Great week for Cleveland

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Today caps a fantastic week for Cleveland sports.

And the Browns snapping their 11-game losing streak just like they snapped their last 11-game skid -- with a home win over the Bengals -- was only part of it.

You can start with the Indians decision to fire Manny Acta and give Sandy Alomar the interim job for the last week of the regular season. He went 3-3 and his teams showed some fight that had been missing since ... well, arguably, since May.

Give the Indians credit for acting fast when it came to a new manager. They targeted two candidates -- Alomar and former Red Sox manager and Indians player/front office member Terry Francona -- interviewed them, made their decision, and hired who they feel is the best man for the job.

That man was Francona, who comes to town with two World Series rings on his fingers from his time with the Red Sox. One of those rings (2007) came at the expense of the Indians. Both of those ended a long streak of no championships for a town that lives and dies with their baseball team. The so-called "Curse of the Bambino," if you will, is no more.

With his seat getting hotter and hotter, Pat Shurmur (now easily third on the depth chart of professional coaches in this town behind Byron Scott and Francona) coached his beleagured Browns to a much-needed victory in their most complete performance since Shurmur took over. 34-24, and it honestly wasn't that close. A garbage TD pass by the Bengals cut the Browns lead from 17 to 10, and a cluch sack/forced fumble by Emmanuel Stephens with the Bengals in the red zone, which was recovered and returned 40 yards by Billy Wynn, thwarted any nonsense about a fourth-quarter meltdown.

The defense picked off three Andy "Ginger" Dalton passes. One of which was by the returning Joe Haden, whose impact was immediately felt in the defense. Another was a pick-six from veteran Sheldon Brown that cemented the Browns' victory.

Brandon Weeden, who you either love or hate (depending on which type of Browns fan you are), shut up a lot of his dectractors with a solid two-touchdown, 290-yard performance. His only interception came off a tipped ball at the line of scrimmage on the Browns' first offensive possession. He clearly outplayed Dalton Sunday.

Montario Hardesty, who many Browns fans were wondering why he even still had a job after not getting any playing time in the four previous games, had to spell an injured Trent Richardson and responded with 54 huge second-half yards and his first pro touchdown. Hardesty played his butt off.

The win has sent Cleveland fans riding a wave of euphoria not seen in a while, and that wave was only extended today when Jimmy Haslam III (see the above video) was unanimously approved as the new owner of the Cleveland Browns.

You can't help but love this guy. He's the first owner this team has had that truly "gets it" since Mickey McBride sold the team in the 1950s to David Jones. Say what you will about the Dead Judas, but I can't recall ever hearing him refer to the Cleveland Browns as "YOUR Cleveland Browns." His selfish move to the land of crabcakes proves that point.

Haslam has been a fixture at Browns headquarters since he first agreed in principle to buy the team from the Lerner Family in early August. He's been at every game. He's been in the locker room. He's been talking to everybody -- the media, the out-of-town media, the coaches, the front office, other NFL owners, you name it. You can probably count on one hand how many times Randy Lerner was spotted at Browns headquarters last year.

This is nothing about Randy Lerner, who I believe is a huge Browns fan and truly cared about the team. He just didn't want to be a team owner and didn't deal with the pressures of that, especially in a city and region such as this one that lives and dies with every Browns snap.

Simply throwing money at people to try to fix it became tiring. His lastest splurge -- five years and $40 million to Mike Holmgren -- will wind up being a wasted purchase.

Holmgren may have brought in some pieces, such as general manager Tom Heckert, to overhaul the Browns roster and add more talent and playmakers. However, his handling of the head coaching position -- from leaving Eric Mangini around for the first year when it was clear to everyone their philosophies would not mesh to hiring the untested Pat Shurmur and letting him twist in the wind for two miserable seasons -- will be his downfall here in town.

Holmgren's ego wouldn't allow him to bring in a head coach with cred. But yet, he didn't want to coach the team himself. Instead of helping out Shurmur, who clearly wasn't ready to be an NFL head coach, he disappeared to Seattle and was rarely around. He was more hands-on with Mangini was the head coach than he was his second year.

Holmgren essentially owned an NFL team without every having to purchase one. Hell, he was given $40 million to own a team. He had carte-blanche to do as he pleased because he didn't have any accountability. He was working for an absentee owner who didn't want to be bothered.

