Rooster: Why Are All Football Coaches Like This?
Rooster: Why Are All Football Coaches Like This?
Browns rumor mill continues to churn, Democratic SuperPAC ponders abandoning Ohio, and more.
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TATHAN MARTELL DID NOT DIE FOR THIS
Ryan Day, whom we’re claiming as a Millennial despite his being born in 1978, showed why he was the man for the job when he dumped Greg Schiano, Taver Johnson, and Urban Meyer’s Best Man in his first two weeks.
He also earned points for allowing the media to observe and record more than 15 minutes of the first spring practice.
However, Day squandered that goodwill in his first press conference of the season when he insisted Justin Fields would compete with Matt Baldwin to start at quarterback.
From Colin Hass-Hill of elevenwarriors.com:
“It's going to be a battle,” Day said on Wednesday. “In the way that we kind of look at is this is spring practice, but it's the first practice leading up to the first game of the season. It's a progression along the way. The guys are out there. We're splitting up the reps. During the spring, (quarterbacks coach Mike Yurcich is) going to roll those guys in and out so everyone's competing.”
In the first hour of the first spring practice that media members could watch, Fields took most of the first-team reps. Baldwin followed him, taking the majority of second-team snaps. Neither redshirt senior Chris Chugunov nor walk-on Danny Vanatsky will be involved in the competition to start, but they were the third and fourth quarterbacks, respectively, in drills.
Fields and Baldwin each missed a number of throws, and K.J. Hill said Fields had the natural nervousness of someone going through his first practice with a new team. But Day said he thought the quarterbacks “threw well” and the “timing was good” between them and the receivers.
At least 30% of Ohio State fans took Day’s words literally, and they will spend the spring tsk-tsking other fans for “writing off” Baldwin, who you might not know was the first quarterback Day recruited to Columbus.
I understand why Day must perform this ritual; I’m just disappointed in myself for thinking I’d get some candor about QB1 on the first day of spring practice.
INSATIABLE BROWNS RUMOR MILL TIES TALENTED COCAINE FAN TO CLEVELAND
My favorite part of following the Browns is how professional media will tease rumors on Twitter like they’re some random asshole on Reddit.
Yesterday was one for the ages.
Alas, one brave champion rose above the muck to broadcast the rumor while noting it did not come from a credible source.
The other player, according to random Twitter users, is defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah, who delivered a pedestrian 2018 season after a strong 2017 caused Myles Garrett to tell Browns brass to pass on North Carolina State defensive end Bradley Chubb.
I doubt the price would be that high for an NFC East receiver not looking to catch passes from the decrepit Eli Manning for another year. But hey, that won’t stop me from being excited about what internet strangers describe as a “done deal.”
COASTAL ELITES NOT HIGH ON DEMS CHANCES TO WIN OHIO IN 2020
Donald Trump put Hillary Clinton in a dumpster in Ohio.
On top of that, the Blue Wave failed to crest in Ohio when Republicans swept what Democratic state chairman David Pepper dubbed his “Dream Team” in the 2018 midterm elections.
Given that President McDouble will run in 2020 — if only to prevent the Southern District of New York from arresting him the day he leaves office — national Democrats see North Carolina and Arizona as easier prizes.
From Seth Richardson of cleveland.com:
CLEVELAND, Ohio – One of the most prominent Democratic super PACs in the country does not have Ohio high on its list of targets for the 2020 presidential election, further eroding the state’s status as a presidential battleground.
A report from Priorities USA, the primary super PAC that supported both President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, significantly downgrades Ohio’s targetability, listing it as a “GOP Watch” state along with Texas and Iowa. That’s below other more traditional swing states like Florida, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, but also historically red states like Arizona and Georgia.
[…]
“It’s not in our initial spending plans,” said Josh Schwerin, spokesman for Priorities USA. “It is in the states to watch and see if an investment is worth making.”
[…]
“That doesn’t mean we don’t think Ohio is winnable for a Democrat,” Schwerin said. “What we think that means is if Ohio is in play, we’ll have already won the easier states and have 270 electoral votes. Our investment strategy is how to get to 270 electoral votes.”
