WELCOME TO THE bWo ERA

Hey Yo!  Being a Browns fan is hard.  It is really hard.  First we had our team just ripped out of the city.  And for several seasons if we wanted to watch football we had to watch someone else.  Then came the "Countdown to 99."  We were getting our team back.  But it was tough at first, even though we got the first overall pick of the draft, as fans we knew we weren't going to just get a great team.  We knew that it might be 3 or 4 years until we would have a contending team.  So we went into it expecting the worse.  And we got the worst.

Finally, four years in we snuck a 9-7 team into the playoffs... just to lose a heart breaker to the blasted Steelers.  That is our only playoff appearance the team had had in the 15 seasons the Browns have been back in the NFL.  And since then the Browns have only lost less than 10 games in a season in 2007.  That year we were 10-6 and couldn't even get into the playoffs.

That makes it hard enough to be a Browns fan.  And if you are a Browns fan that remembers all of those times, you should seriously pat yourself on the back.  You are a true fan.  And chances are you are an angry fan.

Unfortunately much of our futility wasn't due to bad luck, it was due to Randy Lerner.  He made the Browns a case study in what happens when a pro sports franchise has an apathetic owner not willing to attempt to build a winning team.  We didn't sign proven talent, and we didn't retain our talent.  When your only hope is "building through the draft" and you also put poor people in position to make decisions that is the recipe for disaster.

A few decades ago the media might have been clever enough to pick up on it.  Perhaps expose the owner for being a cheapskate.  But today's media isn't nearly clever enough for that.  They have become large market loving, corporate boobs.  The once proud franchise known as the Browns has been reduced to a joke in their eyes.  And they don't stop with the team, they also have attacked our fans.  For years we have been the butt of their jokes and this fanbase is fed up.

A few weeks ago the jokes were supposed to stop.  The Browns drafted quite possibly the most sought after interview to ever play football, Johnny Manziel.  ESPN's coverage of the draft was the Johnny show.  Then we took him.  Then the news came out that Johnny actually contacted our QB coach and asked them to make the move for him.  Then the Browns protected him, and shut the media out.

That's when the explosion happens.  National media scumbags like Bart Hubbuch and Ben Maller were on all out attacks on all things Cleveland.  It became loud voices harshly judging the brand new Browns front office, and of course our city and fans.

Cue the bWo!

  What is the bWo? It stands for the "Browns World Order." It originated as an observation by @JeremyInAkron within a twitter conversation.  They saw the influx of Browns fans lashing back at the media hate.  Essentially drawing the hate upon themselves, being the bad guy in a way.  They saw the parallels to the old wrestling faction, the nWo.

And it is true, the nWo was the attempt to make Hulk Hogan and his friends bad guys when he went to the WCW from the WWE.  Suddenly the fans were showing up supporting the bad guys.  Suddenly they were on the underdog wrestling show, as the hottest wrestling commodity around.  Their membership grew by leaps and bounds.  They weren't taking any crap anymore.  To me that sounds a bit like us.

Us fans have been the bad guys of the media for a few years now.  Then the media created their "Hulk Hogan" in the form of Johnny Manziel.  But now he is a Cleveland Brown, the WCW of the NFL.  The Browns were the national joke, and now suddenly our #2 jerseys are on shelves from coast to coast. People are joining us in droves.  And the fans aren't taking any crap about their team.  So yes why not? The bWo!

It just stuck.  And truthfully, like it or not if you are a Browns fan you are already a member of the bWo.

Bernie Kosar has been in the bWo since 1985

We cheer for the hated whipping boys of the national media.  ESPN has us power ranked dead last in the league.  Scumbags like Ben Maller and Bart Hubbuch can't wait to rip everything about us, so the bWo make their lives hell.  Channing Crowder said that he couldn't tell the difference between Cleveland's women and men... Even Drew Carey took to the internet to take care of him.

