CLEVELAND, OHIO (TheOBR.com) - Good morning, Cleveland Browns fans! We find ourselves at the tail end of February, which means that March is up next, and I'm hoping that by the end of March, we're safely into springtime. I am less tolerant of winter every succeeding year, it seems. Let's talk about what's buzzing in the Browns space this morning.
THE DAILY BLOVIATION
The NFL Combine is either the best or worst display of what the NFL media has to offer, depending on your perspective. If you like entertaining thoughts about acquiring half of another bad team's offense in the hopes that they would be less awful in Northeast Ohio, then it's a great time. If you're a somewhat cynical consumer of sports media who feels it exploits casual fans for money, then it's less fun.
I guess I'm in the second camp these days, because what the media and pseudo-media do is so damn predictable and manipulative, especially this time of year.
One of the worst aspects of the Combine is how media folks hobnob with each other and pass along rumors that some outlets will run with. These generally involve drawing lines from (perhaps) available players to teams because GMs talk and bounce ideas and proposals off each other. Teams like the Browns, desperate for whatever they can put together on offense, are particularly susceptible to this because they'll call around, explore every option they might possibly have. So, GMs like Andrew Berry will call everyone about everything and probe about availability.
The Browns need help in the worst way, especially on the offensive line, wide receiver, and quarterback, so the GMs they contact will discuss players who might be available if a desperate team is willing to overspend. That doesn't mean that there's any traction to these talks at all, or that the front officer personnel weren't just chucking names around just to see what reaction they'd get.
Once those names are out there, there's an entire ecosystem of aggregators and clickbaiters who will pick them up, present them as something tangible, and couch them in headlines like "Browns Interested in Shocking Wide Receiver Trade", and watch the clicks roll in from consumers who haven't glommed on to the charade.
Every. Damn. Year.
Andrew Berry
Andrew Berry (Photo: Getty)
So, let's acknowledge that about 1% of the crazy trade rumors you hear are actually things that might happen. They're still fun to talk about, right? Right. No harm done. It's just football, and no one really gets hurt. Some people make some money, a bunch of folks on Facebook are confused when things don't happen, and life goes on.
Another sideline is the "Player X would love to play for Team Y" stories, which seem to have particular meaning in Cleveland because we're so starved for anything like positive news about the Browns. So, hearing that Carson Beck would be "super stoked" to play for Cleveland's new head coach, Todd Monken, is a headline here, perhaps because of our own low self-esteem.
To hell with that, I say. I don't care if my new quarterback talks bro-speak, but I don't want Carson Beck on my football team. No one attended his birthday party or something, I don't remember. But more importantly, he never impressed me at all when I saw him play.
Ty Simpson, Jordan Tyson, and all those guys have said they would love to come to Cleveland because they would say positive things about any of the 32 teams that might select them. It makes no sense not to. But it doesn't make it real news.
So, this bloviation has once more wandered into "old man yells at clouds" territory, and I apologize, so just let me leave you with one single thought that sufficiently sums up my feelings on today's news from the Combine: "Bah".
That's it. "Bah". That's my insight. You'll have to imagine the dismissive wave.
Have a good one! GO BROWNS!
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Despite all my whining about the state of the media, it still serves an important purpose. For example, it can outline what might happen if we were attacked by a giant fire-breathing lizard. I'm guessing this was Space.com's biggest story yesterday.
WRAPPING UP
When not contemplating whether there's such a thing as giant fire-breathing lizard repellent, Barry McBride is the Publisher and Founder of the OBR and bloviates 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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