I understand why national Democrats feel this way. The state party under Chairman Pepper hasn’t won a statewide office outside of Sherrod Brown, whose success predated Pepper’s arrival.
Unless the Democratic nominee is someone who has credibility within the state (read: Senator Brown) or a transcendent candidate with a hyper-disciplined campaign (read: Barack Obama), I don’t see any Democrat will carrying the state.
I don’t feel good typing any of this, and I plan to help whoever wins the nomination. That doesn’t change national Democrats being right in their math. If Ohio is in play, Trump has already fallen.
CHANGE OF PACE: CONSERVATIVE GROUPS HAVE A GOOD IDEA
Republicans love to accuse me of being a partisan hack. If they were right, I wouldn’t be willing to work with anyone that has a good idea.
And while I generally don’t agree with the work of conservative think-tanks, a group of them conjured a good idea about the need for bail reform in Ohio.
From Jeremy Pelzer of cleveland.com:
Members of the newly formed Ohio Conservatives for Bail Reform, in an Ohio Statehouse news conference Wednesday, argued that the Ohio courts bail system unfairly benefits the wealthy, breaks apart families, infringes on personal liberty, and wastes taxpayer money.
“This is an affront to conservative principles, pure and simple,” said Michael Hartley, a longtime Republican political consultant who serves as executive director of the new group.
Hartley admitted that getting Ohio lawmakers and policymakers to approve bail reform is a “longer-term effort.” A bail-reform bill introduced last session won backing from both conservatives and liberals, but it stalled amid concerns over finding the money to collect data on whether the proposed reforms are working as intended.
In a wild turn of events, the State Senate has shown an interest in criminal justice reform. Their big idea is maybe not throwing a first-time drug offender in prison.
From Jessie Balmert of cincinnati.com:
Senate Bill 3. The bill would allow Ohioans caught with drugs to obtain treatment or face up to one year in jail rather than potential prison time (as long as the offense did not involve fentanyl or a date-rape drug.)
The changes would eliminate prison sentences for first-time drug users. Lawmakers also want to make it easier to seal past convictions and avoid new ones – if defendants are willing to commit to treatment.
…
Those charged with drug possession for the first time could have their charges dismissed if they complete treatment. That's similar to Issue 1. But unlike the constitutional amendment, drug users would face a fifth-degree felony after two or more convictions within three years.
"We recognize that Ohio is in the midst of an opioid addiction crisis and so is the rest of the country," said Sen. Sean O'Brien, D-Bazetta. "This is an attempt to recognize that and to deal with that crisis in the best way we can. We know we can't arrest our way out of it."
If you’re using fentanyl… a stint in prison won’t do much for your recovery. If you’re selling fentanyl, you don’t deserve the reprieve.
Living in Ohio as a leftist in 2019 is about accepting incremental advancements, and this is undoubtedly a step towards where we should be headed as the state.
THE WAIT FOR BROWNS SEASON DRIVES NORTHEAST RACCOONS INSANE
Cleveland may need to petition the NFL to start the season in April. I thought the rumor mill would drive me insane. I hadn’t pondered an army of angry raccoons going bonkers.
From news5cleveland.com:
Cases of strange acting raccoons have been reported in Northeast Ohio and recent evaluations by the Highland Heights Police Department have confirmed that some raccoons may have acquired canine distemper.
The Cuyahoga County Board of Health was notified in January by Highland Heights police that their office received several calls about strange acting raccoons.
Police responded to calls and found several raccoons acting in a strange manner. Two raccoons were tested for rabies by the United States Department of Agriculture—Wildlife Service. Tests results came back negative.
The raccoons displayed symptoms of distemper, which include wandering aimlessly and an emaciated appearance.
Sounds like the first team to saunter into Browns Stadium will have a problem on their hands. Doubt they’ll have any film on the horde of raccoons with canine distemper, either.
THOSE WMDs. Yes, you are being watched… Tech reporter now approaches Facebook with caution… The U.S. Chamber of Horrors and Commerce… Trump Mar-a-Lago buddy wrote policy pitch, which the president presented to the VA… Landslides in Greater Cincinnati will probably get worse… Stop enabling Barstool’s bullshit… Aldi transformed how Britain shops… History of the word “villain.”