As a direct result of installing a shut-off valve for my gas dryer, I had turned the gas off to my water heater temporarily (they are on the same line).  Because of this, the pilot light on my water heater went out and I didn’t have any hot water.  Without hot water, I kind of felt like I was back in my cub scout days – camping in a little cabin taking cold showers…

I am not a huge fan of messing around with gas and fire – it is a recipe for disaster.  Unfortunately, that is what was required to get the pilot light lite again.  Emily stopped by with her Dare-to-Repair book for women.  It completely outlined the steps to relight the pilot light.  Each water heater is a little different, so I won’t give instructions here – I would encourage you to buy a repair book or look at the manual for your water heater.

One of the big negotiating points during the purchase process was whether or not the house would come with the  high efficiency washer/dryer set.  The current owners really did not want to part ways with theirs, so I set out to buy a set over the New Years holiday.  HHGreg was running a special on Frigidaire – they came with the pedestals for free, which were worth $400 bucks for the pair.  I ended up getting everything for right around a thousand dollars.

As I was finalizing the order the salesman said, “Electric dryer, right?”.  I was midly flustered and was unaware that there was even an option.  Without really thinking I said yes…

My delivery date came and they showed up with the washer and dryer.  The delivery man went to the basement and asked if I was going to have an electrician come out and install an outlet for the dryer.  Now I was really confused.  Apparently, gas is the other option – and that is what my house was setup for!

I asked the delivery guy which was more efficient – he said electric without missing a beat.  Emily (my girlfriend) and my parents did some massive googling on it while I called the store.  As it turns out, GAS IS MORE EFFICIENT.  At times, it can be up to 50% better.  I don’t blame the delivery guy for misleading me – he simply didn’t want to drive back.

HHGreg returned the next day with a gas dryer, but apparently I didn’t have a shutoff-valve close enough to the hookup and they were not authorized to do the work.  One quick stop at homedepot – I picked up a gas line sealant and a shut-off valve.  The installation is simple enough:

1. Shutoff the gas to the area of pipe you are working on
2. Remove the cap
3. Line the inside of the shut-off valve with the sealant
4. Twist the valve into place – use a wrench to make sure it is tight
5. Connect the dryer line to the shut-off valve
6. Turn the gas back on – if you smell gas turn it off and make sure your connections are tight.

Lesson Learned:

1. There is a difference between a electric and gas dryer.
2. Installing a shut-off valve is not to hard.

Last week Emily, my parents, and I watched the first exhibition game against the Packers.  To be honest I wasn’t totally pumped for the season to kick off, or at least not as much as last year.  That being said, I still made sure we worked out dinner plans far in advanced so I didn’t find myself missing one minute of the game…I can only imagine what I would be capable of if I put so much thought and care into all aspects of my life.  These are the Browns though, they deserve it (no matter what you try to tell yourself).

I picked up the pizza and made it home just in time for the intro video from channel 3.  The four of us were sitting in front of the TV watching to video when we all said “Oh My God!  Where is the remote?”  We frantically looked around the room searching for the remote…Emily was horribly confused because she didn’t see what my parents and me did.  I just kept saying, “You will see…”  Searching for the remote seemed to be one of those moments in life that seemed to go on for hours, but in all reality was just a few moments.  Eventually we found the remote stuffed between two of the cushions of the sofa.  I restarted the show on the TV and we all watched again.  This time though, we paid special attention to what was on the screen.  Emily now saw what we saw…we were all in awe of what was before us on the screen.

I am sure everyone reading this has seen an intro video or two before the game – they are a collage of player shots and a couple fans mixed together to a high pace, country style music – the kind of stuff that gets you pumped up before a game.  Last week was no different except for one thing…we were on the screen!  The video was centered on Emily and I holding up our “THIS YEAR” sign that we brought to every game last year.  We were only on the screen for a moment, but it made our day.

Sadly, that was the high point of the game for us (before it started).  The Browns looked like more of last year’s team than a newly formed team under Mangini.  The team is much like our economy right now – you can’t fix it overnight, there is no “one solution” and things will just take time to turn around.

That being said, when will THIS YEAR be?  I don’t know, none of us do.  All I can control while we wait is how I feel about the team and what actions I will take while waiting.  I can tell you this though – the THIS YEAR sign will be at every game until THIS YEAR is over and we can all celebrate for years to come.

