The looming NFL lockout will cast a shadow on 2010

In a recent SI.com article, DeMaurice Smith, president of the NFL Players' Association, said, "Chad Ochocinco asked me at the draft, on a scale of 1 to 10 where do you see the possibility of a lockout? I'd put it at about a 14."

This is not the first comment from Smith or many others closely tied to the new collective bargaining discussions to convey such pessimism.  It looks like 2011 may be unlike any the NFL has seen since 1987 when strike-replacement players were taking the field.  Since then, the NFL has flourished and become an empire in almost every aspect from merchandising to television and media coverage to fan interest.  From the outside fan looking in, this standoff doesn't make any sense.  They see the billionaires vs. the millionaires.

NFLPA president DeMaurice Smith knows his union is in a no-win situation (photo: AP).

Obviously the issues are more complicated than that.  The players are willing to extend the past contract while trying to work something out in the meantime, but the owners are steadfast in their refusal to do so.  They say the climate has changed and the recently-completed CBA has to change to go forward.  The owners want the players to contribute from their share of the revenue split toward new stadiums and capital improvements.  The players claim that no other sport asks players to do this and they shouldn't have to in this case.  That is just one of the many key issues on the table.

I think we all know in the end how this will turn out.  In most CBA disputes in major professional American sports, the owners hold the upper hand.  The NBA crushed its union in the 1999 standoff and the NHL locked out an entire season while defeating its players' union.  Even in baseball, where the players have made more inroads than any of the others, the owners still have come out on top.

In the NFL, the owners are going to win.  There is no realistic alternative option for the players to make a living unless they flood the Canadian Football League and that isn't going to happen.  The owners have planned for this years ago.  The current television deal will pay them almost $4 billion if they don't play this season, allowing them to build a war chest the players cannot compete with.  The owners have already aligned assistant coaching contracts with the lockout in mind. 

Smith said they advised the players last year to hold back 25 percent of their salaries in 2009 and 2010 for this exact situation, but too many players live paycheck-to-paycheck whether that is to maintain their current lifestyle or to deal with off-field issues such as alimony and child support.

So here we sit in the small gap before training camps kick off in earnest and the 2010 season will be right around the corner.  For the most part, these issues will not be noticed other than articles in the media and occasional television commentaries, but those who follow the league will feel it casting a shadow all season long.  The uncertainty of what lies ahead is uncomfortable for all involved. 

For example, look at my beloved Cleveland Browns.  I know they won't be making their first trip to the Super Bowl in 2011, but the hope of the fanbase is with the new leadership group led by Mike Holmgren and the optimism from the way the 2009 season ended with four consecutive wins that this team is finally pointed in the right direction.  With the lockout looming, everything is on hold.  Teams don't want to commit money and sign deals involving 2011.  Coach Eric Mangini may be a lame-duck coach, but no one knows yet.  Veteran players won't get deals for much, if any, money for that season and many long-time veterans across the league will be out of jobs.

Dallas owner Jerry Jones knows the owners hold all the cards in the CBA negotiations.

For other teams who are reaching their windows for a championship run, they may have the plug pulled on their chances.  Teams like New Orleans, Arizona, Green Bay and the New York Jets all will be a year older, a year with more rust on their bodies and offseason uncertainty regarding coaches and contracts will loom.

I am not sure what the players can do.  The fans may scream that they won't follow or support the NFL anymore, but that simply isn't true.  If they can come back in the other sports that don't have the fan support of the NFL, they will come back to football too.  The owners know this.  People LOVE the NFL and will always be there.  A non-descript regular-season Sunday game has ratings higher than playoff games of most other sports and the owners will use this knowledge to get what they want.

So, for an argument with only one real possible outcome, that of an owners' victory, it is frustrating that an entire season could potentially be impacted.  Yes, the players have some issues the owners can address such as the health insurance and coverage of current and former players and I am sure the draft will be tweeked too, but overall they are fighting tanks with sticks and rocks.  I think the NFLPA leaders know this deep-down, but would never admit it.  My hope is they take that understanding into negotiations and get something done before America's favorite game is missing next fall.

