Man...These Monday's are Rough

ah, an Au mauge to the great Richard Christy of the Howard Stern show; one of the greatest prank callers of all time. We're gonna go all across the board this morning.

I emailed this weekend with the creator of the pre-eminent sports blog in the business, The Big Lead. I asked for advice on how to get the buzz out there and how to get my readers to keep interested in what I have to say. His advice: "In a word? Dedication....I don't know if a blog can be successful if you just do one post a day.....You have to keep people coming back for more. You need updates to keep them coming back." So I will do my best to update as much as I can in smaller pieces rather than a long article per day. We will see if time permits me to keep this format going.

The Browns are 4-3, a game over .500 and now the national press in climbing aboard. I think it is still a little premature to do so, given the state of the defense. Lets be honest, this may be the worst defense in the NFL. The 0-8 Rams, with THREE third-string offensive lineman yesterday, gained close to 400 yards of offense. Cornerback Leigh Bodden was atrocious or as the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Tony Grossi described it "bordering on awful." The pass rush is as existant as me at Temple on Sunday mornings. But it is an offensive league, and the Browns are a juggernaut. Did you know that Derek Anderson's 17 TD passes is second in the NFL to Tom Brady's 30? That's right, DA has more TD passes than Peyton Manning, Carson Palmer, Drew Brees, Tony Romo, et all. SI.com's Peter King in his Monday Morning QB column lists the Browns at #11 in his "Fine Fifteen." Foxsports.com's John Czarnecki gives Anderson more props this morning as well.

Just think out loud, but..... if the Browns continue their success with Anderson at QB and he has say, a Pro Bowl season, does Phil Savage consider trading the Savior himself Brady Quinn? The argument for says that Anderson is now ready to explode onto the scene, he has a year as a starter under his belt, has a cannon arm, and great chemistry with Braylon Edwards, Kellen Winslow, and Joe Jurevicius. Quinn's contract isn't nearly as bad as it could be, since he was drafted #23 overall and has a ton of incentives in it. Teams like Chicago, Jacksonville, and Miami would LOVE a do-over with the chance to get their hands on Brady. Nobody knows how he will be in the NFL yet, and this can only be a good thing for the Browns brass. His value will never be higher.

The argument against is that Derek Anderson could be nothing more than Kelly Holcomb, the former Browns QB who had a cup of coffee as a starter and showed a great touch and ability to move the team. But when the defenses figured him out, he went right back to being the backup he really was. Everyone knows that you need two good QB's these days in the NFL. Other than Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, and Brett Favre, every QB seems to get hurt at some point. Trading Quinn who you just traded a first round pick to get would be conceding that Phil Savage and his staff made a mistake by not giving DA the job from day one and sticking with him. Plus, you wasted a first round pick, which is sacred these days int he NFL.

Big shocker that the Red Sox completed the sweep of the Rockies last night. I am proud to say I managed not to watch more than 10 pitches the entire series. Like I want to see Jonathon Papelbon go jump and down in celebration, or those morons wearing goggles in the clubhouse to shield their eyes from the champagne. The insufferable group that is the Red Sox nation is all over the net today. Tribe fans, if you enjoy throwing up, Click here and scroll down, Boston Dirt Dogs have covered the celebration to to bottom. The only good thing I can say about the Red Sox at this point is that cancer survivor Jon Lester pitched 5 2/3rd of shutout ball. Good for you Jon, you deserve it. Hey, Rockies. thanks for playing!

What is worse? The National League, The NFC, or the NBA Eastern Conference? I begged the question the other day, but it definitely should be looked into. ESPN's Peter Gammons said before the playoff started that the AL East's third place team, the Toronto Blue Jays, would be the class of the National League. Seriously, as hot as the Rockies were, did anyone take a playoff rotation of Jeff Francis, Ubaldo Jimenez, Josh Fogg, Aaron Cook, and Franklyn Morales seriously? The Red Sox needed to come back from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Indians, who had disposed of the $200 million Yankees in four games, yet never trailed the Rockies the entire series. What does this say about the Arizona Diamondbacks? You know, the only 90 win team in the National League?

We'll have more later...