Drew Carey even joined the bWo and went after Channing Crowder after calling Cleveland the "Anus of america"

So if you want to stick up for your team and show your Browns pride tag your twitter posts with #bWo.  Chances are you are going to find some friends.  I expect the bWo will be a big part of the fanbase this coming season.  Don't fight it because if you are a Browns fan, in some peoples eyes we are already the bad guys.  

My name is @BrownsMemes and I am a proud member of the #bWo

JOHNNY HEADLINE

Normally I don't consider myself a very good member of the sports media.  In fact in some ways I am even a fraud.  What I do isn't even really "memes" they are just captioned pictures.  However after the last five days of my life I have reconsidered my position.

What happened?  Well that is where my rant begins.  Johnny Manziel went to Las Vegas, during the holiday weekend... in the offseason... in May.  He stood by a pool with bikini girls, he went to a UFC event, and he came home and went back to practice.

Look at all the trouble being caused here

That is it.  That's all he did.  Not exactly riveting stuff.  Yet someway somehow the local, national and anyone with a voice seemed oddly compelled to talk about it... for days.  Some of the stuff was absolutely ridiculous.  Many trying to put some crazy negative spin on it.  For many of these people that consider themselves professionals should be embarrassed.  I'm not going to call any one single person out, because there are so many guilty parties it literally makes me sick.

First off, this is the guy we drafted, so this is not a surprise...

Should Johnny have been about Texas A&M football right here?

Perhaps some of us should have worried more about what this guy was doing this weekend.

So I finally promote myself I am now a full fledged member of the media.  I realized I don't need a press pass to be any more legit than most of our big time media.

Follow me on Twitter @BrownsMemes  

ONE OF MY INSPIRATIONS "OLD MAN ATCHISON"

When I write these blog posts, I guess I post these somewhat anonymously.  It's not because I intend on being some nasty hate spitting fiend of the internet.  I have nothing to hide.  My name is Josh, I live in Canton. I work a normal job.  I have a wife and a kid.  But why would I try to bore people with my day to day issues?  On here I am Cleveland Sports Memes guy, and to me that is a fun way to interact, and with any luck entertain people.  

But the real reason for my disclosure on myself, is to say that I am 34 years old.  I've finally reached that age where I understand why all of the heroes of youth faded away.  I remember as a teenager saying, "He's really retiring at 32?"  But now I understand.  Seeing Trevor Bauer makes me feel like an old man.  I'm always excited about the draft, until I actually see it, kid after kid paraded in front of my eyes.

So on occasion I still look for those last few guys to inspire me.  One came to Cleveland in the form of 38 year old, Scott Atchison.  Now I know what you all are going to say, "What about Jason Giambi?" He's an inspiration too, but frankly he's a monster.  I don't want him taking one of my jokes the wrong way.  And when the season is over I was honestly hoping we might look at him for other things, if he's not ready to hang it up.

The other day twitter user @burkepatrick sent me a simple message about doing a #GoodGuyDavidMurphy type meme about Atchison.  I immediately thought of #OldManAtchison, because he is an integral part of our bullpen.  And he's really done quite well.  To be honest I'm really proud of that guy just to have the balls at 38, with a head full of gray hair to walk into a MLB ballpark and face the top baseball players in the world.  I have all the respect in the world for him for that.

But since I am certainly not your run of the mill "Sports Blogger," I play by my own rules sometimes.  And the greatest honor I can give to someone is promoting them to a full meme status, something that I can make multiple jokes for.  The rules for the #OldManAtchison tag is very simple.  Have him do "Old Man" things.

So here are some of the "Old Man" things I have Scott doing...

Follow me and find more #OldManAtchison memes on Twitter @BrownsMemes

INTRODUCING THE PLUSHBOMB

Cleveland Indians outfielder Nyjer Morgan is a character, literally a character.  Any not familiar with Mr. Morgan's off field antics may not be familiar with "Tony Plush."