That changed when Lerner finally found a buyer in Jimmy Haslam. Haslam didn't need someone to go to the owners meetings for him or run the franchise for him. He plans on doing that himself.

Suddenly, Holmgren became expendable. Haslam's been around more than Holmgren has this year, and Haslam didn't officially own the team until today.

So, his retirement, which Haslam announced within the first minute of his introductary press conference, wasn't much of a surprise. He'll finish off the year working with the new CEO, Joe Banner, and helping Banner and Haslam transition to their positions of power. Then, he'll ride his Harley off into the sunset, or somewhere near the Puget Sound.

Regardless of what Haslam and Banner decide to do with Heckert and Shurmur in the offseason, it's apparent Haslam wants to turn the Browns into a consistant winning franchise. If he sees enough growth in Shurmur this year, he'll retain him. If not, he'll let him go.

If Haslam and Banner believe they can get a better general manager to be responsible for the makeup of this roster, they'll hire him and fire Heckert. If not, they'll retain him.

Heckert, of the three, has made more of a case to be retained by the new regime. But even then, what jaw-dropping maneuvers or signings has he made? His big splashes were the trade down the the Falcons for multiple draft picks (passing on wide receiver Julio Jones, who has done well with the Falcons) and the trade up with the Vikings to select Trent Richardson. The Weeden first-round draft pick has been scrutinized because of his age and because the Browns were in line to have the No. 1 overall pick (and their choice of either West Virginia's Geno Smith or USC's Matt Barkley) and because of his early-season struggles.

Joe Cleveland has thrown his trust behind Butch Davis, behind Phil Savage and behind Holmgren when they all came aboard. My trust has been crushed by all three of these individuals.

But, I trust Haslam. He's saying and doing all the right things. His presense has been a breath of fresh air in a town that has had it's share of terrible sports owners, including Lerner and Indians owners Larry and Paul Dolan. Dan Gilbert has enjoyed the top spot in Cleveland sports owner hirarchy since he rode into town from Detroit. However, he may have to vacate that spot for Haslam.

And, suddenly, the Browns schedule doesn't look so daunting. The Indianapolis Colts, with rookie Andrew Luck, look beatable, as does the underachieving San Diego Chargers, the Baltimore Ravens (who the Browns nearly beat a few weeks ago in Baltimore and are getting decimated on defense), the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Oakland Raiders, the Kansas City Chiefs, the RGIII-led Washington Redskins ... heck, even the underachieving Dallas Cowboys look beatable at this point.

There is room for the Browns to salvage this season and for Pat Shurmur to salvage his job for at least one season. Holmgren's gone -- Shurmur and Heckert are fresh out of friends. They will be held accountable for their jobs, and the No. 1 judge for that is how this team performs (and wins) on the field.

***

As far as the Indians go, Francona was a smart hire. He was by far the top managerial candidate available, and he wanted to come here. When a guy with his credentials wants to come to town, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to screw it up.

Although, you can't put anything past Paul and Larry Dolan.

One thing that concerns me is the out-clause he put in his four-year contract that gives him the right to leave if the Indians decide to fire president Mark Shapiro and/or GM Chris Antonetti. Both of these guys are on shaky ground at the moment based on their mismanaging of the Indians' talent, draft and minor league system.

You want Shapiro and Antonetti to be more accountable for their jobs. But now, it seems that they have a four-year pass because they are married to Francona.

Do the Dolans want to lose Francona before that four-year contract is up? Or does player personnel decisions make it a gamble worth taking?

I can only hope that the money the Dolans forked over to bring in Francona (he certainly wasn't cheap) signals at least some type of hope that they invest some of those $30 million profits into bettering this roster. I'm not saying they need a $200 million payroll like the Red Sox. However, this $40 million payroll crap just ain't gonna cut it anymore.

If the Dolans weren't going to invest in their roster, it made more sense to hire the cost-effective Alomar. Alomar would have come cheaper than Francona and the fans would have given Alomar a longer leash than they gave Acta or Eric Wedge. The Indians could have sucked a few more years and the fans may have put up with it because of who the manager was.