Madden Prediction for this week:

This year I have decided to play the Browns game of the week on Madden before it happens and see what the outcome is.  This week, the Browns were winning 17-0 going into the fourth quarter, but some late interceptions and poor defense resulted in 21 points for the Lions.  The Lions went ahead with a couple minutes to play and managed to hold the lead.

I haven’t updated this blog in awhile;  honestly, things were just so depressing that I couldn’t bring myself to do it.  I could spend a few paragraphs updating everyone on how Brady broke his finger, how DA got hurt, how Dorsey hurt his rib, the last loss to Pittsburgh, or heck, I could even write about how Shaun Smith punched Brady in the face.  Yeah, I could write about those stories – but you already know them and lets be honest – you don’t want to hear them again.  Instead, today, I will tell you about the Cincinnati game.

You must think I am insane to even bring up such a meaningless game (that we lost anyway).   I have good reason, believe me…

A couple weeks before Christmas I was informed by Emily that her mom got me “a very thoughtful” gift and I needed to put some serious thought into what I would get her.  Unfortunately, Mrs. Hamburg is a lot like my mother – impossible to predict what she wants.  I thought about it for awhile and could not come up with anything; I turned to Emily.  Of course she had no idea either, her mom is, after all, impossible to shop for.  At this point I figured I should ask my mom what to get her – she suggested a book on Obama.  I quickly purchased the book and felt good about it.  I left to visit my sister in Chicago the next day.

I returned from Chicago on Sunday morning, right before the game.  My parents were still in Chicago so we got their club tickets and I gave mine to my friend Rich and his brother Brian.  They don’t get to go to the stadium much so I think they appreciated seeing a game – even if it was freezing cold and meant nothing.

Emily picked me up at the airport and we began to drive back to my place so I could get my Browns gear.  On the ride home she told me that I had to open her mother’s gift to me before we went down to the game.  I was completely dumbfounded as to what it could be.

Once we got home I brought the large box into the kitchen and placed it on the counter.  It was a regular brown box – not giving any hint as to where it came from or what it contained.  Before I was allowed to begin opening the gift Emily had to get her mom on speaker phone so she could her my reaction.  At this point I was really wondering what it was, but remained calm.

I got the signal from Emily and began to cut open the box.  I used grandma Shields precision while opening the box – I carefully cut the tape so cleanly that it could be used again .  As I pulled the flaps open I was overwhelmed with a brightness…it was glowing orange (that is how I remember it anyway).  I quickly lifted the felt fabric from the box and held it high – I immediately knew what it was.

It was every grown man’s dream (Clevelander anyway)!  Apparently Santa Claus needed another helper in the Cleveland area and commissioned Mrs. Hamburg to make me a suit.  What made this suit so special is that it was not just any suit – it was a Cleveland Browns Santa Suit.  I immediately got changed into it, making sure that all my accessories were in order – my hair, beard, and glasses were all perfectly aligned.  It was glorious and hilarious all at the same time.  Rich and Brian came by to drive down and were in awe at the sight.

As we drove down to the stadium I felt this wave of responsibility come over me.  I was working for Santa Claus today – This was serious business…I had a reputation to hold up.  As we walked to the stadium I found myself yelling “Merry Christmas” and “Ho Ho Ho” to the best of my ability.  I got a few happy responses and people seemed to enjoy it.  Watching the kids reactions to Santa Claus was the best hands down.  Their eyes would widen and they would get so excited that they couldn’t even move.  As I would pass by I would hear their parents say “Look, even Santa Claus is a Browns fan.”

Emily and I tried to sit in our seats once we got into the stadium.  There was a problem though – it was cold outside, the game meant nothing, and I had a suit to show off.  We made our way back inside to the club area.  We walked in circles around the area – groups of women would take their picture with me and I would shout Merry Christmas on occasion.  Something I did notice as we walked around is the amount of respect that Santa Claus gets.  Usually at Browns games you need to lower your shoulder like as though you are Jim Brown and try to push through people to get where you needed to go.  Things were a lot different with the suit – people would say excuse me, and get out of my way.  Grown men would ask me for a win for Christmas.  Sadly, even Santa Claus can’t control such things – he specializes mostly in toys and ponies.

