Lerner's Next FO Hire???

[Flugel]

Folks,

This post is somewhat in rsponse to those thinking Bernie Kosar is ready to be Ozzie Newsome today. It wasn't THAT long ago where we were feeling BAD for Bernie Kosar because he fell on hard luck that had him claiming bankruptcy right? We all commented that it was too bad because he is seemingly a great guy that was once a great QB; but hard times can confront anybody. Not to be cruel but if he can't even run his own family finances and keep things going in a positive direction there - what makes him ready for an NFL GM job just because he knows Xs and Os?

 

We have no evidence Bernie knows the BEST talent evaluators working today or RIGHT coach ready for success. Lerner doesn't either which worries the Hell out of me. All Lerner's decisions are knee jerk that aren't well thought out.

 

When I watch all these halftime/postgame shows, I'm getting the sense MOST of the people employed by those shows exercise restrain from what they really think of the Cleveland front office. You better believe when the cameras are off them - they're laughing their collective asses off at the football follies in Cleveland for the 9th season of 11 in body by Lerner. Of course Boomer and the speech impeeded Sharpe run their yaps anyway. Trrent Doofus has too on various shows and for various media sources

 

THIS time it would be nice to know the owner's rationale behind his next decision. Whoever he hires WHAT makes him/her the RIGHT President? If Randy REALLY wanted to shake things up and GET my attention - he'd REMIND Ozzie Newsome he was a Cleveland Brown and show him the money. There's your PROVEN guy right there. We keep going for all these Bill Belichick and Ozzie Newsome pupils. Do I need to remind people what Bill Belichick coached like BEFORE Tom Brady was drafted by the NE Patriots? We had 1 playoff season in the 5 years he was in Cleveland.

 

Randy Lerner's FIRST decision is that he needs to decide what Pro Sports franchise he wants to own. If he chooses Cleveland, now it's more of an ownership instead of a conflict of interest parted by the Atlantic Ocean if you will. NEXT, he needs to invest MORE time in this franchise to UNDERSTAND what happened with Brady Quinn's evolution instead of telling us he had no knowledge of his progress or readiness to start since the day he was drafted. Folks, the PRODUCT in NE is Tom Brady just like the PRODUCT in Indy is Peyton Manning. Find me an organization that wins more and I'll bet they have a pretty special PRODUCT at QB. If you don't have an understanding of what you have in terms of PRODUCT - that's a pretty shitty business. When an organization drafts what they hope is a franchise QB - you can't allow what happened the last 3 years with 2 guys each other's progress. The OWNER should have been involved every step of the way or he's jamming the fans foilling his wallet with 3 years of QB controversy. Even worse, what DECENT free agents are gonna want Cleveland to be their next home and we've pretty much scared away any future Head Coaches with the right mind.

 

Speaking of PRODUCT, shouldn't you know a little something about Brady Quinn when there's been countless jerseys with the #10 purchased by your faithful customers? That being the case, you MIGHT want to know your customers a LITTLE more than you've decided to Randy. I'm not happy this guy is getting a fat wallet off a once proud tradition his family has turned into an extended expansion team. This is season #11 and I'm wondering if we're good enough to equal the 2 wins we got in 1999. Gee, who can I thank?????

- Tom F. (It's not the scapegoats folks - it's the lack of time commitment this owner has made to the Cleveland Browns!)

[lodilobo]

Folks,

This post is somewhat in rsponse to those thinking Bernie Kosar is ready to be Ozzie Newsome today. It wasn't THAT long ago where we were feeling BAD for Bernie Kosar because he fell on hard luck that had him claiming bankruptcy right? We all commented that it was too bad because he is seemingly a great guy that was once a great QB; but hard times can confront anybody. Not to be cruel but if he can't even run his own family finances and keep things going in a positive direction there - what makes him ready for an NFL GM job just because he knows Xs and Os?

 

We have no evidence Bernie knows the BEST talent evaluators working today or RIGHT coach ready for success. Lerner doesn't either which worries the Hell out of me. All Lerner's decisions are knee jerk that aren't well thought out.

