5-at-10: Friday mailbag with Baker Mayfield’s big debut, ESPN+, Coach Urban Liar and return of hatemail

From a slew of you late last night

Is it time to break up the Browns?

Gang –

This question came on Twitter and text and email in a variety of fashions, and as always, you guys did not disappoint.

> Is it time to break up the Browns?

> Baker taking Browns to the Super Bowl.

> So long LeBron, Hello Baker.

> Baker, Baker, the TD Maker.

> (In your best Larry Munson voice) “My GOD a rookie!”

> Baker is cooking.

And a few others.

Last night was a lot of things, and the NFL in general and the Browns in particular needed almost all of them.

Most of all it was hard and fast reminder that when the protests and politics and the posturing can be forgotten, sports at an elite level played by charismatic and supremely talented athletes is unbelievably fun.

And last night, as soon as Baker Mayfield came on the field, was as much fun as we can remember having watching a regular-season NFL game in a long, Long, LONG time.

Make room on the bandwagon, Cleveland, because this morning, we all are Browns fans.

It also leads us to this

From Jason

Jay –

I watched more of the Cleveland game than I expected to.

Wow was I impressed with Baker Mayfield. How big is his ceiling, and you can feel free to insert your own Michael Jordan joke here.

Jason –

Mayfield’s ceiling is truly the roof.

It’s one game for sure, but please let’s enjoy this for what it is and not grab the fun by the collar and try to browbeat it and rationalize it to a casual “no big deal” scenario.

Cleveland was 1-32-1 under Hue Jackson before that game. (And despite that putrid record the Browns stuck with him, which is commendable. But his postgame answer of needing to “watch the tape” when asked if Mayfield would start next week maybe the most fireable offense Jackson has made. And considering he’s a 2-32-1 coach, that’s saying something.)

The Browns had not been a home favorite since 2015.

They had become such a laughingstock loser that a major American corporation was prepared to give away its product if the Browns ever won again. Read that again. (And whatever Bud Light spent on those hundreds of free beers in those coolers across Cleveland that automatically opened when the Browns won last night the company got back tenfold in advertising and goodwill. Even the most ardent Miller Lite drinker who is a Cleveland sports fan would have enjoyed a cold Co-Cola last night and consider switching. And let’s face, who across the sports spectrum has more reason to kick back Co-Colas than a Cleveland fan?)

Jason, great point. I watched more of that Cleveland game than I have of any non-playoff NFL game I have in a long time. And the overnight numbers will be interesting.

Friends, you are about to get a firehose serving of Baker Mayfield. The Browns, who got a bump on Hard Knox in training camp, were the most watched NFL team in the preseason. They have a die-hard fan base and are generally hated by Steelers followers, who comprise one of the league’s larger national fan bases.

And this kid Mayfield was super fun last night.

It was beyond the energy. It was beyond the numbers – he finished 17-of-23 for 201 yards and that was three bona fide drops – and

It was the feeling. Not a feeling, mind you. But the feeling. The feeling that a dude brings with him. And maybe it the shelf life of that feeling is a little more than two quarters. Maybe this is the highlight and Mayfield’s Debut Dazzles turn into Mayfield’s Rocky Road. (Get the ice cream joke there, local folks?)

But for one night, it was great theater. It was great entertainment – especially if you had the Browns minus-3 – and it was a firm reminder why we watch sports.

“Dilly! Dilly! to the Cleveland fans,’ Mayfield said after landing the Browns first win in 635 days and picking up a couple extra Co-Colas for a large chunk of the city still in sports bars after midnight Eastern.

It was his joy and the zip on his throws. It was his connection in the huddle. He lifted that Browns offense from a place of doldrums with dramatics, from mothballs with his moxie.

How much did that win resonate. HIs girlfriends was trending on Twitter. https://www.maxim.com/sports/baker-mayfield-girlfriend-emily-wilkinson-2018-4 Former Cleveland legend LeBron James and former Browns QB were tweeting about the win.

The winner of Twitter last night, though, was the Cleveland Police department, which unloaded this gem: “We WON!!! –Wait….Oh God. The free beer thing…Ok Cleveland. Stay calm. GO BROWNS!!! @Browns @budlight #CLE” A close second may go to Mayfield’s former college coach Lincoln Riley, who delivered this: “Hey bud-Bet they forgive you for planting the flag now-Congrats @bakermayfield #OUDNA in reference to Mayfield trying to stake the OU flag in the middle of The Horseshoe after the Sooners beat the Buckeyes last year.

(And how about this idea: When Jackson is done this year, fire him and go get Riley and bring his quarterback-friendly style to Sundays with the perfect trigger man. You’re welcome.)

From Mike

ESPN + is ok but what about the games on Fox/fs1?

Mike –

For background, this is off a Press Row discussion we had Thursday about ESPN+ plus, the streaming service the Worldwide Leader offers.

Currently Fox and FS1 do not offer something similar, and in truth, that’s understandable considering they simply do not have the same amount of content that ESPN produces. For example ESPN+ is now the only platform to get certain 30-for-30s, like the Seau documentary that debuted to the public last night.

Fox has some studio shows – and kudos to Fox for jumping in front of the gambling craze with a full 30-minute show with Clay Travis, Cousin Sal of Bill Simmons fame and Todd Whosehispants that is all about winners and parlays and such – but not the full catalog that ESPN can present.

