Enjoyed Watching the Browns First Pre-Season Game

This is the house of a Browns fan on our street.  I must say, I am looking forward to this season because of the new talent we have AND the fact that we have a solid quarterback!  It was actually enjoyable watching the Browns game Thursday night and seeing our draft pick, Baker Mayfield, do well for a change.

Of course, they still struggled with too many penalties and had no running game at all; but still managed to win against the Giants.  I know, it's only pre-season and the Giants didn't have their best guys in for the whole game, but it's better to win than lose those, right?

This is when Brown fans have high hopes so let me enjoy my optimism while I can.  Go Browns!  Win some games this season!!  (I'd like to see them win at least 5 or 6.)  Think that's expecting too much?

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Tired of Browns Bashing On Radio Every Week--Here's Some Positives!

Every Monday morning and even sometimes later in the week, The Ken Carmen Show with Anthony Lima sports talk show 92.3 The Fan hosts always pick on the Browns. I know they are have a very terrible season going 0-10; however, it’s like this radio show is beating a dead horse! No matter what, I think it is time to find some good in their games and start encouraging them a little bit. The least the hosts could do is acknowledge the good things such as:

• They do not get blown away and have actually been competitive with a chance to win into the fourth quarter in at least four games. Seven of the games were lost by two TDs or less.

• Last week against the Jaguars (a first-place team in their division by the way), the Browns defense played extremely well!

• Usually the Browns hurt themselves with tons of penalties but Sunday, they finished the game with zero penalties for the first time in 55 years against the Jaguars!

• The last TD was a fluke coming off a fumble by Kizer. Unfortunately, Kizer still had two interceptions (at least not in the Red Zone this time) and two costly fumbles. I feel bad for him. I think he tries very hard and has a fairly strong arm and quick legs with some good running moves. He is courageous and still learning. I wish the talk shows would give him some credit!

• It also was nice to see our receivers holding on to the ball for the most part.

• More good news was that our kicker made the extra point! This can never be taken for granted.

The Browns get to play the Bengals and Charges who are both 4-6 (not so great a record) but I really look forward to seeing them play the Bears who are 3-7 and seem to have similar problems as the Browns when it comes to winning.

The way I look at it, if Kizer can stay healthy and finish the season out as the Browns No. 1 quarterback, it will have been a successful season. He is very young and a hard worker. He will only improve if he gets to play.

I’d love to hear what other Browns fans think. I know it is hard to watch them because it seems every week they come up with new ways to lose, but I still have hope for the future with Kizer. I wonder what would happen if Hugh Jackson actually got an offensive coordinator instead of insisting on calling all the plays himself.

I just finished reading Relentless (Julian Edelman's memoir) and couldn't help but notice the big difference between the Browns and the Patriots organizations when it comes to coaching, attitude, work ethic and expectations.  I highly recommend this book to the Browns coaches and players!

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Now I'm Excited About The Browns This Year!

The Browns announced today that they will have a live dog lead the team on the field.  I am so happy that they finally are going to have a real dog for a mascot.  It's name is "Swagger" and it is a bull mastiff.  Looks like a pretty sad dog, don't you think?

Source:  Bleacherreport.com
Read all about it here:  Real Animal to Lead Browns Onto Field 

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This Gives Me Hope

When my husband shared this video with me of the backup quarterback of the Browns, I must say I am encouraged. Even if you aren't a football fan, I think you can appreciate his phenominal ability to throw a football accurately.  This is truly entertaining and I hope you take the time to watch, especially if you are a Browns fan. 

The Browns (my team) play the Patriots (my hubby's team and one of the best) this Sunday.  The Patriots are favored to win by 11 points, but we beat them before when no one thought they could so we'll see what happens.  That's what makes football so exciting to watch, things change quickly.  I hope Alex Tanney gets to play because I really think he would be fun to watch. 

At least Browns fans get a variety with different quarterbacks in there.  I hope they are able to pull a rabbit out of the hat with this guy. 