 

When I watch all these halftime/postgame shows, I'm getting the sense MOST of the people employed by those shows exercise restrain from what they really think of the Cleveland front office. You better believe when the cameras are off them - they're laughing their collective asses off at the football follies in Cleveland for the 9th season of 11 in body by Lerner. Of course Boomer and the speech impeeded Sharpe run their yaps anyway. Trrent Doofus has too on various shows and for various media sources

 

THIS time it would be nice to know the owner's rationale behind his next decision. Whoever he hires WHAT makes him/her the RIGHT President? If Phil REALLY wanted to shake things up and GET my attention - he'd REMIND Ozzie Newsome he was a Cleveland Brown and show him the money. There's your PROVEN guy right there. We keep going for all these Bill Belichick and Ozzie Newsome pupils. Do I need to remind people what Bill Belichick coached like BEFORE Tom Brady was drafted by the NE Patriots? We had 1 playoff season in the 5 years he was in Cleveland.

 

Randy Lerner's FIRST decision is that he needs to decide what Pro Sports franchise he wants to own. If he chooses Cleveland, now it's more of an ownership instead of a conflict of interest parted by the Atlantic Ocean if you will. NEXT, he needs to invest MORE time in this franchise to UNDERSTAND what happened with Brady Quinn's evolution instead of telling us he had no knowledge of his progress or readiness to start since the day he was drafted. Folks, the PRODUCT in NE is Tom Brady just like the PRODUCT in Indy is Peyton Manning. Find me an organization that wins more and I'll bet they have a pretty special PRODUCT at QB. If you don't have an understanding of what you have in terms of PRODUCT - that's a pretty shitty business. When an organization drafts what they hope is a franchise QB - you can't allow what happened the last 3 years with 2 guys each other's progress. The OWNER should have been involved every step of the way or he's jamming the fans foilling his wallet with 3 years of QB controversy. Even worse, what DECENT free agents are gonna want Cleveland to be their next home and we've pretty much scared away any future Head Coaches with the right mind.

 

Speaking of PRODUCT, shouldn't you know a little something about Brady Quinn when there's been countless jerseys with the #10 purchased by your faithful customers? That being the case, you MIGHT want to know your customers a LITTLE more than you've decided to Randy. I'm not happy this guy is getting a fat wallet off a once proud tradition his family has turned into an extended expansion team. This is season #11 and I'm wondering if we're good enough to equal the 2 wins we got in 1999. Gee, who can I thank?????

- Tom F. (It's not the scapegoats folks - it's the lack of time commitment this owner has made to the Cleveland Browns!)

First of all, I'm all for Kosar being named President of the Browns. We're talking about a guy who is intelligent enough to manipulate the NFL to his advantage out of college.

[flipflop]

Browns new coach in 2010 will be the highest paid in the NFL.

[Flugel]

First of all, I'm all for Kosar being named President of the Browns. We're talking about a guy who is intelligent enough to manipulate the NFL to his advantage out of college.

 

So you've concluded that makes him NFL president material? God bless ya! You didn't read a thing I wrote. You just told me who your hometown hero was. We're talking about 2 different things here.

- Tom F.

[lodilobo]

Folks,

This post is somewhat in rsponse to those thinking Bernie Kosar is ready to be Ozzie Newsome today. It wasn't THAT long ago where we were feeling BAD for Bernie Kosar because he fell on hard luck that had him claiming bankruptcy right? We all commented that it was too bad because he is seemingly a great guy that was once a great QB; but hard times can confront anybody. Not to be cruel but if he can't even run his own family finances and keep things going in a positive direction there - what makes him ready for an NFL GM job just because he knows Xs and Os?

 

We have no evidence Bernie knows the BEST talent evaluators working today or RIGHT coach ready for success. Lerner doesn't either which worries the Hell out of me. All Lerner's decisions are knee jerk that aren't well thought out.

