Browns last in Cleveland by a mile
- col-aaron-dorksen
- March 12, 2025
- 472
A few thoughts from the week in sports …
The Cavaliers’ win over the Nets on March 11 gave them their second 15-game winning streak of the season. Cleveland matched the best winning streak in franchise history and upped its record to 55-10 — also the best in club history and tied for fifth-best in NBA annals.
The Guardians are the defending American League Central Division champions and have reached the playoffs in six of the last nine seasons. If the pitching staff stays healthy, they should be in the playoff hunt again.
Then there’s the hapless Browns. Their best player, Myles Garrett, stated publicly to any media outlet that would listen that Cleveland is so bad he wanted to be traded to a team that actually has a chance to win in the playoffs.
The Browns proceeded to offer Garrett the largest nonquarterback contract in NFL history at $40 million per year, and the future hall of famer agreed on March 9 to a contract extension. It will keep him in Orange and Brown through 2030.
The guy who absolutely said he was done with the Browns is now one of the highest paid players in league history. I wish the Browns could have traded Garrett for draft picks to help rebuild, but they would have taken a $16 million salary cap hit even if they sent him packing.
The Browns are saying they intend to win, not rebuild, but I highly doubt the majority of fans trust owner Jimmy Haslam and his crackpot team.
Shortly before Garrett was re-signed, the Browns restructured DeShaun Watson’s contract for the fifth time. And as fans know, he won’t even play in 2025 due to his torn Achilles tendon.
With fans’ heads already spinning about Garett and the Browns’ reunion, Cleveland then went out and traded for a quarterback from a Super Bowl winner. Only problem, Kenny Pickett was the Eagles’ backup and was previously a castoff of the Steelers.
Don’t get too upset over Pickett being acquired for Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who the Browns know isn’t the answer. Guessing the plan is for Pickett to be a third-stringer, with a veteran starter still being sought and the No. 2 pick in the draft likely a quarterback.
Cleveland has 10 picks in the April Draft, but there are far too many holes to expect much this coming season. The Browns need a No. 1 running back, another tight end and wide receiver, free safety and more.
Maybe Garrett’s extension will age well, but after the Browns’ 3-14 record last season and a history of extremely poor decisions from Haslam and Co., I’m just glad us Cleveland fans have the Cavaliers and Guardians.
Winter highlights
Congrats to the area’s winter sports athletes who have made names for themselves on the state level.
The Norwayne girls basketball team (25-3) advanced to the Division V state championship game against Portsmouth (26-1) at 10:45 a.m. at the University of Dayton on March 15.
West Holmes junior wrestler Louden Dixon won the Div. II 150-pound state title while Waynedale senior Robert McCrork was second at 190 in Div. III on March 9 to lead another strong group of locals in Columbus.
The Golden Bears were third as a team, trailing only champion St. Paris Graham and Delta.
Basketball expansion
This was the first year the OHSAA went from four to seven divisions in boys and girls basketball. That meant doing away with the traditional Final Four, where all the teams got to play the semifinals and championship games in the same arena.
Instead, girls state semifinal games were played at a wide variety of sites across the state including high schools such as Dover, Mansfield and Claymont. That’s not exactly awe-inspiring like taking the floor in the Schottenstein Center in past years.
With 14 semifinal games and seven championship games for girls this week and the same amount of games for boys next week, there was simply no way all the games could be held at the same site.
There was a lot of criticism statewide for watering down the field and taking away the true Final Four experience, but on the flip side, more girls and boys teams got to experience state trips than in the past.
I can understand both sides of the debate but think seven divisions is too many. If the OHSAA was determined to expand, five would have been a better move.
Parting shot
Wooster High School alumni Devin Haid came one win away from helping Central Connecticut State qualify for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
St. Francis edged CCS 46-43 in the Northeastern Conference title game March 11 to win the conference’s automatic bid. Haid, a 6-foot-5 junior who previously played for Notre Dame (OH) and Cuyahoga Community College, had an outstanding season. He averaged 14.2 points a game and 5.6 rebounds for the Blue Devils. Haid led CCS with 14 points in the title game.
Congrats to Haid for persevering and excelling at the Div. I level. I can’t think of the last men’s basketball player from this area to play in the NCAA Div. I men’s basketball tournament, and Haid just missed out.
Aaron Dorksen can be emailed at aarondorksen24@gmail.com.