The Top 5 Cleveland Sports Stories of the Week — 2015–09–20
By Craig Lyndall
Before Johnny Manziel, Travis Benjamin and the rest of the Browns righted the ship on Sunday against the Tennessee Titans, there was a week in Cleveland sports. Here are the top five stories from the week ending September 20, 2015.
5. The Browns were destroyed in their opener by the New York Jets
The week was dominated by the week-long hangover in Cleveland with the Browns licking their wounds after losing to the Jets 31–10. The hopes were seemingly dashed in the very first week of the 2015 NFL season. There was a bright side though. The loss led to one of the best Browns posts in the history of WFNY as Will Gibson pepped up Browns fans with his game plan. Will Gibson graced us all with his idea to just “Embrace the Absurdity.”
The fun I had Sunday wasn’t the traditional fun that one tries to have watching his favorite football team. The Browns, however, are far from a traditional football team, and you can’t treat them like one. You cannot watch them like you’re watching a competitive NFL franchise because, I’m sorry to say, they’re not — not right now, anyway. I can certainly envision a world in which they pull it together next week and knock Tennessee’s Marcus Mariota down a peg or two and return to the ranks of the mere subpar (as opposed to the oh-my-god-what-is-going-on?!), but we’re not there yet.
4. Johnny Manziel under fire of the national media
Johnny Manziel came into the first game of the season after Josh McCown helicoptered himself into a concussion. You would have thought Manziel poisoned McCown’s Gatorade and forced himself into the football game with the way the national media reacted to him.
First up was Colin Cowherd who compared Manziel to Dane Cook for some reason. Next up was a familiar name in the world of Manziel hatred when former Steeler Merril Hoge once again plastered Manziel. Manziel, however, got the last laugh even before the Browns beat the Titans on Sunday. Manziel’s response was pretty mature, respectful, and still zinged Hoge for his oversized neck ties.
3. Ray Farmer finishes his first week of suspension
WFNY had some fun at Ray Farmer’s expense after the Jets game. The imagined text conversations that Ray was finding himself in from his couch as the Browns got plastered were one of the most popular things on the site as Farmer’s wife had to remind him that he was suspended from the Browns, but not on House Arrest.
2. Francisco Lindor hits a home run and some fans almost brawl over a spilled beer
It was a really weird scene in the bleachers. What should have been a joyful moment for Tribe fans turned into a petulant pissing contest between fans. One guy got the ball and accidentally knocked over a half a beer. The other guy ran up to him, seemingly demanding a new beer, and the younger punk screamed a very very nasty sexual request in his general direction (and in front of a woman who appeared to be his mother.) It was… special.
1. Tom Hamilton calls Carlos Santana’s grand slam to chills everywhere
The Indians are still alive and a lot of that has to do with their resurgent offense. That offense went bonkers this week for six runs against Chris Sale and the Chicago White Sox. The six-spot was capped off by Carlos Santana bombing a grand slam and the dinger was sync’d up with Tom Hamilton’s radio call.
And that’s the week that was in Cleveland sports. Let us know anything we missed.
