Written by Brian McPeek

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A season filled with so much promise.  Raise your hand if you thought the Browns would drop all four preseason games and then start the regular season 0-3.  Yeah ... me neither.  In this Monday's Weekend Wrap, Peeks continues to bang the drum for change we can believe in at the head coach and quarterback positions for the Browns.  And provides some commentary on an Indians team that has made an unprobable charge to the land of above .500 records.

Okay Then. That Went Well. 

Was I unclear in my tirade of last week? 

I believe it was nearly a week ago when I melted down and railed long and hard on the lack of leadership and management skills of Romeo Crennel, about the fragile psyche and the capability of Derek Anderson to lead an offense, etc., etc., et al. 

Maybe the Browns, like a lot of companies out there who seek only to make huge piles of cash and don't trust their employees, lock down their servers and don't allow any other sites to be visited from the training facility. Maybe the Browns personnel only get the 2007 season highlights on their internet feed. 

All I know is the Browns, despite players saying that things were coming together and that it was just a matter of time, rhythm and repetition, went out on Sunday and lay down meekly in front of the Baltimore Ravens. It would have likely been 42-10 had Brian Billick still been running the Ravens because the Ravens showed mercy late in the game by not running up the already lopsided score. 

You ever go to an event that was just poorly planned? You know, a dinner or a run or whatever that is just chaotic from the moment you walk up to the unmanned registration desk until the time the valet loses your car keys when you're ready to leave? 

That's pretty much the Browns offense right now. There's no guidance from coaches and management, there's no leadership from the guy running the show, there's no nothing that looks professional in any sense of the word. 

Derek Anderson is lost. He's wandering around in a dark wilderness of suck and no one will hand him neither a flashlight to show him the way out nor a .22 he can use to end the suffering. Anderson threw three interceptions Sunday. I only had the stomach to watch the first two. One was an egregious throw, late and over the middle, which Ed Reed returned for a back-breaking TD. That followed an interception that led to the Ravens previous TD when Anderson nearly got Kellen Winslow decapitated by Ray Lewis on a short throw over the middle. 

But by all means, Romeo should keeping running out there. If DA does succeed in getting most of his skill-position players killed then Romeo can fall back on a few more injury excuses to explain his squad's ineptitude. 

Any of the apologists in town still want to talk about the schedule as an excuse? It is more difficult than last season's schedule, no doubt. But last time I looked the Browns were going to play both Pittsburgh and Baltimore twice this year regardless of who else was on the schedule.  

Any way you look at it, schedule and injuries or otherwise, this team is clearly not meeting expectations. Not only in the win-loss column but just in their general approach to the game. Worse, they are a half-step away from not just being a football team, but also being a complete joke locally and nationally. 

But hey, it's early, they're battling some injuries, it's a tough schedule and all that. Everything will be just fine after that big win in Cincinnati next week. Right?  

Dear Berea- Please Take Note

Jim Tressel has gotten the message. The result is Terrell Pryor is now the starting quarterback at Ohio State.  

Pryor threw for a freshman-record 4 TD passes against an underrated Troy University squad in Saturday's 28-10 win in Columbus. Pryor set up the pass and made Brian Robiskie and Brian Hartline more effective by spreading the defense and by making them stay honest due to the threat of his running ability.  

While it's true that this game was against the boys of Troy University and not against The Men of Troy (USC) the same was true last weekend. Pryor forces defenses to maintain their assignment integrity because he can exploit the slightest amount of space a defense gives him and hurt them by tucking the ball and running. USC defenders were on skates when Pryor was under center. Boeckman was assaulted all night because of his immobility and lack of poise. 

Jim Tressel is not a stupid man. He sees the changes taking place in the college game today and will recruit to and take advantage of those changes. It's likely to be some time before you see a pure pocket passer leading the OSU offense again. Boeckman was given every opportunity to keep his job. Maybe a few too many opportunities. But the change has been made to Pryor and, barring injury, there is no turning back now. 

The kid is talented and frees up other players to be at their most effective. And he also exhibits a lot of the leadership qualities that were lacking last year and to start this season. He'll need every bit of his talent and poise to be effective as the Big 10 season gets underway next week. But it's clearly his job to lose and that's a change for the positive in Columbus. 

Still Swinging (Literally & Figuratively) 

The Indians haven't given us much, other than Cliff Lee, to be proud of this season. Their early collapse meant month's worth of playing out the string here in Cleveland.  

But this weekend was a bit different. The Tribe put the finishing touches a series sweep of the Detroit Tigers Sunday and they literally beat the Tigers up in doing it. This series had all the makings of a meaningless September series between disappointing clubs. The Indians were down 4-2 in the 7^th inning Friday night following Miguel Cabrera's second HR of the night when Fausto Carmona hit Gary Sheffield with a pitch that clearly just got away. Sheffield slowly walked to first base, still clutching his bat all the way to the bag and glaring at Carmona. Carmona glared back. 

And when Carmona threw to first before making a pitch to the plate, Sheffield screamed at Carmona and gestured for Fausto to simply make his pitch to the plate. Carmona responded with words of his own and it was on. 

Sheffield charged Carmona and Carmona responded by pummeling Sheffield upon his arrival near the mound. Carmona got Sheffield in a headlock and kept raining blows on Sheffield's head and face. Chaos ensued, benches emptied and order was ultimately restored. The Tiger took a 5-2 lead on the Tribe but something happened on the way to an easy Detroit victory.  

The Indians responded by tying the game on the bottom of the 8^th inning on a massive Shin Soo Choo homerun and Jamey Carroll won it in the 9^th with a base hit. I actually feared Carroll, having survived the mosh pit in that 7^th inning, was going to get killed in the scrum of Indians players celebrating their win. 

Duly energized, the Indians also took the next two ballgames to move their record to a game over .500.  

As for Sheffield? Well, this is what happens when a guy who was a big-time major league run producer with a rotten attitude loses the bat speed that at one time made him a feared hitter. Now he's just a mediocre or worse hitter with a steroid cloud hanging over his head that is no longer worth putting up with. And Fausto Carmona didn't put up with him at all. 

You have to give credit to Eric Wedge and his players for going out there every night and playing hard for a win. I know it isn't what we were hoping for when the season started in March but there's a lot to be said for a manager and a team that plays to the final whistle and considers respect and a victory something worth fighting for. 

Right Romeo?