Tony Plush is a bit more than a nickname to Nyjer, it is an entire alter ego.  While Nyjer is your typical mild mannered baseball player, Tony Plush is a wild, fun loving, and even occasionally trouble making individual.  Most of the time Plush is an entertaining showboater, but other times he may go a little too far with either things that he says, or does on the field.  And up until a few days ago the Indians have gotten a very good version of Plush.

At least until he was injured.  And as of today the Indians have failed to win a game since he has been hurt.  I don't know that Nyjer was the catalyst for that, but I do know that he being played to be the spark plug for the Indians lineup.

But my story is the story behind the Plushbomb.  The Plushbomb is something that I created where I place Tony Plush's team photo in other famous photos.  Sort of a photobomb Tony Plush style.  But this wasn't something I pulled out of mid air.  There is a story behind that.

The story goes that during the premiere of one of the Twilight movies Nyjer showed up in full Tony Plush mode and was caught on camera photobombing one of the film's stars on the red carpet.  It solidified Morgan as one of the most unique individuals in baseball.

Indians outfielder Nyjer Morgan photobombing actor Taylor Lautner at the Twilight premiere

So who am I to deny the man of many Plushes the honor of being one of this website's star?  So I created a few more Plushbombs for you to enjoy...

I HAVE A THEORY ON HOW WE ARE TRYING TO GET JOHNNY TO WORK IN CLEVELAND

Yes sir, the world's most talked about football player is going to a Cleveland Brown.  The national media has zero respect for the Cleveland Browns.  So something has to give.  Will Johnny help transcend this organization into a recognized powerhouse with primetime games, and bandwagon fans?  Or will the media try to dump on the Johnny parade because he is in Cleveland?  And if that is the case, is it even possible for them to kill the monster that they have created?

One thing is for sure, the Browns certainly want Johnny to be a media darling.  I will never convince me in a million years that Johnny Manziel was not brought into this organization because they know if he is good, he is gold.  This fanbase's reaction to Johnny Manziel has been priceless.  So many people have been wanting this for over a year.  The prospect of Tom Savage has done a heck of a job turning former Houston Texan fans into Cleveland Browns fans already.

I think the Browns are wise to the fact that the media is an entity that loves to report on things that aren't necessarily positive.  They would rather incite riots, than make people feel good.  So what have they done so far?

Well Jimmy Haslam harshly proclaimed that Johnny was no more than a backup at a luncheon he spoke at.  Our PR director has proclaimed that the team does not want the media hype to rival Tim Tebow's. The team has uninvited media members to attend the rookie mini camp.

And how has the media reacted?  With violent blasts of negativity of course.  Jimmy has been ranked lumped in with the worst owners in the NFL.  ESPN power ranked the Browns dead last in the NFL.  The media and their precious Twitter has lashed out against our team, and any fan who will try to defend it.  But at the heart of it all, Johnny is still Johnny.  They are getting their fix of negativity from other sources, so they can continue to Johnny worship happily.  And the less he's getting bashed in the media, the less distractions that will be in his way as he becomes a pro QB.

So I applaud Jimmy Haslam in this scenario.  I can see what you are doing.  You know that nobody is taking time to write anything nice about you anyways, so why not use it to your advantage?  Looking back in hindsight and seeing that Joe Banner was a temporary NFL plant here anyway, we may have actually gotten a competent guy to own this organization.  I love the way we have went forward.  Ray Farmer is owning his moves, Alex Scheiner is out of the news and minding to his business, and the fans are energized!

Follow me on Twitter @BrownsMemes

MY OPEN LETTER TO THE FANS OF THE CLEVELAND BROWNS

Dear Fellow Browns Fans,

Yesterday I posted a scathing, foul mouthed, insult filled assault on Josh Gordon.  Now don't misunderstand I don't think he is the worst human being in the world.  I understand the rules aren't fair and what he did isn't nearly as bad as what many others have done.  But outside of that he is a young man who has had well more chances than any of us "common folk" would ever be allotted.  And he knew the consequences of another screw up, the NFL has been crystal clear on that.  My point is that if he wants to party so bad, maybe he should have never signed an NFL contract in the first place.  And furthermore how many drug tests does your work allow you to fail?  I bet if you fail one you don't get a four week vacation and a stern warning.

