Browns Dysfunction a Warning to Crew Fans

The Cleveland Browns have an organizational problem and that organization now runs the Columbus Crew.

In the last few seasons under Haslam's control of the team, fans have seen a noticeable drop in already poor results since the team came back in 1999. Five of Haslam's seven seasons owning the team have produced 5 or fewer wins with 0-16 and 1-15 tank seasons among them.

In the 21 seasons since the Browns re-formed they have only had a winning record twice (2002, 2010). You'll find the Browns, more often than not, winning somewhere between 4-6 games a year (11 times since '99), but there is something deeper wrong with Cleveland since Jimmy Haslam took over the team in 2012.

A clear outward sign of disfunction within team offices is that NFL Corporate is watching from their offices in New York. A few weeks ago a couple star players were wearing un-approved cleats that prompted the league offices to call the team and force them to remove the gear at half-time (they did). Now, uniform infractions happen in every game, but it usually handled afterward and results in a fine.

Anyone who has ever been in charge of a group knows it sucks when one of the higher-ups start watching your team instead of you. It means they have lost complete faith in you as a leader and cannot count on you to fix the issues. I've been on both sides of this.

The fact that the league was monitoring Cleveland tells me that they were/are being babysat. What that says is that there is much more going on that prompted the supervision that we do not know.

Turns out the league was correct in thinking something was seriously wrong in Cleveland.

Not long after the seemingly bland uniform incident, you had a Cleveland player threaten to kill a reporter and a fan on social media after a loss. The team eventually dropped him.

Fast forward a bit again and we see the frightening use of a helmet as a weapon on an opposing player. It ended up bonking him on the head and not doing any real damage (outside of probably bringing on dementia a year earlier?) - but had it hit another way, the player would have been on the ground with a bloody head that the NFL would see pictures of for the rest of eternity.

Seriously, imagine that image. It's possible it would have irreparably done damage to the NFL. A player on the ground, unconscious and bleeding from the head is the league's worst nightmare (or worse, an on-field fatality from the hit).

This past weekend, the Browns lined up against the same team in the Steelers. During the week lead-up to the game, Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens wore a shirt that said: "Pittsburgh started it," while Haslam's wife Dee, who runs the Crew, wore a skull cap with the number (95) of the player that was suspended for using the helmet as a weapon.

To add another head-scratching event, the team mysteriously left one of there pro-bowl players at home. No explanation was given. However, it is notable that he left a Pittsburgh player bleeding from his ear after an illegal hit shortly before the helmet swing.

If all of this is bewildering and difficult to understand, well, welcome to the club. From Johnny Football to hiring (and firing) a baseball guru to try and turn things around... Cleveland is a joke of an organization under the Haslams. It burns me up because my wife and her family are life-long fans of the team. Her dad is from Cleveland! It hurts my heart to see her Sundays week after week the last several years.

DEE CREW

Dee Haslam appears to be the one in the room for Columbus Crew decisions.

Fans Just Waiting for What's Next

Columbus continues her directly downward trajectory after last weekends loss to last place Colorado Rapids. It's hard to describe how bad the situation is for the Crew this year. They are 2nd to last in goals for and have lost 8 of their last 9.

There is something in MLS worse than a bad run of results, however. And that's lack of interest. In my 10 years covering the team, I've never seen it this low. Fans aren't mad, or sad, or anything. There's some hangover from last year, but after picking our heads up after this last embarrassing loss what we see now is an empty void in all directions. Fans not giving a shit also means that casuals are probably completely checked out. As summer approaches, the stadium will look better as far as butts in seats, but it is always that way win, lose or draw.


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PPG	Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
2.27	Los Angeles FC	15	10	4	1	36	11	25	34
1.92	Houston Dynamo	12	7	2	3	20	13	7	23
1.86	Seattle Sounders FC	14	7	5	2	24	17	7	26
1.79	LA Galaxy	14	8	1	5	19	17	2	25
1.71	Philadelphia Union	14	7	3	4	24	15	9	24
1.67	DC United	15	7	4	4	19	14	5	25
1.62	Minnesota United	13	6	3	4	21	18	3	21
1.58	New York City FC	12	4	7	1	16	13	3	19
1.54	Atlanta United	13	6	2	5	14	11	3	20
1.50	New York Red Bulls	14	6	3	5	21	16	5	21
1.46	Real Salt Lake	13	6	1	6	20	21	-1	19
1.40	Montreal Impact	15	6	3	6	17	23	-6	21
1.31	Toronto FC	13	5	2	6	23	22	1	17
1.31	San Jose Earthquakes	13	5	2	6	20	24	-4	17
1.29	FC Dallas	14	5	3	6	18	19	-1	18
1.21	Chicago Fire	14	4	5	5	21	18	3	17
1.17	Portland Timbers	12	4	2	6	17	23	-6	14
1.17	Sporting Kansas City	12	3	5	4	23	22	1	14
1.13	Vancouver Whitecaps	15	4	5	6	16	19	-3	17
1.07	Orlando City	14	4	3	7	19	21	-2	15
1.07	Columbus Crew	15	5	1	9	14	22	-8	16
0.87	New England Revolution	15	3	4	8	15	32	-17	13
0.79	FC Cincinnati	14	3	2	9	11	25	-14	11
0.62	Colorado Rapids	13	2	2	9	20	32	-12	8