As we walked around we came across this one boy.  He must have been about 4 years old.  He stood as tall as he could and looked straight up at me.  He was in such shock he could not move.  I simply smiled at him and said Merry Christmas as I walked by.  As Emily and I rounded the club section again we came across the same little boy, again I smiled and walked by.  A couple minutes later I felt this tug on my pants.  Sure enough this little guy tracked us down (with mom’s help).  I knelt down to hear him ask, “Can I get a picture with you Santa Claus?”  As we were taking the picture I passed on my information I received from the boss in the north pole: All good boys are Cleveland Browns fans.  Before parting ways, I made sure to get his wish list and passed it a long to the boss.

Looking back at that game, I have to say it is among my top 5 most memoriable Browns games.  Sure, I will be working for Santa Claus again next year, but there is something about that first day on the job that makes it so special.  It won’t be to long before I forget about the actual game played that day, but I will remember opening that box and that little boy for the rest of my life.

On Monday Crennel said that DA would be the starter for Today’s game against the Bronco’s. In fact he said he was the starter ‘as of right now’. Well, about three hours later, I was at home watching Sports Center when breaking news came up that Quinn would start for the Browns on Thursday. The analysis was that this was a moved prompted by the fans – the national media went off on us, but at the same time agreed that Quinn should be playing. Well, everyone agreed except Trent Dilfer. He had a lot of things to say about the Browns. He mentioned how ‘dysfunctional’ we are and how we would never win a championship. Look, Dilfer got run out of town so we could put Frye in. I get it. Dilfer obviously had a lot of things to say about the Browns that no one would listen to when he got demoted. Thanks for that great analysis Dilfer – that is about as unbiased as someone writing a self evaluation.

I feel horrible for DA. Was he the answer? Was he the guy who would lead us to our first championship since 1964? No, he wasn’t. Would he still be our starting QB today if BE hadn’t dropped 14 passes? Probably yes…but he still would not be the answer. He would not be the guy to lead us to a championship. But, he was a descent QB that did everything he could to win every game. He never blamed anyone else for the offensive’s troubles – he took it on himself. I respect that. I respect him. I hope there is a way for him to stay as a backup, but I don’t think he will be able too. I get that.

Here comes Quinn. He has a short week to prepare for his first meaningful playtime as a pro. Will he win? Will he be everything we hoped he would be? What will happen? I have no idea. No one does. If they think they know how this will play out – they are lying to you and to themselves. There is no way of judging how someone will perform under pressure until their back is against the wall. We will see what Quinn can do tonight.

I will admit I am a huge fan of him being an Ohio guy. I am a big fan of anyone who wore a Kosar Jersey before they could ever write “K” “O” “S” “A” “R”. Is he the next Kosar? No. There will never be another Kosar.  The only thing Quinn and Kosar have in common – playing the Broncos in games that matter.  If Quinn can beat the Broncos in his first start…that would a good start.  If Quinn turns out to be great, he will be the next great Browns quarterback – he will stand alone in history just like Otto Graham, Brian Sipe, and Kosar (admittedly, I am leaving some out) – you can not compare them. They all played at different times, for different reasons, under different circumstances. All you can say is that they were all great and that, of course, were all Brown.

So what happens if Quinn is bad? We already know the answer to that. Look at this morning’s paper. He is the 11th quarterback the Browns have started since their ‘return’ in 1999. If he is bad he will become a trivia question for the die hards 30 years from now. He won’t be forgotten, but he also won’t be remembered.

Something very unusual happened going into this past weekend – Emily and I both had some free time.  This is unusual for us because she is in medical school and I am a graduate student…odds are one of us has a project or a test that just can not wait.  Not this weekend; this weekend we referred to ourselves as ‘normal people’.  We could actually do typical normal people stuff over the weekend – run a few errands, clean up a little, and, of course, watch the Browns.

So what errands were we running exactly?  Well, in short – the fun kind.  Here is a little history for you:

I had an idea last year to dress up in a Cleveland Browns Santa outfit for some of the games late last season.  I quickly found out that one could not buy an orange Santa Claus outfit – they simply did not exist.  If I wanted to be the Browns Santa I was going to have to make it myself…

So we planned on going out and buying the material to make a Santa outfit.  As we were talking about it Emily wondered how she would dress up – then it came to us…the Browns Brownie.

We stopped in Jo-Ann Fabrics at Warrensville Center and got most of the things we needed – bright orange felt for the shoes, black and white felt for the belt, and of course, some flesh color felt for the elf ears!  We then dropped by Target and picked up a stripped undershirt and also an orange top to finish out the outfit…or so we thought.  My mom called us from the stadium (where she was dropping off some tickets for will call); she had bought Emily the perfect striped Browns hat.