But I know I crossed a line, I openly admit that.  Jokes about bad play is one thing.  Aggressively questioning a person's intelligence is personal.  But don't get me wrong I'm not apologizing for it.  I meant every word of what I said.  To be honest I could have made it ten times longer. What Gordon did to us is personal.  I've been a Cleveland Brown longer that Josh Gordon has been alive.  So when you come to MY TEAM... no OUR TEAM at least show us some respect.

On Friday morning I hadn't felt as positive about the Cleveland Browns since their return.  I watched the YouTube videos of Browns fans going nuts when Johnny Manziel was picked.  I saw a guy in an Eric Metcalf jersey dance around like a giddy little school girl.  It was almost surreal, and genuinely nice to see.  We were singing "Bernie Bernie" the last time I saw something like that.  Then came the news at about 5 o'clock.  Normally I would just expect the other shoe to drop, that the way this team has been.  But are in unprecedented territory.  Right not we are in the crosshairs of some real national attention.  We have a chance to become legit players in this league.  And for our brand to get blindsided and embarrassed by a player while it is as hot as it has ever been is inexcusable.

Thankfully I don't feel I have to apologize for what I said.  I expected about three people to read it, and have one love it and one tell me I am a crazy person.  Instead the response was staggering.  Over 500 people read the thing within an hour.  Most were overly supportive, and my biggest negative comment came from a guy who thought I should have been a bit more grown up in my language, and supported my message.  That truly stunned me, and for that I thank you guys.

What I do need to apologize for is the fact that I thought maybe we as fans had gotten soft.  I understand that many people aren't as passionate about sports as I am.  But part of my passion goes beyond just the games.  When a city has successful sports teams, the city tends to boom around it.  But to me the most important element to sports is the way it can bring a community together.  The Browns in the late 80's the Indians in the mid 90's were both great for sports and the community.

So when I saw some genuine passion given back to me by fans I was awestruck.  I think the passion is back for this team and we aren't going to let anyone ruin it for us.  The true reason I wrote that piece in the first place was I wanted people to read it and realize that there is a very good chance we will never see Josh Gordon in a Browns uniform again.  And if he does come back, I didn't like Andre Rison, Braylon Edwards, or Kellen Winslow Jr. either. I know if I had twitter and this site when those guys were here I would have never ran out of material.  While I don't want my site becoming a stream of Josh Gordon pot jokes, if that's how the chips fall so be it.
  
Mike Pettine says "We Will Break off the Rearview Mirror" and I think that is pretty sound advise for a guy who just got here.  I think while we can reflect on our history, we do need to realize that we can move forward without the curses of past seasons.  Gordon is in my rearview mirror now, there are some guys here that genuinely want to be here and wear our team's colors proudly.  

Pettine also says he want guys that eat glass, which I certainly hope he doesn't mean literally.  I think he is actually referencing the toughness he wants from the team.  But one thing that adds to the toughness of the team is the 70,000+ people that pack into the stadium on Sundays.  Imagine if we can get 70,000 glass eaters into that stadium, I think we have a pretty damn good home field advantage.  In some countries a rowdy crowd that large is called an army.  We could take over a small country with those numbers, but instead we amass and put aside everything for 3 hours, drink beer and exist as one.

I heard a whole bunch of glass eaters voices loud and clear last night.  I think I see that not only is the team heading in the right direction, but the fans are getting their passion and fire back.  So here we are, we have a clean slate, tons of competition at every position.  Lets sit back and enjoy the ride together.

The Cleveland Sports Memes Guy
@BrownsMemes

ITS A NEW DAWN, ITS A NEW DAY

Before I start, I will say I am scared.  Before I even comment on the on field things, a brand like Johnny Manziel is unprecedented in the NFL.  The closest thing I've ever seen to the Manziel brand is Tim Tebow, but this is different because Johnny Manziel actually can throw a football.  He's like an Anti-Tebow in a way.  Immediately following the draft Johnny was the first, third, sixth, eighth, and tenth thing Sportscenter talked about.  This is uncharted territory for the Browns.