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Go Browns! Great Game Against the Ravens

I am so happy for the Cleveland Browns who played great last Sunday against the Ravens, a good team.  The mistakes they made against Kansas City (dropped passes) were corrected and Jason Campbell, the quarterback was excellent.  Even when he hurt his ribs, he came back in the game and still played well!  I am glad to hear he didn't break any.  Whenever he took off running, I thought, "don't get hurt!" 

As I watched the game, it was exciting to see both Greg Little and Bess make great catches and holding on to the ball.  I loved that the coaches let them go for it on 4 and 1 and they made it . . . twice!  It's been a long, long time since I have been hopeful that the Browns could actually make the playoffs and it feels so good.  The CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER had big full-page write-ups and pictures about the game and my husband said "They act like they won the Super Bowl."  I said, we celebrate every win in a big way because we get so few!

What even made it better was that the Browns were they only ones to win last week in their division, woo hoo!  I also loved that the Steelers were demolished by the Patriots--that was icing on the cake!

There were only a few things that weren't so good: 

(1) Greg Little hurt his collarbone and although he had a great game which he hasn't had in a long time, he needs to stop the taunting and keep his emotions under control.  Maybe if he plays well more regularly, he'll get used to actually making plays and it will become the norm so he won't be so excited and taunt the opposing team.

(2)  They need to still be careful to have the right number of players on the field.  I think this is a matter of better communication which I would think could be easily corrected.

I am praying for a speedy recovery for both Travis Benjamin and Brian Hoyer who have torn ACLs and will most likely be out the rest of the season. 

I know most of our readers are not football fans, certainly not Browns fans, but I just had to share my excitement about my team since I shared my discouragement and disappointment earlier in the season before they turned things around.  Now, onward to the playoffs.  I am looking forward to the second half and hope the team enjoys their week off. 

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Great Sports Weekend For Us--Even the Browns Won!

What a fun game to watch yesterday!  It seems the Browns not only executed a fake punt, a fake field goal attempt, but also a fake 3rd string Quarterback in Hoyer!  Why have they been hiding this guy?  It was a wild game but I was happy to see they improved in several areas I had pointed out last week in my post, "Browns Need Encouragement, Not Criticism--Go Browns!"   They cut way down on the penalties and for the most part, went in the right direction.  Hoyer's throws were right on the money during the first half, but the second half threw a couple interceptions and was sacked twice I think.  (This is normal for the Browns to have a good first half and not-so-good a second half.)

They also got a huge break on the muffed kickoff return.  What a crazy rule this is.  The Benjamin Travis touched the football but didn't actually catch it and the Vikings picked it up and ran it in for a TD . . . only it didn't count because it wasn't actually a fumble since the Browns guy didn't actually catch it in the first place.  But wait, it gets better!  Then the Vikings coach challenged it and got a 15 yard penalty for poor sportsmanship because a muffed ball play is not challengable.  The announcers said they should have just lost a challenge instead of getting a penalty for it, but that was really something.  Finally the Browns got a break--usually these things go against us! 

It was an exciting game though because although the Browns led again at halftime, the Vikings came out the second half scoring and making a comeback.  In the end, our defense was able to stop them before they had time to score again.  A field goal wasn't enough, they needed a TD and I was holding my breath when they were throwing that ball down field.

My cat, Manny Boy and dog, Abby watched the game with me.  Abby barked her head off at the end when we won, joining in with my celebrating!

It was a wonderful sports Sunday with all our teams winning:  Indians, Red Sox, Brown and Patriots!  The Buckeyes also won big on Saturday!

Don't you just love the excitement of football?  It's definitely my favorite thing about fall!

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Browns Need Encouragement, Not Criticism--GO BROWNS!

Watching the Browns-Ravens game was painful and although the one word that came to mind as a Browns fan to describe that game was "pathetic" I will try to refrain from picking them apart.  God wants us to show love to one another and build each other up, not tear them down so . . . I am going to give that a shot in this post concerning the Browns.

There were some bright spots such as:

• Our kicker did his job--he really was great!  The Ravens would have had even more points if their kicker did as well as ours did.