When we got home Emily and my mom worked hard on making the outfit look amazing while I got things ready for our Sunday tailgating.  This was only our second attempt at tailgating, but we were better prepared this time – I bought a 15 dollar char coal grill and a big container of lighter fluid.  We bought some burgers and hot dogs to cook up as well.  Emily’s friends were bringing some chips and such – it was a team effort.

The last time we tailgated I got a whole bunch crap for not having Bud or Bud Light available by some fellow tailgaters.  I would not make this mistake again, so in addition to my Heineken Light, I bought a case of Bud Light.

On Sunday morning we got up extra early and Emily put on her costume – she looked just like the Browns Brownie…it was crazy!  On our way over to pick up Emily’s friends we realized we didn’t have a lighter for the grill – we had to stop in Dave’s.  Let me tell you: whether you are dressed like an elf, or walking next to someone dressed like an elf you command…attention.  Everyone looked at Emily and would give one of a few responses: confusion (non Browns fans), approval (die hards), or laughter (somewhere in between).

Tailgating this time really was a whole new experience for us.  It was a lot of fun to just hang out and throw around a football for a few hours.  I was nervous at first because we really were just winging it – my parents never really tailgated, so I didn’t have any personal experience to work off of.  I was just trying to imitate what I would see as we walked by the Munni Lot to the stadium.

As we walked by my parents would say things like, “that is where the crazy fans are before the game…getting ready.”  I remember as a child I always wanted to be one of those crazy fans, which is funny if you know me because it is completely against my nature.  It wasn’t until I got much older that I understood ‘getting ready’ meant drinking like crazy…

That being said, I think we did a great job.  We had our grill, a fold out table, a table cloth, a football, beer, char coal, and lighter fluid.  I had no idea how popular we would become because of our lighter fluid.  There were at least a couple people that came by begging for some.  Oh course, we were happy to share.  There was also another fellow who came by in need of buns.  He insisted on paying, but I told him I couldn’t take money from a Browns fan.  He finally agreed and just took the buns…only to return a couple minutes later with two bud lights as payment.  Great…I started with 12 bud lights on the day and now I had 14.  I had no idea that bud  light is an accepted currency while tailgating – I guess I did learn something on Sunday.

The game itself was typical DA…inconsistent.  We came out flat…down 10-0 before we even knew the game started.  People were falling asleep – we had all seen this show before…we knew how it ended.  Cribbs, though, was not so fast to concede the lose.  Following a Raven’s touchdown he returned the kickoff 90 some yards for a touchdown.  Let me tell you – that woke us all up.

The Browns were alive again.  They began to move the ball well and started to stop this rookie Joe Flacco.  We managed to get a 14 point lead heading into the forth quarter.  It was at this point a guy on the field started to point at us.  I was initially thinking we were in trouble…

I had gotten into a little verbal altercation with the people behind us during the third quarter.  I was saying something to Emily and he said, “Hey Kosar, your wrong!” (Ok, so I am paraphrasing it a little to keep things clean).  I immediately turned to him and told him he could say whatever he wanted to about ‘Rob’, but do not bring Kosar into this – he is, after all, King.  I don’t like fighting with our Browns fans, but I will defend Kosar at all costs.  I quickly won the battle (even his friends admitted it)…

The guy kept pointing.  Then, he picked up his camera.  I got it.  I picked up my sign and was waiving it all around.  Emily and I looked over at the big screen and saw in big bright letters, “THIS YEAR.”  It was amazing.

The sad thing is that none of this mattered.  In the forth quarter we blew the lead.  The loss was solidified by a late pick-6 thrown by DA.  The crowd instantly starting chanting for Brady.  I felt horrible for DA.  Emily and I didn’t cheer.  (More on DA/Quinn in my next post).  It wasn’t DA’s fault – it was a team loss.  BE had a dropped pass that would have been a 50 yard gain, the defense missed a lot of tackles, a lot of things went wrong before that interception.

I am putting this last part in here out of order because of its importance, so bear with me…

After packing up the car we began our walk to the stadium.  Emily was doing her best impression of a ‘mascot walk’ and I was holding our sign high and proud.  Again people would look at Emily, but since most of them were ‘now ready’ instead of smiling they would shout things like “Hey its the Brownie!” or “Come over here!”.  What struck me the most though is when other couples looked at us.  I could see a sense of jealousy in the eyes of the other men and a look of disbelief in most of the woman’s.  I overheard one guy say “That is awesome” only to have his girlfriend reply, “That is intense.”  At this point I felt such a sense of pride for Emily.  At this time a couple years ago she was not a Browns fan.  Heck, she wasn’t even a football fan.  But now, she had spent her entire weekend preparing for a game, tailgating for the game, watching the game.  She became a Brownie, she became Brown.

