here in Cleveland Browns land, there is going to be a whole lot of debate about what the Browns should do regarding their breakout QB Derek Anderson. Should the Browns trade him? Should the Browns give him a qualifying offer and let him leave in exchange for future first and third round picks? Should the Browns put the franchise tag on him? Should the Browns sign him to a rich long-term deal?

There is no way to know for sure as a fan, what the Browns should do. That’s why I think this one should come down to whether you trust Phil Savage or not.

If you do, you should just leave it up to him. Nobody in the world other than Derek Anderson’s father knows DA better than Phil Savage. Savage did all the home work on him from the start when he made his way to Baltimore. Savage was the one who claimed him off of waivers when the Ravens tried to sneak him onto their practice squad to free up a roster spot. Savage was the one who pulled the trigger on trading Charlie Frye after one game, paving the way for DA to get his shot this year.

So trust in Savage to know what the proper gamble is on his future success. DA had a nice first season and the Browns will definitely make a qualifying offer so that they will be compensated if another team comes in and offers him a contract. Now, depending on how rich that contract is, I expect Savage to make the decision whether to keep DA, or let him leave and give Brady Quinn a shot.

At this point, as a fan, I guess I would prefer to see both DA and Brady Quinn on the roster when they start training camp next summer, but if the cost becomes to prohibitive, I expect that the Browns will benefit no matter what. Either they get DA to play QB at a high level in Cleveland, or they get some other team’s first and third round picks, or if they trade him they are selling the Derek Anderson stock at a pretty high point.

There really isn’t anything wrong with any of the three scenarios. These are all good problems to have and I expect Phil Savage to make the right choices in solving them.

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