Uh, sorry Homer. I didn't mean YOU.
Okay, at the risk of this totally turning into a Browns 24/7 blog.....
Today I saw an article on ClevelandBrowns.com. Our coach, Romeo Crennel was at one of the many luncheons that head football coaches go to during the offseason. He took some time to answer questions, of course. Now, allow me to cut and paste a section of the article (written by Steve King of ClevelandBrowns.com):
Why the Browns don't draft more Ohio State players.
"We're very aware of the talent level at Ohio State, but we can't take all the players available in the draft. It all depends on how our board is stacked, and when it gets to our turn, we've got to determine what player offers the most value for the Cleveland Browns."
Simple enough, huh? How many times, OSU/Browns homer, do we have to discuss it? I wish I could've been there. I wouldn't have been QUITE as diplomatic. Here's MY response:
"Shut your fucking mouth. You don't build a winning football team by only drafting your little heroes, you stupid asshole. Remember Butch Davis? Wasn't too successful by only drafting guys he coached and recruited when he was at the University of Miami, was he? Yet when it comes to the Browns, all you want are your OSU players. Grow up. Quit sniveling for guys who grew up in Cleveland or guys who went to Ohio State. When you draft players, you draft the best ones. Period. Now, may I come down and beat the provincial fuck out of you, or would you prefer that I give you time for one last masturbation session with your picture of Troy Smith?"
Here's another example. In the 2004 draft--Phil Savage's first with the Browns--he selected Brodney Pool out of Oklahoma. Brodney's a starting safety for the Browns and is turning out to be a great pick. He was selected in the second round, and will turn out to be an absolute steal.
After the draft, Phil held a news conference where he took calls from the fans. I listened to it over the internet. So one fuckass calls in and is pissed. He wants to know why Savage didn't select OSU placekicker Mike Nugent in the second round. Savage had to explain about taking the best available player, etc..... (Nugent went in the second to the Jets.)
Here's another reason: we already HAD a pretty good fucking placekicker, Phil Dawson. Here's yet another reason: you DON'T take kickers in the second fucking round, especially when you're coming off a horrible season.
Homers, try actually LEARNING something about football, okay? I'm sick and tired of listening to you shitheads whining and crying all year. And not just the ones in Cleveland. Houston fans cried and screamed last year for Vince Young. One, because he did some seriously good shit in college. But that was always followed by something to the effect of, "And he's a local kid!" Whoooooopppppeeeee! WHO CARES?
Hey, remember last year? Yeah, you OSU guys don't want to talk about THAT. Well, I do. You wanted to trade away a ton of picks to move up and get AJ Hawk, a lineback from.....OSU. Now AJ's gonna be great. I agree. But hey, didn't we do just as well by staying put and taking Kamerion Wimbley? Yeah, the guy who had 11 sacks playing behind our crapfest of a defensive line. Uh huh.
Oh, and had we traded up to get Hawk (by the way, Savage did call Green Bay to see if they'd be interested in a swap; they weren't), we wouldn't have been able to draft D'Qwell Jackson, who's already proving to be a solid addition to the team.
Or Travis Wilson in the third, who'll be a valuable addition to our group of wide receivers.
And we might've missed out in the fourth round, where we drafted offensive lineman Isaac Sowells. He's only going to be competing for a starting job this season. If he doesn't start, he'll be a valuable backup.
Do you get it yet? Hello, hello, is there anybody out there?
Or is this just Greek to you?
Most Browns fans are fine. Really, it's just a small percentage of them who act like this. But fools always scream the loudest and thus are the most annoying. And I'm sure Pittsburgh has its homers screaming for Penn State players. And Houston and Dallas has their homers screaming for guys who play college ball in the Lone Star state. And on and on.
One poster on my favorite Browns site put it best. "I hate OSU. I hate how I have to hear how you guys scream and whine for your favorite college players every year."
I actually don't hate OSU. I dont' hate their fans. I don't care about OSU one way or the other. But he nailed it perfectly: the whining and sniveling for your local heroes gets old. STFU already.
One homer/poster at my site once criticized WR Braylon Edwards for the unpardonable sin of participating in a charity fashion show several months ago. He wrote "Well, we have to remember his morals and what school he's from (Michigan)." Now, Braylon has the narcissist tag on him that most wide receivers have. But this was too much. What, was he supposed to go out and beat up strippers or something?
Funny, this poster hasn't said anything about Braylon donating a million dollars of his own money this week to establish a scholarship foundation for underpriviledged kids in Cleveland.
It's called the Advance 100 Program. Braylon selected 100 eighth graders for the program. When they graduate in 2011, they'll receive $10,000 in scholarship money if they meet certain requirements.
