I wrote an article a week ago about the Cleveland Browns and what are we gonna' do with them? Obviously, we, as in you the fans are not going to do anything. I do not count myself as a fan of the Browns, because the Browns are like that girl friend or boy friend who just can't stop cheating and meeting their friend at the local bars, so you will hear about it. But, well you just give her or him one more chance. That's called enabling.
It is also called being stupid.
I have no idea what is going on in the front offices of Cleveland, but I do know they have no idea how to become a winning organization. I have said it before and I will repeat it. I's not the players. These guys all had talent at one time or another. Most still do. They come from the same player pool that all of the NFL teams draw from.
It seems like Cleveland gets a bucket of water from the well and they take it into their offices and pollute and poison it. How is that possible, year after year? I understand that a team cannot go to the playoffs every year. That's difficult. But riding with Cleveland year after year during their weekly displays of Pop Warner Football is like a ride on the Steel Vengeance at Cedar Point.
In business, simple metrics are applied to monthly performance. You have a budget and you operate within that budget and are expected to make a profit. In this case, win games. If they don't produce a profit, someone is going to pack their bags. Rarely, is someone made the patsy. Poor performance is almost always at the top levels of management. Why? Because they have had the chance to make the necessary changes, and because those who are working under them have been doing what the fuck they have been told. How can can you blame them?
No. It is management and in this case coaches. Well, you say, it was this coaches fault, or it was that coaches fault. NO. It was all their fault and especially the head coach. He is the leader and has created the culture that all the others are living in.
Cleveland has had a poison culture for twenty five years, where promises are accepted that things will be better. Cleveland suffers from battered fan syndrome. "I promise honey. I won't lose again. Just give me one more chance. I love you so much. You're so important to me. Just one more chance. Please!"
Forget that!
I can't begin to know how many talented and experienced leaders are out there waiting for someone to call on them for help. I do know when the leaders you have are failing time after time, they have had enough chances. If they were working or an organization that had to produce results in terms of profit and answer to stockholders and investors, they would on the street yesterday.
Just because these major league teams are private does not mean they should not be accountable. They may a personal sandbox for owners, but they expect fans to pony up real dollars to play in their sandbox.
Whenever the fans decide to say enough is enough, I may become a Browns fan again.
Never mind. I don't expect that to happen. It hasn't happened in 25 years.
Good luck Cleveland fans,
Jack Wilson
Opinion
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