 

When I watch all these halftime/postgame shows, I'm getting the sense MOST of the people employed by those shows exercise restrain from what they really think of the Cleveland front office. You better believe when the cameras are off them - they're laughing their collective asses off at the football follies in Cleveland for the 9th season of 11 in body by Lerner. Of course Boomer and the speech impeeded Sharpe run their yaps anyway. Trrent Doofus has too on various shows and for various media sources

 

THIS time it would be nice to know the owner's rationale behind his next decision. Whoever he hires WHAT makes him/her the RIGHT President? If Phil REALLY wanted to shake things up and GET my attention - he'd REMIND Ozzie Newsome he was a Cleveland Brown and show him the money. There's your PROVEN guy right there. We keep going for all these Bill Belichick and Ozzie Newsome pupils. Do I need to remind people what Bill Belichick coached like BEFORE Tom Brady was drafted by the NE Patriots? We had 1 playoff season in the 5 years he was in Cleveland.

 

Randy Lerner's FIRST decision is that he needs to decide what Pro Sports franchise he wants to own. If he chooses Cleveland, now it's more of an ownership instead of a conflict of interest parted by the Atlantic Ocean if you will. NEXT, he needs to invest MORE time in this franchise to UNDERSTAND what happened with Brady Quinn's evolution instead of telling us he had no knowledge of his progress or readiness to start since the day he was drafted. Folks, the PRODUCT in NE is Tom Brady just like the PRODUCT in Indy is Peyton Manning. Find me an organization that wins more and I'll bet they have a pretty special PRODUCT at QB. If you don't have an understanding of what you have in terms of PRODUCT - that's a pretty shitty business. When an organization drafts what they hope is a franchise QB - you can't allow what happened the last 3 years with 2 guys each other's progress. The OWNER should have been involved every step of the way or he's jamming the fans foilling his wallet with 3 years of QB controversy. Even worse, what DECENT free agents are gonna want Cleveland to be their next home and we've pretty much scared away any future Head Coaches with the right mind.

 

Speaking of PRODUCT, shouldn't you know a little something about Brady Quinn when there's been countless jerseys with the #10 purchased by your faithful customers? That being the case, you MIGHT want to know your customers a LITTLE more than you've decided to Randy. I'm not happy this guy is getting a fat wallet off a once proud tradition his family has turned into an extended expansion team. This is season #11 and I'm wondering if we're good enough to equal the 2 wins we got in 1999. Gee, who can I thank?????

- Tom F. (It's not the scapegoats folks - it's the lack of time commitment this owner has made to the Cleveland Browns!)

First of all, I'm all for Kosar being named President of the Browns. We're talking about a guy who is intelligent enough to manipulate the NFL to his advantage out of college. The perception you have of him is a little screwed up, in my opinion. He didn't attempt to start a business, then fail miserably. He's had several businesses, operating since he was playing in the NFL. This crappy economy has affected everyone. Are you trying to tell me that all these companies and individuals who are struggling in today's economy, are screwed because they aren't smart enough to manage their own finances? Kosar is not just an x's and o's guy. He knows the game inside and out. Also....Lerner can only make decisions based on his research. There is no guarantee, or exact formula that will transform this organization overnight. The guy has tried and failed numerous times. That's just the way it worked out. He wasn't intentionally trying to put the organization in this pitiful state. He wasn't cheap with players or coaches. He just made decisions based on the information he had....a series of miscalculations. Maybe he will turn to Kosar to run the organization, and things will get worse.....I don't know. I just can't think of a better way to try and repair the damage to this franchise. Maybe you're thinking....Parcells.....Shanahan....Cowher. Well, that's fine, but the only way one of them are coming here, is if they have complete control. That never seems to work, anywhere....and it scares the Hell out of me.

[Gips]

As long as lerner makes the decision im very very confident it will be the wrong one...lerner needs to either devote to the club and be a dedicated owner or sell half the team to someone who would be...simply put..its all on randolph lerner folks...

 

And owning an nfl franchise is easy for a rich guy.. but owning a winning nfl franchise cannot be done with money alone...it requires a special love and dedication to the team ,the sport and the fans...randy is trying once again to buy himself out of this mess he created and once again it will backfire without he himself overseeing everything...and since he doesnt even know whats going on with the QB mess i think we can all see randy cant handle it alone...he needs to get himself a partner that loves the browns will rebuild the culture and run the team for randy anything less will not suffice...so embrace for more heartbreak fans of the cursed club..