Crew fans just seem to be waiting on what's next. Nobody really seems to care if Caleb Porter should be canned or not. That's probably the best way to look at it because the team's front office likely does not have the resources to fire and hire right now.

Let's call it a sort of "Crew Purgatory." The team sucks, they are deconstructing the roster at the moment and there's no news on the proposed stadium (that the Haslem's claimed would have shovels in the ground, like, now, when they were blowing smoke up #savethecrew butts last year).

Major League Soccer is specifically designed for this sort of run by a team TO NOT happen. Yet it is happening at the most inopportune time for the team. All they had to be is competent. The lowest bar possible for a team coming off two strong seasons and bringing back most of the same players.

What I get is that there is a lot of rebuilding inside the organization. While I don't think there was any sort of purposeful sabotage by Anthony Precourt and friends leaving town, I do feel it's becoming clear that there isn't a lot of urgency by the new group to fill that hole. The Haslem's are likely busy with NFL goings on and the incredible resurgence of the Browns and Dr. Pete Edwards, self-proclaimed steward of the team, seems to be more a crossbreed Frankie Hejduk and Morgan Hughes on social media than anybody in operations.

Crew fans don't know what's next (besides losing). Another misstep in a decade of missteps. Hopefully, that changes soon.

Columbus Crew Saved?

It appears that the Columbus Crew have been saved by a potential new investment team comprised of Cleveland Browns owner (Dee and) Jimmy Haslam along with longtime Crew physician Pete Edwards.

A rumor emerged somewhere over on the "big soccer" message boards late last week that a deal had been struck and provided further detail into what, how and when. Like these things tend to do, it spread like a wildfire that ultimately led to a local brewery named Endeavor opening it's doors early on Friday, October 12.

Crowds gathered there to await official word that they figured was sure to come.

I was curious enough in what was going on to make the trip to Endeavor myself to see what was up. Sure enough, a moderately sized crowd was there decked out and Crew gear milling about in front of "save the crew" banners. Two local news teams were on the scene (channel 10 and ABC 6) to cover the action, as well.

Once I squeezed in the doors, I started scanning the crowd looking for I don't know what. I figured if it was an NFL owner involved there would be a massive contingent of sharply dressed team officials and media there - but there was not. MLS officials aren't normally as sharp as NFL, but they are fairly easy to spot - and they didn't appear to be there. Or if they were, they were there as fans.

Patrick Murphy - Reporter

The only "official" person I could spot was Josh Williams, who has been with the team for the better part of the last decade.

It was a bizarre scene. Fans and media showing up just because of a rumor. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted some familiar faces like former Massive Report podcast mate Chris LaMacchia and local beat writers Patrick Murphy (Massive Report) and Andrew King (MLS). I headed over to get some info, but none was to be found. Turns out, they were in the dark just as much as anyone else.

The only concrete info I could find was that Josh Williams just decided to show up because he "heard something was up." Anyone familiar with Josh knows that if there was even a hint of his hometown NFL team being involved, he would be there. As a matter of fact, he might not have even heard. That team is so ingrained into its people, it was likely just instinctual for the northeast Ohio native. His feet could have just started carrying him in that direction without his conscience even knowing what was going on.

Rumors of an official announcement from Alex Fischer, local business leader and often voice of potential new leadership popped up, but it got pushed back. Then rumor of the Browns making a statement came and went.

At this point, it was clear that the official parties involved (MLS, new ownership) were not ready to make an announcement. Columbus Crew fans were ready, however. They were goddamn ready,  thus creating the most fascinating thing about what happened that day - the gathering at Endeavor got so much attention that it forced an official reaction. Power to the fans.

Here is a summary: MLS came out strong in support of what was going on down in Austin and confirmed talks with a new group. The potential local ownership group confirmed interest and advanced negotiations... and released a bizarre statement through a Browns twitter feed, that in part said they were "hopeful to be a part of the solution to keep the team," and "We would invest in a strong infrastructure within the Crew organization so that we can continue our focus and commitment to building a winning Cleveland Browns football team."

Jimmy Haslam has long wanted a training facility in Columbus, so it appears his involvement is basically to get that done. Based on the team statement, that is.