While Francona is a credible name, he also comes in with high expectations from this fan base. They want to see results. That puts pressure on Shapiro and Antonetti to make sure those results happen, whether they want to believe it or not.

Yes, the Browns will always been No. 1 in this town. However, history has shown that this town can be a baseball town when the product is at least watchable. The anger and vitriol directed to the Dolans and Shapiro isn't because people don't like the Indians; on the contrary, it's because they still passionately care about the Indians and are tired of seeing this franchise that dominated the 1990s like no one has seen being drug through the mud based on terrible personnel decisions and horrrible decisions from an ownership group that is (fair or not) perceived as cheap.

Hopefully, the Francona hire signals a change in the mentality from the Tribe brass. Perhaps they do care about wins and losses instead of just about the bottom line. The funny part is, if you care more about wins and losses, the bottom line takes care of itself.

Joe Cleveland will keep a curious eye on the Indians this offseason to see what exactly they do. He'll also be keeping an eye on what happens with the Browns for the next two months and beyond.

Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!

Indians Acta-propriately

The only person who believed Manny Acta would survive the Indians' historic collapse this season from first place to worst in the span of two months was, apparently, Manny Acta himself.

The questions with the Indians was when they would drop the ax on Acta, and who else would be ridden out on the rails?

The Tribe answered one of those questions last Thursday, when Acta was fired with six games remaining in the regular season. Bench coach and former Indians all-time great Sandy Alomar Jr. was named interim manager for the rest of the season and has been identified as a leading candidate for the permanent job next season and beyond.

The other question hasn't been officially answered. But, it looks like team president Mark Shapiro and general manager Chris Antonetti will be spared for at least one more year.

Joe Cleveland was never a fan of Manny Acta. He did not have a proven winning track record coming in to Cleveland. His perceived passive-aggressiveness in the dugout led observors to believe that he didn't seem to care. And, it also looked like his team quit on him from July through September.

It was clear a change had to be made, especially given the Indians' belief that 2012 would be a season of "contention." For the first two months, they looked to be right.

However, while Eric Wedge's team patented the slow start and red-hot finish during his way-too-long seven years at the helm, Acta's teams patented the opposite -- the red-hot start and slow finish.

Acta's teams wound up with 90 losses in two of his three seasons. The middle season was 80-82, but that year saw a fall from a 30-15 start in June that many believing that the Indians were going to the playoffs.

But, it's not totally Acta's fault. He was given Spam by his front office and expected to turn it into prime rib.

At the very least, Antonetti should have also been shown the door, because every move he's made since becoming the team's general manager has blown up in his face.

For starters, he was heavily influencial on the hiring of Acta as manager. When that manager doesn't even last three seasons, that's a reflection on the guy who hired him.

Antonetti's biggest trade may have been his worst -- acquiring Ubaldo Jimenez from Colorado for four prospects, including first-round pitchers Alex White and Drew Pomeranz. While both White and Pomeranz have struggled in Denver's thin air and have not panned out as expected, the Indians' farm system took a serious hit for a guy that has struggled to win games and be consistant since he was brought to town last July.

Jimenez was on track for at least 19 losses before the Indians mercifully shut him down. It remains to be seen if they will pick up his $5.75 million option for the 2013 season.

Antonetti's most recent offseason may have been his worst. From the re-signing of injured Grady Sizemore for an incentive-laden, $5 million base salary for one year (and then watching him sit out the whole season with a myriad of injuries) to the acquision of aging Derek Lowe, who didn't survive July to the belief that the triumverate of aging Johnny Damon, journeyman Shelly Duncan and minor leaguer Aaron Cunningham would fill the left field void while deciding to not give Josh Willingham a third year and watching Minnesota grant his wish are just the tip of the iceberg.

There's picking up Fausto Carmona's contract option, only to lose him for most of this season due to an identity fraud case that saw him being really named Roberto Hernandez and aging from 29 to 32.

There's signing the banjo-hitting Casey Kotchman as a bargain-baseman free agent to fill the void at first base.

There's going with a predominantly left-handed lineup, which allowed teams to exploit this by lining up their left-handed starters to face the Indians.

There's picking up former International League MVP Russ Canzler in the offseason and watch the right-hander tear up AAA pitching once again while his major league, desperately crying for a right-handed bat with power, didn't call him up until September.