[lodilobo]

So you've concluded that makes him NFL president material? God bless ya! You didn't read a thing I wrote. You just told me who your hometown hero was. We're talking about 2 different things here.

- Tom F.

Sorry....that short post was due to my inability to type without hitting a random key that somehow posted that incomplete post.

[ballpeen]

First, I don't think it a conflict Lerner owns a football team in England. Owners that take a active role in their team usually have a crappy team.

 

It is simply a investment of money in something he has a interest. At least at this point it doesn't appear his investment in England is limiting his ability to bankroll his operation in Cleveland.

 

As for Bernie..he isn't a GM. I think he is good doing exactly what he is doing at this point.

 

As for a President, we really need to keep our eyes open as candidates emerge.

 

McKay is a guy I would consider. He did a good job in Tampa and I thought he did a good job in Atlanta.

[Pumpkin Eater]

Sometimes personal bankruptcy is the SMART decision to make. I'm not gong to hold that against Bernie. Seriously, bankruptcy is a guaranteed right for US citizens. It is the creidt empire that has attached the bad stigma to it.

 

Walt Disney filed.

Ulysess S. Grant was a partjer in a financial firm that went bankrupt.

Milton S. Hershey filed.

Abraham Lincoln filed.

William McKinley cosigned for a loan for a friend who then went bankrupt. He was in debt 130 grand.

Thomas Paine of Common Sense fame went bankrupt.

Mark Twain filed.

Of Course Donald Trump

P.T. Barnum

Henry John Heinz

Henry Ford

 

[kshutchins]

McKay is a guy I would consider. He did a good job in Tampa and I thought he did a good job in Atlanta.

 

Maybe what we really need is a coach with a sense of humor:

 

Vintage John McKay

One of the highlights of the 1976 season though were the quotes from John McKay. Not just content with being a good coach, McKay was at his hilarious best throughout the 14-game losing streak in that expansion season and beyond.

 

“It bothers me that they (the national media) have picked us to be the worst team in football. Because what they are doing now is challenging your physical and your mental capacity and my ability to coach you. Now, this hurts me. Second worst team, I could stand it. But not the worst team.”

 

“We’ve broken down the expansion teams and they’ve averaged winning 2.7 games their first year, which to me is rather difficult. I figured out the 2, but the .7 has got me wondering what the hell is going on.”

 

When he heard that one of the kickers during training camp, Pete Rajecki, had mentioned he was nervous kicking in front of his coach, McKay asked that the press “Tell Mr. Rajecki that I plan to attend all the games.”

 

"Kickers are like horse manure. They're all over the place."

 

"We didn't tackle well today but we made up for it by not blocking."

 

"Intensity is a lot of guys that run fast."

 

"Emotion is highly overrated in football. My wife Corky is emotional as hell but can't play football worth a damn."

 

On his team's blocking strategy: "Hold when you're at home and don't hold when you're on the road."

 

"If you have everyone back from a team that lost ten games, experience isn't too important."

 

On how coaching an expansion team is a religious experience: "You do a lot of praying, but most of the time the answer is 'no.' "

 

“I’ll probably take a little time off and go hide somewhere. We will be back. Maybe not this century, but we will be back and we will be a better football team.”

 

On the Buccaneers poor special-teams play, “They were absolutely horrible and that’s the best thing I can say. Besides that they were bad. These people are not poorly paid you know.”

 

On the play of Joe Namath in the Jets 34-0 victory over Tampa Bay, “Namath is still Namath, but I must say that our guys were nice to him. I noticed when they knocked him down, they helped him to his feet. That was gentlemanly. I thought one stood around long enough to get his autograph.”

 

On how badly the Bucs looked in losing to the Steelers 42-0, “There were times I felt like leaving the stadium and hitchhiking home.”

 

"If a contest had ninety-seven prizes, the ninety-eighth would be a trip to Green Bay."

 

On Tampa Bay ending its 26-game losing streak: "Three or four plane crashes and we're in the playoffs."

[ClevelandFanForLife]

Maybe what we really need is a coach with a sense of humor:

how about a coach that knows two things about football first? baby steps.