None of this suggests it is a done deal, but it looks positive for folks that want to keep the team in town and boy did they celebrate. As they should. It's been a long year for them.

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At this point, it looks like MLS is okay with selling the Crew brand to Haslam and Edwards and letting Anthony Precourt work out things in Austin, but neither part appears to be complete. At worst, it is Don Garber and MLS meeting requirements to settle the suit with the state about moving the team.

WHAT'S NEXT

It's gotten late in the game for MLS to do anything in both Austin and Columbus for 2019. I expect the negotiations between MLS and new ownership to drag on and Austin to not field a team next year. What this means is that there is a possibility that Columbus could be, in part, run by the league next year.

Perhaps It's Fitting, The Cleveland Browns

Perhaps the game the original Cleveland Browns played is dead.

Art Modell died last week.

In 1961, at about the age I am now, he purchased the Cleveland Browns from a group of owners that included the team's namesake and coach, Paul Brown.

"I am cheering at his death, and frankly I don't care if anyone else thinks that makes me a bad person. My father worked his ass off to support us kids (I'm in my 30's now) and this football team was one of the few things that brought joy to his otherwise very hard life. Outside of my grandfather dying, when they announced that the Browns were moving it was the saddest I've ever seen him. For that alone, I will piss on his grave if its location ever becomes public knowledge." - A comment under the Deadspin post "Art Modell, 1925-2012: Grifter, Traitor, Model NFL Owner"

If you go back 16 years before Modell purchased the Browns you find a newly named Cleveland coach, 36 year old Paul Brown.

"A winner never whines." - Paul Brown

Only moving to Ohio in 2006, I realize that I'm an outsider to the Browns legacy. I grew up a Northern Virginia farm boy cheering on the teams in the Washington DC area. But that's not to say I know nothing of Cleveland because Cleveland, to an outsider, is just as much an ideal as it is a place. What ideal, depends on your perspective though.

The Cleveland I know is the cradle of the game of football. The Cleveland I know doesn't have lakes that catch on fire to fuel someone's feeble attempt at socially conscience comedy - they catch on fire because some truly fucking hard work was done there that caused that fire.

Art Modell was born in 1925. Paul Brown in 1908.

The age that both these men grew up in is so vastly different then our own. The Northeast Ohio both of them knew was the one that was big enough to be a regular bidder for the Olympics. It was an age that saw us to the moon on nothing more then something less then a C64 type powered computer and packs of smokes (as opposed to a Xbox 360 and fast food).

The very game of football was forged in Cleveland's backyards and she regularly won every title the game put in front of the city.

To track the playoff appearances of the Browns is the track the manufacturing prowess of this great country post WWII. 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1994... and 2002.

Only during the Ford and Carter presidencies did the Browns struggle, something I find amusing. The Reagan years saw a Mr. Bernie Kosar take the team to new heights. Some might say that the 1980s saw the first screws being removed from the United States mighty midwestern industrial complex.... That General Motors incesent penny pinching was what brought it down, but I say that Roger B. Smith's handling of General Motors during that time is still being (re)written. Yes.

Where was I?

Perhaps it's fitting that Cleveland lost a team in 1995. In a lot of ways it's like some old factory getting shutdown for operations in a far off land, just as many were during that time. As if the football gods wanted to book end what the game was (mud, piss, blood, sweat) before it turned completely into what it is now (domes, fake fields, pass interference, roughing the passer and challenge flags) Perhaps it's a bit of a mistake that the city was able to retain the teams history and restart the franchise in 1999. Perhaps that was just too soon.

What I see from my little corner of manufacturing in Ohio is the tilt and shift away from building things where labor is cheaper and long shipping timelines made sense. I personally see the thirst for domestic manufacturing coming back and have been part of meetings that prove the economic stupidity of moving things away. Now we face a different problem... we have forgotten how to do shit here.

But you know what? We can figure it out.

I recall a conversation I had with my boss shortly after Steve Jobs died. "Take a good look at what's on your desk," he said. "It's not going to change for the next 10 years." As soon as he said it, I nodded in complete agreement. I even jotted it down in my notebook.

A couple days later I brought this profound statement up with my father over the phone. Now, my father helped found what is now known as Skills USA / VICA. It's an organization that trained folks how to DO things. Ask an electrician, bricklayer, mason, pipe fitter, iron worker, welder, machinist... they probably know about VICA. My father ran it from the mid-1960s through the late 1980s.

His response to the comment my boss made about our desktops that I thought was so profound? Dismissive.

"No. Someone else will push things forward. Things will change. This is America, boy."

They will. It is.

I was up in Cleveland this past Sunday for the 13th opening game of the 2nd iteration of Paul Brown's Browns. I witnessed tens of thousands of fans scream their hearts out for a team that has its 3rd owner and 2nd version since the 1960s. An owner that walked into it willingly and seemingly has his head screwed on straight. It's the start of a new day in Cleveland. A fresh new day.