There's turning down decent offers for Shin-Soo Choo and Chris Perez at the trading deadline, but then not acquiring anything that would help his team push Chicago and Detroit for the Central Division title that once seemed within their grasp. Instead, the team only won 5 games in August, Perez continued to make an ass out himself (even publicly ripping the front office) and Choo had a decent season, but not a great season.

Asdrubal Cabrera, who Antonetti signed to an extension during the offseason, suddenly channeled his inner Jhonny Peralta and became a butcher at shortstop (19 errors) while also suddenly losing his motivation to play (and not playing very well when he did).

The starting rotation, believed to be the strength of the team by Antonetti, became one of the worst starting rotations in MLB. Justin Masterson (who was also being bid upon by teams at the deadline) seriously regressed, along with Ubaldo, and minor leaguers like Corey Kluber, David Huff and Jeanmar Gomez were counted on to be the main starters.

Then, there's the saga of Matt LaPorta, who Acta never seemed to care for. LaPorta lost his job to Kotchman, did decently down in Columbus, but was never given a true chance by the Indians this season. Whenever LaPorta did play, he didn't play well. Whether that's because of his problems with Acta or not remains to be seen. But, the lynch-pin of the CC Sabathia trade has suddenly become an afterthought.

Antonetti didn't make the Sabathia, Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez trades (Shapiro did before he got promoted). But, like his predecessor, Antonetti hasn't seemed to make the draft a top priority and has failed at developing talent in the minor leagues.

The roster Antonetti tried to say was a major league, contending roster this season was a joke. Credit Acta for taking this lineup of Punch and Judy hitters and mediocre starters and turning it into a first place team by the end of May. However, a good manager builds off of that success, and Acta is not a good manager.

Antonetti is a mediocre MLB general manager who deserved to be shipped out on the same bus as Acta was. Somehow, Larry Dolan (the worst sports owner in Cleveland) was convinced these moves were good moves and that he (and Shapiro) deserved another chance to run his team.

All they've done is run his team into the ground. However, the penny-pinching Dolan doesn't seem to care as long as his team can turn a profit.

So, it appears the Red Perm and his Boy Wonder will be responsible for picking the next manager of the Cleveland Indians. The last two guys this braintrust were responsible for were both pretty miserable hires --Wedge and Acta -- so I don't have the utmost confidence in their ability to hire a competant guy.

In the end, though, whether it's Alomar or former Indians player and exec Terry Francona or some other candidate, it's not going matter unless something is done to overhaul the talent pool.

This team has regressed in three years in overall talent, and it may not get better unless something drastic happens.

At the very least, the bloated contracts for Travis Hafner, Sizemore and Hernandez/Carmona will come off the books since they will become free agents. Also, the contracts of Choo and Perez will certainly be dangled for whatever top-shelf prospects they can land, and I wouldn't be surprised if Cabrera, Masterson and Jimenez are also dangled as well.

Other than Jason Kipnis, Michael Brantley, Carlos Santana (who took a step back this season) and Lonnie Chisenhall, there isn't much to build around or to hope for as an Indians fan. Perhaps Canzler opens enough eyes during this September call-up to be given the first base job this season. Even then, though, Canzler has been a career minor leaguer for a reason.

Pitching wise, it's a mess. Carlos Carrasco may be ready to return from Tommy John surgery, but he wasn't exactly the second-coming of Fernando before the injury happened.

The bullpen should be strong enough to combat the loss of Perez. Vinnie Pestano has the makeup to be a successful closer. However, he has had his share of shaky moments in the ninth this year. But, to be honest, this team won't be expected to win very much, so a closer is a luxury they really don't need.

It will be interesting to see if the Dolans hire Francona, since you'd expect that he'd command a hefty price tag. After all, he did help Boston overcome their "Curse of the Bambino" with World Series wins in both 2004 and 2007. He may ask for some say in the personnel department as well, which would cut into Antonetti's and Shapiro's responsibilities.

