Beside the Point: The Blog by Patrick McManamon
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Folks, I post links just because they're interesting. Some interest me more than others, some I think will spur discussion. I hope nobody takes them personally.
But … in the interest of being more positive I present the real reason Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize today (though the woman in the front does not look real convinced).
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pat, no reason to fret about the people attacking you personally for your opinion and your links. you've probably seen the show "intervention". the detractors are like a drug addict who rails at friends and family for their childhood and shortcomings when the root of the problem is drugs and alcohol (in this case: cleveland sports).
Not to get too political here, but we're now giving Nobel Peace Prizes to people for only their words and for saying what could or might be done instead of giving the award for their actual actions? That's like giving the Nobel Peace Prize to LeBron for repeatedly saying he's not going anywhere, but never actually doing a damn thing to prove it. In 1979, Mother Teresa didn't win her Nobel Peace Prize for simply saying, "Ya know, it really might be a good idea if an African guy and a Calcutta dude ate a sandwich."
Pretending things were all shiny happy B-52esque would be a whole lot more egregious than the current tone.
I'm not quite sure how you're supposed to spin nil and four, with the whole town jazzed that we just played a competitive game against the second worst team in our division
Brilliant comparison Terje!
Its the Nobel Peace Prize and it holds as much 'gravitas' as sports halls of fame and all star teams in my opinion. I don't want to get too political, but I wonder if part of the reason President Obama won was because he's been on this mending fences/PR campaign all over the world. Besides, who were the other choices.
I know, I'm Irish and I should say Bono, but…
I believe this epitomizes the cerebral nature terje describes. http://xr.com/e1r0
Thanks for the video link Pat…now I understand why O'bama won the Nobel Peace Prize.
I can't believe I actually agree with Alan about something. Maybe I should reconsider my position.
Nice Pat. You should check out a youtube vid for a song called, " What I Like About The North". Funny stuff. I'd link it but I'm too cyber-challenged to know how. Or lazy. And cnpeters, we weren't talking about how the Browns were going to the Super Bowl, but that we were optimistic by the prospects we received for an overrated egomaniacal skillet handed drive staller who has the nerve to call himself a #1 receiver. And how we are better off for him being gone. Anywhere, for anything, period. As for the doom and gloom about the Cavs, who needs it? Surround yourself with positive people and good things happen. S'all. There's still twelve Browns games left and a whole season of Cavs, so forgettaboutit.
Please. "Prospects?" Pretend the Browns are a basketball team and Braylon Edwards is Dennis Rodman. Who in their right mind gets excited about trading Dennis Rodman to the Bulls in exchange for Larry Krystkowiak, Jud Buechler, Corie Blount and Dickey Simpkins? The Bulls, with proper motivation, atmosphere and coaching, now receive incredibly high value and a huge difference-maker, and the Browns get a bunch of role players who make absolutely no difference whatsoever.
Tell me, what in the world is "positive" about that? It's like drinking that stuff that makes you take a dump 50 times in 10 minutes, then getting a colonoscopy and finding out that you have no polyps. As prospects go, that's the Braylon Edwards trade.
"overrated egomaniacal skillet handed drive staller"
replace skillet handed with burger bloated and you've just described eric mangini.
hey alan, i know you'll love this bit from christopher hitchens about mother teresa.
http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/fi/hitchens_16_4.html
not a yay or nay on the article. i'm just throwing it out there.
To make the article more secular and to translate it into terms that native Clevelanders can understand, I crossed out the name "Mother Teresa" and replaced it with the name "Dick Jacobs."
Alan, I guess we have to wait and see, now won't we?
I don't get it.
Alan, how the prospects we traded for perform. I bet that by the end of the season, the new receiver we have has better numbers than Braylon, and that both players made more of a positve impact on our team than BE did for the Jets. And then how about the two draft choices we receive will perform won't be known for at least a year. But we definitely have a history of Braylons performance, or lack there of, to compare theirs to. So that's what I mean.
And comparing Braylon to Dennis Rodman ? That's a bit of a stretch to say the least. Dennis Weaver could probably catch more passes than BE.
Oh, come on. Third and fifth-round picks are the equivalent of eating a hot dog bought at Super America. It will fill you up, but you're not going to clear your arteries or win Mr. Olympia eating it.
And role players are just that. Role players. Whoopie, a guy will make some catches. Daniel Gibson sometimes makes some three-pointers. So what. That's the only thing he can do. Just another poor man's black Brian Brennan. But Edwards is a potential game-changer. Attracts double teams. Affects defenses.
