Prove Me Wrong

[diminishingskills]

OK gang ... I want somebody to convince me that the 2007 season isn't gonna follow the Official Browns 2.0 Script (TM). You know, the script that goes like this:

* Mid July: Training camp starts; optimism is at an all-time high, as every player on the roster has improved since last December;

* Early August: By now, a key player has suffered a season-ending injury. The flukier, the better ("he was just standing there when the Gatorade cooler fell on his ankle! Oh, the humanity!"). Optimism still reigns, as fans are convinced that Key Player's backup was primed for a breakout season anyway;

* Mid-September: Optimism reaches all-time highs (we're talking the kind of thoughts that you normally need "special" mushrooms to achieve) when the Browns win their first game. Articles with titles like "Browns In The Super Bowl: Believe It!" start to appear on fan sites (and even the occasional mainstream media outlet).

* October: Reality sets in as the Browns go on a multi-game losing streak. By the end of the month, the standings look something like this:

TEAM W - L
Baltimore A gazillion - 1
Pittsburgh Twenty-teen jillion - 1
Cincinnati .500, but leading league in number of players arrested
* * *
Cleveland 1 - A lot. Already mathematically eliminated from playoffs.

* November/December: Focus of rooting shifts from "hopefully the Browns will win" to "hopefully the Browns will lose and get a higher pick in next year's draft". Key Player has a second surgery (a staph infection transfusion); the surgery results in Key Player withering away to 118 pounds.

* January - July: Slowly increasing optimism leading to the next season's training camp, when it's time to lather/rinse/repeat.

Am I wrong? Did I miss anything? Any reason to be optimistic this year?

[pup]

Here is what I would tell you, or anyone else that wants to listen. These are sources for OPTIMISM, not promises.

The Cleveland Browns have been the WORST blocking team in hte NFL since they came back. Pass protection, run blocking it doesn't matter they sucked at it. It just so happens that I think there is no more important aspect of a football team, besides maybe tackling. Those are the two things you are taught day 1 in midget ball. When you are the worst at it, at any level you are in trouble. When it is the highest level it becomes big trouble. For all the ineptitude, there is no single cause that has played a bigger role than the o-line. Nothing can happen without them.

Forward to TC, 2007:

Joe Thomas
Eric Steinbach
Ace Fraley / LCB (pipedream, but you wanted optimism)
Mother Tucker / Seth McKinney
Kevin Shafer

Is that 5 All Pros? No.

Is it head and shoulders above any other o-line we have had? Shit yes.

As for injuries, I got nothing. The coin flip changed the Karma for the entire city, so maybe it took all the terrible injuries with it.

[BadBecks]

You forgot one big difference to the you final point above this year...

Dallas owns our #1 draft pick. So if we do end up having another 5-11 season, we'll be stuck watching Jerry Jones draft Darren McFadden while we are all crying at Panini's because our draft party is ruined for 2008.

[pup]

You forgot one big difference to the you final point above this year...

Dallas owns our #1 draft pick. So if we do end up having another 5-11 season, we'll be stuck watching Jerry Jones draft Darren McFadden while we are all crying at Panini's because our draft party is ruined for 2008.

Should be the least of our worries. Even at 5-11, McFadden will be gone. Which would just lead us to spend 5 months arguing between Brohm and RB #2

[psk678]

OK gang ... I want somebody to convince me that the 2007 season isn't gonna follow the Official Browns 2.0 Script (TM). You know, the script that goes like this:

* Mid July: Training camp starts; optimism is at an all-time high, as every player on the roster has improved since last December;

* Early August: By now, a key player has suffered a season-ending injury. The flukier, the better ("he was just standing there when the Gatorade cooler fell on his ankle! Oh, the humanity!"). Optimism still reigns, as fans are convinced that Key Player's backup was primed for a breakout season anyway;

* Mid-September: Optimism reaches all-time highs (we're talking the kind of thoughts that you normally need "special" mushrooms to achieve) when the Browns win their first game. Articles with titles like "Browns In The Super Bowl: Believe It!" start to appear on fan sites (and even the occasional mainstream media outlet).

* October: Reality sets in as the Browns go on a multi-game losing streak. By the end of the month, the standings look something like this:

TEAM W - L
Baltimore A gazillion - 1
Pittsburgh Twenty-teen jillion - 1
Cincinnati .500, but leading league in number of players arrested
* * *
Cleveland 1 - A lot. Already mathematically eliminated from playoffs.

* November/December: Focus of rooting shifts from "hopefully the Browns will win" to "hopefully the Browns will lose and get a higher pick in next year's draft". Key Player has a second surgery (a staph infection transfusion); the surgery results in Key Player withering away to 118 pounds.

* January - July: Slowly increasing optimism leading to the next season's training camp, when it's time to lather/rinse/repeat.

Am I wrong? Did I miss anything? Any reason to be optimistic this year?

Jesus, Debbie Downer, I know you're trying to think realistically, but god damn.

You're right about all of those situations (minus the Mid-September Super-Bowl aspirations that we never have). But as a fan, especially a Browns fan, you take any positive acquisitions/transactions/luck that comes your way.

If you took the mindset you have, you have no reason to be a Browns fan.

And you'll probably say, "you're stupid, you're just building yourself up for a letdown". Hope is all we have as Browns fans, as this year, hope is at an all time high.

So you might be right and Brady Quinn might slice his jugular while getting his hair cut, or Joe Thomas might get maimed by a man-eating Lake Erie Perch, or some other outlandish, freak type injury.

But until then, I'm going to keep an optimistic look on this years season.

[papacass]

You forgot one big difference to the you final point above this year...

Dallas owns our #1 draft pick. So if we do end up having another 5-11 season, we'll be stuck watching Jerry Jones draft Darren McFadden while we are all crying at Panini's because our draft party is ruined for 2008.

Should be the least of our worries. Even at 5-11, McFadden will be gone. Which would just lead us to spend 5 months arguing between Brohm and RB #2

At 5-11, I'm not so concerned about losing the pick. At least it was traded for the rights to a first-rounder in this year's draft and not Jiri Welsch.

However, if the Browns go 2-14 because they started the season 0-5, Crennel got fired, and November and December became one giant rookie tryout, I will be stressing as I watch Dallas pick #1 or #2 next spring.

[pup]

You forgot one big difference to the you final point above this year...

Dallas owns our #1 draft pick. So if we do end up having another 5-11 season, we'll be stuck watching Jerry Jones draft Darren McFadden while we are all crying at Panini's because our draft party is ruined for 2008.

Should be the least of our worries. Even at 5-11, McFadden will be gone. Which would just lead us to spend 5 months arguing between Brohm and RB #2

At 5-11, I'm not so concerned about losing the pick. At least it was traded for the rights to a first-rounder in this year's draft and not Jiri Welsch.

However, if the Browns go 2-14 because they started the season 0-5, Crennel got fired, and November and December became one giant rookie tryout, I will be stressing as I watch Dallas pick #1 or #2 next spring.

That is pretty much what I meant Papa.

That pick will not be 1 or 2.