[kshutchins]

how about a coach that knows two things about football first? baby steps.

 

 

In the interim, some humor wouldn't hurt.

[Booker]

Asked after one horrid performance what he thought of his offense's execution, McKay said, “I'm all for it.”

[BrownIndian]

Asked after one horrid performance what he thought of his offense's execution, McKay said, “I'm all for it.”

 

 

lol the best one yet

[medicineman]

We all learn from our own mistakes. Give the man a chance.

[bonedawg]

Browns new coach in 2010 will be the highest paid in the NFL.

 

As long as his last name is Cowher I agree with that.

[Guest c-dawg]

Sometimes personal bankruptcy is the SMART decision to make. I'm not gong to hold that against Bernie. Seriously, bankruptcy is a guaranteed right for US citizens. It is the creidt empire that has attached the bad stigma to it.

 

Walt Disney filed.

Ulysess S. Grant was a partjer in a financial firm that went bankrupt.

Milton S. Hershey filed.

Abraham Lincoln filed.

William McKinley cosigned for a loan for a friend who then went bankrupt. He was in debt 130 grand.

Thomas Paine of Common Sense fame went bankrupt.

Mark Twain filed.

Of Course Donald Trump

P.T. Barnum

Henry John Heinz

Henry Ford

 

 

Nice list! Seriously. Great grasp of history.

 

At least you didn't get them here. People like Meatloaf, LaToya Jackson, etc.

 

 

[CLEVELandMILIDH]

How about Tony Dungy, I dont know if he's interested in coming back at all but I know he's interested in changing young peoples lives. If he can turn this team around he'll change mine and a million others.

 

If lerner's going to through boat loads of money at someone, why not this guy.

 

Im not giving up on Mangini but if lerner does or just wants to hire a FO guy, Dungy would be my first choice

[medicineman]

Im not giving up on Eric just yet. Its his first year. give him 1 full off season to get some better players in here

[Mr. T]

In regards to BK and his businesses failing, I know a man who filed bankruptcy 3 times before he ever made it as a millionaire.

 

 

Its great to see people who can fail forward.

[Canton Mike]

Personally,I would prefer a "hands off" owner & Lerner has mostly been that, BUT he has NOT hired a club President with a solid FOOTBALL background. Lerner is not a football guy & should have had someone in place long ago to do the hiring of football people to guide the Team, ie GM, Head Coach, etc. Lerner should stay completely away from that process. Bernie may be that guy & he may not, but Lerner is NOT that guy & he needs to realize that. Get someone to RUN the team, get help & advice regarding the hiring & trust that person to "captain the ship".

Mike

 

[Flugel]

First of all, I'm all for Kosar being named President of the Browns. We're talking about a guy who is intelligent enough to manipulate the NFL to his advantage out of college. The perception you have of him is a little screwed up, in my opinion. He didn't attempt to start a business, then fail miserably. He's had several businesses, operating since he was playing in the NFL. This crappy economy has affected everyone. Are you trying to tell me that all these companies and individuals who are struggling in today's economy, are screwed because they aren't smart enough to manage their own finances? Kosar is not just an x's and o's guy. He knows the game inside and out. Also....Lerner can only make decisions based on his research. There is no guarantee, or exact formula that will transform this organization overnight. The guy has tried and failed numerous times. That's just the way it worked out. He wasn't intentionally trying to put the organization in this pitiful state. He wasn't cheap with players or coaches. He just made decisions based on the information he had....a series of miscalculations. Maybe he will turn to Kosar to run the organization, and things will get worse.....I don't know. I just can't think of a better way to try and repair the damage to this franchise. Maybe you're thinking....Parcells.....Shanahan....Cowher. Well, that's fine, but the only way one of them are coming here, is if they have complete control. That never seems to work, anywhere....and it scares the Hell out of me.

 

First off, sorry about jumping all over your opinion. I'm not frustrated with you - it's the situation. I should clarify because I think there's specific places Bernie COULD help our team out but not in a position he's never worked before. I was one of the biggest Bernie Kosar fans on the planet when he played for us and led us to 3 AFC Championship appearances. What I liked about him was how quickly he could read a defense or adapt to a D's alignment changes as he's calling his cadence. That being the case, I see Bernie with more useful value as an OC reintroducing the Lindy Infante style of offense again in Cleveland. Bring it back. I'm 100% in to that.

