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Weather forecast for Tuesday night/Wednesday morning potentially calls for another ice storm. Wonder how my buddies at PSNH (which continues to Suck and be a blight upon New Hampshire) are preparing for this one? Probably drinking toddies and enjoying themselves. Can’t imagine they’d have the foresight to publicize some planning insights on their website or through the media…Oh well, if worse comes to worst, I’ll happily resume my hobby of publicly ridiculing and vilifying these incompetent jerks on behalf of the powerless everywhere. I’ll never let this die until I get a satisfactory explanation of how their communications processes will change during future power outages. I continue to hope that an investigation of these practices by the NH PUCO will result in some sort of fine, reprimand, and mandatory change in business practices. I fear however, that this is just a going-through-the-motions to mollify those of us who screamed loudly enough to cause our elected officials to take notice, however briefly. We’ll keep our fingers crossed that meaty penalties are coming.
I’ll never buy a movie from iTunes or Amazon in digital form. Unless I can create a DVD for my own consumption, I’m not about to be tied to some hard drive somewhere unless I were able to download it multiple times and have assurance that if I lost it, I’d be able to recover it. I don’t understand the difference assigned to video in the discussion/handling of digital media. If I purchase and download music from iTunes, even the protected stuff, I can burn myself a CD which I can then play in my car. See, my car has a CD player, hell, just about all of ’em do. It does not however come equipped with the ability to play an iPod or other MP3 player (or read a hard disk) – I have to purchase that as a separate option. Apple, and the recording companies seem to get this, and allow me to burn playlists to CD – there are limitations with Apple’s DRM, but by burning and ripping, you can get around it. I’m not about piracy, but I want a similar acknowledgement of my investment/comfort with movies. I own a DVD player, it’s connected to my TV. I even taught my wife how to use it. I put a DVD in, punch some buttons on the remote, and in a couple minutes I’m watching a movie. I’ve gone through the setup and expense, and this works for me. I don’t want to configure an Apple TV, or some other desktop box to play digital media, and I refuse to do so. I’m sad that others have allowed the industry (and Apple is culpable here as well), to allow this to become the standard of digital video delivery. Until I have a guaranteed backup/recovery and the ability to play seamlessly with my giant 32-inch CRT TV and Bose DVD system, I’ll continue to purchase DVD’s from Amazon.
Amazon’s MP3 download service is far superior to iTunes. It ain’t as well integrated to Mac OSX, but it’s still damned convenient, and, it gets rid of the foolishness of iTunes DRM. Unfortunately, I still find myself purchasing music from iTunes because it’s so convenient and I forget to head up to Amazon and search for the tune(s) I want. I’m getting better however, and you’d be surprised how much content is available on Amazon now. Pretty soon it’ll become my first stop for any digital media; I’m hoping that others see this as well and start to put more pressure on Apple and the music industry to do away with DRM entirely. If the studios are too goddamned concerned about piracy to agree to DRM-less distribution, forget about ’em. Let them see how much they sell without Amazon/Apple to front them. And, let ’em see that piracy only increases with a restrictive licensing policy, while revenue falls like a stone. I can pretty much guarantee they’ll get with the program before long.
The iTunes user interface leaves a lot to be desired. I hate the fact that I can’t have tabbed displays of different items I’m interested in and browsing. Seems downright idiotic that this isn’t available, and I can’t imagine it’s hard to do – you already have the rendering engine. Make this happen. Similarly, dragging a large (> 100) number of songs from a Finder window into iTunes doesn’t seem to always do a complete import. Seems like pretty basic functionality if you ask me, but I’ve had trouble with this multiple times.
Why would the idiotic Cleveland Browns settle for a coach, Eric Mangini, that hasn’t done Jack-shit and that nobody else wants? Compare the records of Mangini and Crennel:
Mangini:
Year Age Tm Lg G W L T W-L% G plyf W plyf L plyf W-L% Rank Notes
2006 35 New York Jets NFL 16 10 6 0 .625 1 0 1 .000 2
2007 36 New York Jets NFL 16 4 12 0 .250 3
2008 37 New York Jets NFL 16 9 7 0 .563 3
3 yrs 48 23 25 0 .479 1 0 1 .000 2.7 Avg Finish
Crennel:
Year Age Tm Lg G W L T W-L% G plyf W plyf L plyf W-L% Rank Notes
2005 58 Cleveland Browns NFL 16 6 10 0 .375 3
2006 59 Cleveland Browns NFL 16 4 12 0 .250 4
2007 60 Cleveland Browns NFL 16 10 6 0 .625 1
2008 61 Cleveland Browns NFL 16 4 12 0 .250 4
4 yrs 64 24 40 0 .375 0 0 0 3.0 Avg Finish
Admittedly, Romeo boasts a terrifying .375 win percentage, but it’s not like Mangini was the second coming of Bill Walsh. His career percentage with the Jets is, at .479, still below .500. So I ask, is this really the best we can do? Why not go after Marty Schottenheimer or Mike Shanahan? Why not go after a good high-school coach for one year till Cowher decides he’s ready to coach again? How are you improving the organization with another Belichick retread? I just don’t get it. Add to all of this the fact that apparently he (Mangini) is a bit of a prick to the players – veterans didn’t really like him at all – and I wonder what the mystique is. I mean, I understand bringing in a disciplinarian – by all rights we haven’t done squat under so-called players coaches, but still, wouldn’t you be looking for someone with a pedigree? What about Brian Billick? I mean, I didn’t particularly like the guy, but didn’t he win a Superbowl with the dog-assed Ravens?