Alomar should get a longer leash than Acta did by the fans becasue of who he is. Other than Omar Vizquel and (thanks to last year) Jim Thome, Alomar is one of the most revered members of those 1990s super-teams by the Indians fan base. Like Omar, Alomar didn't leave by choice, and he always considered himself an Indian at heart even as he played for five other franchises to end his career. While Alomar would be a good PR-hire, he's also universally recognized as a solid baseball man and an up-and-coming managerial candidate. Plus, Alomar would be cheaper than Francona, which would be music to the meiserly Dolans' ears.

I'd expect that Alomar is given the permanent managerial job after the season ends. Perhaps Francona takes a front office position to help ease the (obvious) burden placed on Antonetti and Shapiro for jobs they are clearly not ready or prepared for.

However, by firing Acta and retaining the brain trust, the Dolans have (without saying so) place the target squarely on both of their heads. Losing won't be Alomar or Francona's fault, it will be on the guys who are responsible for acquiring the talent to make up the roster.

Hopefully, this move greases Antonetti's skids out of town, and hopefully, the swarmy Shapiro follows him out the door.

We can only hope that this is Larry Dolan's cue to sell the club, but you can wish in one hand and defecate in the other and see which one fills up first. A new owner would be the cure-all to this franchise's ails because he would clean house and bring in his own baseball people.

We shall see. But, while it once appeared that the Indians were the closest of the three Cleveland franchises to fielding a winner, it is now apparent they are a distant third, whether Sandy's the man in charge or not.

***

Joe Cleveland goes into every Sunday rooting for a Browns victory, and is extremely disappointed when that doesn't happen.

So far, the Browns have not tasted victory through four games and it looks like that skid may grow to five (11 losses overall) this Sunday at the Meadowlands against the defending Super Bowl champion Giants.

However, unlike some fellow Browns fans, Joe Cleveland has been encouraged by what he's seen.

Even though last year's team was 2-2 at this point and started off 3-3, this year's team is MUCH better, in terms of talent. That has been apparent through these four losses.

The Browns have played three playoff teams and a fourth that was off to a red-hot start following some high-profile free agent signings very, very tough and have been competitive. They came within seconds of upsetting Michael Vick and the Eagles in the season opener and gave AFC North foes Cincinnati and Baltimore all they could handle on the road.

Brandon Weeden is still a work in progress, but he's shown flashes of being a very good quarterback. Two 300-yard games on the road against division foes -- one of which has a historically tough defense (the Ravens) -- is more than enough to open this person's eyes.

Trent Richardson is the real deal. Teams are already game-planning to stop him by stacking the box, making it tough for him to get any running room. But, he's become a reliable receiving threat out of the backfield, making people look silly in the open field. As long as his knee stays healthy -- which it has thorugh these four games -- he could be the best Browns running back since the great Jim Brown himself. It's a high comparison, but I believe it's warrented.

Joe Haden's absense only proves how valuable he is to the play of the secondary. Without Haden, Andy Dalton, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Joe Flacco have shredded the Browns secondary -- a secondary that was one of the top-five units in the league last year with Haden playing all 16 games.

D'Qwell Jackson has become a legitimate playmaker and leader on the defensive side. And young linebackers Craig Robertson and L.J. Fort have shown glimpes of being good NFL linebackers.

The wide receivers have, once again, let this team down. They're not giving Weeden much help, and yet he's still putting up decent numbers. The Browns' inability to address this area in the offseason is coming back to bite them in the ass, and that's the fault of Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert.

Jimmy Haslam doesn't need a whole of excuses to bring in his own people. Heckert appeared the safest of the three (Holmgren and head coach Pat Shurmur) and still does. However, the decision to go with 15 rookies was his decision, and that may turn the tide against him.

Following the Giants' game, the Browns' next four opponents will be the Bengals at home, the Colts on the road, the Chargers at home and the Ravens at home. Haden will be back, and defensive tackle Phil Taylor may be cleared to return by the end of that stretch. It will be these four games that will make or break the Browns, especially Shurmur. The Browns have proven they can play with both Cincy and Baltimore on the road, the Colts are in the same boat as the Browns, and the Chargers are regressing.

Anything less than a 2-2 record in those four games may result in a bye-week coaching change (conveniently located right after that Ravens game), and signal the beginning of the end of the Holmgren regime. It should also be a better barometer for the progress of Weeden and Richardson.

Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!