Floyd Landis and why I think Lance Armstrong cheated

Just a thought on a news item of note this week...

Floyd Landis/Lance Armstrong -- I am not condoning Floyd Landis' lying and his behavior.  He is a cheater, ethically bankrupt and his name will forever be associated with everything that is wrong in sports.  To summarize, Landis won the 2006 Tour de France before having his title removed for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.  He then entered a crusade against the anti-doping and cycling governing bodies while shouting his innocence from the top of his lungs.  He even wrote a book comically named "Positively False."

This week Landis finally came out admitted he cheated his whole career.  This didn't exactly come as a shock, but it did destroy all credibility he may have had left. However, he could just stop there.  Whether it was jealousy, revenge or just being a bitter soul, he decided to implicate many others as his ship was sinking.  Most notably, seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong was included in those allegations.

Landis knew this moment at the 2006 Tour de France was a complete fraud

Here's the kicker...I believe him.  I am among those who has thought Armstrong has cheated for a long time.  Yes, he hasn't failed any tests, but in this current PED climate I can no longer take his word on it because logic isn't on his side. 

Armstrong has been accused several times of using illegal methods such as EPO, steroids and blood doping.  Governing bodies and fellow riders are among his accusers.  The problem is nothing sticks.  Part of that is the lack of any positive tests, but the other part is not discussed much publicly. 

Armstrong has a long history of law suits and threats of lawsuits or alternative actions against his individual accusers that has resulted in the loss of people's jobs and threatened their livelihoods.  He has a stable of lawyers and money on his side and he badgers and bullies people into keeping quiet and dropping lawsuits.  Even fellow American cycling legend Greg LeMond has accused Armstrong of cheating and bullying.

As I said before, logic fails me when it comes to Armstrong's side.  I am supposed to believe this man, who had testicular cancer that metastasized to his brains and lungs and had an grim prognosis, not only survived but became the greatest cyclist of all-time? 

Keep in mind, EVERY other top rider during Armstrong's prime tested positive for cheating one way or another.  These riders were the best in the sport and in peak condition who never went through such arduous cancer treatments as Armstrong, yet they still couldn't beat him even while cheating!  This man went from almost dying to the cream of the crop in one of the most physically-demanding sports and beat all of his cheating competition...and we are supposed to believe that in this day and age with the revelations across all sports over the last few years?

Maybe he is a complete miracle.  I give the guy all the credit in the world for his fight against his cancer and the incredible effort he has undertaken trying to fight cancer worldwide.  Maybe he did make himself into the best cyclist of all time without PEDs or cheating, but my brain won't let me wrap my head around it.  It is a comment on the sad state of sports and PEDs.

Armstrong won the Tour de France seven times, but I think he was using more than champagne to get by.

The Cavs: The Day After

As I sat down to write something about last night's unexpected premature end to the Cleveland Cavaliers season, I realize that I am one of the lucky ones among Cleveland sports fans.

It isn't that I was able to leave the area to move to Atlanta, but it was my relationship with sports that makes me so fortunate. To some people that may sound a little crazy since the only 2002 Ohio State Buckeyes football team has won a title from the teams closest to my heart.

However, the perspective gained from being a Cleveland sports fan, when added to my background beneath the fans-only surface of sports, allows me to take a different view than many. I have seen what goes on behind the scenes and I have seen how players, coaches and front offices work.

I have also seen how fans react and how sometimes they don't have the big picture or a true handle on what is going on. Fans are fans for a reason. They are passionate and driven to support and love their teams. This is great, but it exposes many to emotions and feelings that sometimes get the best of them or become too much.

It is a fine line. Part of what makes sports so great is that passion and love, but for those with such a tough history with so much unfulfilled promise as Cleveland sports fans it actually can turn in to a type of illness that spreads through a community.