• Greg Little had a good start, holding on to his first to passes.  It's a beginning.  Now try to get three completed in a row next game!

• You can hang with the best of them--after all, you even had the lead at halftime and the final score wasn't too bad!  When you lose a game that close, there is hope.  Had a few things gone our way (like making that first down which doesn't get any closer than that), who knows?  We could be 2-0 right now.  Play as if we are 2-0, not 0-2 because that is what we should be.  We need to stay positive and don't give up!!!!

• Brandon Weeden made some major improvements from game 1 to game 2--had three interceptions against the Dolphins, none against the Ravens! Now, if you could only run a bit more instead of getting sacked so much.

• Kudos to the defense!  Holding the Ravens to just 14 points was amazing!  We should have won with that.

Here are a few suggestions I have to help the Browns improve:

Get a good mascot!  The Ravens actually have a live raven!  How hard would it be to get a BIG live dog for the Browns?  It could run around the field at halftime and maybe during the pregame time.  Teach it to bark at the opposing team!  It could be a lot of fun and really be a great help to the team in the clubhouse. 

Avoid the penalties.  If you are a football player, then you need to learn the rules of football and don't make the same mistakes again, and again.  I congratulate Cousins on his play Sunday who showed great improvement over the week before against the Dolphins when he cost the team many yards because of holding not once, not twice, but three times!  You did much better against the Ravens, good job!

However, the penalty that hurt us last week was for "delaying the game" which happened three times!  These kinds of things really make you look bad.  Here's a thought, why not plan ahead what play to do in different situations so everyone knows ahead what to expect and perhaps could get lined up and ready to go within the time limit?  This is such an easy area to improve on--try really hard this week not to repeat the same penalties over and over!

Remember Which Way To Go!  Seriously, when they got to the Red Zone, only a few yards from the goal line, they actually lost yards on the next three plays!  This is not how you win.  We must forge AHEAD, preferably around the pack of opposing players right in front of the ball carrier and not through them.  That play seldom works for us.  Just sayin'.

No Fighting!  Fighting really makes you look bad and does not contribute to helping the team win the game which is the goal.  Play nice but be tough, show some class.
  

Don't Broadcast Your Plans. Can't anyone else run with the ball besides Trent Richardson? It's so obvious what the Browns will do next. All the other team has to do is look for Trent Richardson, if he's on the field, it will be a running play. If he's not, it will be a passing play. Try to be more devious.  Now that Trent has been traded to the Colts, guess this problem is solved.  We should really have two running backs in at the same time so there's some mystery as to who will be the ball carrier.

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We Got New Browns Shirts But They Still Lost

We got new custom Browns t-shirts made by Vista Print with Abby's picture on them. The Browns lost again yesterday, but really it was their own fault. They were on the 2-yd. line and couldn't get it into the end zone in 4 tries--just pathetic. Then, the Giants  Oops, I mean the Cowboys tied the game with a field goal sending it into overtime. The Giants  Cowboys had a long field, but the Browns gave them lots of free yards due to penalties and lost the game in the end.

This was expected; however, they dominated for three quarters. They were playing very well, the defense had I think five or six sacks!

Once again, Weeden is not good at scrambling. He always chokes when we get into the red zone and I just wish the Browns would use Colt McCoy in those situations (like baseball uses relief pitchers and closers). He would have ran the ball into the end zone himself and we probably would have won the game, but no. They keep Weeden in no matter what. Another disappointing game. C'mon Browns, play by the rules and quit giving up so many free yards!

At least the Patriots won with 59 points!  Gerard is happy and did not get stressed watching.  

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Football is Back--My Thoughts on the Browns

Friday night I watched the first half of the Browns-Lions preseason game and was disappointed as the Browns had lots of penalties, and four injuries including one of our key receivers in just the first half.  They ended up with a total of six! They trailed at halftime and I had no hopes of them winning after what I'd seen. Then, today I look up the score and see they actually came from behind to win 19-17!

