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"Browns fans planning Monday night game protest" (1 Viewer)

AhrnCityPahnder

AhrnCityPahnder

Yinz-o-riffic
I honestly have no smack or anything to add here. I'm really just at the point of almost feeling sorry for the fans who endure this year after year.

By TOM WITHERS - AP Sports Writer 2009-10-29 16:57BEREA, Ohio (AP) -One of the most loyal Dawg Pounders is done barking about the sad state of his beloved Cleveland Browns. It's time to bite.Lifelong Browns fan and season-ticket holder Mike Randall, aka ``Dawg Pound Mike,'' is encouraging other Cleveland fans to stay away from their seats for the opening kickoff of the Browns' Nov. 16 home game against Baltimore.Sickened by the nearly constant losing since the NFL team's return in 1999, Randall hopes the sight of empty seats for the start of the nationally televised Monday night game will send a loud message to owner Randy Lerner and club officials that fans have had enough.``We're tired of losing,'' the 39-year-old Randall said. ``We're tired of the booing, of seeing fans leave in the fourth quarter. There are fans who have had tickets for 30 years who are turning their seats in because they can't take it anymore. So many fans are fed up.''Randall and his friend, Tony Schafer, decided to go ahead with plans for the protest following last Sunday's 31-3 loss to the Green Bay Packers. As they walked out of the stadium, they heard fans grumbling about how they're wasting their Sundays and money.Their hope is that fans stay outside the stadium, on concourses or in the restrooms for the start of the game.The Akron Beacon-Journal first reported the protest, which Randall and Schafer announced on the Web site www.mobiledawg.com.``We don't want to see fans with bags on their heads or booing,'' Randall said. ``We love the Browns and will do anything to support them. But we're not being heard. Our goal is to say to the Browns' organization, 'Hey, listen to your fans.'''Under first-year coach Eric Mangini, the Browns are 1-6 this season and have scored four offensive touchdowns in 81 possessions. Cleveland's defense is the league's worst.Since coming back as an expansion team 10 years ago, the Browns are 55-113 with one playoff appearance and appear to be on their way to their eighth season of double-digit losses since '99.Lerner is aware of the response and said in an e-mail that he understand the fans' frustration.``On the grounds of frustration and irritation with performance, then that's the medicine I (we) are going to take, and I accept that,'' he said. ``The goal this year was to rebuild the culture at the Browns. We felt at the end of last year that we lacked any overall philosophy, approach or direction regarding recruiting, drafting, coaching, preparation or training. As a result, each season was feeling like starting over and 4-12 following 10-6 felt painfully not all that surprising.''Lerner added the team remains open to feedback and support to help the Browns improve.``We won't become entrenched or stubborn and despite my allergy to be more conspicuous, I do remain eager to seek help and guidance from any and all corners,'' he said.Randall, who sits in the front row of the Dawg Pound, the notoriously rowdy bleacher section, doesn't know where to assess blame for the Browns' misery. He has met Lerner and appreciates the ultra-private owner's attempts to turn the franchise around. He knows Mangini needs time, and Randall wishes general manager George Kokinis would let fans in on the team's intentions.``We have no one who talks to the fans,'' he said. ``Randy isn't out front. The GM is invisible and Mangini has said this was going to be a process and that things would improve. Well, nothing has improved.''Randall said there is no energy in the crowd at home games and that fans are still being told to sit down in their seats or risk ejection. He has spoken to Browns officials about reconnecting to the team's past, but has met mostly with resistance.``There's nothing in the stadium that even shows the eight championships we did win,'' he said. ``This team has lost generations of fans.''During last week's game, Randall said a young fan approached him and asked, ``Will we ever win?''Lerner recently brought in former quarterback Bernie Kosar to serve as a consultant to the team. Although Kosar's role with the team has not been clearly defined, Randall sees his addition as a positive.``I love it,'' Randall said. ``Bernie is an offensive mastermind and I think Randy is seeing we need to bring some of the former guys back. It's a good first step.''When Art Modell took his NFL franchise to Baltimore in 1995, Browns fans fought to get their team back. Randall was one of the fans who helped jam the league's fax machines and carried thousands of signatures to meetings, hoping to get pro football back in Cleveland.It worked, and Randall, who wears something shaded in Cleveland's brown and orange colors every day, is hoping this protest helps the Browns get back to winning.``We did this as a positive,'' he said. ``We want to send a statement that the status quo cannot go on.''
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The fans need to realize it isn't going to change under Mangini. He has had enough time there and in the league as a whole. He should have never been hired by them. If for any reason he was hired to make the gods laugh at another BB disciple going to Cleveland to fail. Mix in a little Bernie Kosar to this already rediculous situation and it's like a poorly written sitcom.

 
Don't see what good it will do. It's not like the owner and coaches don't want to win. It's just that the gm's, scouting, drafting, coaching and playing have sucked.

 
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Good move Brown fan. Quit showing up.

If they pack up and go, please don't ##### like you did when you wouldn't build Modell a stadium and they left town the first time.

 
Tough week for Cleveland sports fans...