Maybe it was because I was lucky to score a single point over the course of a few games, maybe it was because my friends named my style of “shooting” as a “Rob Shot” (who doesn’t take a hook shot from the NBA 3 point line when they are 12?), or maybe it was because I was half the size of the other players on the court – but one thing was obvious to me from 6th grade at Gesu. I was certain that I was meant to be a fan, not an athlete.

In grade school it was clear who the good/amazing athletes were – they dominated everything. Once I got to Ignatius, it appeared that things kind of evened out, and only a select few stood out as great players. One of those players was Tony Gonzalez… he played cornerback and wide receiver for the Wildcats, and performed both jobs well. I was certain he would be a great player. (He eventually went on to play for the Colts – I wish I liked his coach, but that is a different story.)

Once I left for UC (Cincinnati) I started to follow college football more. There are so many schools and so many athletes, but ultimately only a select few are honored with a nomination for the Heisman Trophy. Think about that – there are thousands of players and only a handful are considered to be the best… these guys have to be really amazing to stand out.

6′4, 360 Lbs, and a Mr. T Mohawk: Shaun Rogers stands out just about anywhere. Every time we see him Emily tells me how scary he looks – I will admit he is on the second half of my “People who I want to upset” list. Last Sunday, he stood out amongst other professionals – it was quickly apparent he was playing at a different level. We had Good DA, Edwards with some tape on his hands, and Jamal running with a fresh oil change, but none of them compared to what Rogers willed his body to do on Sunday.

I typically don’t like to point out one guy as the game changer because I realize that the entire team causes a victory. He had 9 solo tackles, a sack, a few hurries, and a FG block. That being said, there are only a few certainities in life: 1) There is a God . 2) I am not him. 3) Shaun Rogers is why we won against the Jaguars.

I was sitting down to watch the OSU vs. PSU and saw on the ABC ticker that the Browns and Winslow have reached an agreement to lift his suspension.  This is great for Winslow’s pocket book, but it means nothing for the game tomorrow.

Kellen missed the entire week of practice and hence won’t be ready to play tomorrow.

I don’t know which side I am taking on this, both Savage and Winslow clearly mishandled the situation.

Solitude.  That is the best way of expressing my state of mind before Sunday’s game.  No, this feeling had nothing to do with the fact that my mom was out the majority of the morning running errands or that my father went down to the boat to finish up winterizing it or that Emily was studying for the entire morning.  This feeling had a lot to do with one thing – the Browns.

I didn’t read the paper yesterday morning (Sorry Tony, Terrie, Mary, & everyone else over at the PD).  I didn’t need to.  I already knew the question and no one could possibly know the answer to it until the game started: which DA would we get today?

!:00 approached quickly and Emily came by.  It was about this time that we both realized that the game was at 4:15, not 1:00.  Great – now we get to watch Pittsburgh face off against Cincinnati.  Cincinnati hung in there for a little, but Pittsburgh won definitively…like they always do.

The Browns game started just like it did on Monday – the Browns won the toss and decided they wanted the ball.  I loved the confidence that they showed…unfortunately, that is where the comparison between Monday night and yesterday stopped.  The offense came out as flat as the stretch on 71 from Cleveland to Columbus.  It was obvious to me, Emily & my parents after the FIRST play which DA was out there today.  If that is all it took for us…why can’t the Browns’ coaching have the same vision?  The defense did would they could and played respectable – they did let up almost 200 rushing yards, but only 14 points…yet we still lost.

On offense we have DA, Lewis, Cribbs, Edwards, Stallworth, Winslow, Heiden, Harrison, Wright…the list goes on.  Look at that list.  Think about each of those players (on their good days).  We all know they are capable of putting up more than 14 points to win a game – heck, we have seen it done before.  Instead, we saw them do…nothing.  They barely managed to get 11 points on the board (it took 8 plays to get into the end zone from the 1 yard line).

I don’t even know what to think anymore.  Over the past few weeks I have exhausted every possible reason/excuse for the Browns not winning.  Without any excuses left in my back pocket I must come to the conclusion that we simply do not have the right people on the team (players, coaches, GM, owner…whoever).