I am not "freaking out" today. I am not crying or reading everything I can find on the internet about what went wrong and where LeBron is headed next. The season is over and they didn't get it done.

There is not much more to add to that. It does no good to look back and nitpick about the coaching, lack of chemistry or the inconsistent and sometimes baffling play on the court. That is for Danny Ferry, Dan Gilbert and LeBron James to decide, not me.

In the coming weeks with LeBron's free-agency decision looming, much will be written and said. The two Dans need to figure out what they plan to do whether James returns or not. In either case, these are not my decisions. I have no impact on these men and whatever decisions they come to I will have to live with. They may not be the ones I would have made, but I refuse to let myself get caught up in the fray.

I think that is an important perspective for many angst-ridden Clevelanders. Let it play out, take a deep breath and it will be what it will be. Getting too caught up in it makes no sense.

For instance, let's take dying. We have no control over the fact one day all of us will have our time end on this planet. Worrying and fixating on this will do nothing but make cause sadness, anger, frustration and many other feelings across the board. So what do we do? We live our lives, knowing in the back of our head that looms but not letting it handicap our ability to live and be happy. These basketball decisions are not to the level of dying, unless you count the possible death of basketball in Cleveland, but the point is the same. We can't worry about it and what it will be, it will be.

LeBron won't be a free agent until July 1 and over the next six weeks the talk will be insufferable. Keep in mind, however, that nothing can happen until then. So, sit back and take a deep breath because the answers will come soon enough and there is no sense in yelling to the highest mountain (or loudest sports-talk radio mouth).

Am I bummed the Cavaliers season finished as it did? Absolutely, but these feelings aren't new. My sincere hope is all of these disappointments over the years will make that first title since 1964 mean that much more.

I just hope I'm around to live it.

My hope is one day a Cleveland title will mean even more after so many photos like this.

The Cavaliers and LeBron James...

I am a little too caught up in the recent events to put my thoughts down without my emotions getting the best of me, but check back tomorrow and I will have a post about the Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron James, Mike Brown, etc.

Browns thoughts for Terry Pluto

Cleveland Plain Dealer columnist Terry Pluto recently posed questions to his readers about the Browns for an upcoming book.  I thought I would take the opportunity to answer his questions and send them off, but I also wanted to run them here:

Dear Browns Fans:


In conjunction with The Plain Dealer and Gray Publishing, I'm writing a book with the working title of What I've Learned From Watching the Browns.

I need your input. Here are some of the topics:

A) The scars from the move.

In many ways my entire life has revolved around sports. From an early age, I knew it was my interest and passion. So as I grew from the fan as a child and became a sports-industry professional as an adult, many of the feelings and ways I view sports changed. I no longer hero worship and I no longer let things in sports eat away at my insides.

However, the scars from the move still linger. The Cleveland Browns mean so much to the historically-rich football area of northeast Ohio that it was particularly painful when they were taken. The only comparison may be if the Packers were moved from Green Bay. The Indians and Cavaliers are loved, but the Browns leaving was a dagger to the soul of the city.

Even at that point, the city’s championship drought was over 45 years old, but even those terrible Browns teams got the people of Cleveland through the cold, gray winters. There was something so special about a Browns’ NFL Sunday. I used to look forward to the next game five minutes after the previous one ended.

As for me personally, it was at college at Ohio University. The final season came my freshman year and for the next three years I was in fan purgatory. The knowledge that Cleveland would again be getting a team helped, but being located about halfway between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh meant those teams on locally every Sunday. For the first time in my life, I found myself going to the library and doing schoolwork on Sundays.

We all were excited when the Browns came back, but due to the tough expansion situation and bad front office decisions they have not been successful. In fact, they have been awful. I still pull for them, but being in the new anti-septic stadium with a poor track record has definitely made the aura and feel of this team different from the past Browns. It is a feeling I hope one day returns because it was the best feeling in the world.