-Browns get clobbered 31-3 at home to go to 1-6

-Cavs with LeBron and Shaq start off 0-2

-Former Indians aces Sabathia & Lee start Game 1 of the World Series

Well at least Cleveland has the 2014 Gay Games to get excited about.

 
whenever magina gets fired, any truth to the rumor of Charlie weiss taking over as the next browns coach as part of the failing side of BB's coaching tree?

 
The correct hire was Marty Schottenheimer. It doesn't matter what the playoffs are like, Marty has proven in Cleveland, Kansas City, Washington, and San Diego that he builds competitive teams. I suppose it could still happen, if they get rid of Mangini this year and go get Marty for 2010.

The ironic thing is, Tony Grossi on TV this week hinted that the franchise was in fact leaning towards offering Marty the job until Mangini got fired. The story goes that Browns owner Randy Lerner didn't hear about Mangini getting fired until the media told him at a press conference. Grossi said when he heard about that his eyes got real wide and he immediately went in another room to get to a phone and set up a meeting. What was going on was that Lerner had heard a statistic that something like 10 of the past 11 super bowl winning coaches were in their second head coaching job in the NFL. So he just following some random pattern and making decisions like that. That was the basis of the hire, which is unbelievably bad judgement.

I tallied it up - 9 of the past 12 super bowl winners had a head coach that was in their second tour of duty.

 
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azgroover said:
Good move Brown fan. Quit showing up.If they pack up and go, please don't ##### like you did when you wouldn't build Modell a stadium and they left town the first time.
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Yes, they offered a the new staduim, but also included another $100 MM iirc. or some other huge amount of cash - just for the greedy old bastage.And thanks Ahrn... it's not like we need to be reminded how fugly it is... I'm sure you also miss the days when the games & rivalry were competitive.
 
thecardiackid said:
I'm sure you also miss the days when the games & rivalry were competitive.
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Actually, the Browns-Steelers rivalry is rather unique in that its pretty much never been a competitive one. In the 1950s and 1960s, the champion Browns completely dominated a Steelers franchise mired in losing. In the 1970s, the Steelers turned into champions and dominated the fading Browns. In the 1980s, the Browns became competitive again, while the Steelers struggled under QB Mark Malone. Then the Steelers hired Cowher in the 1990s and have been competitive ever since, while the Browns have been one of the worst teams in the league.There's only been a small handful of seasons where both have been good at the same time.
 
azgroover said:
If they pack up and go, please don't ##### like you did when you wouldn't build Modell a stadium and they left town the first time.
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You might want to get your facts straight on that one. Modell told Cleveland to take care of the Indians and Cavs first since he was the primary tenant at the old Cleveland Stadium and the Tribe wanted their own place and not have to pay rent to the old coot.
 
Tom Servo said:
azgroover said:
If they pack up and go, please don't ##### like you did when you wouldn't build Modell a stadium and they left town the first time.
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You might want to get your facts straight on that one. Modell told Cleveland to take care of the Indians and Cavs first since he was the primary tenant at the old Cleveland Stadium and the Tribe wanted their own place and not have to pay rent to the old coot.
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Art Modell made a lot of bad business decisions. Its part of the reason why he ultimately had to sell the team, even with the move. I wouldn't be surprised if he told the city that without realizing the impact on his own finances.
 
the problem with buying a ticket and then not showing up or not going to your seat is the owners still get their $$$. DET fans tried that over and over (even for national televised games like Turkey Day... stands were empty to start the game). But when they sold all the tickets.. owners just don't care.

I don't know the CLE owners well enough to know if they are just Al Davis stupid or don't care about the team... but either way the only way to force a change it to hit them in the pocket book... no season ticket sales.

 
ft_ball_fan said:
the problem with buying a ticket and then not showing up or not going to your seat is the owners still get their $$$. DET fans tried that over and over (even for national televised games like Turkey Day... stands were empty to start the game). But when they sold all the tickets.. owners just don't care.I don't know the CLE owners well enough to know if they are just Al Davis stupid or don't care about the team... but either way the only way to force a change it to hit them in the pocket book... no season ticket sales.
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Randy Lerner almost never speaks to the press. He doesn't seem to speak to anyone, really. I don't think anyone in Cleveland really knows much about him. He certainly isn't a "football guy", which is a problem since ultimately he has to make that first decision when it comes to putting someone in charge of the operations.
 
Randy Lerner is a football guy, just not the kind of football we here in America prefer. He is part owner of a European soccer (football) team. Unfortunately, it seems his primary concerns are there, not here with the Browns.

 
Wreckincrew said:
Buffaloes said:
What a bunch of BS. How did the Browns manage to get a MNF game?
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I think they try to give every team at least one "prime time" game each season. Be it SNF, MNF, Turkey Day, Sat. once college is done, etc...
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that's the NFL's annual "prime time" sop to the Detroit Lions.
 
Wreckincrew said:
Buffaloes said:
What a bunch of BS. How did the Browns manage to get a MNF game?
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I think they try to give every team at least one "prime time" game each season. Be it SNF, MNF, Turkey Day, Sat. once college is done, etc...
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No prime time exposure for [5-2] Cincinnati this year. Maybe "Hard Knocks" was enough?
 