 

However, Phil Savage was a VERY intelligent guy that was Novice to his position in the front office and it REALLY backfired on us to the tune of only 3 or 4 draft picks heading into the 2009 draft. We gave a guy like Kevin Shaffer insane $ to start at Left Tackle when he can't even start for the Bears' oline that our dfensive front 7 got 5 sacks against. Savage was a likable guy with that Richie Cunningham trustable face we initially thought LOOKED the part. His failure certainly didn't come from a lack of effort or desire to succeed. It came from him being in over his head. For example, here's our sequence of QB plans with him in charge: Trent Doofus, Charlies Fryes, Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn. This might be the worst team we've ever seen because we now have injuries to contend with on some already slim pickings. This isn't from any single mistake - it's the sum of too many. These were made by a guy that was good at OTHER aspects of football but not being the Gran Poobah in the front office.

 

My point about Bernie wasn't to insult him or his biggest of fans. It was to provide the reality we cannot afford another front office guy that will learn on the job or you end up with a crew of receivers that can't catch or score TDs on Sundays or an old man that's just too old to have 1 rushing TD after 8 games. This is WORST group of scoring weapons I have ever seen us field. Josh Cribbs as a return man has a comfortable lead to be our leading scorer over any RB getting way more touches or WR beign thrown to.

 

I'm not psychic nor do I Believe I know more than you. What I DON'T want is one of our former heroes getting in over his head with a position like President when I think his BEST way to help us would be to relieve Daboll of his OC position. I don't think Daboll needs to be fired because quite honestly - what does he have to work with? I would just put Bernie in charge of the Cleveland Offense again and bring back a little Lindy Infante system to our offense.

- Tom F. (What about Mike Lombardi as a President? I'm real fond of him)

[Flugel]

In regards to BK and his businesses failing, I know a man who filed bankruptcy 3 times before he ever made it as a millionaire.

 

 

Its great to see people who can fail forward.

 

 

We're getting so far off track with WHERE Bernie is football smart and could help us. As an OC - I say absolutely. As a President? I haven't heard anything beyond Bernie's ability to enter the supplemental draft as to why he woul;d be perfect for the job. There's more to being a President of an operation that just being a good QB in the 80s.

 

This has nothing to do with HOW MUCH I liked Bernie as a player. It has more to do with HOW has he been preparing to be a FO Gran Poobah. If you like his current path and think it's conducive to winning tomorrow - then all I need is WHY you think this way.

 

Like I said, I'd welcome him as an OC. I'm just not sold his economic decision making skills and planning abilities are what we need to get us out of this mess as a President. I think the cement wall I'm running into with this topic is the difference between being a fan of the PLAYER Bernie and seeing him as our President. Why now - all of a sudden?

 

A BIG part of the front office thing is knowing how much money to throw at FAs like Kevin Shaffer, Derek Anderson, Antwaan Peek, Joe Andruzzi, Jamal Lewis, Dante Stallworth, etc... Not only did we LOSE considerable cap space on guys ready for their WORST football - but you lose the time element at their positions because you plan your team makeup around what positions are allegedly filled (when you're a team in transition). We threw ansurd cake at Jason Fisk and Ted Washington too. Anyway, THIS is the area we are losing to everyone in so I'd prefer a SEASONED person at the position instead of another Phil Savage, look-the-type and learn as you go. It's put us right back to the type of team we had in 1999 - maybe a few more strengths but defintitely not at the skilled positions you score points from. If Bernie knows how you FIND that Joe Flacco or that Marques Colston or that Pierre Thomas or that Earnest Byner or Brian Sipe - out there in college football in places he hasn't been this year, I stand corrected.

- Tom F.

[vdogrowz]

 

If Bernie knows how you FIND that Joe Flacco or that Marques Colston or that Pierre Thomas or that Earnest Byner or Brian Sipe - out there in college football in places he hasn't been this year, I stand corrected.

- Tom F.