Josh Williams (talent+romanticism)

Chad Marshall took part in last Sunday's Reserve Game in NY which points towards a possible start this weekend in Montreal. He is likely to replace (Akron, OH born) Josh Williams.

Williams has become a favored player here at Helltown. In fact, I've got non-soccer watching co-workers and friends regularly asking me about how "the Cleveland guy" is doing (I've also heard "the BronBron guy" and "JWill" even "Ash's boyfriend" (long story)). No doubt that there is an incredible amount of affection for everything Cleveland around these parts and those that have that affection gravitate towards things from that area.

In a way, it's almost as if Williams is manufacturing mistake. Like a product of an Akron factory that normally only stamps quarter panels for the Chevy Cruze inadvertently stamping something that belongs on a Cadillac Ciel prototype.

Now, the guy Williams is filling in for is a Crew Legend and two time MLS defensive player of the year (Chad Marshall) who, in the off season, signed a contract that keeps him in Columbus till the end of his career.

There is no question that, when fully recovered, Marshall will start so the only remaining questions will be who starts next to him and who should start next to him.

First question is easy; Julius James will fill the other center back spot. The 2nd question? Who should start there? Let's take a look...

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) since the start of 2011

GAMES STARTED
50 : Team Max
40 : Chad
34 : Julius
10 : Josh

GOALS AGAINST PER GAME (when starting)
0.80 : Josh
1.12 : Julius
1.20 : Team Avg.
1.33 : Chad

GOALS FOR PER GAME (when starting)
1.20 : Josh
1.16 : Team Avg.
1.15 : Julius
1.15 : Chad

TEAM POINTS PER GAME EARNED (when starting)
1.60 : Josh
1.43 : Team Avg.
1.38 : Julius
1.28 : Chad

Summary Points:
• Josh has started in 20% of games since 2011 start
• Josh leads both Julius and Chad in every major KPI
• Josh leads team averages in every major KPI
• Chad is last in every major KPI

MONEY----------------

Chad Marshall is making $310k a year. He is the highest paid player on the Crew and 21st highest paid in Major League Soccer (in 95th percentile). As a defensive player, he is only behind Rafa Marquez in salary.

Julius James pulls in $100k a year. That puts him at 195th in the league in terms of salary. 13th on the Crew.

Josh Williams makes $44k a year... tied for 2nd lowest contract in the league (143 players make at or below him, ahh MLS you stifling "stack ranking" bastard).

TALENT AND ROMANTICISM

It only gets down right strange for Marshall if we just look at 2012 stats. Were he not Captain, I wouldn't put this much weight into such a small sample set... Chad's 7 starts saw the Crew only go for 2 wins, 4 loses and 1 draw. Williams 10 starts have seen 4 wins and 4 drawn, only 2 losses. You could even argue that Williams has seen better competition. All KPIs point in Williams favor to start somewhere on the first XI at the very least.

The Romanticism here comes from what Josh Williams is. He's a taller, athletic kid who looks like he belongs under center calling go routes on snowy Sunday afternoons off Lake Erie... or batting cleanup for the Tribe on hot summer afternoons... or bombing three's from the two spot in THE Q as the boys push for the playoffs. He is exactly the kind of athlete that the American Midwest creates time and time again for the major sports in this country, it's just that this time one has found soccer.

The future growth of this sport in this area is not in the teenagers filling stands on Saturday nights right now, but it is those same teenagers 20 years from now who are Jack swigging, pot smoking - proud Iron Workers Union - hellraisers filling the stands and taking their kids out to the game.

Williams, to me, represents the kind of player MLS needs more of. He doesn't, nor will he ever have his name in lights across some marquee on some 65k seat stadium. Instead, he'll be the guy that puts in 90' shifts required to guide a team to a championship and then shake the hands of the folks that gave him the opportunity afterwards.

It could be said that he represents an area that just lost power for a week and didn't loot nor riot nor scream for outside help but will take the power company guys out for beers after their 16 hour shift in 100 degree heat.

"He's what makes US Soccer have a chance of being special," is the the the quote I got from a non-soccer, daughter of a lifelong Browns fan and season ticket holder, regarding Josh Williams.

"Browns Season Ticket Holder" has 'special persons' status here at Helltown Beer.

Happy July 4th.

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Link to the conversation included in the illustration above.

Illustration above includes: Lou Groza (place kicker and offensive lineman for the Cleveland Browns, born in Martin's Ferry, Ohio), Paul Brown (Cleveland Browns Coach, 1946-1962, born in Massillon, Ohio,, Otto Graham (Cleveland Browns, 1946-1955), Bob Feller (Cleveland Indians Legend) and Joshua Williams (Columbus Crew 2010- , born in Akron, Ohio)