Mr. Justin Case said:
So they're just going to miss one play? The kickoff?
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The funny thing is that if Cleveland receives the ball they might miss their only points since Joshua Cribbs basically is their entire attack.-QG
 
Every year some buddies and I go on a road trip to watch the Packers play. We were in Cleveland last weekend and that city's fan base is currently in a state of depression about their team that I have never witnessed before. We were in Detroit near the end of the Matt Millen era and it wasn't as bad as we witnessed in Cleveland this past weekend.

Good luck Browns fans. :lmao:

 
CrossEyed said:
Some Pirates fans tried something similar a few years ago. You can see how well that worked.
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:goodposting: As a Pirates fan I understand the Browns fans frustration but short of not buying tickets and risk losing the team nothing they do is going to help the situation. The Pirates (and Browns) have tried changing players, coaches and GMs multiple times and the teams still stink. The problem is with the ownership.
 
Several posters seem to think he's trying to stage a full game boycott - all he's trying to do is have folks wait outside the stadium (at the concession stand, in the concourse, etc.) through the opening kickoff - thereby allowing MNF viewers to witness empty seats as a sign of fan disenchantment. That's not a tremendously great sacrifice to make if you're a fan who wants to be part of a "statement".

While we're at it, what is it about Mangini that he's so stubborn in staying with Anderson at QB. He spends the entire preseason in his little ultra-secrecy QB evaluation world and then settles on Quinn as his guy. Quinn plays 2.5 games and puts up a QB rating of 62.9. Mangini decides change is good and moves to Derek, who proceeds to really stink up the joint. After 5 games, his QB rating is 40.6. Now five games is a pretty good sample size when it comes to an NFL season, but does he show any sign of giving Quinn another shot (he's gotta know that 62.9 is better than 40.6, right?) or bringing in his Ratliff acquisition to spice things up? - No, he doesn't. I personally think Mangini is the problem in Cleveland at this point in time.

 
Dave Stauff said:
Several posters seem to think he's trying to stage a full game boycott - all he's trying to do is have folks wait outside the stadium (at the concession stand, in the concourse, etc.) through the opening kickoff - thereby allowing MNF viewers to witness empty seats as a sign of fan disenchantment.
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Buy tickets and go to the concession stands instead of watching the game....if I owned the Browns, my only incentive would be to field a worse team and make even more money.
 
Dave Stauff said:
Several posters seem to think he's trying to stage a full game boycott - all he's trying to do is have folks wait outside the stadium (at the concession stand, in the concourse, etc.) through the opening kickoff - thereby allowing MNF viewers to witness empty seats as a sign of fan disenchantment. That's not a tremendously great sacrifice to make if you're a fan who wants to be part of a "statement".While we're at it, what is it about Mangini that he's so stubborn in staying with Anderson at QB. He spends the entire preseason in his little ultra-secrecy QB evaluation world and then settles on Quinn as his guy. Quinn plays 2.5 games and puts up a QB rating of 62.9. Mangini decides change is good and moves to Derek, who proceeds to really stink up the joint. After 5 games, his QB rating is 40.6. Now five games is a pretty good sample size when it comes to an NFL season, but does he show any sign of giving Quinn another shot (he's gotta know that 62.9 is better than 40.6, right?) or bringing in his Ratliff acquisition to spice things up? - No, he doesn't. I personally think Mangini is the problem in Cleveland at this point in time.
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$$$$Quinn will start again once he's incapable of meeting the escalators in his contract. Which would piss me off to no end if I were a player on that team.
 
Frenchy Fuqua said:
Tough week for Cleveland sports fans...

-Browns get clobbered 31-3 at home to go to 1-6

-Cavs with LeBron and Shaq start off 0-2

-Former Indians aces Sabathia & Lee start Game 1 of the World Series

Well at least Cleveland has the 2014 Gay Games to get excited about.
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Definitely.Good luck in your volleyball match. :rolleyes:

 
Dave Stauff said:
Several posters seem to think he's trying to stage a full game boycott - all he's trying to do is have folks wait outside the stadium (at the concession stand, in the concourse, etc.) through the opening kickoff - thereby allowing MNF viewers to witness empty seats as a sign of fan disenchantment. That's not a tremendously great sacrifice to make if you're a fan who wants to be part of a "statement".While we're at it, what is it about Mangini that he's so stubborn in staying with Anderson at QB. He spends the entire preseason in his little ultra-secrecy QB evaluation world and then settles on Quinn as his guy. Quinn plays 2.5 games and puts up a QB rating of 62.9. Mangini decides change is good and moves to Derek, who proceeds to really stink up the joint. After 5 games, his QB rating is 40.6. Now five games is a pretty good sample size when it comes to an NFL season, but does he show any sign of giving Quinn another shot (he's gotta know that 62.9 is better than 40.6, right?) or bringing in his Ratliff acquisition to spice things up? - No, he doesn't. I personally think Mangini is the problem in Cleveland at this point in time.
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Any sane person knows how bad Mangina is.
 
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