 

 

 

Not much fear of that Tom, he was the biggest fan of Charlie Frye back in the day

[glenby73]

Sometimes personal bankruptcy is the SMART decision to make. I'm not gong to hold that against Bernie. Seriously, bankruptcy is a guaranteed right for US citizens. It is the creidt empire that has attached the bad stigma to it.

 

Walt Disney filed.

Ulysess S. Grant was a partjer in a financial firm that went bankrupt.

Milton S. Hershey filed.

Abraham Lincoln filed.

William McKinley cosigned for a loan for a friend who then went bankrupt. He was in debt 130 grand.

Thomas Paine of Common Sense fame went bankrupt.

Mark Twain filed.

Of Course Donald Trump

P.T. Barnum

Henry John Heinz

Henry Ford

 

 

.....glenby73 filed. Not sure how you missed that on your list of well known public figures

 

All business debt I swear. 'Course, If I wasn't blowing my money on Browns tickets, maybe things would have been different!

 

 

 

Part of Bernie's problem is he has a bleeding heart. The man can't say no to anyone he knows. Does this mean I think he's the man for the job or not, (insert shoulder shrug)?

 

1.) I don't have any confidence in any move Lerner makes at this point short of selling the team.

 

2.) Unless Lerner is going to give me a job or Bernie's going to give me a loan, I've all ready spent more time typing this post than I spend thinking about Lerner and his next move.

 

I don't have the answers unfortunately. My job is to GET A JOB so I can continue to buy tickets and tiny $6.75 beers so the Browns can continue to give it to needy players and their children.

 

I can only hope next year's version of the Browns give me a better game to watch on DVR when I get home from the stadium!!

 

 

 

[ClevelandFanForLife]

Sometimes personal bankruptcy is the SMART decision to make. I'm not gong to hold that against Bernie. Seriously, bankruptcy is a guaranteed right for US citizens. It is the creidt empire that has attached the bad stigma to it.

 

Walt Disney filed.

Ulysess S. Grant was a partjer in a financial firm that went bankrupt.

Milton S. Hershey filed.

Abraham Lincoln filed.

William McKinley cosigned for a loan for a friend who then went bankrupt. He was in debt 130 grand.

Thomas Paine of Common Sense fame went bankrupt.

Mark Twain filed.

Of Course Donald Trump

P.T. Barnum

Henry John Heinz

Henry Ford

don't forget about government motors, ERRR! i mean general motors.

[Mr. T]

How many times have we heard BK while announcing games, that we should just scrap that play it never works?

 

 

The man has been in the heat of some big games and that experience is Priceless.

[EdwardG]

A LOT of people were taken in by the real estate bubble, which was created by the Federal Reserve. The last stage of this bubble in the early/mid 2000s was massive. There are a lot of real estate developers in Las Vegas and Phoenix, among others, who struck it big and then got deluged by the credit collapse. The Austrian school of economics has been cataloging these boom-bust cycles inspired by central banks for a century, but these aren't the economics people are taught in school. It's easy to point fingers at a businessman like Bernie, but none of the other mainstream economists called the collapse. They were all cheering on the phony low interest rates, just like they're cheering on the artificially low rates we have now. None of these mainstream people expected all the banks to verge on collapse last year (and the bank rescues have only set the stage for a larger collapse down the road).

 

Only the non-mainstream guys who actually knew what they were talking about (e.g. Peter Schiff) called it, and Bernie probably was too busy working to be paying much attention.

[Flugel]

A LOT of people were taken in by the real estate bubble, which was created by the Federal Reserve. The last stage of this bubble in the early/mid 2000s was massive. There are a lot of real estate developers in Las Vegas and Phoenix, among others, who struck it big and then got deluged by the credit collapse. The Austrian school of economics has been cataloging these boom-bust cycles inspired by central banks for a century, but these aren't the economics people are taught in school. It's easy to point fingers at a businessman like Bernie, but none of the other mainstream economists called the collapse. They were all cheering on the phony low interest rates, just like they're cheering on the artificially low rates we have now. None of these mainstream people expected all the banks to verge on collapse last year (and the bank rescues have only set the stage for a larger collapse down the road).