Once again our QB situation is up in the air. This year our rookie Quarterback is Weeden. He played the first quarter Friday night and ended it with an interception. I was not impressed with him, but like Colt McCoy. I really think Colt McCoy could become an excellent quarterback in the NFL and hopefully the Browns will stick with him. I suggest before the season starts that they focus on conditioning and learning the rules. The penalties really kill us!

I think people should be thankful for the replacement referees too and give them a break. I'm sure they will do their best and call things accurately--it beats no football, doesn't it?

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Another Disappointment For Browns Fans

Abby asks:  Why do you watch football when it makes you so upset?

I thought for sure the Browns would win over St. Louis two weeks ago, but they lost.  Here is what I yelled:   “HOLD EM!  DON’T LET THEM SCORE!  CAN YOU BELIEVE IT—THEY ARE SO BAD!  HOW PATHETIC!  UNBELIEVABLE! (Which I said when the snap rolled along the ground and we missed a field goal)  PUT IT IN THE END ZONE!  THROW THE BALL!  NOOOOOO!  STOP THEM!  GO FOR A TOUCHDOWN!  GOOOOO!”   It was like they didn't even want a Touchdown.  They kept going for field goals and had lots of penalties.

Then, last week they actually won to my surprise.  They played pretty decent against Jacksonville but just barely hung on at the end, but they did.  I was in shock!

The first time they played Cincinnati this year, they lost because they weren't even ready for the play.  They looked really foolish but today they actually played well.  They even scored a touchdown in the first quarter on a 24-yd. pass which was a first for this season!  We got an interception and actually scored a touchdown on it.  Too bad we gave one up and the Bengals did the same thing, but the Browns were actually leading the whole game until the Bengals tied it up in the 4th quarter with a field goal.  Once again, we were battling for the win in the last few minutes of the game and had a chance to pull ahead with a field goal.  Again, it was like the St. Louis game with the snap rolling along the ground!  The field goal attempt was close but no good.  The Browns kept the Bengals from scoring a touchdown but gave up the field goal and lost 23-20.

It was a heartbreaking loss just when we had a chance to start climbing back up. I took Abby for a short walk and came across some peperoni on a tree lawn which she was determined to get.  The only way I got her moving was to pick it up and lead her along with it.  I forgot to bring her treats along.  By the time we got home, I was calmed down.  I wasn't too upset because the Browns did play well today.  They didn't have many penalties at all and did score 20 points which was fun to see.  I'm sure it's even more frustrating for the players to lose games like this that they played so hard to win.

Related post:  We're Thankful The Browns Won A Game

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We're Thankful The Browns Finally Won A Game!

The Browns actually won, but barely. It came right down to the end again, but this time they held on to beat Jacksonville 14-10. I was surprised they actually scored a touchdown early in the game and although they did go for a field goal once late in the game, it was ruled as missed. Depending on the camera angle, it could have gone either way and our kicker thought it was good. It went over the far right goal post so was hard to tell. All in all, the Browns played well this game. Our defense really came through at the end and thanks to the Jacksonville receiver letting the ball bounce off his chest in the end zone, we won!  Hope you enjoyed the video of us all watching together, except for Spunky Doodle who just isn't interested in football.

Karen and Manny reading during Browns game.

During the first half I finished reading Angel Fire and Manny joined me! Doesn't he look cute when he reads along with me?

We wish you all a happy Thanksgiving!

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Why Not Celebrate?

I sure enjoyed watching the Cleveland Browns football game yesterday.  Actually, it was pretty dull until the 4th quarter came.  The Browns were down by 6 and were having trouble offensively all game.  Then Colt McCoy (QB) put together one long drive from the 20 yd line in the last 4 minutes of the game to score a touchdown, giving us a one point lead.

Naturally, the guy who scored was ecstatic and another player joined him in a bit of a celebration.  Unfortunately, celebrating is against the rules in football which to me makes no sense at all.  I think it is a ridiculous rule.  I like to see the players get excited!  What's wrong with that?  Baseball has no such stupid rule, why does football?  Anyhow, because of that, the Browns were penalized and had to kickoff from farther back, giving the Dolphins slightly better field position with just a little under two minutes left.  All they needed was a field goal to win it.

