Signal to Noise » football

Twitter, public opinion, and Joshua Cribbs

Ted Wallingford — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 12:27:50 +0000

Friend Mike at Chronic Dawgs put up a post last week about how Joshua Cribbs, the best football kick returner of all time, is feeling under-appreciated by his team, the Cleveland Browns. To put it in perspective, Josh had four return touchdowns and nearly broke the all-time pro football record for all-purpose yards this season. No small accomplishment.

So the guy’s a big deal. Anyway, he makes about a million a year and was insulted by a contract modification offer the Browns made for 1.4 million a year. (As an aside, I’d be pretty happy making half that if my job was to play a game and stay in top physical shape using the best gyms and trainers in the world, but I digress.)

The din around Cleveland surrounding Josh’s contract has been constant and obnoxious the last few weeks. It all started when the new team president Mike Holmgren came in and started hiring coaches. Fans feel that management has turned their back on Cribbs and are ignoring his request for a contract (never mind he has three years left on his current one) while they build up the white-collar staff in preparation for next season.

It’s amazing how much Twitter action I’ve seen on this subject. People are tweeting, from as far away as Kuwait, using the #payjoshcribbs hash tag. There are Facebook fan pages called “Pay Josh”, and I myself have received 7 to 10 separate invitations to support Josh’s cause. Of all the causes to worry about.

Yet public opinion doesn’t influence an NFL owner’s bank account. Just ask the Browns, who just put the finishing touches on their ninth losing season since returning as an expansion franchise.

Best draft pick in 9 seasons

Ted Wallingford — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 19:19:51 +0000

Go Browns. Best draft pick since the expansion season. w00t.Â They got a O lineman from Wisconsin who absolutely HANDLES people.

Nokia N73 Snow Pictures

Ted Wallingford — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 14:30:53 +0000

Well, Old Man Winter, who is apparently mighty upset with the midwest today, dumped a ton of snow on us here in Cleveland. It reminds me of how February may be my least favorite month. I mean, all the winter months can be a pain if you live in the rust belt, but February is especially tough, because my primary wintertime stress reliever–football–is over. At least in January you’ve got NFL playoffs, and of course in December you’ve got all the holidays. Even in March things start to look up because I realize I’m only a few weeks away from sitting in left center at Jacobs Field eating fresh roasted peanuts and hoping to catch a home run.

For those of you reading from the temperate trappings of the Bay Area or some other milder geography, check out these pictures I took this morning with the camera that’s built in to the Nokia N73 phone.

Epic. Football. Game.

Ted Wallingford — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 03:40:53 +0000

Wow.

Andy Oram, the Super Bowl is NEXT month

Ted Wallingford — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 02:36:30 +0000

Check it out. Interesting post about the availability of IPV4 addresses. Apparently there are a good 1.3 billion remaining. Also, Colts/Pats tied at 28 early in the fourth.

Check out the Spring VON lineup

Ted Wallingford — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 02:58:33 +0000

Just was checking out Jeff Pulver’s blog; check out the heavy-duty list of presenters Jeff has put together for the San Jose event in March. Jeff Citron from Vonage will be there. So will Radvision chairman Zohar Zisabel and Niklas Zennstrom from Skype. Check it out. Also, Irish 7; Tigers 14 closing in on Sugar Bowl halftime.

USC LOST TO UCLA

Ted Wallingford — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 02:08:52 +0000

This means Michigan will more than likely rematch Ohio State University in the national championship game. W00t!! Too all you boo-hooing BCS nay-sayers, all I have to say is this: I’d rather watch a smashmouth Michigan/Ohio game any day of the week than watch perennial contender USC. If Flordia beats Arkansas tonight and ends up ranked #2, then you’re going to have some serious accusations of rigging going on. So let us hope Arkansas so I can see my Buckeyes and Wolverines settle the score once and for all (until next year).

Browns smoosh the Falcons

Ted Wallingford — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 00:40:35 +0000

W00t. Take that Mr. Vick. Now, if the brownies could just win a game at home…

New Macs, iTV to get 802.11n (?)

Ted Wallingford — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 01:06:13 +0000

This would be great. Transfer movies to your iTV in 3 minutes, not 45 minutes. Not to mention quality of service? We’ll see how much of the specification Apple actually implements. My guess is that the speed matters more to them that anything else. 802.11n WiFi phones for high-density applications? Hmm.. Now if we could just increase the range of WiFi.

This is blue collar football

Ted Wallingford — Sun, 24 Sep 2006 23:27:08 +0000

You know what, the Browns lost a heartbreaker today. Despite dominating the Ravens three of four quarters, spaking Steve McNair all day, and putting up a serious passing game, in the end, it was the mighty foot of the Ravens’ kicker, Stover, who sealed the deal with a 52-yard shellshocker with half a minute left. Then, on the final drive of the game, the Browns’ called what looked to me like a screen, and the receiver, rather than tucking the ball away and getting tackled in order to call a timeout (they had the first down with the catch), he extended his arm and put the ball out in midair so when he got hit, it popped out and the Ravens recovered it, ending the game. Man, this is blue collar football. The Browns put in a good effort against the division leading Ravens, but, in the end, it was the Browns’ own mistakes (including an interception by Frye) that screwed them out of the victory that could’ve saved their season.