Ace Davis' Weblog

THE POLICY PROVISO

2010-03-02T00:01:00Z

Remember back in 2003, when the Browns insisted that all their draft picks sign five-year contracts? It was a hardball maneuver which denied these players the sure chance to hit free agency after the four years specified in the collective bargaining agreement. Training camp opened, and every last one of those rookies held out, even the long-snapper who was amazed he had been drafted at all. They all eventually signed the five-year deals, but the late start was one factor in the team's 5-11 performance...(read more)

CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION

2010-03-01T21:35:00Z

I guess the closer you get to the beltway, the nearer you approach bizarro-world. From the Baltimore Sun: " For Ravens, character counts ." Very interesting read, if you can put aside (or be amused by) the favoritism toward the dreaded Crackmorons. For one thing, the writer thinks it's a positive that only 25% of their first-round picks had already been in trouble with the law. Read it to see how the Ravens' braintrust decides whether they just want a Rat or will take a Dirty Rat...(read more)

Browns stats you probably haven't seen, with good reason

2010-02-19T14:02:00Z

Each year I update a little spreadsheet of Browns stats since their 1999 return. Don't ask me why. Maybe it's so I can, in excruciatingly exacting detail, understand just how it is that I am still waiting for a return to championship football, and just how soon that glorious, as-yet-mythical campaign might manifest itself on the grid. While we're here, we might as well pass along some of least uninteresting notes unearthed in this annual update on the "New Browns" (a phrase...(read more)

Gimme five: new life for sudden death

2010-02-11T11:39:00Z

Sudden death overtime was a great idea for its time. The invention of former commissioner Bert Bell (who, incidentally, suffered his own sudden death at the first game he attended following the epic 1958 NFL championship) added excitement to the sport by reducing the all-too-common kiss-your-sister anticlimax of two teams slugging it out for 60 minutes and then heading home having tasted neither victory nor defeat. It worked well back in the age when field goals were much dicier propositions than...(read more)

The no-go logo

2010-02-10T16:16:00Z

Nice piece of Browns history research here , with images you've likely not seen before, concerning the legendary "CB" logo that might've maybe almost nearly adorned (or befouled) the Browns' orange helmets in 1965. In his pursuit of the story, the author interviews former quarterback Frank Ryan, one of my favorite Browns-I-was-too-young-to-see-play. See him in action here:...(read more)

What this win changes

2009-12-11T15:02:00Z

It can't be the Browns' worst season if they beat Pittsburgh. Three games remain before we can say where the 2009 Mangini weenies will rank alongside 1975, 1990, 1995, and the six teams winning five or fewer games in the latest decade. Could they still be the worst squad in the Browns' long history? Nah. This win changed that. We ran and stopped the run. We made very few mistakes, in turnovers, sacks, blown coverages. Connecting with the wideouts was challenging, but the Browns never...(read more)

Peeling back old 32

2009-11-28T00:03:00Z

A balanced look at Jim Brown, courtesy of America's Finest News Source ....(read more)

Coaching up coach

2009-11-23T18:37:00Z

Being a Browns fan these days means awaiting the next, previously-unthinkable new way for a team to meet defeat. Yesterday worthy contribution to this panoply of pathos: blowing a three-touchdown lead to a 1-8 team and allowing a rookie QB to throw for 422 yards (third most ever allowed by the Browns) and 5 TDs, including the one that culminated a stupidity-aided two-minute game-winning drive. Rather than detail all the defensive breakdowns, pan the performance of Terry "Bottlegate" McAuley...(read more)

A premonition too preposterous to ... oh, wait!

2009-11-17T15:56:00Z

Guess I was too superstitious to post this earlier, but over the past two weeks the thought came to mind distressingly often. What else could go wrong? The Browns were already 1-7. A national laughingstock. An organizational Superfund site. A national storyline spun off the idiotic idea of a silly, self-aggrandizing fan (boosted by an owner with an otherworldly gift for empowering the unworthy). Both inside linebackers, the team's top two tacklers, lost for the season. The offense, bereft of...(read more)

Stick a Sporcle in 'em

2009-11-14T15:26:00Z

Further documenting the woeful whirlwind of Browns football over the last decade, I hereby challenge you with my third Browns-related quiz . Name the 19 men who have led our offensive, defensive, and special teams units since the franchise's resurrection. Go ahead, you know you wanna feel like a winner, someway, somehow. You can do it faster than a Browns three-and-out....(read more)

Practice players to pluck

2009-11-11T17:27:00Z

Now that both of the Browns' leading tacklers, inside linebackers D'Qwell Jackson and Eric Barton, are shelved for the season, the active roster stands at 52, leaving one available job, even after this week's promotion of rookie LB Marcus Bernard from the practice squad and signing of veteran LB Josh Stamer as a street free agent. I suspect that poobah-for-now Eric Mangini will round out the roster with another practice squad promotion or tryout player, and the news may come fast. But...(read more)

A Phippsian flop

2009-11-03T19:28:00Z

Via PFR, we find that Derek Anderson had the worst statistical performance of any NFL quarterback in the first half of any of the past 34 seasons . Not since 1975, when the Browns' own Mike Phipps began the year tossing 10 interceptions with nary a touchdown, has the league witnessed poorer play at its premier position. Assuming all eight Cleveland home games were filled to capacity (absurd, I know, but bear with me here!), how much would each ticket-holder have to chip in at each game to equal...(read more)

Parody of parity update

2009-11-02T11:12:00Z

Yesterday's NFL margins of victory/defeat: 0-9 points: 4 games 10-19 points: 3 games 20-29 points: 5 games 30+ points: 0 games. Slim chance of seeing a game that gets decided late between two equally-matched teams, but this is actually an improvement over last week. For most teams, anyway. As for the Browns, amateur hour continues. The owner glares at his charges in the tunnel and searches for answers. I still say: get ahead of the runaway PR and promise fans a coupon !...(read more)

Give me victory or give me ... um, a coupon

2009-10-29T16:51:00Z

In the face of network blackouts and fan "brownout" demonstrations, I have a specific suggestion for Randy Lerner during this most disheartening time. Read the full piece here . So here's my far-fetched but heartfelt proposal to the Browns brass: give me victory or give me ... um, a coupon. Ridiculous? Maybe, but we're beyond that now. Besides, Randy Lerner's an old credit card guy. Just call it a Loyalty Reward. Fans attending the games regularly shell out more than is delivered...(read more)

Parody of parity

2009-10-26T10:23:00Z

Yesterday's NFL margins of victory/defeat: 0-9 points: 2 games 10-19 points: 4 games 20-29 points: 2 games 30+ points: 4 games. Average score of a 2009 Browns game: Cleveland 10, Anyone Else 26 Average NFL ticket price : $75....(read more)