We've never had "The Guy" before, and Johnny's hype is unlike any of "The Guys" before him.  You do realize that when the jersey sales numbers come out we are guaranteed to have the #1 jersey.  The Browns will be trending, rappers will be wearing our jersey, we might get the close calls, flex games are ours.  Life is now different. 

I've already heard arguements that this is like the Brady Quinn situation all over again.  But this isn't like the Brady Quinn situation.  With Quinn we were the only fanbase that REALLY wanted him.  A lot of fanbases REALLY wanted Johnny Football.  There are kids throwing away their team's gear for passing on him right now.  From a popularity and public relations viewpoint Johnny Manziel is the real deal.  Guess what, he's the it Nike's guy, guess who is going to be on the "Witness" billboard now? 

The flashiest player to enter the NFL in history is coming to the team team with one of the least flashy histories.  It is a bizarre pairing.  I noticed ESPN's first night having to repeatedly say the name "Cleveland Browns" seemed unnatural and at times even unpleasant for the network.  I truly believe that this will be one of my favorite parts of the whole Johnny experience.  But what now, can you really bench him at this point?  Is there time to develop him, or is the star too bright for him to wait?

I will be the first to admit, there was a point in time where I didn't want Johnny at all.  I watched a ton of his film and will admit I liked what I saw, but had a ton of concerns.  It wasn't until I saw this play that I was swayed to be okay with his coming to Cleveland... 

But just what kind of player did we draft.  Johnny's highlight reel at Texas A&M looked like a collection of wildly exciting backyard football plays.  Manziel's ability to scramble and throw from odd angles are unlike anything I've seen before.  His elusiveness, toughness, and hustle cannot be questioned.  So what is the problem you might ask? 

Here are my notes from my Johnny Manziel film study:

• He is a big part of the Texas A&M run game, this opens the passing lanes for him later in games.
• Mike Evans is really really good. 
• Always in shotgun, will need to learn fundamental footwork at next level before anything else. 
• Great athlete and uses every bit of it to his advantage. 
• Doesn't stick around in pocket long, not sure he knows what a progression is.
• Makes questionable decisions with the football, doesn't seem to pay for it. 
• Jake Matthews is really really good
• There are times I wonder how he gets so much on a ball he throws so awkwardly. 
• This is Alabama's defense?
• I can't believe what I just saw! 

And in the end my film study was as polarizing as the character himself.  He will get a chance from me like any other Browns quarterback would.  But I'm not calling him "Johnny Cleveland" until he leads us back to the playoffs.

Welcome to Cleveland Johnny Manziel, hopefully you and I can become friends.  I don't need another Weeden here.  In the meantime I get to be excited for our secondary!!! 

Follow me on Twitter @BrownsMemes

A FINAL FAREWELL TO BRANDON WEEDEN

Brandon Weeden has been the Dallas Cowboy's problem now for a couple months.  But it is hard for me to let go.  The sad truth is that if someone were to write a book on how to do sports satire, step one would be to watch Brandon Weeden play pro football for two seasons.

Brandon did not fail in one aspect of his game, comedy.  Each week their seemed to be some new way to laugh at Weeden and either his terrible play, or goofy antics.  Who else got eaten by the American flag in their debut?

But today marks an end to all of that.  With the conclusion of the NFL Draft this weekend, I will no longer be creating new Brandon Weeden jokes.  He will be a sidenote in Browns history, and forgotten by this website... at least until he actually does something in Dallas.

To say goodbye here is a HUGE blast of Weeden main memes.  First here is Draft Guru Brandon Weeden...

If that isn't enough how about my "Bad Luck Brandon Weeden" memes

So Brandon I really hope that I get to see you play in Dallas.  If not, it's been real and thanks for the memories...

Follow me on Twitter @BrownsMemes