CLEVELAND, OHIO (TheOBR.com) - Good morning, Cleveland Browns fans! It's still dark out as another football Sunday dawns this morning. The Browns play a late afternoon game, ostensibly because the CBS Network wants everyone to witness what will probably be a dismantling of our team by the Ratbirds. Why a major television network feels compelled to do this is questionable, but I guess the Rats are considered attractive viewing for those who can handle their innate scuzziness.
THE DAILY BLOVIATION
TODAY AGAINST THE RATS: I expect more of the same today, as the Ratbird defense has found its groove over the last three games, giving up an average of less than 17 points to NFL teams with real offenses, meaning that the Browns will be lucky to hit that mark. They've got their big fullback, Patrick Ricard, back, and that generally means that Derrick Henry will have more opportunity to get going.
Oh, and a fellow by the name of Lamar Jackson has returned, and we know how irritating he can be with his last-second scrambles out of danger.
My expectations are not very high, but the Browns have played the Ratbirds fairly well at home in the Stefanski era. I look at the Packers game as the "one weird game" where the Browns won when they had no business doing so, and it's probably asking too much to expect another one of those.
But I am trying to remain upbeat, so I'll not go further into predictions of orange and brown demise today.
WHAT IT'S LIKE TO FOLLOW A WINNING FOOTBALL TEAM: My Saturday football experience is much different from my Sunday experience. As a two-time graduate of the Ohio State University, I come by my Buckeyes honkdom honestly, and I build my Saturdays around the gameday experience.
Unfortunately, the Buckeyes played an annoying night game against UCLA last night, so I'm naturally fatigued this morning. It's the only downside to following the Buckeyes so far this year. The college game is not based on parity-above-all, so it's possible for teams to dominate year after year, a rarity in the NFL.
Now, before I go into this, I know that there are those reading who can't stand the "world-famous" Ohio State Buckeyes. I offer this as a glimpse of what following a perennially winning team is - like not as advocacy that you join me in Buckeyes fandom. The same standards could apply to, say, Alabama or Georgia. Or the New England Patriots of last decade. Or the Kansas City Chiefs in recent years.
Ohio State Fans
What does this facial expression mean while watching football? (Photo: 247Sports)
But look at all the smiling faces in the photo I used for this story. These are people watching football, and they're happy. Weird.
Ohio State has been on a roll throughout the season, starting by beating then-top-ranked Texas and just rolling through the schedule without a serious threat. This creates an entirely different gameday experience than that of Browns fans, so I figured I would offer some slices of life about what it's like.
Generally, it's very low stress. The Buckeyes have been so dominant on both sides of the ball (complementary football!) that fan confidence is very high that the team will win. The exception to that is the Michigan game, which is always weird, but most weeks there's little to no doubt that Ohio State will emerge victorious. This is a direct comparison to the omnipresent sense of doom experienced on Sundays.
Great quarterbacks come out of nowhere. The Buckeyes had a QB competition early this pre-season, but Julian Sayin won it and has unexpectedly emerged in his redshirt freshman year as a Heisman contender. Instead of fighting against his wide receivers and offensive line, the quarterback in an Ohio State offense deploys them as weapons, with great wide receivers available every year.
It's losses rather than wins that stick in your mind. With the Browns, I remember their wins and erase losses from my brain each week. So, I remember details about the Packers game, for example, but have already blotted the loss to the Lions out of my mind. With the Buckeyes, I'm still obsessing about last year's loss to Michigan despite their winning a national championship in 2024
Drinking serves a different purpose. I will admit to hitting the bottle at times during both contests, although that has decreased somewhat as I've gotten older, with deep mental scarring protecting me from the worst that the Browns can offer. With the Buckeyes, the drinking is celebratory, whereas with the Browns, the drinking is often of the "They got pounded again, this is a disaster" variety.
I know that following a winning team is foreign territory for some of you, so I hope this guide helps you understand what it's like. You may have fond memories of the Browns' success in the late 1970s and mid-1980s that still resonate if you're older, but if you're younger, the feelings I described above may seem strange and disorienting.
Of the two, I much prefer the "winning" approach that Ohio State has taken to the "losing" approach here in Cleveland. It's a much more pleasant experience, although one can never find a resale ticket for the Buckeyes priced at $6.
You win some, you lose some, I guess.
Have a good one! GO BROWNS!
Newswire Bloviation Archive
CLEVELAND BROWNS INFORMATION
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Predicting The Cleveland Browns Inactives: Baltimore Ravens - Jack
OBR Roundtable Browns - Ravens Predictions - Barry
Cleveland Browns News and Rumors 11/15L The Future Awaits And Awaits Some More - Barry
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ASK THE INSIDERS (VIP)
Lane: Sanders follow up
Is Lisa Harveys Analysis of Browns Org vs Other Teams True?
THE WATERCOOLER
NFL Week #11 The Other Games: Spain - cin@pit lac@jax SNF
OT - The Sopranos
QB Riddle me this
Do you want a win or a franchise QB
OT- College wrestling
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The Elf
THE LIFT
Positive news from the world of sports and beyond...
Bumblebees Have Learned to Read Simple Morse Code–an Ability Seen Only in Humans and Vertebrates - (goodnewsnetwork.org)
Human beings often experiment with things, constantly trying to coax the facts out of nature. For instance, some folks at Queen Mary University of London built a complicated device to determine if bees could distinguish between a "dot" and a "dash". If so, it indicates some brainpower among bees not previously found among invertebrates.
It turns out that the bugs can differentiate between a dot and a dash just fine and are rewarded with sugar when they do so. So, it turns out, bees are a lot smarter than we previously thought. Please consider this before bringing out the Raid next time, although this ability has not been proven with wasps, so just wipe those little dirtballs out when you see them. I don't like wasps.
WRAPPING UP
When not re-evaluating bees, Barry McBride serves as the Publisher and Founder of the OBR and spouts this nonsense every morning. You can follow him on Twitter @barrymcbride or write him at barry@theobr.com if you are so compelled.
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