Cleveland Browns – 2014 Mid-Season Recap
Browns fans from Northern Ohio live within a two hour drive from Cedar Point Amusement Park, the “Roller Coaster Capital of the World”. I would venture that most, if not all of them, have dropped a few bucks at least once for the adrenalin rush one gets from spending a day on this peninsula that separates Sandusky Bay from Lake Erie.
Perhaps the most agonizing part of the day is standing in line for hours on end to find out if you have what it takes to conquer these beasts of metal or wood or if you will end up regurgitating the ill-advised French Fries you just consumed on the midway. The anticipation of the thrill you are about to receive is magnified as you hear the “clack, clack, clack” of the mechanism that is slowly dragging your arse up that first hill. And then . . . GAME ON!!!
Browns fans have been standing in line for fourteen years in anticipation of the adrenalin rush that comes with a winning NFL team. For the most part, those fourteen years have resulted in puddles of chewed up French Fries. Yet, we all still run as fast as we can to go stand in the next line.
Year fifteen is no different. The 2014 off season started with the firing of yet another Head Coach and his staff followed closely by a complete overhaul of the team’s front office by second year owner Jimmy Haslam (himself under an FBI investigation for his alleged involvement in rebate fraud committed by his company, Pilot/Flying J). Gone were Head Coach Rob Chudzinski, Offensive Coordinator Norv Turner, Defensive Coordinator Ray Horton, CEO Joe Banner and General Manager Mike Lombardi.
In as the Head Coach is Mike Pettine (former Defensive Coordinator of the Buffalo Bills), Defensive Coordinator Jim O’Neil (former linebackers coach under Pettine with the Bills), Offensive Coordinator Kyle Shanahan (former OC for the Washington Redskins and Houston Texans) and General Manager Ray Farmer (former Assistant GM with the Browns).
. . . clack, clack, clack
