Written by Cris Sykes

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While Amar'e Stoudemire Madness has taken over the TCF Message Forums these last couple days, there have been a lot of other hot button topics our readers have been talking about this week as well. One of those topics is whether or not the the Browns should resign safety Sean Jones, who is sure to want a king's ransom. And the start of spring training has been a popular topic this week as well. Cris Sykes details what everyone is talking about this week in The Feel of the Fan.

Decisions, Decisions

New Cleveland Browns General Manager George Kokinis has an awful lot of work to do.  That much is clear.  The Browns need an influx of talent and several key positions on both sides of the ball.  They also need an influx of guys that WANT to be great NFL players.   

Which brings us to one of the biggest calls Kokinis must make, Sean Jones, yay or nay?   

Swerb brings it right out of the box, and it is about way more than Sean Jones' skills on the football field:

"Jones upside is as high as any safety out there available in FA, and he is just entering the prime 3-4 years of his career.  Me personally, I was disgusted with an interview I heard on the radio with Jones, right after the Browns 0-3 start ... where he, in a nutshell, came out and said he was going to get his knee cleaned out in season because he was a FA at year end and had to take care of his future." 

Peeker643 has a concern about creating holes on a football team littered with holes:

"Now, if Jones wants mediocre money, welcome back. If he wants more than that I'd remove his name plate like it was a HoF mural."  

BadBecks does not paint a very rosy picture of the Browns defense moving forward:

"From what I've seen, as a fan, the Browns could benifit from a turnover in several areas of the defense. Along with DE, CB, a couple LB spots...strong safety is one of them. This team is in desperate need of high character team players as much as a talent upgrade. Stick a fork in the guy." 

How low has this team fallen in the eyes of this fanbase?  Check out the reaction to Cleveland Browns Freeze Ticket Prices.  Not only are they not raising the prices, they will continue to be the second cheapest ticket package in the entire NFL.  Too bad when you disappoint the way they have, you get reactions like this.

Ziner - "For the product that is on the field, whatever they charge is overpriced."

Waborat - "Read between the lines: Beers will now cost $10 a pop"

General - "They should charge 1997 levels, the product is the same."

Chris - "They should pay US to watch it"

I think you get the point.  Let's move along.  Nothing to see here. 

Todd McShay's latest mock has many posters irritated.  Which is not that much different from McShay's first, third or 118^th mock draft, but the guy works for ESPN so he has to know something, right?  McShay has the Browns taking Everitt Brown.  A defensive end.  From Florida State.  Who would be converted to an outside linebacker in the 3-4.  Tell me if you have heard this story before. 

4thquarterglory sure does not like the sounds of this pick:

"Thats exactly who they should pick if they want to see my face turn red and a giant vein sticking out of my forehead" 

aoxo1 thinks McShay has his years mixed up:

Doesn't he know the FSU DE/OLB hybrid comes next year in the low teens? Right now our Baltimore personnel guy and NE DC need a Michigan WR." 

We talking about practice?

Yes we are.  And most of the Northeastern Ohioans who have been tortured through this winter from Antarctica, anything that gets us looking ahead to sunny skies and warm air is a great topic. 

It is time to put the A-Roid "admittance" to bed and move forward to some baseball talk.  Dazindiansfanuk starts the thread and gets it off to a wonderful start:

"I've had enough of the off-season, I'm long past the point of caring about steroids in the game..... all I know is baseball is back tomorrow and I, for one, think it's long over due!" 

Consigliere reminds us of the Golden Rule of Cactus League ball:

"No news is good news in spring training. But at least we can start talking about who came into camp fat or how some of the position battles are looking." 

Want to know what Slegend is wondering about going into Spring Training? 

"- Have we seen the last of Andy Marte in Cleveland? 
- Does Josh Barfield get a shot as a backup 2B/LF? 
- What does DeRosa show in a Tribe uniform? 
- Does Pavano hold a rotation spot this spring? 
- Will Peralta get ABs at 3B? 
- Who wins the #4, #5 rotation slots? 
- The pen? 
- Shoppach or Garko - who becomes more of an assistant coach than everyday player? 
- Can Hafner play the game again?" 

Amore for Amare

Just a piece of advise for anyone out there who might think Amare Stoudamire is not the piece the Cavs should be looking for...stay out of the Cavs forum. 

We got:

To Amare, or not to Amare?

Or Stoudimire to the Cavs? 

And my favorite thread title ever, Another Amare post.  With the great opening line from aoxo1:

"Yeah yeah, I'm starting another post. I know there are 3 threads going with this right now, but there is a lot of stuff being discussed both pro and con, it is intermixed with a million one liners, and there is no real talking about how Amare would actually fit in here either than "WE'LL BE UNSTOPPABLE ON OFFENSE!" or "AMARE GIVES UP AS MANY AS HE SCORES, THATS NOT PLAYOFF CHAMPIONSHIP BASKETBALL!"." 

That pretty much sums up the discussion. 

A couple of my favorites from the collection of posts. 

CharacterIV - "Stoudemire here is a championship. No lie." 

FUDU does not whole heartedly agree, and reminds some on the finer points:

"AS is 10 times the player Ben Wallace is, however Ben serves a very distinct purpose on this team and with his role being very defined he can show up everyday knowing his role and fulfill it with no problems. Ben doesn't need the ball to be effective and impact this team as stated already by you AS does. So that IMO is the key part of all this. We would have to dissect the finer points of the impact of AS without the ball b/c he isn't going to get it like he does or did in Phoenix so therefore his impact will not be as significant as it was there (at least on offense). So what is more important to the success of this team a solid individual and team defender that you can count on fulfilling his role or the possibility of an offensive player like AS and the hope that he can fulfill some sort of role that he gets fitted with?" 
 
Post of the Week: 

CP's analogy of the NBA teams in a paddleboat race is worth signing up for our boards all by itself!   

"Each NBA team represents a man in a paddleboat in the water with 31 other paddleboats. 

The regular season is where all the paddleboats are currently drifting. 

The NBA championship is a horny, naked Megan Fox on a deserted island just waiting for a man (any man, the first man to get there). 

Wally's expiring contract is the one thing the man can trade for something to get to the island faster. 

Amare Stoudamire is an onboard engine. 

Wilcox and Watson are another paddleboat to use on another island in case we don't get to Megan Fox before someone else does."