The city was betrayed by Art Modell (photo: waitingfornextyear.com).

B) Why fans love Bernie Kosar.

Fans love Bernie Kosar because he reminds them of themselves. He was not the best athlete. He was not the GQ cover boy. He was a kid from northeast Ohio (Youngstown) who WANTED to be a Brown.

There are a few things that will endear someone to Cleveland sports fans and wanting to be there and playing hard are at the top of the list. Kosar had both traits. Add that to the most successful run of the franchise since the Jim Brown days, and he became beloved by fans and the city.

Kosar wanted to be a Brown, making him beloved (photo: SI).

C) Why I keep watching this mess.

I keep watching this mess because I am a born-and-raised Cleveland sports fan. As such, there is no team more tied and loved by fans than the Browns. Maybe it is the hope that one day I will finally get to see that Super Bowl title and the unbridled joy of a city that has long deserved it? Maybe it is because I can say I am not a fair-weather fan? It is probably a combination of the two. The pride I would feel for the area along with the response I would receive from friends and family who know how much they mean to me would make it all worth it. I hope.

D) What NFL draft day means to me.

The NFL Draft means different things to me because it varies about how much it means to the Browns. If they are in a key draft position with intriguing players and trade possibilities, I am more likely to be tuned into the details of that year’s selections. However, if they are drafting near the bottom of the rounds or do not have a first-round selection, I do not focus on it as much.

I have the draft on every year if I can, but it is usually in the background and I switch over for the Cleveland picks and analytical breakdown. I do read about the picks from the online talent evaluators, but I also realize the nature of the draft and that patience is required.

Florida cornerback Joe Haden comes to Cleveland with big expectations as the 7th overall pick.

E) My best/worst day at Browns stadium was ...

My highlights:

Oct. 23, 1989: Browns beat the Bears 27-7 on Monday Night Football. Kosar had two 90+-yard completions to Webster Slaughter and the Browns won a big primetime game.

Oct. 27, 1991: I sat in the Dawg Pound for the first time in a big game against the Steelers. The atmosphere was electric and I still recall the different characters and personalities out there that afternoon. Cleveland won on a fluke tipped touchdown reception and Gary Anderson, who was almost automatic from a short distance, hit the post for a 17-14 Browns’ win.

1994 Playoffs: This was the last playoff win for the franchise with Bill Belichick leading the Browns to a 20-13 win against his future employer, New England. A friend and I bought tickets the day before the game and got good seats, which is amazing nowadays. There was not much as far as expectations with that team, but they had a great day from the start and I remember the festive atmosphere of the old stadium made the moment magic.

Oct. 31, 1999: I was visiting a friend at Tulane Law School and we planned the Halloween weekend around the “new” Browns visit to New Orleans. Cleveland entered the game 0-8 in its return season and we were just hoping for a competitive game against the Ricky Williams-led Saints. What we were treated to is one of the best moments of the “new” Browns.

Williams fumbled three times and with no time remaining Tim Couch hit Kevin Johnson on a “Hail Mary” to give Cleveland its first win in over four years. I will never forget the unbridled joy among the handful of Browns fans at the game. My buddy and I were hugging strangers and jumping up and down like little kids. I remember heading down the escalators on the way out and high-fiving Browns’ fans heading the other way and seeing the sadness on the faces of the Saints’ fans. I have to say, it gave me a tinge of pride that the Browns gave them those long faces.

My lowlights:

Nov. 18, 1989: This was a lowlight because it was the only tie game I attended. If memory serves, it was a very cold, lake-effect day on the lake. The Browns and Chiefs tied 10-10 and I just remember the uncomfortable and empty feeling walking out of the stadium.

Nov. 15, 1992: In a snow-swirling, freezing day at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, the Browns led the San Diego Chargers 13-7 late in the game when Stan Humphries hit Anthony Miller with a bomb with two minutes left and Eric Metcalf fumbled in Charger territory on the final drive.