 

Only the non-mainstream guys who actually knew what they were talking about (e.g. Peter Schiff) called it, and Bernie probably was too busy working to be paying much attention.

 

That last half of the last sentence above reminds me alot of Phil Savage. Trouble was it impacted the economic decisions he was really bad at for overseeing a salary cap and planning a football team around. Here's a few overpaid reminders:

Jason Fiske, Ted Washington, Antwaan Peek, Joe Andruzzi, Kevin Shaffer, Dante Stallworth.

 

If you're not capable of understanding a mortgage and how to financially plan to prevent foreclosure - you're not capable of keeping an NFL franchise from foreclosuring IMO. I just gave a GREAT example above. Phil got an enormous wallet to build a GREAT franchise with. Bad decisions and a complete lack of experience running the show left us pretty shotso heading into 2009 regardless of how smart he may be at other things. In the REAL world, how often does a person with no experience in Admin go from super college student to President upon hire? Never. This is WHY they have co-ops/internships prior to hire. Then they start at entry-level and work their way up the ranks. This has nothing to do with throwing accurate spirals to wide open targets or handing off to Kevin Mack for TDs. You don't see John Elway running the Broncos or Joe Montana running the 49ers or Phil Simms running the NY Giants or Dan Marino running the Miami Dolphins right after those franchises went bad for a brief period right? And Wayne Gretzky was arguably the best Hockey player that ever lived but he wasn't necessarily prepared for his NHL positions in management shortly thereafter. The Knicks hired Isaiah Thomas right? Did he make more money showing up to work or being paid to stay away? There's JUST so much more to it than we think and even some former GREAT players think.

 

Back to the thought we could just hire a smart guy that looked the part. Nobody had the ability to plan around this 3-4 ideology that was deemed so necessary to sentence our fanbase with. We were going to run a 3-4 without putting the type of LBers in our lineup that are capable of WINNING in a 3-4. Not only that but it took us going through Jason Fiske, Andrew Hoffman, Babe Oshinowo, Ted "the fossil" Washington. to finally get the RIGHT guy Shaun Rogers as the Nose of the 3-4. NEXT? He depleted our draft so when it was time to look in the mirror at a crappy 2008 season, we learned we only had 3 or 4 draft picks for 2009. Lerner's NEXT hire was starting with a crappy deck.

 

You can be the nicest guy in the world or once the best player on the planet but there's absolutely no evidence it makes you the GM to save the Titanic after it hit the iceberg. THIS is why I cringe if Lerner listens to fans. A TON of people that told me the knee jerk to lure Butch away from college assured me he'd be perfect because he took a Miami COLLEGE team from the depths of NCAA Probation and WON a share of the Big East Title while they still weren't able to give out scholarships and appear in Bowl Games. Guess who became the FIRST people to complain about him? I still remember one of our legends that passed away FatDaddy telling me he was a great hire. When Butch was ONLY coaching - we turned around 5-27 caliber to 7-9 (with 2 OT losses) and then 9-7 with playoffs the next year. However, that's when the ego kicked in and Butch demanded GM powers he wasn't ready for. NOW we just learned from Solon's Mike Lombardi article this is what is REALLY going on with Mangini right? Anything learned by the Lerners in 11 years?

 

Eveytime the shit hits the fan, we all race to throw the most attractive names to head Coachign positions and Front Office people. We're JUST fans without ANY idea what it takes to be the RIGHT person for the President of the Browns position. There's been a few successful Head Coaches that failed once they added the GM title next to their Head Coach title. There's more to it than so many of us think. I'm sure Phil Savage could tell you the difference between being a decent scout and running a front office. Night and day as they say.

- Tom F. (The ONLY time you fire someone is when you are CERTAIN you have a more qualified replacement. Hasn't really been the case since the Lerner family took over this franchise so I'm not the least bit pacified this time by anyone getting fired.)

[ballpeen]

I agree Tom....Bernie isn't qualified to be a GM at this point.

 

What people seem to forget about Ozzie is he didn't start as a GM...he spent 10-12 years working his way up, step by step.

 

Being a GM is WAY more than bringing in talent. Actually, that is just a small part of the job.