Also of note, other than price and mega-dollars, the next big sticking point in the next round of TV negotiations between leagues and networks will be the streaming content.

If you are the NFL, and ESPN wants TV rights and streaming rights, that’s going to be worth a huge ton bucket of duckets.

Because the NFL is going to have to weigh that against what Fox would offer for TV rights PLUS what Amazon or Facebook or Twitter will offer for streaming rights.

Same for college football, especially for mega-schools conferences that would want to have a network pay them for the broadcast fees and potentially develop streaming avenues for themselves.

Do we think Fox is looking hard at streaming? Absolutely, and it better be, because as more folks cut the cord – and gang, people breaking up with cable is a far bigger reason to ESPN’s slumping profits and numbers down turn than the political stuff; yes there are those who are taking a political stance against ESPN, but it’s the cable quitters that is really hurting the WWL – networks will have to figure out ways to get their products and most impotently those ads to you and me.

The real potential loser in this as ESPN and other networks look to cut out the middle man as people cut the cord is the cable providers, if you ask me.

From Jules

So, after seeing the significant backlash to their decision in addition to Meyer’s poor attempt to smooth things over, I wonder if THE Ohio State might look for a for-cause loophole to fire Meyer. And I wonder if the possibility of deleting texts being illegal could be that loophole. Maybe secretly they are talking to Gary Patterson or Stoops or someone to whom they can bribe with more money than they can refuse.

What do you think Jay? Is Meyer’s coaching and recruiting ability worth all of this? Would you let him go if you could get out of paying him?

Jules

The answer in the world of college football – and the businesses in the towns and on the campuses that depend on those high-powered college football programs being excellent – is yes, Urban Liar’s skills are worth selling your integrity as a program.

Look at what happened at Baylor University and Art Briles. And as nasty as that got, we know several Baylor University folks who wanted to try to figure out a way to keep Briles because of the job he did building that program. And that was to the nth degree more nasty than what Coach Liar did at THE Ohio State.

I would have voted to fire Coach Liar because the truth of the matter is you have zero idea what else he has lied about. And while we think the feckless NCAA would never come calling with serious intentions of doing actual, you know, regulating and investigating, at any of the top 10 football or basketball programs in the country, that’s what I’d be concerned about if I was on the “independent” committee charged with looking into THE mess at THE Ohio State.

Because if Coach Liar is spinning tall ones from the podium at Big Ten Media Days, then he truly believes he can do whatever the bleep he wants. And the only way THE Ohio State will fail is if major league sanctions come falling down.

If THE Ohio State fired Coach Liar tomorrow – and we’re not holding our breath – they could realistically go get almost anybody in America right?

But again, we all knew when THE committee announced a firm timeline on how long the “independent” investigation was going to take, that this was going to be the outcome.

Am I surprised by this? Of course not.

Am I saddened? Yeah, some what.

From Steve

T/F- since you touched on the subject- 2018 Alabama is the closest we have ever seen of a college team that could stay on the field with the worst NFL team?

Steve –

Great true or false, and we’ll reach out to our VegasInsider buddy Brian Edwards – he was on Press Row earlier this week and was on Golic or Wingo this morning too – and see what he and some of his cronies think the line of Alabama vs. Buffalo would be.

Which brings us to this week’s Rushmores:

Rushmore of people with a color in their name: Sports version: Jim Brown, Mean Joe Greene, Red Grange, Reggie White. (Of course the commentator would be Jim Gray.) Non sports, we’ll lean toward Betty White, Charlie Brown, Scarlett O’Hara, and Blue from “Old School” because, well, you’re my boy Blue.

Rushmore of pirates: Captain Jack Sparrow, “Pirate Looks at 40” which is easily Jimmy Buffett’s best tune, Roberto Clemente narrowly over Willie Stargell and the Dread Pirate Roberts edging out the Pirate from Dodgeball.

Rushmore of cheeses for a cheeseburger: American is far left. Because, well, ‘Murica. Cheddar. Swiss. And the Pimento Cheese was an inspired call Alejandro.

Rushmore of rhyming nicknames: Earl the Pearl Monroe is there. Stan the Man Musial is there. And then we’ll go Round Mound of Rebound for Sir Charles Barkley and Hakeem the Dream Olajuwon. There were more than we thought, too, when you throw in Mean Joe Greene and Jake the Snake whomever (could be Plummer, could be the wrestler).

—

Back and better than ever, let’s get to some mail and comments from folks who are not exactly clamoring to be in the 5-at-10 fan club. This time, let’s have some fun and share some potential answers. (Please know that we make it a point to try to answer every email good or bad that is signed. A lot of the really hateful emails are generally not signed, but they make for fun sharing, right?)

Here we go:

“Do they pay you for this (another word for what the Browns offense looked like before Baker Mayfield entered the game)?”

(My answer: Barely.)

Have you ever thought about anyone other than your fat self or trying to be funny when you write your op-ed pieces of (another word for poop)?

(My answer, between bites of chicken wings and Chips Ahoy! cookies: “Asdfhajskdhfskjd sometimes askdfkhjasdhfkjasd.”)

When I saw last weekend you were not on A2 I was hoping they had fired your (tuckus)!!! I see now they didn’t. Damn.”

Good talk gang.