One of the few Belichick bright spots was the playoff win over New England in 1994 (photo: espn).

F) What the Browns mean to my family.

I am a sports fan, let alone Browns fan, because of my family. We used sports as a time to come together and speak a common language, no matter how old we were or where our lives were taking us. Some of my fondest family moments include rushing home from Sunday school, throwing off my nice clothes and running downstairs to get in place for the last few moments before kickoff. We regularly ordered Chinese food and would sit around television tables in the family room while watching, shouting and cheering at the happenings on the screen.

This extended to my other relatives too. Part of my family had company tickets to Browns games and when they had an extra ticket, I was the one who got the call. Sometimes it was at the last minute, but it was the most exciting call to get. Not only would I be going to the game that day, but my parents would let me miss Sunday school because they knew how much it meant to me.

G) Favorite Browns: Jim Brown, Brian Sipe, Sam Rutigliano, Joshua Cribbs, Brian Brennan, etc.

I am not old enough to have seen some of the great legends of the franchise, such as Otto Graham, Marion Motley, Lou Groza and Jim Brown. For me, I grew up with the Brian Sipe and Bernie Kosar teams. As a little kid, my favorites were Sipe, Mike Pruitt, Ozzie Newsome and Eddie Johnson.

As I got older, my fanhood has changed and I no longer have favorites the same way. Of the “new” Browns, I really enjoy Joe Thomas and Joshua Cribbs most. Probably for the same reasons Kosar was so loved—they play hard and want to play in Cleveland.

H) Meeting Browns players.

I would like to share this story because of all the things I have done in sports and all the people I have had the chance to meet, nothing was a more impactful moment for me and my future.

I was eight years old and our family was flying to Los Angeles on vacation to see relatives. When we got to the airport, we found that our seats had been separated. My five-year-old sister and my mother went toward the back of the plane and my father had the middle seat and I had the aisle seat in a row with a graying-haired man by the window.

During the flight, I noticed the man was wearing a 1980 Oakland Raiders Super Bowl ring. So, being the uninhibited kid, I asked the man about his ring. At first, he was quite surprised that this little eight-year-old kid recognized the ring, but then he mentioned he was the running backs coach on that Raiders team and was the current Browns running backs coach. His name was Joe Scannella and he was on his way to California to visit his daughter.

We talked football during the long flight and Joe was so impressed with me that he wrote me a nice note about being a fan and invited me to a Browns’ practice during training camp. I was so excited, but little did I know my expectations were about to be exceeded.

My parents got in touch with Joe and we went to Berea for practice. At some point during the practice, Joe came by and told me they were going to take me back to the locker room! I will never forget the look on my dad’s face, and the grin on mine, as the golf cart headed for the locker room and they were shutting him out behind the chain-link fence.

Inside the locker room I had the chance to meet many of my heroes. I had a small pad of paper with “Adam” printed on the top and the guys went around signing my pad for me and saying hello. At one point, I was sitting on Ozzie Newsome’s lap and talking with him as players came by. Now, more than 25 years later, I can still close my eyes and picture myself in his lap and seeing that scene.

I was hooked. The Browns had me before and now they had me for life. I was also officially hooked on sports and decided right then that I would work in the industry. I think of this day every now and then and I always smile and remember why I love what I do and why sports are so important to so many people.

Ozzie Newsome is a Hall of Fame tight end and a Hall of Famer in my sports life.

I) To make the team better, I wish the Browns would ...

…stay the course and pick an identity. All of the good NFL teams start with an identity. With all of the front office changes, obviously the philosophies and plans have been in constant flux.

Look at some of the better teams. Pittsburgh and Baltimore started with a defensive identity and made that part of their team championship caliber. Only then did they get the pieces to fill in the offenses. Teams like Indianapolis and New Orleans went with offense first. The Browns need to decide what they want to be, build that up to a championship level and then advance.