I was yelling at the defense to stop them and they finally did!  Adams got an interception around midfield and then time ran out with us having the ball giving the Browns a 2-1 record and the Dolphins 0-3.  (Sorry, Daisy).

Seriously though, don't you think that celebration rule is stupid?

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Browns Bowled Over The Patriots!

Gerard yelled at the Patriots while I cheered for the Browns Sunday. I loved seeing the Browns play so well with very few penalties. They look like a whole new team out there that really knows what they are doing with Colt McCoy as quarterback. A rookie who has taken control and manages the game very well. He is very athletic and poised too. He completes most of his passes, does not throw interceptions and can run as well. It's so nice to have a quarterback to doesn't get sacked every other play too.

The Browns are looking really good right now with smart coaching, a good mix of players that are doing their job. The defense, offense and special teams once again all worked well. I really think the team is . . . dare I say on the way to getting into the playoffs this year. Even the games they lost they played well and had the lead into the 4th quarter. Watch out, here come the Browns! I think they will get more respect now that they beat two top teams in a row.

It's so much more fun to watch when they keep possession of the ball for larger amounts of time. They even are making 3rd and 4th down conversions. I am really enjoying the football season this year!

Normally, Gerard would be happy too but not when they beat the Patriots. We started watching together, but he went and watched in the basement the second half.

I Am Looking Forward To Football Season--Go Browns!

Once again Clevelanders get their hopes up after watching the Browns beat the Packers in the first pre-season game Saturday night. It was fun seeing our quarterback actually complete more passes than he missed. I was in shock when the Browns went all the way down the field and scored a touchdown rather than just a field goal on the opening drive, converting on 3rd down and 4th down. It was impressive! Then, they got the ball back right away when they were able to strip the ball from one of the Packers players (wearing those ugly green and yellow uniforms) and scored another touchdown. Woo hoo! Our new tackler, Ward (I can't think of what the proper name for his position is at the moment), but he did a great job going after those Packers. In a close, fun, back and forth game, the Browns pulled it out with two long field goals in under two minutes at the end. What an exciting finish! They really looked like they had it together and it was only the first pre-season game. I am excited now!

Watch out everyone, here come the Browns!

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We Drove To The Cleveland Browns Scrimmage Saturday!

Ben Wilson scores a TD for the Brown Team!

 (Above Photo from Twitpic)

Well, last Saturday instead of going to BlogHer, Gerard and I debated whether to take the bus down to the Browns stadium for the FREE Family Day scrimmage game or break out of our comfort zone and drive downtown.  I really don't like to drive in downtown Cleveland because of all the one-way streets, some lanes are only for buses and lots of no left turns.  Gerard, however, hates the bus and it only runs every hour on Saturday.  Plus, we would have had about a 15-20 minute walk from the bus stop and who knows how long we would have to wait for it.  When we got back from the park, I checked the bus schedule and we just missed one.  That convinced us to drive.

Then we had to decide if we wanted to use the GPS and park right at the stadium or just park at my work parking lot and walk.  It would be a far walk from there so I figured as long as we were driving, we might as well park at the stadium--it only cost $5.00.  I do not like to drive on the highways because the speed and all the traffic makes me nervous when I'm not sure about what lane I need to be in so was glad when Gerard said he would drive.  I set up the GPS and off we went.  I still got nervous but asked Gerard to slow down some and he did.  Our GPS directed us and we got there safely in plenty of time.  We even got a great parking spot that was easy to get out of without even having to back up!  Coming home though, we went the scenic route like my bus goes so didn't need the GPS on the way home.

At first we walked around outside where they had game stuff set up for the kids but we got there too late for the free food.  Here's a picture of me at the photo shoot in a Browns uniform!  I had my sunglasses on because although the temperature was in the upper 70s, it was a very bright sunny day!  Then we looked for some seats near the 50-yard line. 