It sucks to be a Cleveland Browns fan. I know most of my Facebook friends are probably Bengals fans, and in fairness, it probably sucks equally (or worse) to be a Bengals fan, but I got hooked on the Browns during the 10 years I lived in Columbus and that’s that. At least the Bengals have been to 2 Super Bowls in the last 30 years. And, as I recall, although they lost both times to the 49er’s, they were close and entertaining games, one could argue that during that 10 year stretch in the 80’s to early 90’s, with the exception of that (’83?) Raiders team, that the NFC thoroughly dominated the AFC in the Superbowl except for those two Bengals games. But I digress…
To cheer for the Browns is to become well acquainted with suffering. I still remember “The Drive” – as it happens I was at that game. And, one year later, I watched like a rubber-necker in a car moving past a devastating 10-car pile-up as Ernest Byner fumbled away the AFC championship again. Now, even though I’d gladly pay to have these memories removed from my consciousness, I’m forced to relive them any time Cleveland gets near the playoffs. Fortunately this happens only very infrequently. Actually, I think ESPN is under some sort of contractual obligation to play clips from “The Drive” and “The Fumble” every year during the playoffs just to twist the knife a little bit more in Cleveland.
I watched as Marty Schottenheimer left rather than give up control to a GM (Chargers fans are probably having similar fond thoughts about Marty), only to see him replaced by football genius, Bill Belichick. Trust me nothing sucks worse than suffering through the mediocrity that was Belichick before he left with his tail between his stubby little legs, only to see him re-emerge as the next Vince Lombardi in New England. Understand too, that I live in New England, and have to live with his success, and the obnoxious asshole fans who love him as well. Trust me, nothing prepares you for this. Interesting side note, I’m officially soulless as of last year’s Superbowl. That’s correct, in a Faustian bargain, I offered my soul to Satan if he’d only let the Patriots lose to the Giants. I can only assume he’ll be coming to collect in the next 7 – 10 years, or whatever the going rate is for a soul these days. Some people may feel that I got screwed – not from where I’m standing.
I watched while Art Model packed my team off to Baltimore. I watched as they proceeded to make it to the Superbowl, sporting a dominating defense I haven’t seen the likes of since 1985. I was torn about who to root for. I finally constructed an elaborate fantasy that allowed me to root for the Baltimore Browns. It went something like this. I have to root for them for Ozzie (Newsome). He deserves the ring he never got in Cleveland. Wouldn’t it be great if the Browns win the Superbowl on a last-minute drive culminating in some outrageous one-handed catch in the corner of the end-zone. And, just before the game-winning catch, wouldn’t it be awesome if Art Model suffered a massive, fatal heart-attack? But I’m not bitter about Model.
The Browns finally returned to Cleveland in 1999, and to put it mildly, they’ve sucked. I’ve watched a non-distinguished series of coaches, GM’s, and botched draft picks accompany their descent into (even mediocrity is too kind) well, general shitty-ness. Who remembers their first coach after they returned? Me either (actually it was Chris Palmer). Butch Davis made some headway, getting ’em to the playoffs, and actually beating the Steelers (in Pittsburgh) for 3 quarters before they went into the prevent defense and gave the game away.
I watched as one of the Sorcerer’s apprentices (Romeo Crennel) took the reigns, and a “real” GM was hired from the hated Ravens. I even got my hopes up as they managed to win 10 games last season. Didn’t make the playoffs, but hey, we can build on this! I watched as Kellen Winslow Jr. tried repeatedly to screw up his career and his health by doing stupid shit that most teenagers wouldn’t try. I watched as Braylon Edwards went from spectacularly promising last year to surprisingly lukewarm in the current one.
I watched with hope as Crennel and Savage were fired. And now, I’m watching in horror as we entertain interviews with the likes of Eric Magini – although he’s got a really strong resume from the Jets, wonder why they fired him (sarcasm) – and worse still, Krik Ferentz, the coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes. I mean, what is it about NFL owners that continues to make them take flyers on college football coaches? Other than Jimmy Johnson, has any college coach ever made it to the Bigs and had any type of success? And yet, we’re still willing to give another one a try.
Look, I wanted Cowher. We ain’t getting him (in fairness, I don’t think he’s going to coach next season, but we’ll see what happens if Daniel Snyder decides to break open the piggy-bank). And, I don’t think Lerner will bring back Schottenheimer, although I think he’s the right fit for the team, and sure, he probably wouldn’t get ’em outta the playoffs, but there’s a helluva lot to be said for actually getting to the playoffs. This week, I was also shocked to see Shanahan come on the market (what was Denver thinking?), and I would absolutely favor making a run at him! He hasn’t had a lotta success since Elway retired, but nobody can say he isn’t a great football coach, and after what we’ve trotted out the last few years, he’d be one helluva upgrade.
In the end, it doesn’t matter. Like a junkie looking for that cherry high, I’ll keep coming back every year, drinking the koolaid, and getting my heart broken all over again. It’s calloused now, and I can take it. And, I only had one soul to sell. But, I’m betting the Devil wouldn’t jump on this one, I imagine that the human misery associated with Browns fandom is enough to keep him smiling all year round, allowing them some measure of success would spoil all of that, and I don’t see that happening. So, we’re screwed on a cosmic, existential level. I realize cities like Chicago have a bitch, but they had a Superbowl in 85, and Cubbies are at least decent of late (let’s not even talk about the ’95 World Series). Philadelphia could whine up until this year when the Phillies finally came through. Other than Seattle (and God help me, it does suck to be them), I don’t think anyone else has a claim to the righteous misery that is Cleveland sports. I can’t wait till next year!
RJ's Musings 