Talkback Tuesday: We Have Words Edition

Although it is often cited in a cliched manner by the likes of the National Football Post’s Matt Bowen and other overmatched and underinformed media types who have no real knowledge of Cleveland sports, I have to state that no fan base in football can rival the passion shown by Browns fans. Here we are in the depths of depression, or Indian Summer as I like to refer to it, and the Cleveland blogosphere has become a vital forum of late to debate several issues regarding the immediate future of our Browns.

So with that disclaimer on record, let’s take a look at some great recent comments by readers of Cleveland Reboot…

Regarding Donte Stallworth’s recent sentence…

Friday Confessional

This whole mess highlights the ridiculous concessions made by NFL owners to the NFLPA. Why in the world should dumping a dude who, in violation of his substance abuse probationary status, blows a .126 at 7 freakin’ o’clock in the morning and runs a man over, killing him, create a “cap hit” problem? Total insanity!

Every NFL player contract should contain a clause specifying that a criminal violation will automatically trigger a suspension, the length of which will be determined by the gravity of the offense. Further, any player so suspended should automatically forfeit all salary, bonus, and other financial benefits for the time of said suspension. Period.

No time lost due to such a suspension should count against a team’s salary cap. Period.

Enough of this crap already! Playing in the NFL is a privilege, not a right. Behavior such as Stallworth’s should clearly result in a forfeiture of that privilege, in his case for life. Pete Rose was banned from baseball FOR LIFE for gambling. Put this into its property context and this kind of situation should be resolvable in about 5 nanoseconds!

This post is pretty consistent with most fans’ view of the Stallworth mess. Obviously, Stallworth’s financial situation helped to alleviate, or essentially remove his legal concerns, as a man of lesser money would be looking at some serious jail time…Oh wait, this accident happened in Florida. Never mind.

And another very interesting and surprisingly logical viewpoint
Everyone fails to account for the fact that the victim also broke the law by not being in the crosswalk! If Stallworth hadn’t been drinking, and had a blood alcohol level less than 0.08 while driving lawfully, then the law places the full blame on the victim, who broke the law, being outside the crosswalk. The victim’s estate would then be liable to Stallworth for any damages to his car, or any bodily injury he may have received, assuming Stallworth was operating his vehicle according to the law, at the time of the accident. It is assumed that the alcohol level of 0.126 (I’m not certain of the exact number?) imparred Stallworth’s ability to avoid the accident, thus SHARING (but not equally sharing) the responsibility for the consequences.

The ability of Mr. Stallworth to continue earning a professional football player’s wages is vital for the compensation payment for the victim’s family to be of greatest benefit for their future without the victim, considering the fact they lost their beloved relative (father, grand-father, etc.). Taking all of this into account, I am satisfied with the court’s decision. Stallworth’s crime was actually drunk driving, a crime which many others throughout life have committed and received a far less sentence. It was Stallworth’s bad luck in that someone died as a result of his straying beyond the confines of the same law. Who can say the victim might still be alive if he had not strayed from the protected confines of the crosswalk?

This post raises the obvious, yet easily overlooked factor that Stallworth’s riches both helped to lessen his sentence, as well as lay the foundation for the family of the victim to receive a huge financial settlement. A point that has been overlooked is that Stallworth is now working (if he is reinstated) for not only himself, but also for the victim’s family.

On a more logical note, this reader’s comment really emphasizes the fact that the late pedestrian was also in the wrong. Even the most disgusted of fans have to realize that part of the responsibility lies with him. This point brings me back to my recent comments, when I questioned whether Browns fans would be more forgiving if a more productive player was in the situation, rather than Stallworth. If this were the case, then what the reader points out would play a much larger role.

And onto bloggers and reporters and people with megaphones or MySpace…

Whining Whiners: Fourth Pillar Edition

Good article. What the Cleveland sports media gurus and gurettes don’t like is that things are going to be a LOT different under Mangini. What they apparently don’t get is that’s just the way it’s going to be, period. If they don’t like it, there are other career choices they can pursue. Mangini isn’t going to change what has worked well for him and Belichick has most likely warned him about the pettiness and whiney nature of Cleveland media types. Tough. Don’t like it? There’s the door.

I posted this response just to show everyone that there actually is one person who agreed with something I wrote. And to save you some time…no, I didn’t write this one myself.

And speaking of pats on the back, here you go.

This article shows the writer knows ZERO about journalism. What a total clown. The writer says he would not hesitate to use info obtained from non-print sources like the OBR report. Where do you think the “news” reporting comes from at that site?

The article says beat writers should develop additional sources ignoring the fact that players and coaches are both barred from talking to the press.

These moron bloggers all act as if there is some secret door everyone can walk through to get information if they just stopped being lazy. When in fact the bloggers are just a bunch of wannabe sport writers with no news information - just their own opinions on what everyone already knows.

Actually, what the writer “said” was this:

I would not hesitate to put the OBR’s reporting on or probably above the level of the major papers, such as The Plain Dealer or Akron Beacon Journal.

As for this reader’s definition of what a blogger is…I couldn’t agree more. I’ve said the same thing for months. The rest of the comments I read as….words, words, words….wait a minute!

Secret Door!!?? That is just awesome!! Where is it!! Oh, right. It’s a secret.

Journalism? You call what Grossi and Cabot put out “journalism”? And, correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t a lot of the OBR stuff a result of interviews with players and direct observation of practice/games on the part of their staff?

If, as you say, these bloggers are wannabes with “no news information — just their own opinions on what everyone already knows”, you might want to apply that standard to the columns appearing by Grossi, Cabot, Shaw, and Livingston and see how many check marks they would earn by your assessment.

I’m not defending the accuracy or quality of what the bloggers write, but I suggest you put the “mainstream sportswriters” under the microscope and check them out a little closer. Isn’t exactly Pulizer journalism either.

A post like this makes me wonder if I need to start fact-checking my opinions…or spell-checking my rumors…I thought I was putting the “mainstream sportswriters” under the microscope…like The Beacon Journal’s Marla Ridenour…who the entire piece was focused on. Now, I’m really confused.

My goodness, a voice of reason. Writers cover teams and they don’t run them. If we call what came out of the Crennell and Savage area transparent then we have been “through the looking glass”, nothing made sense. Oh, and we were all so concerned when we learned and followed the plight of Kellen Winslow and the injury or illness that resulted in hospitalization for him. On the fan side of this we haven’t been getting anything credible no matter how close anyone got to stand to a player or the field.

Seriously, I stopped reading after the “voice of reason” part. Perhaps I’ll check another blog to see how the rest turned out…or just wait for someone to tell me, kind of like how a Plain Dealer reporter operates.

Written and copied with permission by DK from the ClevelandReboot Blog

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