We could sit anywhere we wanted in the whole stadium!  It was awesome!  We found great seats in the second highest section from the field at the 40-yard line.  Unfortunately, all the seats under the overhang in the shade were taken but we found some in the row right in front of the first row of shade.  I figured as the sun moved, we would eventually get in the shade.  It was HOT!  I had to get water even if it did cost $4.00 which Gerard got for me.  The temperature was only in the upper 70s, but we were sweating just sitting there.  Even the kids were sweating!  A kid behind us (yes, in the row with some shade) even said his shirt was all wet!

At half time, we walked over to the other side and went upstairs where there were fewer people by the club seats and found seats in the shade in the last row at the 50-yard line.  It was way more comfortable in those shady seats!  Too bad we didn't find those sooner.

Gerard's report on how the team looks:

He said the offense has a long way to go.  We were expecting more excitement with more long passes than what we saw.  After all, it's not a real game.  I thought they would be more daring since there wasn't anything to lose.  They made quite a few penalties too.  I asked him if he had anything good to say about them and he said the defense looked good.  I think the offense is actually better though too because they weren't tackling.

We left at the beginning of the 4th quarter and did not stay for pictures and autographs of the players afterward because we wanted to get out quick and avoid the traffic jam, which we did!  Yea!!!  Abby was glad to see us get home in time for her supper.

How is your football team shaping up?  What fun thing did you do over the weekend?

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5 Things I Learned This Week-#62

Driving & Cell Phones

In our auto insurance bill came a news flier that said driving while talking on a cell phone makes it four times as likely that you will have an accident! According to the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, it's as dangerous as driving under the influence of alcohol, even if you switch to a hands-free model. It's just too distracting!

Cleveland Browns

I am so happy to see that the Browns and Josh Cribbs have reached an agreement and renegotiated his contract through 2012. I also am happy to see they just acquired a new quarterback (Seneca Wallace from the Seahawks) who is familiar with Holgrem's offense that he likes to use. Seneca Wallace was the backup quarterback for Matt Hasselback. I wish success for Derek Anderson--the Cleveland fans treated him very badly.

Taxes

So glad I got my taxes done! I found out this week we get a nice juicy refund--yippee!

Rebecca Read and Reviewed "My Funny Dad, Harry"

I was so excited to find out after a very hard day of work that one of my blogging friends bought my book. Yesterday, I saw she reviewed it on her blog at Freaky Frugalite and liked it! I'm so glad to hear you liked it and thanks so much for the nice review!

Haiku

One of Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop prompts for this week was to write a Haiku about an ordinary day. Since I had no idea what a "Haiku" was, I quickly skipped this prompt but then when reading some other blogs that used this prompt I discovered it's a short, 3-line poem. Still, I was curious because it they didn't rhyme so I looked up "Haiku" on Wikipedia and it said it's Japanese poetry but some of the more common practices in English include:

* Use of three lines of up to 17 syllables;
* Use of a season word (kigo);
* Use of a cut or kire (sometimes indicated by a punctuation mark) to implicitly compare two images.

For a sample, check out one at Life As We Know It.

Check out more Friday Fragments and Half-Past Kissin' Time.

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Wordless Wednesday & Give Me Your Best Shot

(This guy is in Napoleon's Pizza on State Rd. in Parma, Ohio)

Go to Daisy the Curly Cat for more Wordless Wednesdays.
This is also my best shot of the week for Better in Bulk's "Give Me Your Best Shot"

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7 Things I Learned in Week 10 of 2009

Sayings

Anyone hear of the saying, "Perception is reality"? I just learned this one from Gerard last week when he was walking me home from the bus stop on a warmer day than we've been having. He said he thought it was 70 degrees but in fact, according to our outdoor thermometer, it was only in the upper 50s. He also said it felt warmer outside than in the house which we have at 65 degrees. This is when he said "perception is reality" and I said, "I never heard that before, I think you made it up." I guess what we perceive to be true is for us. I'm going to try to perceive it's 80 degrees today!

Sports

The Cleveland Browns traded Kellen Winslow which I am happy about but also Joe Jerovicous which I am not pleased about. He was one on the team who could actually catch the ball!