From the article (courtesy of Zac Richmond of ClevelandBrowns.com):
"This is a chance for you guys to take this opportunity and run with it," he said during his presentation. "I'm committed to this, and I want you guys to be committed, too. I don't want 97 percent or 85 percent four years from now. I want 100 students in college."
Program participants are required to maintain a grade point average of 2.5 or better and to accumulate at least 15 hours of community service each year, while displaying exemplary citizenship and conduct. They will not be allowed any unexcused absences. In an effort to equip participants for success, the program will provide mentoring and tutoring.
And in 2011, Braylon will pick another 100 students for the program. Then he'll pick another hundred every year or every other year. Yeah, this guy has low morals. What a scumbag.
Anyway, that poster was too much for me. I challenged him on it. I asked him how attending a certain college meant you had lower morals. He did not respond. My position was supported by most of those who responded. And by "most", I mean "every one".
This poster said NOTHING about the Browns signing convicted drug dealer Jamal Lewis. Apparently, in his world, attending Michigan is worse than being a convicted drug dealer.
What the fuck? HUH?
This same poster moaned and cried about his "beloved Troy (Smith)" going to the Ravens. Beloved? Gonna drive to Baltimore and give him a blow job? Enough already! Needless to say, I didn't bother responding to this post. He's too much of a fan to speak rationally.
Here's another question for the homers: Would we really have been better off with Troy Smith than Brady Quinn? Uh, no. No way. Not in any realm of reality. And I say this as a guy who likes Smith and his abilities. Quinn's better. I think Quinn will be better than Matt Leinart. And I LOVE Matt Leinart. He's my boy.
Let me put this in a non-sports context. Say you get millions of dollars or whatever to start your own company. Doesn't matter what kind of company, only that it's going to compete against the biggest hitters out there.
Now, say you have access to every high level college in the country to bring in the top graduates to work for you. You can only hire recent college graduates. And throw this in: anybody you select will accept your offer. You have the money to pay whatever that person he/she would get on the open market.
Now do you go to Harvard, Yale, Wharton, USC, OSU, and many other great colleges? Or do you go to the local community college and draft the latest honorees on the dean's list?
Exactly. You hit every high level educational institution out there. You want to win. You want to build the best company you can. And that means you bring in the best and the brightest. You don't, you fail. Hey, if someone's local, that's a bonus and nothing more. If somebody's great at what they do, and a solid citizen, who CARES where they're from?
Hey, nothing against community colleges. I went to one. I'd go to one again. But if you hire ME over somebody from MIT to run your engineering department, you're an idiot, a moron, and absolutely deserve to fail. Actually, you deserve to be hit in the head with a mallet.
So why does this behavior piss me off so much? Because I feel that sport, in it's purest form, is fun and a great thing. I played sports as a kid. I spent years on the tennis court trying to become a better player. I won a few tournaments, but overall, I probably lost more matches than I won.
I was never great, but so what? I loved it. It taught me that if I wasn't good enough, I wouldn't get my way and win. It taught me to lose with grace. It taught me that I could only get better by working hard. It taught me that in competitive situations, not even a point is given to somebody. Not a single point.
Homerism takes that joy out of sports. It's truly the anti-thesis of being a real sports fan. It's a slavish devotion that blinds people to how great it is that we can root for--and against--certain teams and leave it at that.
And you know who the ultimate homer is? The screaming, irrational parent in the stands demanding that his/her kid play no matter the kid's ability. The parent that makes the other parents--the ones who are there to watch and enjoy their child playing--cringe. There's your ultimate homer. They're just a tiny percentage of sports parents out there, yet these lunatics make the experience blow for everybody who has to suffer from being around them.
Yes, I make fun of the Sacramento Kings. Yet if we had a chance to steal one of their players, I'd be all for it. I hate the San Francisco Giants, yet I'd steal one of their best players as well (except, of course, for Bonds).
Now, homers of the world, from California to New York...from the Pacific to the Atlantic.....from the North Pole to the South Pole......pay attention. Owl is going to explain how to handle losing your favorite college players to the pros. I'll even explain how to root for Troy Smith, even though he went to those hated Ravens.
Root for them to do well. You don't have to root for their teams to do well. Root for them as individuals. You don't think I root for Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart? You don't think I'll be smiling every time Dwayne Jarrett makes a spectacular one-handed catch?
Root for AJ. Root for Ted Ginn, Jr. Root for AJ. You SHOULD pull for them. You SHOULD wish them the absolute best. You should be proud of them when they do well.
But like me, just don't root for them when they play the Browns.
It's just that easy.
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