I could go into my theories about how it is the players’ fault or the coaching staff’s fault, etc., but I won’t – you already know all the arguments.  I think the blame lies with all of them – there seems to be a civil war going on.  The funny thing is though – the civil war exists within each individual’s mind.

Right before the game there is a battle going on inside everyone’s mind:

DA: I want to be the good DA, but being the bad DA is so much easier.

Edwards: I want to catch passes, but no one is watching.

Defense: We can stop the run, but what is the point if the offense won’t score.

Crennel: Should I look at my watch this game or not?

Savage: Force Quinn to play or not?

…the list goes on.

The Browns will get nowhere while their minds remain divided.  Each one of them must decide for themselves if they want to operate as champions.  They won’t be able to win while they are divided.

Much like anything else, fans have little control over how these civil wars will play out.  All we can do is the usual: keep hope and pray the fighting ends soon.

23 and 15.  That is how many years it has been since the Browns have beaten the Giants and have won a Monday Night game respectively.  There are many Browns stats just like this one – you have to go back to the legendary years to find a great Browns win.

My Monday morning started just like any other – got up, got dressed, grabbed some breakfast as I read the paper.  There was one major difference between this morning and other Mondays…instead of reading about how the Browns did the previous day I was reading about the analysis for the game yet to come.

Everyone, well just about everyone, was counting the Browns out.  All the PD writers predicted that the Browns would lose.  To their defense – they all wanted to be wrong…they are journalists first and fans second (that is why I can’t go into journalism – I will always be a fan first).

Over my lunch hour at work I spent some time reading the pre-game analysis.  Just like the local journalists, the great majority of them were picking the Giants, and picking them big.  Honestly, based on how the Browns were playing, I couldn’t blame them.  Reading all of the national coverage’s love fest for the Giants did get me excited about the game – I was pumped and ready to see an upset.

All this talk of how great the Giants were also worked perfectly with the new sign Emily and I came up with: The front side still said ‘This Year’, but the back now read ‘Against All Odds’.  The Browns definitely were against them last night – even with home field advantage they were seven and a half point underdogs.

After work Emily and I grabbed some dinner and headed down to the stadium.  We got there a modest hour before the game – nothing like the guys who showed up at 5…AM.  As we walked towards the stadium the sign got a lot of reactions.  Giants’ fans would yell a familiar phrase, “This year what?”.  I would expect that from the Steelers or from the Cowboys…that makes sense – hearing that from a Giants didn’t make sense at all.  It was about this time last year that everyone was counting them out.  They managed to turn it around and win a super bowl.  So for all you Giants fans who asked me that question last night, here is your answer: This year – we beat you.

The Browns won the toss and elected to receive first.  This was unusual – they typically like to kick off first when they win.  It wasn’t to long before I got concerned – Cribbs missed the catch and it traveled out the back of the end zone.  The Browns got the ball on the twenty…here we go again.  After a couple plays DA dropped back and made a pass to Edwards – he broke a tackle and was off…he got about 50 yards before anyone caught him.

The Browns from last year were back and BETTER!  For the entire game the offense moved the ball methodically over long drives.  With the help of my favorite current player, Heiden, they converted third downs consistently.  It was amazing – everyone was getting involved.  They had direct snaps to Cribbs, reverses to Harrison, smash mouth running from Jamal, and the receivers were catching just about everything thrown in their direction.  DA did not get hit to the ground once and he never once had to the throw the ball away.  Every throw he made actually was intended for someone – the offensive line really stepped it up.

The defense really came through this game as well.  They did let the Giants run the ball well, but the secondary was having their way with Eli’s throws and the Giants receivers.  They managed to pick off three passes, the one by Wright late in the fourth, came right as the Giants were threatening to pull it within six – the pick sealed the game.

We stuck around after the game to cheer in front of the post game crew – I apparently got on TV, which was awesome…hopefully my sign was on there as well.

The world of sports today is so consumed with statistics.  The statement, “The last time…” comes up a lot.  As I said before, it is painful when the Browns have to dig so far into their history to find the last time something good happened.  It is really cool to be able to ask, “When was the last time the Browns beat the Giants?” or “When was the last time the Browns won a MNF game?” or “When was the last time the Browns had three interceptions in a game?” and be able to answer with a straight face: “Yesterday.”