And what people fail to acknowledge is that while Edwards may indeed drop some passes, there is not one receiver currently on the Browns who would have been able to get himself open to drop that pass in the first place.
The trade sucks. Not because they gave up Edwards, but because they received nothing in return that they don't already have.
Well, we shall see. But really Alan, that is a lame argument. We know for a fact that there are many many late round picks making a tremendous impact in the NFL. Tom Brady,is the first one that comes to mind, 6th round pick. What about the walk on's that arent even drafted at all that go on to make an impact ? Josh Cribbs, and Hixon, the Giant's receiver from Kent? Dominic Hixon I think. Game changers, man. And Edwards never attacked anyone's defense. And plenty of times he was wide open and had the pass clang off his tin hands, when anyone could have got open the same way. He's terrible, or played terribly for us , and I am sooo glad he is gone. Let's see what happens Sunday with the Browns and Stucie (Sp?) and the kid from Nordonia. And then we'll see what happens Monday
with the Braylon and the Jets. There is a lot of football left this season.
"What about the walk on's that arent even drafted at all that go on to make an impact ? Josh Cribbs, and Hixon, the Giant's receiver from Kent? Dominic Hixon I think. Game changers, man."
tell that to eric mangini since he passed on trading edwards for hixon, a 2nd and a 5th.
remember, the browns don't need talented players to win…..according to ballboy.
It's an incredibly poor argument, a miniscule number of guys actually make it, let alone make an impact. For every Josh Cribbs, there are 400 Darrin Chiaverinis wandering around the countryside. Middle and late round draft choices and free agent walk-ons are pennies tossed in a wishing well. When you trade a potential impact player, a good trader receives something tangible and worthwhile in return. You don't duplicate what little you already have.
You oughta get a job in the PR department. Sell hope. Obviously, some people buy anything.
Come on, potential ? I think we have waited long enough to see what potential BE has. And since we all know what that is, I salute the trade . Like I said, we will see what happens come Sunday, and Sundays to come. And I don't understand why you refer to BE as an impact player. Unless you mean the positive impact he has on opposing teams.
Didn't Bishop Desmond Tutu receive the Nobel like ten years before Apartheid was eliminated?
@terje, "tell that to eric mangini since he passed on trading edwards for hixon, a 2nd and a 5th"
Domenik Hixon….of Akron….seriously? He's a special team's player…exactly the type of guy Alan's been disparaging.
@ alan, "Tell me, what in the world is "positive" about that? It's like drinking that stuff that makes you take a dump 50 times in 10 minutes, then getting a colonoscopy and finding out that you have no polyps"
Of course, being told you have a cancer could be the equivalent of having Braylon on your team.
@Tbomb, "Didn't Bishop Desmond Tutu receive the Nobel like ten years before Apartheid was eliminated?"
Yes he did, but he was a vigourous and outspoken opponent of apartheid for about a decade before winning the Nobel Peace Prize and his efforts were a major force in the freeing of Nelson Mandela and the beginninig of the end of apartheid.
The movie "District 9" was an excellent allegorical reference to apartheid.
hey brian, i'm not the guy who brought up hixon. i would have taken manningham instead.
Sean, how many times does it have to be repeated that the guy went to the Pro Bowl merely one season and four games ago?
The obvious fact of the matter is Mangini intentionally made the team worse for his own long-term job preservation. I mean, why in the hell would you acquire another run-of-the-mill wide receiver when your own second-round draft choice has gotten no time at all, and Mike Furrey is already sitting in your lap? Because you don't want to improve now, that's why. You want to sell hope for the future to the boss owner to give yourself job security.
It's Mangini's big fat middle finger to the fans, only countless folks like you see it as Mangini's big fat white rose. It boggles the mind.
Obama got the peace prize because of YouTube?
No, Obama got the Peace Prize because he's a wily shrewd spinning genius like Mangini. The man sells hope and the naive idealistic majority buys it. When his term or terms are up, he should strongly consider accepting a head coaching position with the Browns.
"don't ask, don't tell" is being abolished……….Terje and Alan can now go into the military on the buddy plan without any questions asked. I suffer from the terrifying clarity of my vision. But these guys have no vision…….sports is one thing, but letting these idiots discuss politics is way out of line. Pat, can't you block these morons?
Nothing is being abolished, Joyce … just another empty promise, like everything else that guy says. The dude throws pitches like Tim Wakefield.
And by the way, don't ask, don't tell what? Joyce, if you don't ask me if I ate the last piece of pecan pie in the fridge, then I won't tell you I did. OK?