Our hockey team, the Lake Erie Monsters, is desperately trying to increase their attendance with some special nights. Now they are even inviting dogs to come! On March 22, people are invited to bring their dogs along. Tickets for the dogs are $5, people are $15. Now if they let the dogs on the ice, that would be fun to watch!!

New Blogs I Discovered

I found a really great blog this week called The Kay Way. It's a personal blog about Kay's life, life lessons she learned, and some ranting. The blog is very easy to navigate and looks great! It is not filled with a lot of advertising and she is looking towards becoming a Life Coach. I added it to my favorites and my blog roll. I think if you visit, you will find a lot of interesting things there.

Another blog I found very interesting because of having been my dad's primary caregiver in his old age is Caregiving Daughter written by a woman who invited her mother to move in with her family about a year and a half ago. Her mother has the beginnings of Alzheimer's and the blog is a place for her daughter to vent a little and write about some of her frustrations.

My favorite PLAIN DEALER columnist, Regina Brett is going to start a blog!

Banking

The PLAIN DEALER had an article today rating the stability of banks in Cleveland and I was happy and relieved to see that Dollar Bank, the one we use, was one of the two that got 5 stars! The other one was Third Federal.

Tis The Season To Be Jolly . . .Can't Believe How Mean People Are!

Two events that occurred this week just sicken me. One was during the Browns game last Sunday when Derek Anderson, the quarterback got hurt. Fans actually cheered! This is just so mean and I hate that our fans would do such a mean thing. I guess I just feel bad for Derek Anderson because he's struggling so much this year and trying, I'm sure to do well and give his best. It's just so sad the fans don't seem to appreciate it. On the TV, I didn't hear such cheering that I recall but read about it the next day in the paper. My guess is it was only one section maybe, that even that is too many! This is an embarrassment to our city and our fans. Don't people realize players have feelings and families too?

The other event that really got me upset was to read about the New York WalMart 24 yr. old employee who was trampled to death by shoppers motivated by greed and selfishness on Black Friday. When WalMart opened the doors, the crowd of people just pushed in all at once and trampled right over an employee. Then, to prove they had no sensitivity whatever, when the store tried to close, they would leave and just kept shopping!

These two incidents involved bad crowd behavior, but there is one more incident of plain meanness that resulted in a teen's suicide. A middle-aged woman played a mean trick on a girl through My Space, making her believe a boy liked her and then was nasty to her. The "boy" was just a fake profile created by this woman! The girl was so upset she took her own life! (I'd say this girl overreacted and wasn't too stable to start with, but that's not the point.) I saw a little about this in the newspaper, but found more on a blog at "What's On My Mind Today"--Cyber Bully Convicted But Is It Enough?

I know people can be cruel and wicked but it still saddens me greatly when I hear about these things. Jeremiah 17:9 says "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?" People need the Lord who is the only one who can change people's hearts. I look forward to the day when Jesus reigns on earth for 1,000 years according to Revelation and then eternity in heaven without any more sin.

Miracles Still Happen!

This game was great--Browns Bring Down The Giants 35-14! In spite of the Browns inability to avoid the penalties, they were on fire! Anderson was actually amazing! His throws were on target and the offensive line protected him very well. He took command and the Browns actually dominated the game. The Browns scored touchdowns at home!

I must admit I did not think the Browns had a chance to win this one, but they played so much better but still had way too many penalties. The most costly penalty came when the game was still close. Giants fumbled the football, Browns got it and ran with it on I believe 3rd down. It didn't count though because of an illegal contact penalty against the Browns. The Giants kept the ball and got a new set of downs and scored a TD. I still don't understand why they had so many false starts, but hey, if they can score like they did to win the game, then I'm happy!

The game was on so late that I had a hard time keeping my eyes open near the end. I fell asleep on a commercial with a little over 6 seconds to go and when I woke up, it was all over. I had to go on the computer to find out the final score because I played the the squares at work and had 4 for NY, and 5 for Cleveland. I had a chance because at least the Giants had my number when I dozed off. Browns won with the final score 35-14! It's the first time I won on this!